Coach: Bill Doyle

Highlights: Wins eighth consecutive national championship.

Seniors: Richard Bilimoria, Jeff Blumberg, Daniel Ezra

Harvard closed out its regular season with a 7-2 victory at Amherst and a 6-3 defeat of Yale. With a perfect Ivy record and the loss to Trinity its only blemish in over five years, the Crimson entered the NISRA Team Championship hungry for the revenge it eventually enacted.

"It came down to who wanted it more, and I think we proved it was us," Ezra said. "Trinity is our nemesis, so it was like killing a demon."

Revenge was the theme once again one week later at the NISRA Individual Championship, but this time Harvard found itself on the losing end. Ezra, the 1996 national champion, entered the weekend as the top seed with Cowie going in as No. 2. As expected both players advanced to the championship match where Cowie had the season's last laugh, posting a 3-1 victory over Ezra to capture his second consecutive national title.

"Cowie definitely picked up some things from [the team nationals]," said Ezra following his loss. "He's a great player and deserves the win. It was a tough loss, but we still had a very successful year."

Successful may be an understatement. In capturing its eighth consecutive national title this year, Harvard had to show the true perseverance of a championship team by overcoming the unfamiliar adversity of being an underdog.

Harvard graduates three of its top nine today, including Ezra, No. 2 Rishaad Bilimoria and No. 5 Jeff Blumberg, so the challenge now becomes even greater.

But the Crimson's players have already endured the toughest test of their collegiate careers, that of adjusting to not being the clear-cut favorite. The team proved that their perennial excellence extends to the highest levels by closing their season in the same manner that they have for 14 of the last 16 years--by earning the title of nation's best.