JULIA TIERNAN/YH Laura Keating, ES '02, defeated the nation's No. 2 player two weeks ago. This weekend she takes on No. 1.

Yale's new squash sensation from down under

• A month after transferring to Yale from Australia, international star Laura Keating is squashing the competition.

What would be the first thing you'd say after you've been skunked 27-0 in three games? When you've just played Laura Keating, ES '02, and have lost very, very badly, the usual profanities are not at the tip of your tongue.

After losing three straight games 9-0 in a match on Wed., Feb. 2 against Yale (8-3, 1-2 Ivy), Brown's No. 1 player walked over to Bulldog coach Mark Talbott and had only one thing to say about Yale's latest import from Australia: "She's just so nice."

Yes, Keating is a very nice person. And she's a very good squash player. In 1997, she was a quarterfinalist at the 1997 World Junior Championship and was the 1998 Australian Junior National Squash Champion. Talbott is very serious when he says that Keating, "is the best player [her age] that has ever played intercollegiate squash, and has the potential to be the best player in its history." Keating transferred to Yale from the University of New South Wales in Australia just last month, and already she is in position to establish herself as the finest collegiate player in the nation.

On Wed., Jan. 19, the Bulldogs faced squash powerhouse Trinity College. Keating was matched against a familiar rival, Janine Thompson, the No. 2 player in the nation. Though Yale lost to Trinity 7-2, Keating took the match 5-9, 10-9, 9-4, 9-5. This weekend, when the Bulldogs head to New Jersey to face Ivy League leader Princeton, Keating will get a shot at the No. 1 player in the country, Julia Beaver '01, whom she's never played before. A win against Beaver would quickly make Keating the player to beat when the Intercollegiate Championship takes place in March.

"Everything has happened so fast," Keating says. "That's been the great thing about it—it's very exciting." Keating isn't just talking about her smooth and successful transition on the squash courts. Her move from down under to New Haven was sudden and unexpected. "I was absolutely shocked," Talbott says. "I didn't think it would happen. And now, here she is."

Keating, known for her great ball control and deadly drop shots, was playing at a tournament in New York City when two participants and friends of Talbott whom she had just met that week said they were heading up to New Haven and asked her if she wanted to tag along to see Yale. "It was pretty random," Keating says. "But I really did like it. Nice buildings, nice gym, everyone was very nice." When she returned to Australia, Keating decided to apply to Yale—"Why not?"—and only Yale, and "see what happens."

Talbott wasn't optimistic—for Yale. "I thought it was a long shot that she would end up coming here," he says. "She was so into squash, and things were going so well for her there, I was skeptical." Keating got a call in December from Talbott telling her that she'd been accepted for the spring 2000 term. Many of her friends, who didn't even know that she was thinking about going abroad, were shocked. "I'd always wanted to live overseas...it was exciting, to hear, and then just to pick up my bags and leave," she explained. Talbott hadn't closely watched Keating play until she arrived at Yale in early January. He could tell instantly that she was an extremely rare talent.

Keating's arrival gave the Yale team an early Christmas gift. She has obviously given the women's ladder a huge boost—The Bulldogs are having a solid 9-3 season as they head into the match against Princeton, arguably the best team in the league. But with Keating—and with especially strong play from captain Loren Smith, SY '00, and rookie Gina Wilkinson, SM '03—a Yale upset could be in store. Keating has fit well into the lineup, not only by racking up the wins, but with her personality as well. "She's so easygoing and has gotten along very well with everyone," Talbott says.

The most important relationship, though, could be the one between Keating and her coach. Talbott is determined to make her into a dominant national force and has spent extra time with her, practicing with her early each morning before her classes, in addition to the team practices in the afternoon. "I'm going to push her harder," he says. "When I push, she can take it. I know she has the potential to be one of the top five players after she graduates."

Meanwhile, Keating, who has never lived in America, has also had an easy time adjusting to American college life. Before coming here, the closest Keating came to experiencing the American life was through TV: Friends, Ricki Lake, and Dawson's Creek. "It's great," she says. "It is funny how people and places here are exactly like they are on TV and how you imagine them. It's like a dream, so surreal."

Soon, some of the top players in the nation will get a dose of reality when Keating fully arrives on the collegiate scene. It might be sobering for the competition, but hey, she's just so nice.

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