The Harvard men's squash team swept the United States Squash Racquets Association (USSRA) national amateur championships, held at Yale this weekend, claiming the national five-man championship, the only title which cluded the racquetmen last year.

In the individual event, Kenton Jernigan defended his title as national amateur champion with what Harvard Coach Dave Fish called, "an absolutely brilliant display."

The Crimson got its revenge on the Mexican national team, which had beaten the racquetmen for the title the previous year, with a 5-0 thrashing that Fish labelled "a big upset."

It's hard to imagine how anything could be called an "upset" for a Crimson squad which had beaten all eight of its previous opponents by a combined total of 70-2, but since it was playing without the services of its top four players, the victory was unexpected.

With Jernigan, David Boyum and Rusty Ball competing in the individual competition and Richard Jackson lost to injury, the Crimson looked like a longshot to recapture the five-man title which it had held in 1983.

The loss of Jackson put our team in a position of playing to win instead of playing not to lose," Fish said.

And play to win they did, cruising through the tournament field without losing a single match.

The racquetmen faced Penn in the opening round and crushed the Quakers, 5-0, while playing three spots over their heads (Harvard's regular number five man. Peter Dinncen, faced Penn's regular number two).

The Crimson next met Navy and, playing up four spots, shut out the Midshipmen to advance to the semifinals.

Harvard shut down Boston number one, a team comprised of the Hub's best amateurs, coming away with another 5-0 win in the semis.

The Harvard victory set up a repeat of last year's final with Mexico. But this year, injuries and all, the Crimson was not to be denied.

"Everyone was pretty nervous because they had beaten us last year," sophomore Joe Dowling said. "But we were mentally tough."

The first two matches to be played were at four and five, where fresh Darius Pandole and Jack Polsky each won pivotal 3-2 victories.

"When we won both of those matches it was an emotional stirge for us," Fish said. "It looked as though we'd come away even at best."

Carrying a 2-0 lead into the final three matches, the top of the Harvard lineup continued the sweep. Dowling came away with a convincing 3-0 victory at number three, while top seeded. Dinncen defeated Mexico's Isaac Kirel, 3-1.