SPS Girls Squash FAQ

St. Paul’s Squash Info Sheet:

History: St. Paul’s is the home to a very important piece of squash history--the location of the first squash courts to be built in the United States. They were built in 1882 and were open air courts and eventually indoor courts were built. St. Paul’s teams have won 11 New England Team Titles, 11 Individual New England Titles, and alumni have gone off and won 3 College Individual National Titles, and won 7 US Squash National Titles.

Facility:

-Ten International Squash Courts
-Fully integrated scoreboard system using TV’s, Ipads, player names, and Team Live Scoring display on three large venue TV’s.
-Wireless mic and sound system for communication and of-course playing music during practice
-Full live streaming of all home matches and robust match film archive for match analysis
-two ball machines
-electric constant-pull stringing machine
-showers and locker rooms in the building
-Courts open year round

Teams:

The Boys and Girls teams have roughly 30 members each which makes up the Varsity, JV, and JV2 teams. Teams practice both together and separately throughout the season. SPS Squash plays a competitive schedule each season against the best teams in New England and beyond. We also play in High School Nationals in Philly to end the season.

The teams have risen in the New England and National Ranks over the last ten years at a fast pace. In 2015, both teams were in Division 3 at Nationals for teams ranked 33-49 nationally. In 2016, both teams moved up to Division 2 for teams ranked 17-32. The boys finished 2nd in D2 (18th overall Nationally) losing 4-3 in the finals of the National D2 event. The girls finished 7th in D2 that year.

In 2017, the teams skyrocketed to new levels. The boys made it into D1 for the first time since 2007. The snow at the event canceled the Sunday playoff matches and SPS finished tied for 13 but the program mission had been accomplished, get back to D1 and be ranked in the top 16 nationally. The girls also moved up the rankings and improved to a top 5 seed in D2. They won their first round match and lost in the quarters 4-3 with a final National Ranking of 5 in D2. The girls finished 8th in New England in 2017 in Class A.

In 2018 the boys continued their enormous rise to the top of the national rankings-- they went 17-1 on the season with wins over Deerfield, Andover, Exeter, Belmont Hill, Brooks, Choate, Hotchkiss, Taft, St. Georges, Tabor, Gillman, and more. Their only loss of the season came to Avon in the quarter finals of the D1 High School National Championships where the boys finished 5th overall which marked their second highest finish in program history. The girls finished third place in DII at Nationals, finished 8th at New Englands in Class A, and had a wins over Sacred Heart (DI), Exeter, Brooks, St. Marks, and Loomis, on its way to its highest finish in 5 years.

In 2019 the teams did exactly what Coach Smith’s 5 year plan set out to do. The boys team was seeded #3 in the country(DI) going into High School Nationals showcasing their depth and strength at all roster spots. #1 Myles McIntyre was unable to play the event due to an injury the week of the event and the team was dropped to the #6 seed. With the season goal to make it to the National Championship game, the team had an uphill battle with everyone playing up a spot. The team responded to the challenge and after beating West Coast upstart Crystal Springs, SPS upset 4 seed Episcopal 4-3 in the quarter finals to vault us into the Semi Finals. In the semis, the boys faced 2 seed Haverford and pushed them to the brink and lost 4-3 with the last match on court going 5 games. Clearly the message was heard, SPS with its #1 player could have made the national finals and without their #1, the team is one of the best coached, most prepared, and deep programs in the country. This matched the program’s best finish nationally in the history of the SPS Squash program.

The girls also made a huge jump in 2019. After finishing high in D2 the last two years, the girls launched into a 9-12 seed in Division 1. This was the first time in 6 years the girls qualified for the D1 draw. The girls lost to a tough Episcopal ? seed in the first round and then won its next two matches to get to the 9/10 playoff match on Sunday. The girls ran into a tough Lawrenceville team but a #10 finish in the country certainly was a program highlight in our long history.

At the 2019 New Englands the boys once again limped into a tournament, this time with two players in the top 7 out due to injury. The depth of the program was again called upon as the #8 and #9 players on the SPS ladder found themselves now playing #6 and #7. Once again we were counted out by many--except those in the program. The boys found themselves on the podium with a 3rd Place finish. The season will be remembered as one of the best ever in our record books but with a big * next to it of what could have been without the injuries. With that said, the results and story line of the season point to what SPS Squash is all about--everyone works hard no matter the roster number and everyone improves. LP

The girls had an amazing run at New Englands and finished in 5th place in Class A (teams 1-16) behind 4 teams that finished ahead of them at Nationals.|

In 2020 the teams didn’t rebuild, but it took a small step down in the National Standings--the boys still stayed in Division 1 at Nationals as one of the top 16 teams in the country--9 of which were from our league in New England showcasing just how great squash is in the prep school world. The team finished in 13th place at the tournament with a nice 5-2 win over Poly Prep. At New Englands the team was ranked 9th in the league and was placed in Class B for teams 9-16. The Boys won the tournament with an exciting 4-3 win over Taft. #1 Myles McIntyre completed an undefeated season at #1 in all SPS Matches(19-0) to secure the match for the Big Red. Also, the JV Boys team won the inaugural US Squash National Interscholastic Championships held in Providence, RI and finished the season with a 17-2 record and clearly had surfaced as one of the best JV programs in the country.

