Congratulations to the two NCS junior squash teams that were the first from our area to compete at the National Interscholastic Team Squash Championships. This year’s tournament, which occurred last month, was held at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center, the location for future championships too.

Both NCS teams competed in the top division, with the District Squash girls’ team finishing fourth nationally after defeating, by a 5-2 margin, a higher-seeded team from Greenwich, Connecticut. The team consisted of Radha Vadlamani (#1), Willa Haberl, Devan Chopra, Gabriella Bitar, Mariam Masoud, Lara Sheth, and Sophia Zafar.

The boys’ team, named “Butternut Squash,” had many tight matches, taking ninth place after defeating Pingry in the last match by a 5-2 score. Two of the teams five-match wins went to five games. The seven players on the team were: Dartagnan Rastogi (#1), Oskar Brown, Ibrahim Masoud, Vincent Gledhill, Neel Sethi, John Bitar, and Roshan Gill.

This event is open only to teams with students who attend a school without a squash team. It’s a unique opportunity to play junior team squash, so if you’re not on a squash team, consider forming a team next year. No Gold or JCT tournaments are scheduled during the championships so it will not conflict with players seeking ranking points to compete at the junior individual championships in March.