Men’s Squash Preview: Under new leadership, looking to stay on top
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| Senior Marc Taggart will be counted on to help provide leadership to the new-look men’s squash team. |
For the first time in four years, the Bates men’s squash team won’t have the top two men’s squash players in Bates history at the top of their ladder. However, newly appointed head coach, Pat Cosquer ’97 is confident that Bates men’s squash will remain just as competitive this season.
As a Bates alumnus and four-year letter winner in squash while at Bates, Cosquer is intimately familiar with the program’s history. When asked how the team will transition without its top two players from the last four seasons, Ricky Weisskopf and Sean Wilkinson, Cosquer emphasized the strength of his returners.
“Ricky Weisskopf and Sean Wilkinson are irreplaceable,”, says Cosquer, but the team is very deep and is blessed with an extremely strong sophomore class which includes Matt Marchisotto (New York, N.Y.), Will Katz (Bronxville, N.Y.) and Nick Echeverria (Washington, D.C.), all of whom had great first years and are expected to continue their winning ways this season. Juniors Kush Mahan (Gainesville, Fla.) and Jordan Greenberg (Malvern, Pa.) will both be expected to move up and contribute at the top of the ladder.
The team lost three seniors from last season, but current senior captain Chip Russell (West Hartford, Conn.) has stepped into the leadership role smoothly. Fellow seniors Deacon Chapin (Cambridge, Mass.) and Marc Taggart (Skippack, Pa.) will also be looked upon to provide leadership to the team this season.
With a strong core of returners and solid leadership from the senior class, Cosquer highlights the addition of a couple talented first-years to round out this year’s roster.
“Bobby Burns from Greenwich, Conn., via Hotchkiss School has stepped in nicely, and will be a solid force in the middle of the men’s ladder,” said Cosquer. “We are waiting on Umar Khan to arrive in January from Pakistan. He is a bit of an unknown quantity at this point, but Pakistan has the No. 1 junior team in the world, so our hope is that he can also make the top 9 and contribute to the success of the team.”
Bates has long been a force to be reckoned with in the national squash scene and Cosquer is confident they will maintain and strengthen that reputation this season. The team expects to finish in the top ten nationally again this season. Cosquer sees the potential in this year’s squad and credits their hard work this fall as well. If their training level is maintained throughout the next two months, the Bobcats should find themselves in familiar territory come January and February – among the top teams nationally.
Cosquer is humbled at his opportunity to return to Bates and coach one of Bates’ most successful athletic programs. “I take tremendous pride as an alumnus of this program to have the opportunity to coach this team, and I’ll do everything I can to insure that Bobcat squash maintains its winning ways and remains among the school’s best programs.”
The men’s squash team opens their season on Friday at Northeastern at 6 p.m., followed by a match against Vanderbilt at Northeastern scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. Their season takes a hiatus until Jan. 9, with a match against Cornell at Yale.