Crimson sweep individual championships

Cambridge may soon be called the college squash capital of the United States.

Laura Gemmell ’13 of the Harvard women’s squash team and Colin West ’10 of the Harvard men’s squash team took home College Squash Association (CSA) individual national championships this past weekend (March 5-7), continuing Harvard’s dominance in the squash world this season.

The titles come just two weeks after Gemmell and the Harvard women’s squash team won the 2010 CSA national team championship (Feb. 21) over Penn and West helped lead the Crimson to a fifth-place finish.

Gemmell, who led Harvard to their 12th national title, finishes the season a perfect 16-0 as a freshman, after overcoming a 2-1 deficit against Trinity College’s Pamela Hathway on Sunday (March 7) to take home the crown 3-2 (11-7, 5-11, 13-15, 11-8, 11-9). Gemmell becomes the 11th Crimson player to win the Ramsay Cup and the first since Kyla Grigg ’07 in 2007.

West defeated Princeton’s Todd Harrity (11-9, 13-11, 11-1) in Sunday’s title match, claiming the men’s crown and completing the season with a 16-1 record. He is the 33rd Harvard player to win the Pool Cup, and completes his career at Harvard with a 50-9 record. West was also awarded this year’s Skillman Award, given annually to a senior men’s player “who has demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship throughout his college squash career.”