Princeton University Athletics
Women's Squash Facts & Figures
One of the original programs in the sport, the Princeton women's squash team has won more Howe Cup national team championships than any other collegiate program. Princeton has also had five players combine to win 11 individual national titles, including three players (Wendy Zaharko, Demer Holleran and Julia Beaver) who won three apiece.
Three women have combined to coach Princeton to more than 400 victories. Betty Constable, the first coach in program history, coached 21 years and won 12 national titles, including one in her final season (1990-91). Emily Goodfellow, a former Princeton standout who reached the 1975 championship final, coached for three seasons and won 20 of 25 matches.
The current head coach is Gail Ramsay, who was the first player in women's history to win four collegiate individual championships. Ramsay took over during the 1995-96 season and has won five national championships and four Ivy League championships.Â
Read more facts and figures about Princeton women's squash below.
Ivy League Championships (6):Â 1989, 1991, 1998, 2007, 2009, 2013
Ivy League Players of the Year (5): Katherine Johnson (1996, 1997), Julia Beaver (1998, 1999, 2000)
Ivy League Rookie of the Year (9): Katherine Johnson (1994), Missy Wyant (1995), Julia Beaver (1998), Maria Elena Ubina (2014), Olivia Fiechter (2015), Raneem El-Torky (2018), Hiu Lam Lui (2019), Caroline Spahr (2020), Zeina Zein (2024)
U.S. Intercollegiate Team Championships — Howe Cup (17): 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009
Women’s Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association (WISRA)/CSA Individual Championships (11): Wendy Zaharko (1972, 1974, 1975); Nancy Gengler (1976); Demer Holleran (1986, 1987, 1989), Katherine Johnson (1997), Julia Beaver (1999, 2000, 2001), Zeina Zein (2025)
Quick Facts:
• Squash was one of the original women’s varsity sports introduced at Princeton in the 1971-72 academic year. The others were basketball, crew, field hockey, swimming and tennis.
• Julia Beaver ’01 became the first women’s squash player in Ivy League history to win the Player and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season when she accomplished the feat in 1997-98. Beaver was the league's Player of the Year and the USWISRA national champion in 1999.
• The team once went five consecutive seasons (1977-78 to 1981-82) without losing a dual match and had an overall winning streak of 40 dual matches.
• Katherine Johnson ’97, Princeton’s only other two-time Ivy League Player of the Year besides Julia Beaver, is one of six Tigers to win the USWISRA/CSA singles championship.
   Â
• Twelve Princetonians have been four-time All-Ivy League selections: Patrice McConnell (1981-84); Demer Holleran (1986-89); Mary Foulk (1988-91); Hope MacKay (1989-92); Jen Roos (1989-92); Katherine Johnson (1994-97); Missy Wyant (1995-98); Elise O'Connell (1996-99); Blair Irwin (1997-2000); Julia Beaver (1998-2001); Claire Rein-Weston (2004-07); Julie Cerullo (2010-14).
• Former head coach Betty Constable, whose husband Pepper was a football standout at Princeton in the 1930s, is the most well-known name in the sport. Constable was responsible for establishing the collegiate division of the Howe Cup, a trophy which was originally awarded in 1928 and named for the leading family in women’s squash at the time — Mrs. William F. Howe, Jr., and her twin daughters, Peggy and Betty.
• Former head coach Emily Goodfellow ’76, who had never played squash before coming to Princeton, had a career dual-match mark of 21-3 and reached the WISRA final as a junior, losing to teammate Wendy Zaharko ’75. Goodfellow owns the distinction of being the only Princeton athlete to earn 12 varsity letters.
• Princeton won three straight national titles between 2007 and 2009, with arguably its most exciting run coming in 2009. The Tigers won the Ivy League title that season with a 5-4 win over Harvard, then needed 5-4 wins over both Trinity and Harvard to win the Howe Cup. Of their 15 wins in those three matches, six were in five games.