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SportsZone: Summer Highlights

SportsZone: Summer Highlights

Girls Squash

In July, Sam and Alex Jaffe ’25 competed in the finals of the Junior Dutch Open in Amsterdam. This time, Alex emerged as the victor. The girls followed up this incredible performance by representing Team USA at the Team Junior World Squash Championships in Houston, Texas. The Jaffes played a key role in leading Team USA to a second-place finish, marking its fourth in program history. Sam secured Team USA’s spot in the finals with a big victory against Malaysia in the semifinal round. 

girls playing squash


Girls Track

On the track, Michaela Poland ’26 competed at the AAU Junior Olympics in Greensboro, N.C. and achieved All-American Honors, running a split of 55.86 while anchoring the 4x400 relay team. Poland also ran a personal best in the 200 at the Ron Jackson Invitational with a time of 25.31. Alli DeLisi ’25 and Mackenzie Skelly ’29 competed at the Brooks PR Invitational in June. DeLisi ran to a fourth-place finish in the 800m, going a personal best of 2:05.82. Skelly also ran a personal best in the middle school mile race, placing second at 4:32.82. 

girl running track

 

Wrestling

On the wrestling mat, Simon Bethea ’26 and Greyson Catlow-Sidler ’25 placed top three in the USA Wrestling Qualifier events and wrestled for Team PA in the Team Duals and Fargo National Wrestling Tournament. Catlow-Sidler helped Team PA take second in Greco Roman and third in Freestyle at the USMC National Team Duals. Bethea and Catlow-Sidler wrestled as individuals for Team PA and won the Freestyle title in the Fargo National Tournament. Ryan Filoon ’30 wrestled for his club team at the prestigious Bison Duals, where his team went 6-2. 

student athletes


Girls Swimming

In the pool, Liliana DeMartinis ’26 and Cate DeMartinis ’28 qualified for their first national-level swim meet and competed in three events each at the Futures Championship in Austin. Also participating at the Futures Championship Meet was Ava Coombs ’25, who raced in three events and performed a lifetime best in the 100 freestyle. Eva McIver-Jenkins ’25 qualified in an impressive six events at the Futures Championships and placed at the top of the meet in the 50 free, 100 fly and 200 fly. Her 50 free was fast enough to be considered for Scholastic All-American. Nola Waldbuesser ’28 also had a great summer making her Futures cuts in the 50 free, 200 free, and 400 free while also making her Junior National cut in the 100 free. 

Girls & Boys Water Polo

This summer, PC Aquatics also had two student-athletes participating in the California Junior Olympic Water Polo tournament. Caroline Sumner ’26 and James Walters ’25 trained all summer with Maverick Water Polo and participated in JOs in July. Caroline played with both the girls' 16U team, which placed 17th in the silver division, and the 18U team, which finished 5th in the bronze division. James competed with the boys' 18U team, which placed 38th. 
 

Girls Lacrosse

The girls lacrosse team had a busy summer as Maeve Magarity ’26, Molly Dougherty ’26, Harbor Campbell ’26, Ana Buckley ’26, and Aliyah Leonard ’26 all were selected to represent Pennsylvania in the American Select Champions Tournament. Maeve was named MVP and First-Team All-Tournament, while Harbor Campbell was placed on the All-Tournament 2nd team. Many of these players played in the Committed Games and were invited to the Best in Class Showcase. Laila Sharp ’27 also joined the others on the Philly’s Phinest All-Star Team. 

Sophomores Mia DiBenedetto, Cate Wall, Claire Cho, Laila Sharp, Katie Shoup and Annabelle Fratoone participated in the American Select Tournament. Mia and Cate were also selected to participate in the Best in Class Showcase, and Mia was named a standout player. 

Girls Tennis

On the tennis court, Avery Morris ’29 competed in the Maccabi Games in Houston and made it to the finals of the 14U tournament, bringing home the silver medal. 

Boys Crew

Jack Davey ’25 competed with his club team, Fairmount Rowing Association, at the 140th Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. The regatta is one of the largest in North American with over 2000 rowers competing. Jack rowed in the U19 double and U19 quad boats and the quad finished 4th at the event. 

Boys Basketball

boy playing basketball

Penn Charter basketball players also stayed busy on the hardwood this summer. Jake West ’25 and Matt Gilhool ’25 were both selected to participate in the Pangos All-American Camp in Las Vegas and were selected for the top-30 game at the camp. Matt didn’t stop there as he was selected to participate in the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) top 100 camp at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. During the Division I live period, the PC team went to Washington, D.C., to play in the DMV Live event. At the event, the team picked up wins against DC powerhouse Dematha and Paul VI (VA), who finished as runner-ups last season for the Chipotle National Championship. Lastly, the senior trio of Jake, Matt and Kai Shinholster ’25 finished their AAU seasons, receiving just under 50 DI scholarship offers among them. 

Jonah Flaisher ’27 also kept busy on the basketball court this summer as he competed in London with Maccabi USA for the European Maccabi Youth Games. Jonah was a part of the U16 gold medal-winning team that beat France and competed against Great Britain and Australia. He also played on the 3v3 team that brought home the silver. 

 

Have an addition? Let us know! Contact Brian Hecker at bhecker@penncharter.com.

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