Boys Win National Squash Title; Girls Take Third Place

Penn Charter's eight-player boys squash team won the National High School Team Championship sanctioned by the U.S. Squash Racquets Association this weekend at a three-day tournament held at Yale University. The Penn Charter girls team took third place in the girls division.

"Both our teams represented PC very well on and off the court in terms of their level of play and sportsmanship," said Geoff Shields, boys coach and a member of the Penn Charter team that captured the 1975 Inter-Academic League title. Rodney Stewart coaches the girls team.

Both coaches agreed that there was tremendous excitement in the galleries and pressure on the courts. Among the greatest challenges was keeping a cool head during play, enabling the concentration necessary to execute throughout the match. "You can do all the physical training you want, but without mental preparation you simply can not compete at this level," Shields said.

The 2006-2007 boys team entered the tournament at Yale undefeated (14-0) and, for the second year in a row, as Inter-Ac champs. The boys beat Brunswick School, Greenwich, Conn., in the finals, 5-2. They advanced to the championship round with wins over Loomis Chaffe, Conn., Haverford School, and Phillips Exeter, N.H.The tournament involved 67 high school teams from 11 states.

The roster for the PC boys team included: Chris Callis, Alex Domenick, Matt Domenick, Steve Harrington, David Hilton, Ross Harrow, Pat Brady and Hunter Beck. Most of the players are ranked in the top of their respective age groups nationally. Noting that underclassman hold positions 1-5, Shields said, "PC is looking forward to another strong performance next season."

The girls placed third, behind Episcopal Academy, which came in first, and second-place finisher Greenwich Academy, Greenwich, Conn. The girls had wins over St. George's School, Newport, R.I., and Groton School, Groton, Mass. The roster for the girls team included: Kiera Murasko-Blank, Katie Corelli, Lexi Glassman, Sarah Domenick, Kate Savage, Shannon Harrington, Skylar Dickey and Elizabeth Golden.