Harvard Sweeps National Titles

Just a week after the closing ceremonies of the Vancouver Games, Canada had another reason to celebrate.

In the top level of U.S. collegiate squash, two Canadians shone above the rest in their respective tournaments. Harvard co-captain Colin West ended his distinguished career on a high note after finally capturing the trophy that eluded him for so long, while freshman counterpart Laura Gemmell capped off her first season with the same accolade—a national individual title.

Although Gemmell proved her dominance during just her first year as a Crimson athlete, it took much longer for her counterpart, Colin West, to reach the same point. Four years longer, in fact.

Four years is an eternity when you’re ranked top five nationwide but cannot reach No. 1. Four years is over 35,000 hours focused on one thing: beating and being the best.

It was not until this season, his final year, that West became a champion, winning the College Squash Association Individual Championships with an 11-9, 13-11, 11-1 win over Princeton’s No. 1 Todd Harrity.

Finishing his senior season with a 16-1 record, West ended his career at Harvard with a total of 50 wins and nine losses. Starting for the Crimson at the No. 3 position his freshman year, West’s climb to No. 1 has been impressive as he’s defeated almost every opponent he’s faced.

But there was one, the one who got away. As the saying goes, in order to be the best you must beat the best. Even with the Pool Trophy, West’s season ended on a bittersweet note because he didn’t have the opportunity to play the former No. 1.

Trinity’s two-time Pool Trophy champion Baset Chaudry, the top-ranked player in the nation throughout the season, voluntarily pulled out of the tournament after an unsportsmanlike incident in which he physically confronted Yale freshman Kenneth Chan at the College Squash Association team finals.

Not only was it unfortunate for Chaundry’s reputation, which was scrutinized after ESPN aired video of the incident, but also for the squash players who wanted a chance to take him down, especially West. This year, West slipped by Chaudry, taking a victory in a preseason match-up, but then lost to his Bantam rival 3-0 during the season. Each with a win, this third game was a can’t-miss match-up.

But then Chaudry lost it. It’s understandable for an athlete of his caliber to have a primal desire to win, but Baset, not only did you ruin it for yourself, you ruined it for your competition (and an eager squash audience).

Now, we can only keep our fingers crossed that West and Chaudry meet some day if and when they go pro.

Professional squash is still way long down the road for the precocious Gemmell.

Having already captured the individual title in her freshman year, Gemmel’s future opponents will need to bring more to the squash court if they want to knock her off the top.

Just look at the competition for Gemmell. Topping the list is Nour Bahgat, the Trinity sophomore who finished the 2008-2009 season with a 17-0 record on her way to winning the individuals title. Gemmell never got a chance to face Bahgat since the sophomore, the top-ranked player coming into the season, slipped down the ranks, losing the No. 1 position to fellow teammate and finalist of the Ramsay Cup, Pamela Hathway.

The two other competitors ranked above Gemmell in the preseason (the frosh was pegged fourth) were Kristin Lange from Penn and Toby Eyre from Williams. Gemmell swept them both, and the score-lines show that neither was much of a challenge for her.

A current junior, the Bantams’ Hathway will most likely be Gemmell’s top competitor next year barring any upstarts in the freshman class. Hathway, ranked 26th in the preseason rankings, worked her way up the ladder, cementing her spot as the No. 1 for Trinity and giving Gemmell a fight in the championship game. The battle went to five games with the Harvard freshman emerging as the winner of the 2010 Ramsay Cup.

Two great squash players, one embarking on a professional career while the other is finishing merely her first year at Harvard. One thing we can be sure of: we haven’t heard the last from either.

—Staff writers Alex Sopko and Brian A. Campos can be reached at sopko@fas.harvard.edu and bcampos@fas.harvard.edu, respectively.