Three members of the Penn men's squash team will look to prove their individual ability this weekend.
Penn's top three starters -- No.1 Richard Repetto, No. 2 Sam Miller and No. 3 Roberto Kriete -- will represent Penn at the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association Individual Championships at Princeton.
Repetto, a freshman, will compete in the A division of the individual championships, which consists of the top 32 players in the nation.
Miller, a junior, and senior Kriete, will represent the Quakers in the Molloy (B) Division, named after long-time Penn coach Al Molloy. The Molloy Division includes the 33rd through 64th ranked players in the nation.
In addition to the three Penn players already included in the draw, Penn junior co-captain Elan Levy remains on the waiting list for the upcoming weekend.
"Although a few players would have to drop out, Elan still has a good chance of playing this weekend," Penn coach Craig Thorpe-Clark said.
Thorpe-Clark thinks that Miller and Kriete both have a strong chance of taking the Molloy Division title.
"Sam [Miller] and Roberto [Kriete] are playing with a group of guys they are equal to," Thorpe-Clark said. "I would look for both of them to perform well this weekend."
Repetto enters this weekend as the No. 6 seed in the A bracket. He will take on Cornell University No. 1, junior Tim Nagel, in the first round of play.
"I ended up with a pretty good draw," Repetto said. "If I hit the shots I want this weekend and remain focused I can do really well."
Coach Thorpe-Clark mirrored Repetto's thoughts.
"Rich is very talented and very capable," Thorpe-Clark said. "If he has a good weekend he could reach the semis or finals."
A potential opponent for Repetto if he were to reach the finals -- and a favorite to win the individual title this weekend -- is Trinity College (Conn.) freshman Bernardo Samper, a Bogota, Colombia, native.
Samper finished the season 17-0, leading the Bantams to their third straight NISRA Potter Cup Championship.
Repetto faced Samper earlier in the season when the Quakers met Trinity at the Ringe Squash Courts for a dual meet.
Although Repetto struggled, losing, 3-1, he showed signs of promise towards the ends of the match.
"Last time I played Samper I started out slow and wasn't able to hit the shots I wanted," Repetto said. "If I get a chance to play him this weekend things will be different. I want to win this thing."
