MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP: West Wins Elusive National Title

After three long years chasing a squash national title, co-captain Colin West became the 33rd Harvard player to claim the Pool Cup this season, emerging victorious at the CSA National Individual Championships this March.

“You get so few chances to play these top guys,” West said. “It all comes down to one tournament, and you really only get one shot.”

One shot was all it took for West, who persevered despite a busy schedule and tough competition. After winning four matches in two days, he defeated Princeton freshman Todd Harrity to claim the national title.

“I had my senior thesis due around the same time [as the tournament], so it was a pretty crazy time of year for me,” West said. “I started the tournament a little bit slow.”

“Some of my performances earlier in the tournament would not have won it for me in the end,” he continued. “When I really needed to step up and play well, I managed to do that.”

The match against Harrity, which took place at Yale, was highly contested toward the beginning, but West was able to pull through with two wins in the first two games, 11-9 and 13-11, respectively.

The third and final game in the Pool Cup championship match was not as close. West dominated Harrity, 11-1, cementing the Crimson co-captain’s perfect 5-0 record at the championships.

“Once I got to the tournament, I got very comfortable,” West said. “I ended up playing better than I had all year.“

One of West’s strongest competitors, two-time defending national champion Baset Chaudhry of Trinity, was not present at the competition. Chaudhry had handed West his only regular-season loss, though West won the duo’s first battle during preseason. Even without Chaudhry on the court, West faced grueling competition.

Despite the tremendous pressure of being the tournament’s No. 1 seed, West didn’t drop a single game on the road to the championship match.

“I was the top player going in,” West said. “But there’s a lot of pressure there, because you really haven’t played all of these guys before and you get one chance. It’s an elimination tournament, so if you lose, you’re done.”

West was honored on the CSA All-America First Team for the third consecutive time and was named first-team All-Ivy for the fourth straight year. The senior also earned the Skillman Award, which is annually awarded to a senior who “demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship during his entire college career.”

In four years, West amassed an impressive 50-9 overall record, but this season’s national championship surely stands at the head of all his accolades.

“It was sort of the capstone of the season, and the guys on the team are thrilled,” co-captain Frank Cohen said of West’s victory. “I know personally how hard he worked to get it, and I’m really happy he can finally see his work pay off in such a tangible way.”

—Staff writer Catherine E. Coppinger can be reached at ccoppinger@college.harvard.edu.