Squash Teams Achieve Impressive Tournament Results

The First Boys’ and Girls’ Squash teams competed in their respective New England tournaments Feb. 26 and 27, and both squads brought home a number of accolades and impressive results.

 

First Boys' Squash had their best outing ever at the Class A New England Championships, coming in an impressive second place. Taft finished first, but the Martlets bested Brunswick and Belmont Hill, both teams Westminster had lost to in the regular season. The Black and Gold was led by Ahmed Abdel Khalek '12, who went undefeated for the entire season and won the No. 1 flight to bring a New England Championship to the Hill. Jacob Lee '11 also returned as a champion at the No. 6 position. Playing in the fifth flight, Hayden Radovich '11 came in third, and Michael LeBlanc '12 took fourth in the second flight. Jon Eder '11 won his last three matches to finish fifth at No. 4, and Harry Ganek '14 earned three wins and two incredibly close losses to take sixth at No. 7. Finally, captain Matt Leach '11 had two big wins at the No. 3 position to end up ninth overall. This was truly a special group of boys to watch and one that will leave a long legacy on Westminster's courts.

 

With a 10-7 regular season record, First Girls’ Squash earned the No. 1 seed in the Class B New England Tournament and ultimately lived up to their ranking and winning the first place team plaque, edging Brooks School by three points. Every match result was critical with such a close competition, and every girl came through in a significant way. At No. 7, Katie Polio '11 earned a semi-final berth with two victories on Saturday, settling in the end for fourth place. At No. 6, Cricket di Galoma '14 was crowned champion in her flight with four consecutive victories. Hannah Leathers '11 took third place at No. 5, prevailing in a tough four-game match to secure a key team point. Chessy di Galoma '11 took runner-up honors in the No. 4 flight, playing her best squash of the year. Christi DeSimone '12 was the other flight champion at No. 3, winning her final match in five games. At No. 2, Olivia Frank '11 was matched against another athletic player in the fifth place match and prevailed on sheer will and some effective adjustments in a four-game win. In the top flight, Sasha Marshall '13 won a five gamer in which she displayed all of her shot-making and craftiness to take seventh place. The team was pushed to play their best in order to bring home the prize, and they did their school proud with their performances.