Holleran, Squash Team Seek Two College Titles

Harvard, ranked number one among college squash teams, has defeated all opposition this year. It seems logical, then, that the Crimson will have an easy time winning the National Intercollegiate Championships at Penn this weekend.

But it won't.

Two obstacles stand in the way of the squash team: Penn and Princeton. Harvard beat them both, 5-4, during the regular season, but now only four players will be competing for each team. Penn, which won three of the first four matches against Harvard, will be especially tough.

The outcome, however, will depend to a large extent on the luck of the draw. If the lower members of Harvard's team have to face the tournament's better players in early rounds, the results could be disastrous. On the other hand, if Penn and Princeton players clash in early rounds, Harvard should win.

Unlike last year, when Harvard's Vie Niederhoffer was clearly superior to everyone, the individual championship this year is wide open. Tom Poor of Amherst is the favorite. Last year, after nudging Romer Holleran in the semifinals, Poor lost 3-0 to Niederhoffer in the finals.

Holleran, Crimson captain and number one player, will be seeded second. He has defeated every number one opponent this year except Poor and Smith Chapman of McGill, Canada's best amateur.

Harvard's other three entries are seniors Al Terrell, Terry Robinson, and Bill Morris. Morris was on the 1964 intercollegiate championship team.

Either of Penn's top three players could give Holleran and Poor a run for the title. Howard Coonley, Al Jacobs, and John Reese make the best trio in college squash, especially with the home court advantage.

Princeton has a couple of players who could pull some big upsets. Frank Salterthwaite and Pete Svastich are at times erratic, but when they're hot, it means trouble for even the best. Svastich blitzed top dog Poor earlier in the year.

Army's Walt Oerhlein and Steve Darrah also must be reckoned with. Neither is strong enough to win the tournament, but they could knock down a few Ivy hopefuls.