By Rohan Garg ’17
This past weekend, the University School Varsity Squash team travelled to Philadelphia for the 2016 United States High School Team Squash Championships. The team enjoyed success at every stage of the tournament, and ended up as the Division 5 National Champions.
Senior co-captains Adam Cristal and Jason Outcalt led this year’s national championship team, which consisted of the school’s top seven varsity squash players. The remaining team members included senior Will Johnson, juniors Henry Newell and Max Adelstein, and sophomores Phillip Richter and Tony Zhang. The players were also led by the coaching efforts of Head Coach Jonathan Bridge and Assistant Coach Craig Mueller. University School’s latest triumph continues the team’s history of success at the national level; in 2014, the team won 1st place in Division 4, and in 2015, the team had a strong performance in Division 3.
This culminating victory came as a result of a long and challenging season. Throughout the season, the squash team improved as a whole by competing against significantly better teams. By playing teams in Divisions 3 and 4, such as Mercersburg Academy, Potomac School, and Canisius High School, University School’s squash players gained valuable experience and enhanced their games.
Additionally, the team began practicing in early October, making the season half a month longer than it has been in previous years. The extra two weeks played an important role in the team’s success, giving the players additional time to work on conditioning and to refine techniques.
As this season comes to an end, the players turn their attention to next year’s season. Unfortunately, the team will lose their three best players as they go off to college next fall. In order to compensate for this loss, current junior and sophomore team members plan on putting in a great deal of practice during the offseason. Through hard work and strong leadership, the team hopes to achieve the same kind of success next year.
