Men's Squash Opens on High Note

Author: David Lindholm

The Middlebury Men's Squash Club began its 2003-2004 season with a good showing in its first weekend, winning twice and dropping one match at Colgate University.

The team left on Friday afternoon and barely made it to Hamilton, N.Y., after a blizzard and faulty directions left the team silent in the cramped van as senior captain Mike Gillim valiantly kept the vehicle from sliding off a back road in upstate New York. After the long, arduous drive, the team piled out of the van and almost immediately began its match against Colgate.

The match began well, with several members of the team pulling off quick victories against outmatched Colgate opponents. First-year players Chris Ingram and Jake Harper each won their matches at positions seven and eight, and Andrew Giordano '04 took his match at number six.

David Lindholm '05 won in straight sets at four, as did number three Kris Sukanich '05, who worked his opponent so much that the Colgate was forced to leave the court late in the second game to go outside and vomit.

Gillim's match was the last to finish, and the entire Middlebury team watched intently as it went to the fifth game, since many thought the score of the matches was at four-four, and the outcome of Gillim's contest would determine the winner of the match. Gillim pulled out a great victory, and much to the surprise of many members of the team, Middlebury won 6-3.

The next morning the Panthers took on Hamilton College at Colgate. The Continentals sent out a very strong squad, and beat the Panthers 7-2, with Lindholm and Harper taking the only two matches for the Panthers. Sophomore Alex Nadas '06 played very well at number one against an excellent player.

Later on Saturday, Middlebury once again took on Colgate, who filled in for a Bard College squad that had cancelled earlier in the week. The Panthers shifted their lineup so that each player was playing somebody new, and the new order benefited Middlebury as the Panthers came out with a powerful 8-1 victory. The highlight of the weekend came when Jeff Wieland '05.5, normally Middlebury's number two player, faced off against Colgate's number one. Wieland started off well, taking the first game off a stunned Colgate player. As the match continued, Wieland only got stronger, and in the end defeated a great player 3-0 as the entire team looked on.

Middlebury, the only NESCAC school for which men's squash is not a varsity sport, may move up from its 32nd in the nation ranking after the commanding victories over Colgate, ranked 35th in the preseason poll. Hamilton was ranked 26th in the country. Next up for the Panthers is a match against Dartmouth on Thursday, which is the last match until January for Middlebury.