Undefeated Squash Team Sets Pace for Radcliffe

With the exception of the undefeated squash team, Radcliffe winter teams have had a mediocre start in the '75-'76 season. Out of 18 regular season tries, the four teams have a combined record of 10-8.

Basketball

Ignoring its three tournament losses, the Radcliffe basketball team has a regular season record of 3-3.

Led by junior Denise Thal, a high-scoring guard, the cagers put together an outstanding performance against Bentley on January 16 to even their record after a disappointing loss to Boston State two days before.

Center Cheryl Geltzer, who left the team temporarily to work on her thesis, is the leading rebounder. Geltzer will return after exam period.

The cagers face tough competition in February, including Smith and Yale.

Fencing

The Radcliffe fencing team, more experienced than in previous years, has split its two opening contests.

The swordswomen lost an opening match against an aggressive, quick Brandeis team, 16-9. "They're really tough," junior Leonida Rasenas said yesterday. "They just crushed us."

The loss was followed by an easy victory over Southeastern Massachusetts University, 13-3. Rasenas, captain Sarah Kimball, and Celine Larkin enjoyed four-for-four afternoons.

Freshman Susan Lambiris, who had little fencing experience before entering college, also scored a victory.

Radcliffe will meet MIT, SMU, Yale, and the University of Rhode Island in February. URI could be tough--"they have some good girls," Rasenas said yesterday.

"But the toughest competition will come from Yale," she added. "Their team has been practicing with the men's team since last year. They're very aggressive."

Radcliffe, which only started practicing with the men this season, will have stiff February competition before heading for the team and individual eastern championships in March.

Squash

The Radcliffe squash team has devastated each of its four opponents. Only Brown managed to capture even two of seven matches, while Radcliffe outscored its opponents, 24-4.

Other annihilations include a 6-1 victory over Bowdoin, a 7-0 shutout of Tufts, and a 6-1 win over Exeter.

Team captain Susan Handy, with a 2-2 personal record in the number one position, doubts that the team can continue the pace throughout the season. "I'd be surprised if we went undefeated," she said yesterday.

First year coach Eric Cutler declined to comment on the strength of upcoming opponents such as Dartmouth, Yale, and Trinity. "I don't really know how powerful most teams are," he said yesterday.

Swimming

Despite the efforts of sophomore Laurie Downey, the Radcliffe swimming team has only won two meets in six tries.

An opening win over Wheaton, 96-26, was quickly followed by a loss to a strong University of New Hampshire team.

After defeating the University of Rhode Island, the swimmers lost three consecutive Ivy League meets, to bring their record to a disappointing 2-4. "It's been kind of discouraging," senior captain Maureen Murphy said yesterday.

"I'd hoped that it would be better," coach Stephanie Johnson said yesterday. "Only Laurie Downey and [freshman] Kathy Lindenthal had any experience in competition. But the girls have improved tremendously. We just barely lost to Dartmouth by six points."

Downey and diver Lindenthal have been bright spots in the IAB pool. Downey has finished first in all but one of her individual events, in which she placed second.

"We can always count on Laurie to win in any event we put her in," Johnson said. "At Brown we had a tough girl in the 100 butterfly, so we raced Laurie and she won."

Both Downey and Lindenthal will be going to the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national competition at Fort Lauderdale, Florida on March 18-20.