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Volume CXXXII, Number 15 |
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Men's squash heads to national tourney
ALLIE YANIKOSKI
STAFF WRITER
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| Grant White '04 (in white shorts) works on his game in the Lubin Squash Center. (Hans Law, Bowdoin Orient) |
The men's squash team grabbed a spot in the upcoming Division-B national competition by defeating Franklin and Marshall 5-4 at Trinity College last Sunday, despite losing to Hobart 5-4 two days earlier.
"Doug Weeden '06, Eric Toan '05, George Hubbard '03, and Geordie MacLeod '05 all played well and won both matches," said Head Coach Tomas Fortson.
"Even though they lost both their matches, juniors Greg Clement and Lawrence Delasotta played well against very good opponents at [the] number one and two [positions], respectively," said Fortson. "First-year Bruce Saltzman played well at number five, clinching the victory over Franklin and Marshall."
"The men had two very close matches versus Franklin and Marshall and Hobart, teams equal in level to us against [whom] we will compete at nationals," said Fortson. "We have not hit our full stride, yet we are so close to all of the teams in our division. We have the time and the talent to become a better team by nationals."
Fortson noted that the team's seed at the nationals was "in a precarious position" heading into last week's matches, after a 7-2 loss to Bates on January 29.
To ensure that they would compete in Division-B at the nationals, in which teams ranked ninth through sixteenth nationally compete, the men needed to beat either Colby, Hobart, or Franklin and Marshall.
The Polar Bears swept Colby 9-0 on February 5. Clement, Delasotta, Jon Crowell '05, Weeden, Saltzman, Toan, Chris Metcalf '05, Hubbard, and Nick Adams '06 all won their individual matches against Colby. MacLeod also beat his Colby opponent in an un-scored exhibition match.
With the Colby victory, the Bears captured the fourteenth slot in the College Squash Association's national rankings, guaranteeing themselves a spot in next weekend's team nationals.
Looking ahead, Fortson says that Division-B "is very competitive, and all the teams in it at nationals will have a realistic chance to become national champions."
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