As February breezes by, hot squash action increases in intensity and volume. In the past week, the men’s and women’s squash squads have had to stretch themselves across concurrent contests at home and at Bowdoin. While the trios of John Steele ’14, Guy Davidson ’16, and Raheem Logan ’16 and Mary Foster ’14, Annie Maxwell ’15, and Claire Miller ’15 saddled up for the Division III Individual Tournament in Maine, their Cardinal compatriots held down the fort against a visiting squad from St. Lawrence.

Anchoring the women’s side at Bowdoin, Foster crushed the competition, winning her first three matches by resounding 3-0 marks. However, Foster couldn’t leave her team alone to hunt for individual glory, as the women’s captain courageously trekked back home to assist her fellow Cardinals against St. Lawrence on Sunday. As a result, Foster was forced to default her final two matches but still managed to end with a more than respectable fourth-place performance. Maxwell and Miller were unable to register a victory on the weekend, both going 0-2.

At home, the Cardinals were tasked with competing with St. Lawrence’s 19th-ranked squad. Although the Cardinals kept competitive, they were unable to seal a victory, losing 4-5. The Cardinals were boosted from the bottom of the playing ladder as Miller, Miranda Linsky ’14, Hannah Plon ’14, and Bridget Doherty ’16 all registered 3-0 wins in a display of Wesleyan’s great depth.

Next up, the Cardinals will venture to Princeton Institute of Technology to compete in the Howe Cup. The Cardinals will enter the tournament in the “C” bracket as a result of their national ranking of 21 and will look to fight from the middle of the pack to the top spot.

On the men’s side, Captain Steele continued his excellent play this season and ended up in fifth place in a stacked crowd of DIII competitors by the end of the weekend. Both Steele and Davidson cruised to quarterfinals action by notching opening round victories over their opponents. That win would prove to be Davidson’s only victory on the weekend, as his quarterfinals exit was only compounded by a loss in the first consolation match. Steele remained resolute to establish himself at his first and final individual competition of his college career as he managed to pick up two straight consolation victories after his quarterfinals heartbreaker of a loss.

Fellow squasher Logan was bounced from the tournament in the first round of play and also dropped his first consolation match. Despite the losses, competing at such a high level early on can only benefit the already experienced Logan later in his squash career.

With three of their top players making Coach Shona Kerr proud at Bowdoin, the Cards were left with a depleted lineup to face the fourth-ranked program in the nation, St. Lawrence, on Sunday. The Cards suffered a grueling 9-0 defeat to close out their regular season.

However, redemption may be right around the corner for the birds, who will compete this weekend at the CSA National Team Tournament hosted by Harvard. The Cardinals will enter as the second seed in the “C” Division, where they will dance with familiar squads from Colby, Brown, and Middlebury.