Wellesley senior Sarah Odell shares college players’ experiences from the US Doubles National Championship.
Baltimore, MD — With the men’s and women’s national championships over, most of the players that compete in the College Squash Association have put away their racquets. Some have put them down in exchange for lacrosse sticks or tennis racquets, but a small group of college squash players have kept their racquets in hand and are competing on the US national doubles circuit. The competition began last weekend when the Maryland Club, Baltimore Country Club, and Meadow Mill Athletic Club hosted the US Doubles National championships in Baltimore, Maryland. The competition was stiff, as the best doubles players in the country came out in full force to compete in open and age group categories, going all the way up to 75 in the men’s tournament and 50 in the women’s.
On the men’s side, University of Pennsylvania sophomore Trevor McGuinness came back to defend his national title with partner Whitten Morris. McGuinness and Morris were seeded first in the tournament, but lost a five-game barn burner to Steve Scharff and Dylan Patterson. Bowdoin senior Peter Cipriano and Cornell senior Dylan Aldrich made it to the consolation finals of the men’s open.
On the women’s side, I was the only collegiate female to compete in the women’s open draw. My partner, Sara Smyth, graduated from Smith College in 2008, and we faced tough opposition in the women’s open with a slew of professional powerhouses, including Natalie Grainger, Narelle Tippett Krizek, and Natarsha Tippett McElhinney, as well as some former collegiate champions, including Emily Lungstrum, Dana Betts, and Lee Belknap.
The championship series resumes next week in Philadelphia with the US Mixed National Doubles, followed by the Father-Son Championships in New York. On April 23 the Intercollegiate Doubles championships will be held in New York at the University Club along with the Kellner Cup, which is the second largest International Squash Doubles Association (ISDA ) tournament. The U25 championships will be held on April 30 in Greenwich, CT. College players should take note — doubles is fun and a great way to continue playing your sport competitively. We especially need more young women to join!
