Winter Storm Postpones Pivotal Squash Matchups

With the semester newly underway, snow generally means snowball fights and snowmen galore for Harvard students.

For many student-athletes, the snow has meant something a little different.

The athletes involved in the Crimson Squash program, for instance, learned that with last night’s snowfall, the highly anticipated matches against Trinity were postponed until Feb. 9.

But No. 1 sophomore Laura Gemmell seemed sure that the schedule change wouldn’t affect the athletes’ preparation and mentality going into the toughest part of their season.

“We’ll be fine,” she said. “It’ll be hectic, but…we’ll be fine.”

The matchups, originally slated for last night at 5:00 p.m., undoubtedly brought the toughest competition yet to the table for both the men’s and women’s teams.

The No. 6 Harvard men’s squad (4-2, 2-1 Ivy) was set to face the No. 1 team boasting the longest winning streak in the history of intercollegiate varsity sports: 232 wins.

The Bantams (8-0, 1-0 NESCAC) were set to take on the Crimson at Barnaby Courts under the coaching expertise of Paul Assaiante, who was selected in the summer of 2010 as the National Coach for US Squash.

Fresh from toppling Bates without dropping a single frame, Harvard’s No. 1 women’s squash team (6-0, 3-0) was also looking at a close match from No. 3 Trinity (8-1, 1-0). Bantam No. 2 junior Pamela Hathway was narrowly defeated in five sets by Gemmell in last season’s CSA Individual Championship title match.

The new date means that the Harvard women will face off against No. 2 Yale, No. 3 Trinity, No. 4 Princeton, and No. 5 Penn within a span of only eight days.

After matches against St. Lawrence and Hamilton, the same will hold true for the men’s team.

“It’ll be a very busy week,” Gemmell conceded.

But she also noted that the teams haven’t taken the break lightly.

“We’re going to keep up training,” she said. “Everyone is figuring out certain things in their game so they’ll be at their best…Everyone is on the court all the time. Hopefully we’ll have a positive result.”

Also facing potential delays due to the snowstorm is the Harvard women’s basketball program.

Currently riding a three-game winning streak, the Crimson (9-6, 1-0 Ivy) is set to hit to road to take on conference foes Columbia (2-14, 1-1) and Cornell (4-12, 1-1) on Jan. 28 and 29.

Before the storm began, coach Kathy Delaney-Smith made it clear the snow would not keep her athletes from practicing.

“We’re here and the weather doesn’t affect us,” she said. “We don’t even look out the window. We play the sport in a warm gym… [A snow day is] not even on the list of options.”

The concern, according to Delaney-Smith, is actually making the drive.

“I’m hoping and believing the storm will be over by noon, and [we’ll] give the highway department four or five hours to get the roads done and head out in the middle of the afternoon,” she noted. “You know, it’s highway all the way. I’m thinking the storm will be over and the roads will be taken care of by that point, hopefully.”

—Staff writer Molly E. Kelly can be reached at mkelly@college.harvard.edu.