NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Harrison Gill, the only Yale player competing on the final day of last month's College Squash Association (CSA) Individual National Championships, has been elected captain of the 2020-21 men's squash team. The student-athlete vote was conducted electronically late last week.
 
"I am extremely honored to be elected captain of Yale Men's Squash for the 2020-2021 season. This program has given me so much, and I am thankful to have one more opportunity to give back and make a lasting mark on it my final year," said Gill, who was the last Bulldog standing at Penn when he made the final of the CSA's Molloy Division.
 
It was the second straight year Gill played in a CSA finale, having played the last day of the 2019 event. The Darien, Conn., native swept his first three matches of the 2020 nationals before falling to a player from Trinity. Gill played No. 3 for the Elis this winter, posting an 11-4 overall record and then winning two of his three matches at the CSA Team Nationals at Boston.
 
Gill is one of three on the Yale roster in the class of 2021. He anticipates good chemistry between the veteran leaders, the coaches and the other student-athletes.
 
"We are extremely fortunate to have such an involved and dedicated coaching staff that has been pushing us every year, as well as two other fantastic rising seniors in Jacob Rhee and Tyler Carney, who will play a pivotal role in our success this season," said Gill, a volunteer with Squash Haven, a non-profit city outreach program based at Yale. There is already an infectious energy in the group this spring, and along with a strong incoming first-year class, we have our eyes set on the Ivy League and national titles."
 
Gill paid tribute to the class of 2020 by saying, "Each of our departing seniors left a unique mark on the program, and we are poised to build off the strong foundation they set."
 
The former three-time No. 1 player and captain at Darien High School learned the game at age seven from his father, who was introduced to the game while attending college in England. His father learned well enough to produce four collegiate players. Gill's three older siblings played, including his sister, Leslie, the captain of Penn's 2014-15 Ivy League Championship team. He had a brother at Columbia and a sister at Stanford.
 
David Talbott, Yale's Brooks G. Ragen Director of Squash, coached the 2015-16 team to Ivy and national titles in 2015-16. When the Bulldogs hosted Columbia that winter, Gill was a high school junior watching from the Brady Center.
 
"The passion and pride from each player on the Yale team blew me away," said Gill of that match against the Lions. "After seeing that team compete with such heart for their teammates and their school, I knew that I wanted to play for Yale and Coach Talbott. I hope we can channel the intensity and level of performance that the 2016 team embodied and use that to be successful as we can."
 
Talbott explained why Gill was a good choice for the team.
 
 "I am excited for Harrison and the support of our men's team to elect him captain for next season. Harrison is a strong leader and a good choice to lead the team this coming fall.  He also has two strong teammates in fellow rising seniors Tyler Carney and Jacob Rhee.  They will be a strong trio together to lead a very strong returning group plus four strong first-year men coming to campus next fall."