From the Desk of Editor-in-Chief Mike Way

From the Desk of Editor-in-Chief Mike Way:

Phew! What a season! I could not be more proud of both teams. The team culture is now where it needs to be: a strong foundation and a quiet strength that has carried both squads with dignity and respect through victories and losses. This cultural shift is responsible for the men finishing second this year (5th in ’11, 3rd in ’12) and the women being able to dig deeper, against a much stronger field than in 2012, to successfully defend the national title. Then Amanda Sobhy put the finishing touch on our season with another individual title. Both teams can be very proud to have earned three out of six titles for Harvard.

-Mike

Ivy Pochoda ’98 and Daniel Ezra ’98 to be Inducted into Harvard Hall of Fame

These two have left an incredible legacy at Harvard. Ezra was named IVY Rookie of the Year, two-time Ivy Player of the Year, four-time First Team All-IVY, three-time First Team All-American, 1996 Individual National Champion and was a four-time IVY Title and National Team Championship winner. Pochoda was named IVY Rookie of the Year, IVY Player of the Year, four-time First Team All-IVY, four-time All-American, 1998 Individual National Champion and was a four-time IVY Title and National Team Championship winner. They will be inducted at the ceremonial dinner on May 3rd.

Changing of the Guard

The players have cast their votes and elected the captains for the 2012-13 season. Haley Mendez ’15, Natasha Anzik ’14 and Gary Power ’14, Brandon McLaughlin ’14 will be Co-Captain pairs for the men’s and women’s teams, respectively. They are taking the reigns already as the teams have begun their spring training. .

Double Trouble

Congrats to Amanda Sobhy for winning the World Doubles Championship with Natalie Grainger. Additional congrats to Fritz Hobbs ’69 for making it to the finals of the Pro-Am. Dylan Patterson ’03, Nirasha Guruge ’12 and Asst. Coach Reggie Schonborn also played in the event.

Mike and Beth on Honeymoon in Belize

Back in January, Mike and Beth came back from the winter holiday with some exciting news. They got married! They were heading to get their marriage certificate and with families coming to town for the holidays, decided to go ahead with the ceremony on 3 days notice!! Fittingly, Beth wore boots….. Mike found an old tie…

After the season ended, they finally had the time to head off for a honeymoon in Belize. We all know how Mike likes to disappear with his kiteboard. Beth, being the brains of the family, found a tropical beach with hardly any wind!

Ali and Haley Nab Agassi for Olympic Bid

Andre Agassi was on campus Tuesday giving a talk at the Leadership Institute at Harvard College. After his speech on leadership on and off the court, Ali Farag and Haley Mendez got the chance to meet him. They even snapped a photo with the Hall of Famer in support of squash’s Olympic bid for 2020.

Haley said “I thought to print out one of the Back the Bid posters in the off-chance that I would be able to see him after the talk and get him to support the bid. And he did!” Agassi said “Squash is absolutely one of the best and toughest sports. The games would be proud!”

Way to go guys!

Water Polo Cross Training

Ted Minnis, the Head Coach for Water Polo, treated the men’s team to an introductory water polo session. It was a wonderful gesture on his part, especially considering that he is currently in-season. The guys learned a few moves and got to scrimmage. They had an awesome time and were blown away by what a great workout it was. “They’re going to be pretty sore today.” Ted said with a chuckle, “Many of them told me that they had a newfound respect for how physically demanding the sport is.”

Jake Dockterman ’13, Maestro of the National Anthem

Here is the latter half of of Jake’s rendition of the national anthem from the Men’s tennis match last night. We’ve been fortunate to have Jake, a former player on our team, perform the anthem at all our home matches this year. He’s incredible!