NEW YORK--Members of the Harvard men's squash team traveled all the way to the Harvard Club of New York to compete against their own teammates.

Because other squash powerhouses such as Princeton had commitments to compete elswhere, the Crimson racquetmen often found themselves pitted against each other.

Harvard participated in two tournaments: the Harry Cowles Invitational Tournament for the top 16 amateurs in the country, and the John Jacobs Invitational Tournament for the nation's next level of highly-ranked amateurs. The top three Harvard players were included in the Cowles, while 11 members of the Crimson squad inundated the 16-man field of the Jacobs.

Harvard's premier player, Kenton Jernigan, won the Cowles Tournament for the second year in a row, confirming his number one national amateur standing. Jernigan easily defeated second-ranked amateur Derek Niederman in Sunday's finals in three straight games, 15-9, 16-14, and 15-6.

Jernigan's showing last weekend proves that he is the "pre-eminent amateur in the game." said men's Coach Dave Fish. Jernigan's "real growth will come in the pro circuit," Fish said.

In semifinal action Sunday morning, Jernigan defeated Harvard's number-three player, Rusty Ball, while Niederman tripped up Harvard's second-ranked player, Darius Pendole, to earn a chance to wrest the title from Jernigan.

Joseph L. Dowling, ranked fifth for the Crimson, triumphed over Andy Nehrbas in the finals in three straight games to capture the Jacobs Invitational Sunday. Dowling had previously defeated Will Iselin, his eighth-ranked teammate, in a close-matched semifinal round.

According to Dowling, the strong showing by the lower-ranked Harvard team members manifests the depth of the Harvard team. "Any number of people on the team could have taken it," Dowling said.

John Bernheimer, a senior at Belmont High School who plans to take Harvard up on its Early Action offer, made it as far as the semifinals Saturday, where he was knocked off by Philadelphian Nehrbas. Bernheimer had defeated the Crimson's sixth-ranked Kevin Jernigan in the quarterfinals.