HARTFORD, Conn., Feb. 22- The Trinity College men's squash team, ranked No. 1 in the nation, will compete in the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association (NISRA) Team Championships on Feb. 25-27 at Yale University.

Trinity, coached by Paul Assaiante, will be the top seed in the tournament after capturing its third consecutive dual season title. The Bantams have won 131 of 135 individual varsity matches en route to a 15-0 season entering the final regular season match at Cornell University on Thu., Feb. 24. Trinity, which won the 1999 NISRA team title in 1999, has won 32 consecutive team matches.

The Bantams are led by two-time NISRA singles champion and three-time All-American senior Marcus Cowie (Norfolk, England), defending NISRA doubles champion and three-time All-American senior co-captain Preston Quick (Lakewood, CO), as well as returning All-American juniors Loua Coetzee (Port Alfred, South Africa) and Akhil Behl (Bombay, India), and All-American sophomores Rohan Bhappu (Bombay, India) and Lefika Ragontse (Gaborang, Botswana).

Quick is a team-best 14-0 this season and holds the College's all-time winningest record at 66-4. Cowie has posted a 9-1 record this season and is 54-7 in his Trinity career. Coetzee is second on the team in wins at 12-0, while Behl, Ragontse, sophomore Rohan Juneja (Bombay, India), and freshmen Jonathan Smith (Leeds, England) and Carl Baglio (Toronto, Ontario) are all 9-0.

The Trinity roster boasts representatives from eight different countries, who have won 11 national singles championships among them. Assaiante also coaches the Trinity men's tennis team, the United States Pan American Games and World Championship men's squash team, and will coach Hartford's World Team Tennis expansion team (Fox Force) this summer,

Trinity defeated Harvard University, 8-1, in last season's NISRA final at Harvard. The Bantams won a pair of five-set matches, including a thrilling marathon win by Bhappu at No. 5. In 1998, Harvard edged Trinity, 5-4, in the finals.