Dartmouth entertained the best collegiate squash players in the country this weekend, hosting the College Squash Association Individual Championships.
The Big Green's top-seeded player, Ryan Donegan '05, performed up to his No. 7 seeding, falling to second-ranked Julian Illingworth of Yale in the quarterfinals. Illingworth, in turn, lost his only match of the weekend to Princeton's Yasser El-Halaby in the finals. El-Halaby's victory marked his third consecutive national title in as many years.
The women didn't fare as well, with only Julia Drury '06 making it past the first round in the Ramsay division (the women's top flight). No major upsets took place as defending champion Michelle Quibell of Yale defeated freshman phenom and No. 2 seed Kyla Grigg of Harvard to win the national title.
The Ramsay division had to be re-seeded and the tournament draw re-shuffled after top-seeded Lynn Leong of Trinity was scratched shortly before competition began.
The Dartmouth men, who finished eighth at team championships, sent three players to individuals, and the fifth-ranked women sent four. Donegan, who seemed poised to make a run at the title after handing El-Halaby the second defeat of his collegiate career earlier in the season, never got the chance to play the defending champ thanks to Yale's Illingworth
"Yeah, I was bit bummed about the draw that I received but those are the breaks," said Donegan. "Overall, I was very happy with how I played. I went flat out 'til I had nothing left and that is all I can really expect."
"Julian Illingworth is a good player and we had an incredibly long match but I just didn't have the legs left to do any damage. The weekend was amazing, nonetheless. The support I received from everyone here at Dartmouth was incredible and the experience will remain with me for the rest of my life."
Donegan was joined in the Pool division, the top-seeded men's division, by his teammates Todd Wood '07 and Hank Alexander '06, but both were matched against top-10 seeded opponents and lost their first matches in straight sets. Alexander displayed skill above his 29th seeding, winning more points against El-Halaby than Illingworth did in the finals, and Wood progressed to the semifinals of the consolation bracket before losing to Nick Chirls of Yale.
Drury defeated Frances Ho of Yale 3-1 before losing to third-seeded Vaidehi Reddy of Trinity 3-0 in the second round. In the consolation bracket, Drury battled well enough to draw her first game to a 10-8, finish but proved unable to overcome Miranda Ranieri.
"It was amazing to have the Individual Championships at Dartmouth this weekend," said Drury. "It is such an unbelievable experience to have the top men's and women's players in the country all competing at our courts."
"I was very happy with my performance this weekend. I felt equal to some of the toughest players in the country and thoroughly enjoyed my matches against the top Trinity and Yale players."
Ashley Malenchak '08, the only other Dartmouth woman in the Ramsay division, lost her first match to fifth seed Catherine McLeod. However, Malenchak quickly rebounded, defeating Penn's No. 2, Radhika Ahluwalia, before narrowly losing to Princeton's Gen Lessard 3-2 in the first round consolation bracket semifinals.
"We all did our best this year, and next year we'll be even better," said Malenchak of Dartmouth's performance.
In the second-flight Holleran division, sixth-seeded Avery Eyre '07 advanced all the way to the quarterfinals before losing to third seed Lauren McCrery of Yale. McCrery would go on to win the Holleran Cup.
Rebecca Loucks '08 also played well, pushing No. 8 Margot Kearney to a fifth match before falling 9-7. However, after the loss, Loucks went on to win the second-round consolation, defeating Andrea Berberian of Williams 3-1 in the finals.
"The women's team definitely played up to its potential this weekend against the top women squash players in the country," said Drury of the Big Green women. "I am so proud of each of them, and I cannot wait to see further improvement in their games next year."
With the individual championships over, the squash season officially comes to an end. Next year's captains will soon be elected, and the teams will need to focus on getting a strong recruitment in next year's class--particularly the men, who are graduating Donegan, the team's No. 1 for the last four years. Head Coach John Power, though, has confidence in men's squash for the next few years, as the team already has "five good players" accepted for next year.
Though the men already have a number of prospects recruited, Kelly Sennatt '05 says that the women's team has not been as fortunate with recruitment.
"We don't have any recruits yet, unfortunately, but we're counting on getting some regular decision," Sennatt said. "This is not a strong class nationally anyway. Next year is really the big year for recruiting."
However, as the women already have a very strong contingent of young players, they should continue to thrive.
"This year the women's team finished fifth in the country, and I anticipate a repeat performance if not an improvement in our ranking for next year," said Drury. "Though we are losing two seniors I have no doubt that the women on the team will step up to fill the spots left by our seniors."
