Barnaby Sees Year of Rebuilding With Top Three Squash Men Gone

After four years of dominating intercollegiate squash competition, coach Jack Barnaby's squad finds itself this fall preparing for a rebuilding year.

For the past two years Harvard has edged Penn for the national championship. The Crimson reached its peak last March when it had five of the six finalists in the intercollegiate six-man tournament championship. Penn had been slightly favored, but Harvard humiliated the Quakers and every other collegiate team.

The Crimson lost its top three players to graduation while Penn is returning five of its top six starters. "If we had to play them today, I wouldn't expect us to win," Barnaby said.

But Barnaby is optimistic that the team will develop during the season. "I don't have the great stars I've started with the past five years, but this team has good spirit," Barnaby said. "Several of these players could really develop into something."

In recent years Barnaby has built his team around the intercollegiate individual champion. Two years ago Anil Nayar won his third consecutive title, and last year Larry Terrell took the crown after finishing second to Nayar for two years.

Four Candidates

This fall Barnaby has four candidates for the top position and it is very likely that the number one man will vary during the year according to weekly intrasquad challenge matches.

First on Barnaby's list is captain Ed Atwood, who played at number four last year and is undefeated in two seasons. Atwood is what Barnaby calls a "sound player." "He never makes a mistake," Barnaby said. "Ed plays a controlled game."

Another factor in Atwood's favor is that he has won matches under pressure in the past. Last year against Penn, he came from two sets down to give the Crimson a 5-4 victory.

Atwood's major handicap is that he is not an aggressive attacker. "He's not as fast as most number one men, not as quick on reactions," Barnaby said. "But he's working on that and he is improving rapidly."

Also returning from last year's squad is number five man Dave Fish. As a sophomore, Fish won his division of he intercollegiate championship. Fish's greatest asset is his fine racquet work, but Barnaby feels he must develop his court mobility to be a top-notch number one player.

Up the Ladder

Another candidate for the leading position is senior Jaime Gonzales. Last year Gonzales moved up the ladder all season and finished at number six. At the intercollegiate. he finished second to Fish in the C division. Again, Barnaby felt that Gonzales must improve his mobility. "Though I must admit." Barnaby said, "He's twice as fast as two years ago."

The major determining factor in the Crimson's success may be the development of sophomore Peter Briggs. In high school. Briggs reached the finals of the Junior championships. and last year he had an impressive freshman record.

"In prep school, he could beat anyone, so he didn't have to play a tough game," Barnaby said. "But on the collegiate level he's going to need toughening, and he's going to have to learn the percentage shots. It's hard to say how fast that experience will come."

At the bottom of the ladder. Harvard has juniors Alain Quasha, Reggie Foster and Lowell Pratt returning form the 9. 10, and 11 spots on the ladder. Challenging these returning players will the sophomores Dan Gordon, Neil Vosters, Robert Sedgwick, and junior Rob Shapiro.

Harvard has a lot of "pretty good" players this fall according to Barnaby. The strength of the squad will depend. upon whether these good players can develop into four top players and whether the sophomores and junior varsity can build a strong bottom five.