The girls had an amazing run in 2019-2020 despite facing some injury adversity after losing their #2 mid-way thru the season. The team had some great wins over the course of the season including Hotchkiss, St. George’s, Taft, Exeter, Loomis, Milton, and Groton. The loss of the #2 made it difficult to handle the teams ranked above us and the girls dropped out of the top 16 Nationally and were seeded #2 in D2 at Nationals (Teams ranked 17-32). They made it to the Championship Game and dropped an exciting 4-3 loss to Nobles. The girls finished out the season in Class A at New Englands for teams ranked 1-8 in all of prep school squash.

The 2020-2021 season as we all know was lost to COVID but we played squash every day, trained, and still looked to help our players improve and have fun during difficult times. That season Coach Smith laid the groundwork for his next 5 year plan and was able to recruit a monster squad for both the boys and girls squads.

2021-2022 was a special year simply because we were able to get back into competition. COVID was very much still a thing and present in the world and even though competition was allowed, we had to stay healthy in order to play. The players did a great job of staying healthy and were even able to make it to all JCT and other off campus tournaments. The girls team had a big run with statement wins over Groton, Tabor, Exeter, St. George’s, Choate, and Deerfield (for the first time in 15 years). The girls finished tied for 6th at New Englands and were back into D1 at Nationals. The final weekend of the season was our greatest showing of the year and the girls had a 4-3 over Milton to secure a finish of 11th in the country— their highest finish since 2019 and 3rd highest finish in program history.

The boys team in 2021-2022 returned to their National and New England glory. In a year that showcased the strength of our league— finishing 5th at New Englands and 6th at Nationals shows just how deep and talented our league is—SPS squash remains one of the best programs in the country . The team had great wins over Groton, Exeter, Tabor, Milton, Belmont Hill, Andover twice, Choate, Crystal Springs, and Gilman on their way to finish 6th at Nationals—its third highest finish in program history.

The greatest addition to the rosters in 2021 was the hiring of Coach Gannon Leech. Coach Leech played squash at Bowdoin and has added another layer to the SPS program making this one of the top coaching staffs in the prep school ranks. Coach’s energy, talent, and knowledge struck immediately with the SPS players and they all have dramatically improved thanks to his on court and off court work.

In 2022-2023- both teams continued on their successful 2021-2022 seasons. The girls team didn’t graduate anyone out of its top 8 and added a new player into the mix giving us even more depth. The team had a 12-2 season with big wins over Deerfield (twice), Tabor, Choate, Andover, Exeter, Groton, Windsor, Milton, and Germantown Friends. The girls finished 5th at New Englands in Class A and 10 at Nationals in Division1. The girls will look to continue their success next year as there are no seniors on the team. The depth of the program is very strong for the years to come.

The Boys went 11- 6 with wins over Deerfield, Andover (twice), Exeter, Choate, Tabor, Belmont Hill, and finished third place in New England and 8th at Nationals in Division 1. The boys showed a lot of growth and improvement over the course of the season and beat teams they had lost to earlier in the season. The back to back weekends of New Englands and Nationals was something special where SPS upset higher ranked teams multiple times. At New Englands a 4-3 win over Deerfield and a 4-3 win over Andover secured a podium spot for SPS finishing third behind Kent (national champion) and Brunswick (#3 nationally). The next weekend at Nationals SPS upset Andover again 4-3 in the first round securing a top 8 finish for the Big Red.

2023-2024

What an amazing year for our Girls Program who went 10-3 with 2 losses to Tabor and one loss to National Champion Greenwich. They were ranked in the top 4 of New England the entire year and finished 4th at New Englands–their highest finish in decades. The very competitive New England league result of top 4 translated into a #7 in the country finish at Division 1 at High School Nationals. To put that in perspective, the New England League had 4 of the top 7 teams in the country in 23-24. The #7th place finish was the best finish in the history of the girls program at Nationals. 5 of the team’s seniors graduated and will all play college squash and they left the program with years of memories and amazing wins.

