Racquetmen Figure in Toss-Up Battle For Collegiate Individual Squash Title

Harvard's varsity squash team will be competing for the six-man team and individual collegiate championships this weekend at Williams College.

(The team competition. which boils down to a head-to-head battle between Harvard and Penn, will be analyzed ?n an article tomorrow.)

At the beginning of the year, Penn's Palmer Page, runner-up in last year's intercollegiate final, was the clear individual favorite. Page reinforced that judgment by winning the University Club Tournament in New York over Christmas vacation.

Also at the start of the season. Harvard was the least expected source of competition for Page. Graduating its top four players last year, the Crimson's lack of a strong individual player was painfully apparent at the University Club Tournament.

But Page lost to Williams's number one, Ty Griffin, during the season, Griffin in turn lost to Harvard's number two, Dave Fish, in January.

Adding the fact that Fish also beat Penn's Eliot Berry, second in the collegiate rankings, and that Peter Briggs defeated Princeton's Sandy MeAdoo, ranked third, the intercollegiate title becomes a toss-up.

Princeton's MeAdoo has a terrible record this year and has yet to play well. But the Tiger senior has been playing the club tournament circuit on weekends and has only participated in collegiate matches that Princeton was sure of losing as a team.

MeAdoo should be optimistic in this individual tournament and he has the added incentive of being the only senior challenger.

"Page can be beat-he has been beat." MeAdoo said at the Harvard-Penn match. "If you watch him, you'll see he has the basic long-stroking game down better than any player."

"But when you hit him a junk shot, he doesn't know what to do with it. He doesn't put it away with a finishing shot. You can see him just returning it into his basic game at center court."

"Griffin beat him with that junk-type game, and I think I can too." MeAdoo said.

Harvard also has the material to win, but it has lest, one advantage. Fish felt he beat Berry because Berry was not "ready to play tough and tried to routine me," "Now that I've won a few. I'll lose the element of surprise," Fish said.