Men's Squash: Nation's best visit Jadwin for championship tournament

For the next two years the Tigers came in third place because, although the team possessed talent, it was unable to bring everything together in time for the tournament. Coming off very strong victories over Harvard and Yale, though, Princeton is hopeful about its chances this season.

This weekend, Princeton will host the College Squash Association Team Championships, churning out some of the nation’s best squash. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the top eight squash teams in the nation will compete for the Potter Cup at Jadwin.

“This weekend really is just a culmination of our whole season,” senior No. 4 Kelly Shannon said.

As the second seed, Princeton (12-1 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) finds itself in the tougher half of the draw. Princeton faces No. 7 Dartmouth in the first round. If they win on Friday, the Tigers can expect to play the winner of the match between Yale and Cornell.

When Princeton played at Dartmouth in the regular season, the Tigers came away with an 8-1 victory. As Dartmouth has a 9-6 record, Princeton is favored to win that first match.

The Tigers have performed solidly up and down the ladder, especially in the second half of the season. In the first shift, the Tigers have seniors David Pena and Clay Blackiston at No. 9 and No. 6, respectively. Blackiston has been playing consistently well all season, with victories against both Trinity and Yale. The Tigers also welcome Pena back into the lineup after he spent a semester abroad. Senior No. 2 Chris Callis leads the second shift. Callis, a former All-American, has been playing some of the best squash of his college career. In the last shift, Shannon and junior No. 1 Todd Harrity can be expected to have solid performances. Shannon, who was recovering from a shoulder injury earlier in the season, said he hopes to bring his best to the matches this weekend.

“I’ve been battling injuries in the fall, but luckily I think my body has been holding up,” Shannon said. “I’m feeling good about how I’m playing right now.”

While Yale is considered to be the favorite in its match against the Big Red, Cornell’s ability should not be overlooked. Nick Sachvie, who lost to Harrity last year in the individual championships, leads Cornell at the No. 1. At the same time, Yale’s No. 2, Hywel Robinson, is just coming off of an injury.

“Last time we played Yale, we beat them 8-1,” Harrity said. “That’s probably not going to happen again. They’re really good, and it’s definitely going to be a tough match.”

In the event that they advance to the finals, the Tigers would likely face No. 1 Trinity on Sunday. Although Trinity has claimed the national title for 13 consecutive years, if there was ever a time to take the title from Trinity’s clutches, it would be this season. Trinity’s 252-match streak ended about a month ago, when Yale upset the Bantams, defeating them 5-4. A few weeks later, Princeton played Yale at Jadwin, and, to the surprise of many, the hosts came away with a resounding 8-1 win.

“All of our matches are going to be tough,” Harrity said. “Especially if we make it to the semifinals or even the finals, we just need to play well under pressure.”

The Trinity-Princeton-Yale triangle has caused the rankings of the top three to shift frequently within the last month. The Potter Cup will be the ultimate test to see which team will come out on top.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

“I’m feeling pretty excited,” Shannon said. “I haven’t felt this way about the national championship weekend since freshman year when we had a really strong team. It’s nice to feel that excited.”

As demonstrated by the decisiveness of the win over Yale, the Tigers have potential if everyone plays his best. The key to Princeton’s success this weekend will be in making sure everyone comes to the courts ready to play.

“Our biggest challenge for all of the team is just going to be getting everyone to perform on the same day for the same match,” Shannon said.

And even though the team has defeated each team this season before, with the exception of Trinity, the Tigers hope to maintain their focus.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the hype and lose your focus when you’re out there competing,” Harrity said. “We need to be able to keep that focus and really push ourselves and dig deep in these close matches.”

The Tigers are also careful not to take their opponents lightly.

“We couldn’t be more confident given our strong performance against Yale and Cornell recently,” Callis said. “But we can’t think ahead to Yale and Cornell, and especially not to Trinity. It’s all about winning the match at hand.”

With that in mind, Princeton has faith that it can accomplish something really special this weekend. The general feeling, especially among the seniors, is that the current team has the potential to achieve at least as much as it was able to three years ago.

“The team has a totally different identity these days, but I think it’s a big part of our success,” Callis said. “Pair that with our momentum, hard work and home-court advantage, and we’re going to have something really memorable on our hands this weekend.”