Racquetmen Corral Cows

Yesterday was too cold for picnicking, but the Harvard men's squash team was as hot as red peppers in chili as the Crimson rolled over Williams, 9.0, at Hemenway Gym last night.

The victory was the third on the season for the two-time defending national champions. The Crimson has not lost an intercollegiate match in over two years.

However, even with six of the top nine players returning from last year's squad, the team does not anticipate breezing through this campaign.

"We're working well, and we're not taking anything for granted," said Harvard Assistant Coach Steve Piltch after last night's match. "The team has improved since the beginning of the season, but we have a long way to go."

Playing in the number one slot for the Crimson, junior Kenton Jernigan led last night's assault on the Purple Cows, defeating Doug Robie 15-6, 15-10, 15-6. Jernigan, the top-ranked amatuer in the country and defending collegiate champ, combined a barrage of backhands, forehands, and super-smooth wall shots to ice the victory.

In the number two position, co-captain David Boyum had just as easy a time with Ben Thompson beating his Williams rival 15-12, 15-8, 15-6.

The Cows' Sam Fortenbaugh provided the toughest competition for the Crimson, pushing co-captain Richard Jackson to the limit before Jackson to the limit before Jackson took the match 15-3, 16-18, 15-14, 15-0.

The 9-0 score was misleading, since last night's contest proved to be an excellent warmup for a Crimson team that hadn't even used its top four player, in its first two matches against MIT and Army.

"Our season really gets started today," said Piltch. "This is a very important match for us," he added.

The fact that Harvard had sidelined the top players is indicative of the team's tremendous depth. "We're pretty deep this year," said Jernigan, whose younger brother Kevin plays number six for the Crimson.

The Crimson spent last weekend in New York City playing in the Cowels and Jacobs invitational tournaments, two pretigious events Darius Pandole, number nine for Harvard, took the Cowels title, and Kenton Jernigan grabbed the Jacobs.

The Crimson now heads into the toughest part of the season, facing Tuffs, Navy, Penn, Franklin & Marshall, and Trinity in the next two weeks. Franklin & Marshall and Trinity should provide the Crimson with its biggest challenge, said Jernigan.

This star-studded team has one big goal for the season. "At the end of the season, we want to look back and see we played as close to our potential as we could," said Piltch. "If we play up to our potential, we'll do well. But it takes a lot of hard work," he added.

1. Kenton Jernigan (H) d. Doug Robie (W), 15-6, 15-10, 15-6

2. David Boyum (H) d. Ben Thompson (W), 15-12, 15-8, 15-6

3. Richard Jackson (H) d. Ben Fortenbaugh (W), 15-3, 16-18, 15-14, 15-0

4. Russ Ball (H) d. Bill Little (W), 15-6, 15-7, 15-12

5. Peter Dinneen (H) d. Matt McCall (W), 15-4, 10-15, 15-6, 15-9

6. Kevin Jernigan (H) d. Robby Hallagan (W), 15-7, 15-9, 12-15, 15-7

7. Joe Dowling (H) d. Wendell Chestnut (W), 15-9, 15-8, 15-9

8. David Segal (H) d. Pete Doucette (W), 8-15, 15-10, 15-12, 15-4

9. Darius Pandole (H) d. Keith Goldfeld (W), 14-15, 15-4, 15-5, 15-4