Wyant Takes Third in NISRA's

The third time wasn't the charm.

Men's squash co-captain Tim Wyant ended his Harvard career with a third place finish at the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquet Association (NISRA) Individual Championships, hosted by Williams College. Wyant, the third seed in the tournament, lost to second-ranked Marcus Cowie of Trinity for the third time in a month.

Wyant had dethroned Cowie, a two-time national champion, in last year's quarterfinals, and had gone on to finish second to Peter Yik of Princeton.

This year, Cowie regained the upper hand. Cowie had taken each of the previous matches, including the No. 1 matchup at last week's team national championships, by a 3-1 score.

Sunday's match produced the same result. Cowie won in four close matches, (15-6, 14-15, 15-12, 15-8).

The third-seeded Wyant did leave his mark on the final, however. While the top-seeded Yik had a relatively easy time dispatching with Trinity senior Preston Quick in the other semifinal match, Cowie's encounter with Wyant left him exhausted. Yik crushed the visibly winded Trinity captain in three straight games, and successfully defended his title.

Wyant opened the tournament with wins over opponents from Penn and Amherst. Arif Paul of Denison extended Wyant to five games before Wyant took the final frame, 15-13.

The Crimson got solid performances from the other six men who made the trip to Williamstown, Mass. Junior Deepak Abraham defeated Yale junior Frederick Bouchardy 3-0 and Trinity senior Laurens Coetzee before falling to Quick, the 4th seed.

Four other Crimson players advanced to the Round of 32. Junior Gray Witcher defeated M.I.T.'s Eric Hong 3-0, and took the first two games against Princeton sophomore Peter Kelly in the Round of 32. Kelly, however, staged a furious comeback, sweeping the next three games and winning the match (8-15, 7-15, 15-4, 17-15, 16-14).

Junior Shondip Ghosh defeated John Griffin of Penn 3-0, but Williams' Win Tangjaitrong ended his run in four sets (15-3, 12-15, 15-10, 15-11).

Sophomore Peter Karlen beat Kenny Greer of Cornell in three games, but was swept by Williams senior Zafrir Levy in the next round.

Freshman Dylan Patterson won his match against M.I.T.'s Kunal Surana before falling to Dartmouth All-American Beau River in five sets (17-14, 15-8, 10-15, 14-16, 15-5).

Sophomore Dave Barry lost to Coetzee in the tournament's opening round on Friday.

On the women's side, sophomore Margaret Elias was a quarterfinalist in the WISA Individual Championships. She breezed past Middlebury's Sarah Herrup and Bates' Aisha Shah in her first two rounds, dropping only four points in the two matches combined. After defeating Penn's Rena Borromeo (9-3, 9-0, 9-6), she fell to Cornell sophomore Olga Puigdemont-Sola.

Puigemont-Sola, who had defeated Elias when they last met at Princeton on Jan. 30, swept Elias (9-2, 9-0, 9-6).

Sophomore Carlin Wing advanced to the Round of 16 before falling to freshman Runa Reta of Penn, (9-0, 9-3, 9-1). Reta had also swept Wing in a previous Ivy League match.

Sophomore Colby Hall defeated Melinda Lee of Cornell in her first match, but lost to Penn's Katie Patrick in the Round of 32. Captain Blair Endresen, junior Virginia Brown and freshman Ella Witcher lost their opening matches.