Trinity’s Bahgat Scores Player, Rookie of the Year Honors

HADLEY, Mass. - Trinity College first year Nour Bahgat (Cairo, Egypt) collected dual honors as she was selected by the conference coaches as both the 2009 NESCAC Player and Rookie of the Year. Bahgat has compiled a 12-0 record this season heading into this weekend’s College Squash Association (CSA) Individual National Championships.

Bahgat also earned NESCAC All-Conference First Team honors. She was joined on the First Team by juniors Nayelly Hernandez (San Luis, Mexico) and Jo-Ann Jee (Kuching, Maylasia). Hernandez, the 2008 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, holds a 7-5 mark this season while Jee has posted an 11-2 record. The trio helped the Bantams claim their third consecutive NESCAC Women’s Squash title earlier in the month along with a third-place at the Howe Cup, finishing the season at 12-3.

Williams joined Trinity as the only other to place three individuals on the All-NESCAC First Team. Returning from the 2008 All-Conference squad for the Ephs were juniors Jennifer Coxe (Greenwich, Conn.) and Toby Eyre (Gladwyne, Pa.). First year Courtney Bogle (Bronxville, N.Y.) rounds out the Williams contingent on the First Team. The Ephs went 12-10 in 2008-09 and finished as the runner-up to Trinity in the NESCAC championship.

A total of four individuals on this winter’s First Team earned All-NESCAC honors a year ago. Joining Williams’ tandem of Coxe and Eyre from the 2008 First Team were Middlebury senior Sarah Hatfield (Great Barrington, R.I.) and Hamilton junior Kelly Whipple (Rye, N.Y.). Hatfield heads into the weekend 13-10 while Whipple is 8-10.

Receiving All-NESCAC accolades for the first time in their careers were Bowdoin sophomore Elena Laird (Cambridge, Mass.), Connecticut College junior Cara Flynn (Haverford, Pa.) and Tufts senior Victoria Barba (New York, N.Y.). Laird played in the number one position for the Polar Bears this season and holds a 12-11 record. Flynn competed for most of the season at number two, compiling a 20-5 record along the way.

Middlebury head coach John Illig was chosen by his counterparts as NESCAC Coach of the Year. In his second season with the Panthers, Illig guided his team to a 19-8 showing and a fourth-place finish at this year’s conference championship.