Howard Takes Women's Squash Title

Last winter Lee Howard picked up a squash racquet for the first time in her life. When she put it down last Sunday, she had captured the United States Women's Intercollegiate Squash Championship.

Howard, a Radcliffe senior, came from behind to down Dartmouth freshman Barbara Sands in the final round of the tournament held at Wesleyan University, thus guaranteeing herself the number one sport in the women's collegiate rankings this season.

Howard said yesterday that her fiance, Neil Vosters, "dragged me into a squash court one day last winter and taught me the rules of the game." Vosters is the number four player on the Harvard squash team.

"I was crazy about the sport from the start and now have gotten to the point where I practice about four hours every day," Howard added.

Jack Barnaby, who coaches Howard, said yesterday that her development has been "phenomenal." "Neil certainly helped her along by showing her the basic shots, but her determination is what's pushed her to the top," Barnaby said.

Howard played number one this year on Radcliffe's newly formed squash team and was undefeated in her ten matches during the regular season. She also swept five matches in the Intercollegiates to reach the finals.

Howard ranks her win over Sands above her other victories, "This whole season has been unbelievable for me, but my win on Sunday was easily the high point of the campaign, especially since I had to struggle to win," Howard said.

After capturing the first game in her match,15-8, Howard dropped the next two games, 15-11 and 15-10, to the aggressive Sands. She then rebounded to pull out the next two games, 15-9 and 15-4.

"I was really worried after falling behind two to one in games," Howard said. "But during the intermission I talked with Perla Hewes [the coordinator of the Radcliffe squash program] and she helped me settle down and straighten my game out."

Howard looks forward to playing professional squash after graduating in June. "I'm playing in the Canadian Women's Open next weekend in Montreal, and this should give me a foretaste of what playing in the pros is like," she said.

Howard hopes to go to Australia this summer to learn the Australian version of squash and bone up on her game. "Their game is much different from ours," Howard explained. "It's much faster and they used a softer ball. Playing there should really sharpen my reflexes.

This is the first year Radcliffe has fielded a squash team. Despite injuries in the lower positions, the squad managed a creditable 4-6 record.