Northampton, MA — The College Squash Association and U.S. Squash are pleased to announce that they are co-sponsoring the five-person team that is representing the United States at the 2010 World University Games.
The World University Games are being held July 10th – 18th in Melbourne, Australia. It is both an individual and team event. To date, seventeen countries have confirmed participation in the event: Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Nigeria, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, and the United States. The event will be played at the Clayton Campus of Monash University, which features eleven squash courts.
According to Kevin Klipstein, the CEO of U.S. Squash, “This event has proven to be a great opportunity to showcase on a world stage the strength of our college squash programs as a pipeline of future professional talent.” Two members of the 2004 team, Julian Illingworth and Gilly Lane, are now ranked in the Professional Squash Association’s top 50 players.
The team will be coached by Paul Assaiante, the men’s squash coach at Trinity College. Assaiante’s Bantams are the reigning twelve-time National Champions and currently hold a 224-match win streak. He will coach a team of two women and three men at the World University Games. U.S. Squash recently announced that Assaiante will lead the US Squash coaching staff in their efforts to raise the profile of the U.S. Teams nationally and on the world stage.
According to Assaiante, “The team was selected as a by-product of the intercollegiate rankings coupled with the students’ availability over these busy summer months.” The men’s squad consists of Todd Harrity (Princeton), Chris Hanson (Dartmouth), and Alex Domenick (Cornell), and the women’s squad is made up of Kristen Lange (Penn) and Logan Greer (Yale):
Todd Harrity had a phenomenal freshman year. He went 14-5 for Princeton and lost the in the finals of the Individual Championships to Colin West. As a result, he earned All-American and All-Ivy honors, and was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year. He concluded this past season as the third-ranked player in the nation.
Like Harrity, Dartmouth’s Chris Hanson earned All-American and All-Ivy honors. He went 8-3 during the regular season and made it to the consolation finals at the Individual Championships. He finished the season ranked 8th in the nation.
Alex Domenick, a junior next season at Cornell, was recently named co-Most Valuable Player of the Big Red squash team. He concluded the 2009 – 2010 college squash season ranked 26th in the nation. He won a playoff match against Yale’s Todd Ruth to earn his way onto the World University Games team.
Kristen Lange just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. She went 12-5 during her senior season, which helped the Quakers reach the 2010 Howe Cup finals. During her four-year career, Lange made three consecutive Individual finals and one Individual semifinal. She finished her college career ranked 3rd in the nation.
Ranked just behind Lange, Logan Greer finished the season ranked 4th in the nation. Like many of her World University Game teammates, she was an All-American and All Ivy honoree. The senior-to-be will serve as Yale’s captain next season.
The players are preparing on their own for the games. The team will face competition from around the world, including team Canada, which includes Colin West (Harvard), the winner of the College Squash Association’s Pool Trophy, and Laura Gemmell (Harvard), winner of the College Squash Association’s Ramsay Cup.
“I can assure you that it is an awesome honor to represent the US with this wonderful group of talented, bright student athletes, and we will give it 100% the good ol college try,” states coach Assaiante.
Klipstein is very excited about the team. “This is one of the most competitive squash teams the U.S. has ever fielded for the World University Games. Four years ago we finished fourth in Hungary and two years ago we finished in eighth place against a very strong field in Cairo. With the talent on this year’s squad I feel confident we can build off that success.”
U.S. Squash and the College Squash Association will be covering the event.
