Racketmen Top Williams

Harvard's squash team trounced Williams yesterday, 8-1, and picked up two valuable points in its race with Navy for the national intercollegiate championship.

Navy and Harvard, both once defeated, must contend for the title on a comparative point basis against mutual opponents. Navy had defeated Williams 6-3, and so the Crimson win yesterday gave Harvard a significant push forward.

Even with number two player Rick Sterne out for the season, Harvard swept the top three matches. Sophomore Anil Nayar, after dropping the first game 15-14, began grooving his shots and proved far too quick for Williams' Bill Crane. Nayar won, 15-7, 15-8, 15-10.

Jose Gonzalez, at two, found Bill MacMillan a little more stubborn than expected, but the Gonzalez power was decisive in each of the three long games, 15-12, 15-13, 17-15. Harvard captain Craig Stapleton dumped Mike Roizen in the third match, 10-15, 18-16, 15-12.

Harvard was expected to be strongest yesterday at the top and bottom of the ladder, and that's what happened. Harvard's Gordy Black (five), John Harwood (seven), Michael Scheinman (eight), and Fritz Hobbs (nine) all won 3-1 decisions.

Yoshi Akabane, Harvard's slick number seven player from Tokyo, won his first two games, 15-12 and 15-11, before Williams' Vic Weller defaulted.

Senior Matt Hall, Crimson fourth player, had lost only one match during his varsity career before yesterday. But he never got going against Jack Heckscher and bowed in three games, 17-15, 15-13, 15-14. Heckscher is the younger brother of Harvard's two-time national intercollegiate champion; Ben Heckscher.

Harvard travels to Princeton next Wednesday to avenge last year's sole loss, and then the team will host Yale here that Saturday in its final team match of the year. Harvard now stands at 8-1.