Briggs Injured in Game May Be Out Indefinitely

Crimson captain and number-one raquetman Peter Briggs pulled a groin muscle in the first round of the men's singles championship Saturday and may be sidelined indefinitely.

Briggs pulled the muscle early in the first game of his match at Princeton and lost badly to Peter Linder, 3-0. The injury came at a key point in the season as Harvard faces undefeated Penn this Wednesday.

"Peter feels that it's a bad injury and, though we have not heard from the doctors yet, I'm pessimistic. We plan on playing without him," said coach Jack Barnaby last night.

Barnaby said he was encouraged, however, by the performance of his team in the tournament's team championship play. The Crimson made it to the third round against 30 other five-man teams before being eliminated by a tough Montreal squad.

"The fellows played a great tournament and I know they won't let this blow by Lady Luck get them down," he said.

The numbers two through six men faced Baltimore on Saturday afternoon shortly after Briggs' loss and blanked the Marylanders, 5-0.

The raquetmen advanced to down New York in a 3-2 match before finally losing to Toronto in the third round.

It looked for a while as though the Crimson would down the Canadians as Andy Wiegand jumped to a 2-0 lead over their number-one man, Jim Swan.

Swan came back to win three straight and Harvard lost the match, 3-2.

"Andy was very disappointed, of course, but I told him he had played very well against one of the better guys around. Why, Swan made the semis of the singles championship two years ago," said Barnaby.

Barnaby feels that Wiegand can lead the Crimson to a victory over Penn even without Briggs.

"Losing your number-one man has to hurt you but I know how tough these fellows are. They've given up very few points this season and I have all the confidence in the world in them," he said.

Former Harvard great Vic Neiderhoffer '64 won the national singles championship on Sunday. It was the third title for Niederhoffer who never played squash before coming to Harvard.

Barnaby said that it won't be the last time around for Briggs.

"Peter will be back and people better watch out for him. He is one of the best players I've ever coached and he's improving all the time," he said.