ATHLETICS
MAC Squash Players have a Stellar Year on the Court
S
quash is an elegantly simple yet deceptively difficult game to master. A modest-sized court, a soft and seem- ingly dead rubber ball, racquets weighing scarcely a pound and a few basic rules comprise the game. Players compete to control a small 6-by-6-foot square center court. Therein lies the beauty of the sport - control and placement can overcome power and speed.
Play this fall brought out the best in MAC squashers.
The wave of tournament activity began with the Wrightson Cup tournament; the annual doubles tournament named in honor of Tom Wrightson, former MAC president and a leader in U.S. Squash at a national and regional level, held at the MAC Oct. 21-23. Chairing the event were Wendy Comstock and Chuck Williams, assisted by MAC members Mike Houghton, Carol Robertson, Stephen Shaw, Marcia Wood and Todd Welch. With 64 participants – including fellow squash players from Vancouver, B.C. and San Francisco, and two father-and-son pairs from the MAC – men and women, ranging in age from their teens to their 80s competed and enjoyed friendly camaraderie throughout the tournament. MAC doubles squash champion Tony Catalan and partner Kevin Jernigan, from San Francisco, won the men’s open divi- sion of the Wrightson Cup. Other winners included MAC players Phoebe Trubowitz and Catalan in the mixed open division, Carol Robertson and Mike Houghton in Division 2, Ed Sloop (and Kevin Jernigan) in men’s 40-plus, and Chuck Williams and Don Livingston in men’s 60-plus. Canadians dominated the finals in Division 1, with George and Charlie Maddison prevailing over Tom Locke and Gordon Pybus. The Wrightson Cup was a wonderful prelude to the 40th Annual Pacific Coast Doubles Squash Tournament to be played at MAC the weekend of Jan. 27-29.
November brought the first of two major singles tournaments hosted by the MAC every year, the Oregon State Squash Championship. MAC players battling their way to first or second place included
Above, from left, Wrightson Cup Men’s Open winners Tony Catalan and Kevin Jernigan. Below, MAC member Chuck Williams (center), winner of the Men’s 60-plus with his partner Don Livingston (not pictured) with players from Vancouver, BC.
Katherine Rowan (winner -Women’s 5.0), Todd Welch (winner - Men’s 4.0), Sean Ryan (winner - Men’s 40-plus), Anders Giltvedt (second - Men’s 40-plus), Chuck Williams (winner - Men’s 60-plus), Tina Lam (winner - Novice), and Gordon Lam (second - Boys U11).
Forty-five adults and 41 juniors partici- pated, including many from Seattle who return year after year. The men’s 5.5 final was a showdown between MAC member Charlie Wagner and top Seattle Junior Zane McGee-Lowdermilk. The five game marathon was a contest between McGee- Lowdermilk’s prowess and Wagner’s guile and cunning, with Wagner prevailing. This fall, many MAC Juniors partici- pated in away tournaments – some for the first time – throughout the country. In the San Diego Silver tournament, Matthew Bernstein placed second and Caleb Spiro earned third, both Boys U15. Atticus Jones placed first in the Boys U17 category at the Hackley School’s bronze tournament. Junior Team Squash season begins
Sunday, Jan. 8 and meets for five sessions.
These matches should
help prepare juniors for the second major singles tournament the MAC hosts this year, the Rose City and Rose Bud Classic Championships to be held on Feb. 3-5. Adults compete as well.
For more information and announce- ments on the Rose City and Pacific Coast Doubles tournaments, Junior Team Squash and squash in general, go to the Squash section on the MAC website. To receive squash emails, please opt in under the “my profile” section at
theMAC.com. –Tina Lee Lam and Wendy Comstock WM
JANUARY 2012 | The Wınged M | 49
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