Recent SPS Grads in College Squash

George Cooley’14 #5 at Bowdoin, went with recruit spot secured
Rachel Ang’14 #2 at Amherst, went with recruit spot secured
Lucy Bostwick’14 top 9 at Middlebury , went with recruit spot secured
Lily Bogel’14 top 9 at Middlebury, went with recruit spot secured
Ian Petty’14 top 9 at Amherst, went with recruit spot secured
Armaan Arora’14 #5 at Georgetown
Esteban Dardani’15 #5 at Colgate
Griff Bryant’15 #2 at Northwestern
Will Jordan’16 #9 at Hamilton
Alex Dreyfus’16 #5 at Wesleyan, went with recruit spot secured
Gaden James ’16 top 15 at UPenn
Alexandra Sharpe ’16 top 15 at UPenn
Henry Parkhurst ’16 #8 at Princeton (elected Captain for ‘19-’20)
Davy Qi ’15 #4 at Swarthmore
Liesel Guenther ’17 #2 at Hamilton, went with recruit spot secured
Uday Khanna ’17 UPenn
Mason Parker ’17 UPenn
Tiger Gao ’17 Princeton
Katherine Burkhart ’17 top ten at Amherst, went with a recruit spot secured
Callie Burkhart ’17 #7 Bowdoin
Bill Bi ’18 Harvard
Will Yee ‘18 UChicago
Sydney Bedar ‘19 recruit spot secured at Cornell (elected Captain 22-23)
Janson Chu ‘19 recruit spot secured at Yale
Vincent Wang ‘19 recruit spot secured at MIT
Jack Vanderhorst ‘19 recruit spot secured at Colby
Andrew Jung ’19 recruit spot secured at Columbia
Brian Cowhey ‘19 accepted early at UPenn Wharton
Margaret Fleischner ‘20 recruit slot and accepted early at St. Lawrence
Myles McIntyre ‘20 recruit slot and accepted early to University of Virginia
Ariane Bretl ‘20 recruit spot secured at Haverford
Ella Cohen ‘20 accepted early to UPenn
Edward Morneau ‘20 accepted early to Cornell
Lucas Spiro ‘21 recruit spot secured at Naval Academy
Chris Kenny ‘22 recruit spot secured at Bates College
JJ Detweiler ‘23 MIT
Lele Gibbs ‘24 Colby
Tattie Gibbs ‘24 Colby
Nathan Rosenzweig ‘24 UVA
Catherine Li ‘ 24 Williams
Tori Thill ‘ 24 Colby
Angel Hu ‘24 Columbia
Jerry Zhu ‘24 Amherst

Girls New England and National Ranking

At high school nationals, Divisions are based on team ranking nationally year to year.
Division 1- teams ranked 1-16
Division 2- teams ranked 17-32
Division 3- teams ranked 33-48

At New Englands, Classes are based on regular season final rankings in the NEPSAC New England Prep League
Class A- teams ranked 1-8
Class B- teams ranked 9-16
Class C- teams ranked 17-22

Year	New England Ranking	National Ranking
2015	Class B	Division 3
2016	Class A	Division 2- 7th place
2017	Class A- 8th place	Division 2- 5th place
2018	Class A- 8th place	Division 2- 3rd place
2019	Class A- 5th place	Division 1- 10th place- 2nd highest finish in program history
2020	Class A- 8th place	Division 2- 2nd place
2021	Did not compete due to COVID	Did not compete due to COVID
2022	Class A- tied 6th place	Division 1- 11th Place- 3rd highest finish in program history
2023	Class A- 5th place	Division 1- 10th place- 2nd highest finish in program history
2024	Class A- 4th Place	Division 1- 7th Place- Highest finish in program history

Can I play US Squash tournaments while a student at St. Paul’s?
Yes of course and we encourage it. We do have Saturday classes but these don’t always happen and some Saturdays are special programming and not classes. We also have a system in place for signing out for the weekend where you miss your classes. Many current St. Paul’s students play Jr tournaments and go through this process and Saturday classes are not a barrier to playing on the weekends.

Off Season Training:
The courts are available year round from 6am on. Coach Smith is available for small-group training year round in accordance with NEPSAC rules. SPS students train year round in various levels. Some play three sports, some play two, and some just focus on squash within SPS rules for after school activities participation. Kids are encouraged to follow their passions in all sports, music, service, and dance. There is no pressure to focus on squash and Coach Smith believes in the power of playing multiple sports and doing lots of “stuff”. For those who do wish to train more for squash we are also able to accommodate that with lessons and off court training.

We have fitness trainers here at SPS that have worked with Coach Smith to develop an in season workout program that uses two slots a week at the Fitness Center to work on stretching, core, and agility. Out of season, players are able to get an individualized workout program designed by our expert trainers.

Outside squash coaching- in the Fall and Spring, SPS brings in Greg Crane from Boston twice a week to give lessons and run small group sessions. Greg is an amazing Coach who families pay directly for this service. Coach Smith and Leech also run training out of season in accordance with NEPSAC league rules. Our players are very active out of season and the courts are always full of squash players year round.

3D Tour of our Facility- https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=aB7B4DJ7b2Z