Racquetmen Start Pre-Season, Take Titles in Boston Tourney

The Harvard squash team began preparations for this year's national title defense with two individual championships at the Boston Eye Opener Squash Tournament over the weekend.

All-American David Boyum, the second-ranked amateur in the nation and sixth seed in the tournament, playing at The Squash Club in the Allston section of Boston, upset top-seeded and ninth-ranked professional Jon Foster to win the open division. En route to the championship, Boyum defeated his teammate, roommate and fellow All-American, Richard Jackson, who had previously knocked off the 17th ranked professional and current Yale coach, Dave Talbott. Freshman Kevin Jernigan made it to the second round of the tourney.

Senior Co-Captain Spencer Brog won the men's A division title. Although he had some difficulty in his semifinal match with New York teaching pro Bob Dewey, Brog called this year's competition a "relatively final tournament."

Brog feels this year's team has a "pretty good chance" to repeat as national champions. "We've never worked harder as a team," he said. "We've been practicing since the first week of school, and never have there been so many freshman playing the game so well."

The Crimson boasts seven upperclassman returning from last year's squad. In additional to Boyum, Jackson and Brog, Jim Lubowitz, Peter Dinoen, Mike Mack and David Segal are expected to form a solid nucleus for the coming season. Last year's national collegiate champ, Kenton Jernigan (older brother of Kevin), is taking the first semester off.

Most members of the team will be in action this weekend at the Yale Open, the next in a string of meets preceding the official nineman season. However, Brog says Boyum is expected to bypass this tournament after his big victory in Boston.