Streaking Toward Immortality

The nation's number-one ranked Harvard men's squash team and the Columbia football team have one thing in common: a streak. But while the Lions have made a name for themselves by losing, the racquetmen have achieved fame and glory by winning.

Columbia has 41 straight losses. The Crimson has 58 straight wins.

Men's Squash

1986-'87 Overall: 11-0

1986-'87 Ivy League: 4-0 (Ivy Champs)

Captains: Russ Ball, Jack Polsky

Let's just say winning comes naturally to the racquetmen.

Harvard lost four seniors to graduation last June. Additionally, some injuries to some top players have further depleted the Crimson team.

"We graduated some strength in the middle of our line-up," Harvard Coach Dave Fish said. "But I have a lot of confidence in my guys. We have a lot of excellent players."

"We're hoping to repeat as Ivy and national champions," Co-Captain Jack Polsky said. "I think we have a very talented team."

Last year, the racquetmen captured their fifth straight nine-man and Ivy League titles and snagged their seventh straight six-man championship. Harvard placed second behind Mexico City in the five-man chanpionship.

While many Harvard students went back home to celebrate Thanksgiving, the Crimson went to England to play several top squash teams in England. Even though they play with a soft ball in England rather than a hard ball, Harvard managed to go undefeated during the trip.

A highlight for the Crimson was a victory over a highly touted Oxford University squad. Harvard beat Oxford in Oxford's country, on its courts and with its type of ball.

"It was a lot of fun," senior Darius Pandole said. "It was great for team spirit."

"We're not concerned about the winning streak," Pandole said. "We have to take one match at the time. It doesn't matter if we have a 500-game winning streak, what counts is the match at the time. We have to forget about what happened in the past."

The Crimson current winning streak is not the only big one the squad has enjoyed. The 1962-'66 squad won 47 straight matches before losing a 5-4 decision to Princeton.

"We have a good deep team," sophomore John Bernheimer said. "We have a lot of good players. I think we can do it again, if we put in the time and effort. But it is definitely going to be a lot tougher than last year."

"We would like to keep the streak going," Bernheimer said. "It would be great if we could go undefeated again."

The racquemen's toughest matches will come against Princeton, Yale and Franklin & Marshall.

In the first-ever Ivy League squash scrimmage, an exhibition event held at Yale two weeks ago, the host Elis came away victorious. Yale captured the tournament with a stunning 6-3 victory over the Crimson. Harvard finished in second-place with a 5-4 victory over the Tigers.

While Yale's victory was impressive, Harvard was missing Pandole, Bernheimer and Doug Lifford. Lifford is taking the fall semester off.

"Yale handled us pretty easily," Fish said. "We had a couple of guys out, but they played very well. Yale has a very strong team. It should be a very competitive season."

To win its seventh straight Ivy championship, the racquetmen will have to win The Match on The Day at The Gym to keep The Streak alive. When the squad faces Princeton on Febuary 6, next year, it will mark the sixth year since the Crimson last lost. On February 6, 1982 at Hemenway Gymnasuim. Princeton recorded a 5-4 victory over Harvard: since that loss, the Crimson has rolled off 58 straight victories.

Harvard visits Yale on February 27.

"Our toughest competition will come from Yale," Polsky said. "They have a lot of players returning from last year. Princeton and Franklin & Marshall are the next teams. They're all excitied about beating us, because every win win adds to the record."

Fish pointed to former Crimson Captain Dinny Adams '66 as putting the winning streak in perspective. Adams said, "I don't happen to think that it is the end of the world if the streak is broken. It's okay to lose once every four or five years."