Women's Squash hopes to win it for Walker

By Carl Bialik

Walker will conclude an illustrious 18-year coaching career, which includes two Howe Cup championships and three national titles. The team has played consistently well this season, going 7-2 (3-2 Ivy) despite a Sat., Feb. 7 loss to Princeton.

Walker announced her retirement at the beginning of the season. Rebecca Birch, BR '98, said, "[Walker's announcement] made the team come together and play well for her." Carla Shen, TC '99, added, "We want to make her last season fun and successful, that's another reason why the Howe Cup is so important to us."

Courtesy Sports Publicity Office Servin' it up: Jen Field, MC '01, is part of a strong freshman core.

The Howe Cup brings together all the nation's intercollegiate women's squash teams. In this year's Cup, Yale is ranked fourth behind Ivy League rivals Princeton, Harvard, and Pennsylvania. The Bulldogs know that to place in the top three will be a difficult task. Walker said, only half-jokingly, "Princeton, Harvard, and Penn are in a league of their own. Yale is the best of the lousy group."

Ivy League women's squash has traditionally been dominated by three teams; Harvard, Yale, and Princeton have won all 23 previous Howe Cups. The Elis have consistently finished near the top of the national rankings: in Yale's 25-year history it has finished below fourth only twice.

Catherine Fiederowicz, MC '01, who plays the fifth seed, said of this year's Cup, "We're in a weird position: there are teams that'll kill us, there are teams that we'll kill, and there are only a couple of teams where we don't know the outcome." Fiederowicz seems to place Princeton and Penn in the group that can "kill" Yale, as both teams swept all nine matches in dual meets against Yale earlier in the season.

Despite her retirement, Walker is excited about the team's future beyond this weekend's Howe Cup. "I really think it's going to be fantastic," she said. One reason for this is the improvement the players have shown throughout the year. "The most significant development has come at the bottom of the team." Three freshmen play in the top nine and also give Walker reason to be optimistic for the team's future. She called freshmen Fiederowicz, Jen Field, MC '01, and Thea Handelman, TD '01, "tough competitors." Fiederowicz agrees that the team will improve. "I think we can be just as good next year, if not better," she said.

Walker also expects that the construction of new squash courts and the increase in financial aid allotted for international students will improve recruitment. "The development of our program is totally dependent on our facilities," Walker said. "Five years ago, Penn, Princeton, and Dartmouth started getting wide courts. We were getting slammed [in recruiting]." By this fall, Yale should have 11 to 15 new wide squash courts, close to Harvard's 16. Yale's deficient financial aid for international students has also contributed to the team's lack of foreign students. Other schools have already realized that, as Fiederowicz explained, "international squash is first-rate." Penn's top three seeds are international students.

Walker also believes that a coaching change might just be what the program needs. "I wonder," she said, "deep in my heart, if someone who has really lived this game can do a better job." In the last five years, as the game has moved from hardball on narrow courts to softball on wide courts, Walker thinks someone with more extensive wide-court experience may be able to do a better job. "When I first came, I played with everybody all the time. Now, when the top players hit the ball hard, I can't find it."

The Bulldogs opened their Howe Cup play against Dartmouth this morning. Play will continue through Sun., Feb.15.

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