Jernigan Upset in NY

The Harvard men's squash team had two finalists in the United States National Amateur Championships held over the past four days in New York City.

In the five-man team competition, the Harvard A team--composed of the Crimson's number four through number eight players--reached the finals but was decisively beaten by a Mexican squad, 5-0.

The A team, which defeated entries from Army, Western Ontario, and Penn to reach the finals, was overmatched against the Mexican squad, which featured five of the country's top players.

"We came off the courts in awe of their ability," Co-Captain David Segal, the number five A team player said. "They're really an exceptional team. It's difficult for a team which draws its players from a college to compete with a team whose player pool is an entire nation."

The Harvard B team--made up of Harvard's number nine through thirteen players--made it to the quarterfinals where it was narrowly defeated by Princeton, which entered only one team, 3-2.

It would have been a stunning upset for Harvard's B players to beat Princeton's number four through number eight players. "[Princeton] Coach Bob Callahan had a few coronaries," laughed Segal.

A stunning upset did occur in the open singles division--in which players compete individually for the National Amateur Championionsip--as Harvard's Kenton Jernigan, an overwhelming favorite to win the title, was knocked off in the final by Hugh Lavossier of Yale, 3-1.

Teammates were stunned at the upset of Jernigan, who was trying to tie a tournament record by winning his fourth consecutive championship.

"It was quite an upset," said Darius Pandole, Harvard's number three player.

Pandole and Rusty Ball, Harvard's number two player, also competed in the open division. Pandole was able to reach the quarterfinals, where he fell in a tight 3-2 match to Lavossier.

Ball reached the third round before falling, 3-1, to Gill Mateer.