Boston, MA — Western Ontario, Bowdoin, Connecticut College, Vanderbilt, Bucknell, Washington in St. Louis, and Maryland all won their divisions at the 2011 Men’s National Team Championships.
Here is a division-by-division summary of the final day of matches:
A Division (Potter Cup): Trinity defeated Yale 5-4 to win the Potter Cup and the 2011 national team title. The 3-4 playoff and the consolation finals were also extremely close matches. With a home crowd cheering them on, Harvard edged out Cornell 5-4 in the consolation final, overturning a 2-7 loss to the Big Red earlier in the season. The Princeton and Rochester match was also decided by a single match, with the Tigers coming out on top. The final order of the top six teams at the tournament is Trinity, Yale, Princeton, Rochester, Harvard, and Cornell. As of publication the Dartmouth/F&M score had not been reported.
B Division (Hoehn Cup): Top-seeded Western Ontario marched through the division to give Hall of Fame coach Jack Fairs another title. The Mustangs turned in a convincing 7-2 win over division finalists Penn, who were the defending Hoehn Cup champions. Williams defeated Brown handily, 8-1, in the 11-12 playoff, but the consolation final was much closer. After losing to Brown 4-5 in the opening round and defeating Navy 5-4 in the consolation semifinals, St. Lawrence held off Middlebury 5-4. Bates rebounded from a narrow loss to Middlebury yesterday to defeat Navy 6-3. The final order of finish for the division is Western Ontario, Penn, Williams, Brown, St. Lawrence, Middlebury, Bates, and Navy.
C Division (Summers Cup): After upsetting Amherst in semifinals to make it into the Summers Cup final, Bowdoin pulled off a second upset, knocking off top-seeded George Washington 5-4. Every match Bowdoin and George Washington played in this weekend was decided 5-4. In the 19-20 play-off match, Amherst defeated Wesleyan 7-2. Columbia finished their first season as a varsity program with a 5-4 win over Colby in the consolation finals. Hamilton opened the tournament with a 4-5 loss to George Washington, and they rounded out the weekend with a 5-4 win over Stanford, who finish the season as the top club team in the nation. The final order for the division was Bowdoin, George Washington, Amherst, Wesleyan, Columbia, Colby, Hamilton, and Stanford.
D Division (Conroy Cup): The D Division final between Hobart and Connecticut College marked a significant moment in the careers of the two head coaches. This was Chris O’Brien’s first season with Conn, and today’s contest was the final match of Carol Weymuller of Hobart’s intercollegiate squash coaching career. As fitting for such an occasion, the final individual pairing decided the match, and Conn came away with the 5-4 win. Two of the three other matches in the division were decided 5-4: Tufts’ win over Georgetown, and Northeastern’s win over Northwestern. Colgate’s 6-3 win over Denison closed out an extremely competitive division. The final order of finish was Conn, Hobart, Tufts, Georgetown, Northeastern, Northwestern, Colgate, and Denison.
E Division (Chaffee Cup): If the D Division was competitive, the E Division was even more so. Throughout the weekend, only one match was won 7-2, and three were decided 6-3. The rest were 5-4 matches. The team that came into the division seeded last, Vanderbilt, ended up winning it all, thanks to a 5-4 victory over MIT in the Chaffee Cup final. The Kenyon and Cal 35-36 play-off match was a repeat of last season’s Chaffee Cup final, with Kenyon again winning 5-4. Boston College beat Johns Hopkins 5-4 to win the consolation final, and Haverford defeated Washington 5-4 in the 39-40 playoff. The final order of finish was Vanderbilt, MIT, Kenyon, Cal, BC, Johns Hopkins, Haverford, and Washington.
F Division (Serues Cup): Last season Bucknell finished sixth in the Hawthorn Cup (G Division). This season, the Bison are bringing home the Serues Cup as F Division champions. Bucknell defeated Boston University 5-4 for the win. Vassar closed out the season with a strong 7-2 win over Lehigh, and Drexel nudged out Charleston 5-4 in the consolation final. The result of the bottom match in the division, Fordham/Swarthmore, has not yet been reported, but the order of finish for the top six teams was Bucknell, BU, Vassar, Lehigh, Drexel, and Charleston.
G Division (Hawthorn Cup): 2011 was the first year Washington University in St. Louis fielded a squash team, and the program has had an auspicious beginning. After finishing the regular season with only one loss, the Bears went undefeated at the National Team Championships, capturing the Hawthorn Cup by sweeping Bryant. Washington’s 9-0 win was the most dominant championship win in any of the nine-player team divisions. As of publication, the rest of the results for the division had yet to be reported.
Emerging Teams: Maryland might be new to college squash, but they turned in a dominant performance in their division this weekend. Today they finished round robin play with a 5-0 win over Duke, clinching the Emerging Teams title and only dropping a single match along the way. NYU concluded their championship weekend with a 5-0 win over Illinois Springfield. The final order of finish for the division was Maryland, NYU, Duke, and Illinois Springfield.
Congratulations to all the teams that competed this weekend!
