Friday, October 28, 2016
It’s that time of the year again; the squash season is around the corner!
Our teams started their official practice season last week. Until then, the captains had been in charge of pre-season training. While we’ve had a few minor injuries on the squads, both teams are looking good and ready for another successful season.
Class of 2020: A combination of domestic and international talent
We’re proud and excited to welcome our new freshmen class to Harvard.
On the men’s side, Saadeldin Abouaish (runner-up at the World Junior Championship this past summer) is joined by top American juniors, Timmy Brownell (US Junior Open Champion) and Sean Hughes (3-time US Junior National Champion). As the team didn’t lose anyone from the top 9 this past year, we will have a much deeper team this season.
The women’s team will defend its national and Ivy League titles with the help of 3 freshmen. 2 of them come from England and one from the US: The Brits, Amelia Henley (finished 6th at the World Juniors) and Gina Kennedy (5-time British Junior Champion), have both won the Individual European Championship before coming to Harvard; Kennedy in 2015 and Henley in 2016. US junior national team member, Eleonore Evans, is off to a great start at Harvard and is expected to be contending for a top 9 position already in her freshman year.
Additionally, we have two walk-ons joining the teams after successfully getting through the tryout process: Theo Mendez ’19 joins the men’s team and Annika Engstrom ’20 will play on our women’s squad. We also have a newly appointed student team manager for the men’s team, Rana Bansal ’19.
Koh and McLaughlin continue; Women’s team selects new captains
Bryan Koh ’17 and Devin McLaughlin ’17 were strong co-captains last year as juniors and their teammates voted them to continue through their senior year. Our women selected Dileas MacGowan ’17 and Caroline Monrad ’17 as their senior co-captains and they’re off to a great start with the team.
Match Schedule for 2016 / 17:
November
12-13 | Ivy Scrimmages, Yale
December
07 | Dartmouth @ Harvard, 4PM
January
13 | Drexel @ Drexel, 12PM (Women), 12PM (Men)
14 | Penn @ Penn, 12PM (Men), 3PM (Women)
15 | Princeton @ Princeton, 12PM (Women), 2:30PM (Men)
19 | Stanford @ Stanford, 5PM (Women only)
28 | Rochester @ Rochester, 12PM (Men only)
29 | St. Lawrence @ St. Lawrence, 12PM (Men only)
February
04 | Columbia @ Harvard, 12PM
05 | Cornell @ Harvard, TBD
08 | Trinity @ Harvard, 4PM
10 | Brown @ Brown, 4PM (Women), 6PM (Men)
11 | Stanford @ Harvard, 11AM (Women only)
12 | Yale @ Harvard, 1PM
17-19 | Men’s Team Nationals @ Harvard
24-26 | Women’s Team Nationals @ Princeton
March
03-05 | Individual Nationals @ Dartmouth
Upcoming Alumni Events
While we hope to see many of you at our matches, we will also have a number of alumni events this season. We will send more details later in the year:
– NYC Hit Around during the Tournament of Champions (Jan 16, 17 or 18)
– San Francisco alumni event after the women’s Stanford match (Jan 19)
– An event during the weekend of the Men’s Team Nationals at Harvard (Feb 17-19)
What else has been going on?
– Rob Dinerman’s book, A History of Harvard Squash, was published almost exactly one year ago, on October 24th, 2015. During the evening, we heard some unforgettable experiences and stories from many former coaches and players and of course, Rob Dinerman himself. If you’re interested in purchasing the book, let us know by responding to this e-mail.
Pictures from the event can be found in our Facebook gallery (no login required): https://www.faceboo
– The annual Spring Reunion Hit Around took place in May. Over 20 alumni and many more family members joined us for a fun morning at the Murr Center.
If you haven’t seen the pictures yet, check out our Facebook gallery (no login required): https://www.faceboo
– Ali Farag ’14 and Amanda Sobhy ’15 have both had amazing runs on the professional circuit. They’ve solidified their spots in the world’s top 10 recently and they recorded their career-high rankings this month: After just a couple of years out of college, both Ali and Amanda are ranked 6th in the world!
– Hope Prockop ’90 continued her success at the British Open Masters this year by winning both the 40+ and 45+ titles. She also reached the 45+ semifinals at the World Masters in September.
– Finally, we want to congratulate both Ali Farag ’14 and Nigel Koh ’14 on getting married this past summer! Ali and his wife, Nour El Tayeb, are based in Cairo but they both travel the world competing on the professional squash circuit. Nigel has relocated to San Francisco with his wife.
Another exciting college season is about to start. We’ll be in touch again after the Ivy Scrimmages in a few weeks.
Go Crimson!
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