Sports: Squash

Squash Captures Second Straight Conroy Cup

A trip north turned Rochester squash team’s season around, and it ended up leading to another national championship.

The Yellowjackets started their 2005–06 season with a series of disappointing losses and, as a result, dropped out of the top 25. But in mid-January, first-year coach Martin Heath took them to Toronto, where they participated in some friendly matches with Canadian teams and watched an international squash competition.

The change of scenery proved to be a turning point: Rochester started to reel off wins, including three at the Collegiate Squash Association championships February 18 and 19, when the Yellowjackets repeated as Conroy Division champs.

“The guys did really well in the second half of the season,” Heath says. “Everything came together at the right time.”

At the championships, Rochester got big performances from its No. 1 player, Patrick Harris ’08, who says Heath worked on technique and fitness with the team all season—work that eventually paid off.

“We started off kind of weak, but the team got stronger and we started winning matches against tough competition,” he says.

Prospects for the future are even brighter: Most of this year’s squad will return next season, and the team will add some highly prized recruits as well.

Heath’s goal for 2006–07? Become the No. 1 team in Division III. “I think there will be exponential growth for us,” he says.

—Ryan Whirty