HADLEY, Mass. - Bates senior Ahmed Hatata (Cairo, Egypt) has been selected as the 2017 NESCAC Player of the Year by the conference coaches. Hatata, the 2014 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, owns a 19-1 record this season and helped the Bobcats earn runner-up honors at the 2017 NESCAC Men’s Squash Championship for the second straight season. This season marks the fifth consecutive year a Bobcat has been named NESCAC Player of the Year. Hatata’s former teammate Ahmed Abdel Khalek, won the honor four straight seasons, becoming the first men’s squash player in league history to achieve the feat.

• Four players on the All-NESCAC First Team are repeat First Team honorees, while four players were Second Team All-NESCAC a year ago. The All-NESCAC Second Team includes five first-time all-conference recipients.
• Six Trinity players received All-NESCAC recognition while Bates had three players garner all-conference accolades. Bowdoin, Colby, Middlebury, and Williams landed a pair of All-NESCAC selections each.
• Two players closed out their collegiate careers as four-time All-NESCAC honorees. Hatata garnered All-NESCAC First Team honors all four years, while Jamie Ruggiero of Williams also earned All-NESCAC honors every season, including the last three years as a member of the First Team. Ruggerio played at the No. 1 position for the Ephs for the third straight year and is 6-3 this season.
• Four players were elevated to the All-NESCAC First Team following Second Team selections last year. Bates senior Darrius Campbell played at the No. 3 position for the Bobcats, while Trinity senior James Evans was unbeaten at the No. 8 position. Colby junior Will McBrian, the 2015 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, played at the No. 1 position this season for the Mules and earned his third All-NESCAC honor. Colin O’Dowd, the No. 1 player for Hamilton, made the jump from the Second Team last season to the First Team this year to earn his second straight All-NESCAC honor.
• Joining Hatata and Ruggiero as repeat First Team honorees were Middlebury senior Wyatt French and Trinity junior Rick Penders. French played at the top spot for the Panthers this season, while Penders was 8-2 at the No. 2 position for the Bantams.
• Trinity sophomore Thoboki Mohohlo was chosen as the NESCAC Rookie of the Year. The 2016-17 season marked Mohohlo's first year of collegiate  squash. He was also named to the All-NESCAC First Team, and went 7-0 this season at the No. 3 position, en route to being the fourth Bantam recognized as the NESCAC Rookie of the Year, joining Tom De Mulder (2016), Miled Zarazua Ramirez (2012) and Andres Vargas Heredina (2008).
• Colby senior Patrick McCarthy and Bates rookie Mahmoud Yoursy join Mohohlo as the other newcomers on the All-NESCAC First Team. Both played at the No. 2 position for their respective teams this season.
• Mark Lewis of Middlebury has been selected as NESCAC Coach of the Year by his peers. Lewis, who is in his second season at Middlebury, is receiving the award for the first time in his career and is the first Panther coach to earn the honor. Lewis guided Middlebury to a third-place finish at the 2017 NESCAC Championship for the second straight season and the Panthers claimed their sixth Summers Cup.

Men's Squash All-Conference Teams

First Team All-NESCAC Name Institution Year Hometown Darrius Campbell Bates Sr. St. Stephen, S.C. Wyatt French Middlebury Sr. Farmington, Conn. James Evans Trinity Jr. Maidstone, England Ahmed Hatata Bates Sr. Cairo, Egypt Patrick McCarthy Colby Sr. Malvern, Pa. Thoboki Mohohlo Trinity So. Hartford, Conn. Colin O'Dowd Hamilton So. Boston, Mass. Rick Penders Trinity  Jr. Maastricht, Netherlands Jamie Ruggerio Williams Sr. Philadelphia, Pa. Will McBrian Colby Jr. Dedham, Mass. Mahmoud Yousry Bates  Fy. Cairo, Egypt         Second Team All-NESCAC Name Institution Year Hometown Omar Allaudin Trinity Jr. Lahore, Pakistan Ben Bristol Bowdoin Sr. Rocky Hill, N.J. Andrew Cadienhead Middlebury Sr. Bronx, N.Y. Michael Craig Trinity So. Belfast, Northern Ireland Jacob Ellen Middlebury Fy. New York, N.Y. John Fitzgerald Williams Fy. Greenwich, Conn. Chris Hart Wesleyan Sr. Darien, Conn. Affeeq Ismail Trinity Sr. Kuching, Malaysia Harith Khawaja Amherst So. Lahore, Pakistan Ian Squiers Bowdoin So. Dayton, Ohio

Player of the Year Ahmed Hatata, Bates   Rookie of the Year Thoboki Mohohlo, Trinity   Coach of the Year Mark Lewis, Middlebury