Hot off a pair of wins against Brown University this weekend, the Dartmouth men's and women's squash teams are busy preparing to enter post-season play. The women are first to go and will drive to Princeton this Thursday for the three-day Howe Cup. Meanwhile, the men will remain in Hanover to continue training in anticipation of their own national championships, which are the weekend of February 24-26 at Harvard University.
"I'm feeling really good about our performance right now," said men's co-captain Cam Fortin '05. "Everyone is in peak physical form. I mean, the only people on our team who can't seem to buff up are Todd Wood and Adam King. So we're thinking of muscle implants for those two."
The women, meanwhile, are also in peak form, emotionally as well as physically, as most of them celebrated Valentine's Day in style. "Every year, I have a ritual. I have my grandmother send me a big box of chocolates so I don't look like I'm a loser," remarked one of the players, who wished to remain anonymous.
For the women, Friday's match-up against Princeton is their one chance to move up in the national rankings from their current spot at no. 5.
When asked of her team's chances, freshman phenom Catherine Haldeman '08 had the following to say: "Did you know that in one hour of squash, a player can burn 700-1000 calories? I'm sorry, was that not your question?"
While Haldeman was cryptic in her answer, team astrologist Becca Loucks '08 maintains that her team can --- and will --- do well against the always-challenging Tigers. "So I'm a Pisces, and my horoscope for the week said that scaling the heights will be no problem for me this week. Which is good, because my Princeton opponent is really tall."
As the women battle the Princeton Tigers on their home court, the men will be training hard and continuing to recover from Winter Carnival weekend. Unlike many teams, the squash team does not go dry in season.
When asked why, Hank Alexander '06 said, "Did you know that Albert Einstein downed two sixpacks a day? Well he did. He knew that his amazing brain cells depended on his brewskies. Similarly, our team's squash prowess depends on our ability to --- if we're 21, of course --- enjoy a couple of cold ones."
For both teams, improving their current national rankings will be a challenge. But the Big Green is not worried. Co-captain Ryan Donnegan '05 offered the following nugget of wisdom: "As Van Wilder said, 'worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.' And we're going somewhere."
