M. Squash Siezes Ivy Title Over Yale

Harvard men’s squash co-captains Ziggy Whitman and James Bullock showed some love on Valentine’s Day—to each other.

The two seniors, friends for eight years and the backbones of the Crimson squash program, looked at each other and embraced during the final moments of No. 3 Harvard’s (7-1, 6-0 Ivy) Ivy Championship-clinching 7-2 win over No. 2 Yale on Saturday.

It was a rare show of emotion in a sport known for its commitment to sportsmanship and etiquette where neither jubilation nor disgust is regularly displayed in public.

But this was different. It was a moment affirming friendship, and four years of dedication that all paid off with the win against the Bulldogs (8-2, 4-1). It was a moment neither will soon forget.

“When we came off the court, we just looked at each other,” Whitman said. “I think our eyes said it all to each other. We’ve done a lot and been through a lot with Harvard squash the past four years, and damn, this feels good.”

“For Ziggy and myself, it was great,” Bullock added. “We were part of the Ivy championship team freshman year, so repeating that performance is something we have longed for ever since.”

The win helps lessen the pain of the Crimson’s inability to overtake the sport’s perennial benchmark, No. 1 Trinity. Harvard lost 7-2 to the Bantams Jan. 31.

“The Ivy League is the nation’s strongest squash league by far, so to win it is huge,” Whitman said. “And we crushed them. We didn’t just eke it out. We went to their house [and] crushed them.”

Among Harvard’s seven victories on the day, three came in straight games, including intercollegiate No. 38 Whitman’s victory over Terence Li 10-8, 9-1, 9-1 at the No. 8 spot.

At No. 4, intercollegiate No. 18 Bullock didn’t have it quite so easy, dropping the first game to No. 20 Gavin Cumberbatch 9-5. But Bullock rebounded and, at the prodding of his coaches, became more aggressive, taking the next three games 9-6, 9-0, 9-0 to close out the match.

The only five-game match of the day came at the No. 6 position. Junior intercollegiate No. 27 Asher Hochberg split the first four games with No. 45 Andrew Vinci before bearing down and finishing the match with an impressive 9-1 victory in the fifth game.

Despite dominating most of the match, the Crimson couldn’t complete the shutout as it lost at the No. 1 and No. 7 positions.

At No. 1, sophomore intercollegiate No. 5 Will Broadbent matched up against No. 2 Julian Illingworth. A week after having to retire against intercollegiate No. 1 Yasser El-Halaby due to a knee injury, Broadbent’s life didn’t get any easier. Playing with the support of his home crowd, Illingworth was nearly flawless, taking three straight games from Broadbent, 9-0, 9-7, 9-6.

Freshman intercollegiate No. 30 Jason De Lierre dropped his match as well to No. 44 Trevor Rees 9-3, 9-3, 9-7.

But even Broadbent and De Lierre’s losses couldn’t dampen the celebration. And with everything in the world looking right and his team playing well, Whitman wasn’t backing down from any challenge, even that of playing the No. 1 team in the country.

“We want Trinity again,” he said.

If everything breaks right at the CSA Team Championships at the end of the month, the Crimson just might get its wish. Only this time, a No. 1 ranking could be on the line.

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.