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VARSITY SQUASH WINS DIV. VI NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP The varsity squash team took home Division VI Champion honors at the 2017 Head U.S. High School Squash Championship, held Feb. 10–12. Seeded 9th–12th in the all-boy division (due to the co-ed nature of our team), the squad faced a challenging field of all-male, older opponents. The event, played on a variety of courts in and around the Hartford area, is the largest junior squash tournament in the world, drawing 180 teams and more than 1,500 high school athletes. Undaunted, the nine-member squad of seventh through ninth graders delivered a 4–3 upset victory in the opening round over
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Riverdale Country School (Bronx, NY), which proved to be the most difficult contest of the weekend. The Cougars went on to handily defeat teams from Loyola Blakefield (Towson, MD) 6–1 and St. Mark’s School (Southborough, MA) 5–2. In the finals, they faced Delbarton School (Morristown, NJ) and clinched the win solidly, 7–0. “We received many compliments during the weekend about our tremendous team spirit, impeccable sportsmanship and resilience,” said Country School Coach Cynthia Badan. “I am tremendously proud
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of how our players performed under pressure.” The boys’ and girls’ teams also competed in the 2017 U.S. Middle School Team Squash Championships held at Yale University Jan. 27–29. The girls’ team earned a fifth-place national ranking in Division 1, while the boys’ settled for a 1–4 tournament finish in Division II. Open only to fifth through eighth graders, our ninth grade players cheered on their teammates from the viewing stands. The 10th annual event drew heavily from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Maryland with a total of 70 teams
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and 450 players competing.
1. Members of the Div. VI National Squash Championship team included Carolina Salvatore, Captains Griffin Dewey and Bo Zeigler, James Kontulis and Mary Duffy; (back row) Assistant Coach Henry Nelson, Ella Schoonmaker, Megan Meyerson, Teddy Schoenholtz and Chuck Warren. 2. Girls’ Squash team members included (front) Amanda Miller, Maeve Baker and Cece Salvatore; (in back) Coach
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Cynthia Badan, Captain Griffin Dewey, Ella Schoonmaker, Daly Baker and Mary Duffy. 3. The squad competed in the all-boy division, a challenge that they overcame. 4. Boys’ Squash team members included James Kontulis, Peter Miller, Stanley Bright, Charlie Von Stade and (not pictured) Cody Comyns.