Beaver thrives beyond college ranks

For most of the women's squash team, the beginning of the off-season means a chance to finally relax — a chance to take some time away from squash after another grueling season.

For junior Julia Beaver, however, the "off-season" has an entirely different significance. For her, it means more competition and, of course, more winning.

Fresh off her victory at the WISRA Individual Championships earlier this month, Beaver finished second overall at U.S. Women's Nationals March 16-19, adding another chapter to her growing legend. Unlike the WISRA event, Women's Nationals is not restricted to college athletes. Beaver, Harvard's Margaret Elias and Bowdoin's Dana Betts were among the few collegiate competitors that entered the tournament. No other Tigers were involved.

Seeded No. 3 among the experienced field, Beaver appeared to have finally met her match in No. 2-seed Shabana Khan — who is ranked No. 24 in the world. The two competitors have a history dating back to last year's tryouts for the Pan American Games, where Khan had the upper hand. Both Khan and her sister Latasha — who is ranked No. 18 worldwide — were chosen for the squad. Beaver, on the other hand, was named as an alternate.

This year, however, Beaver would have the last laugh, defeating Khan in an epic five-game match to reach the tournament finals. Although No. 1 seed Latasha Khan was waiting to defeat her for the championship, Beaver's upset victory in the semifinals was enough to provide a sweet ending to a season that was cut short at times by injuries.

"It was definitely good to come out strong in the individual tournaments," Beaver said. "I had a tough season."

Recovery

Beaver's showing also erased the painful memory of last season's Women's Nationals, when the Princeton star sprained her ankle in a quarterfinal loss and eventually had to default her consolation match because of the injury.

Now, after winning this year's WISRA individual title and finishing second at Women's Nationals, Beaver will finally receive a break from the sport she has come to dominate. Don't expect it to last more than a couple of weeks, however.

"I've never really taken off more than a month at any consecutive time frame," Beaver said. "I already miss it."

Besides, there is still a small bit of unfinished business that Beaver hopes to take care of avenging last year's Howe Cup loss to Penn and winning a third national title in four years.

"It was tough losing the Howe Cup," Beaver said. "We worked so hard as a team.

"There's always next year."

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And while less than six weeks have elapsed since the 2000 Howe Cup, next year somehow doesn't seem that far off for the anchor of Princeton women's squash.