For the first time, Landon School competed at the US Squash High School Championships in February. After shaking off some early jitters in a first-round 5-2 win, the team cruised to the Boys Division VI final, taking the quarters and semis by 6-1 and 7-0 scores.
The final was a nail-biter against the #1 seed, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy from Philadelphia, a perennial squash power. But the team emerged with a 4-3 victory and the trophy, made possible in part by Matthew Gillespie, who played #6 on the ladder. After dropping two of the first three games (9), 9, (8), Matthew came back to win with consecutive 11-9 scores.
Congratulations to team coaches James Masland and WT Miller as well as the team members: Zachary Fekrat; Andrew Amorosi; Jay Kapoor; Attison Hetherington; Jack Mearns; Teddy Fucci; Scott Hooper; and Chenze Li.
The High School Nationals is the world’s largest squash tournament with more than 1,700 players competing on 210 teams across fourteen divisions (eight for boys and six for girls) on sixty eight courts at eight venues in the greater Philadelphia area.
The Whitman High School team recorded the best finish among NCS boys teams, finishing sixth in Division IV. That result placed Whitman at the number 6 national ranking among public high school teams.
In the first round, Whitman breezed to a 6-1 win, leading to a quarterfinal against the #3 Penn Charter, another one of the perennial powerhouse Philadelphia teams, and the eventual division finalist. While Whitman lost by a 5-2 topline, the match was much closer than that score. Four of the matches went to tight five games, with Penn Charter taking three.
Clearly, Whitman is competitive with any of the top Division IV teams. Congratulations to coaches Aidan Donnan and Connie Barnes and team members Will Kearney, Daniel Antonioli, Shahmeer Ali, Diego Espinoza, Alaan Javed, Zaki Ilias, Jayan Kansal, Chase Mullins, and Ronan Samantaray.
The National Cathedral School led all NCS teams in the girls divisions, making the final in Division IV. Congratulation to coaches Ronny Vlassaks and Valerii Fedoruk and team members Caroline Burg, Sophia Akbar, Lila Caddell, Alexia Mostrous, Miya Gearing, Rheya Lakhmani, Franny Leahy, Elizabeth Dean, Eleanor Powell, and Meri Rose Garnett.
The Potomac School girls entered Division V as the #1 seed and won the title without drama, taking the final with a comfortable 5-2 margin. Congratulations to coaches Nouran EL Torky and John Lindquist and team starters Shreya Vadlamani, Kavya Aggarwal, Kathryn Bennett, Caroline Craine, Hannah Chao, Jane Naegele, and Susie Taylor.
The Potomac School boys took 13-14 in Division V, while BCC placed 3-4 in Division VI, despite being seeded 10th. Episcopal finished 9th in Division VI.
If your school doesn’t have a squash team, consider forming one! NCS offers a sponsorship program to encourage high school varsity or club teams to participate in their first US Squash National High School Championships.
The High School Championships offer divisions for teams at all skill levels. Your team would be placed in a division that should provide good competition.
Learn more about the sponsorship program here.