Mahan of Bates, Buchsbaum of Williams Share Player of the Year

HADLEY, Mass. – Seniors Kush Mahan (Kalamazoo, Mich.) of Bates and Ethan Buchsbaum (Princeton, N.J.) of Williams have been named as the 2010 NESCAC Co-Players of the Year, it was announced today. Mahan recorded a 15-3 record in dual play this past season, while Buchsbaum was 10-11 and helped the Ephs to a runner-up finish at the 2010 NESCAC Men’s Squash Championship in February.

Mahan and Buchsbaum also earned a spot on the All-NESCAC First Team, as nine of the 10 members on the top squad received All-Conference recognition in some form a year ago. Buchsbaum has garnered First Team honors in each of the last three seasons, while Mahan was named to the First Team for the second-straight year.

Along with Mahan from the Bobcats on the First Team was sophomore Bobby Burns (Greenwich, Conn.). Burns posted an 18-8 dual match record during the 2009-10 campaign. Buchsbaum was joined from the Ephs by sophomore Will Morris (Bronxville, N.Y.). Morris was 12-6 in action at the one and two spots on the ladder this season for Williams and finished as the consolation final winner in the Molloy Division at the College Squash Association (CSA) Indivdiaul National Championship.

Trinity placed three individuals on the All-NESCAC First Team for the third year in a row with honors going to senior Baset Chaudry (Lahore, Pakistan), junior Parth Sharma (Mumbai, India), and sophomore Antonio Diaz-Gonzales Salas (Mexico City, Mexico). Chaudry, the 2008 NESCAC Player of the Year and a three-time First Team honoree, went 16-0 in dual play this winter to help the Bantams win their fourth consecutive NESCAC title and 12th-straight CSA team crown. Chaudry completed his career with a 58-2 overall record. Sharma moved up from last year’s Second Team with an unblemished 16-0 dual record and 18-1 overall mark. Diaz-Gonzales Salas followed up last year’s Rookie of the Year performance with a 12-1 showing in dual matches and a 3-1 record in singles play.

After claiming Second Team honors in 2009, Bowdoin senior David Funk (Short Hills, N.J.) and Middlebury sophomore Valentin Quan (La Libertad, El Salvador) found a spot on the 2010 First Team. Funk was 15-6 in dual play for the Polar Bears this season, while Quan was 18-5 for the Panthers.

Tufts junior Alex Gross (Washington, D.C.) rounded out the NESCAC All-Conference First Team with his second consecutive appearance on the squad. Gross was 11-7 for the Jumbos in the one spot during the spring semester.

Rookie of the Year went to Caleb Garza (Ocean City, N.J.) of Connecticut College. Garza was an impressive 22-5 as number one in the ladder during his first season with the Camels.

Bates head coach Pat Cosquer was selected by his counterparts as the NESCAC Coach of the Year. The Bobcats went 20-9 under Cosquer in his second season with the program. Cosquer was also honored as the Women’s Squash Coach of the Year in the conference.