Harvard National Champions Honored at Fenway

Who knew that having a national sports title could pay off so well?

On Wednesday, Sept. 22, some of Harvard’s very own national champions were honored at Fenway Park during the opening ceremonies of the final Red Sox–Orioles match up of the season.

Posing for pictures with Wally the mascot on the field, current and former Crimson athletes got the unique chance to see the park from a very different perspective.

First introduced was 2010 graduate J.P. O’Connor, winner of the 157-pound title at the 2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Now training for the 2012 London Olympics, O’Connor posted a perfect 35-0 record in his senior season at Harvard—a first in program history.

Next introduced was junior fencer Caroline Vloka. At the 2010 NCAA Championships she claimed the sabre title by defeating long-time rival Rebecca Ward of Duke. Coincidentally, the matchup was a repeat of the 2009 final, and Vloka’s victory made her only the second female in Crimson fencing history to claim a national title.

Following O’Connor and Vloka was a slew of Harvard squash athletes—Colin West ’10 and sophomore Laura Gemmell were accompanied by the entire women’s squash team.

West, who finished fifth this summer in the World University Squash Games in Sydney, captured the CSA individual national championship title in his senior season after amassing a 16-1 record. He capped off his impressive collegiate career by nabbing his fourth All-American award.

Gemmell had a stellar rookie season, going 16-0 en route to claiming her own CSA national individual title. She, like West, also competed in the World University Squash Games for Canada (she finished 13th) and garnered All-American honors.

The champion also helped her team finish its season 12-0, claiming its 17th Ancient Eight crown and 12th national title. The women beat Penn, 6-3, to claim victory at the CSA national championship.

The Fenway faithful may hope that the Crimson’s success rubbed off on the Sox. 7.5 games behind the Yankees going into Friday night’s game, everyone knows the Sox could certainly use a few tallies in the wins column.

Who better to teach the ropes of success than Harvard’s national champions?