On Saturday, January 31, the Coed Varsity Squash Team defeated the Latin School of Chicago 10-1 (officially 9-0) to claim their Chicagoland Squash Team Championship victory and the first three-peat in school history. This marks a very impressive run for the squash team, as they close out the season 8-1, and aim to win nationals later this month.
Throughout the year, the team has worked harder than they have in previous seasons, thanks to the tenacity and desire to win that coach Islam Adel brings to the program. After he joined the team in 2024, there was an instant and notable turnaround within the team. He has developed first time players, such as Dawson Ward ‘28, into strong varsity starters, who the team would not be complete without. His efforts have made varsity squash one of the best teams on campus, and he has expanded the program, taking the team to St. Louis, as well as nationals.
A week later, on Saturday, February 7, the team took on the individual championships hosted by LFA. There were two boys divisions, as well as a girls division, and students from 11 different high schools participated in this tournament. LFA’s captain Hamza Jafri ‘26, and rising star Aarav Talati ‘29 made their way to the finals of the first boys division. To get there, Aarav defeated Clifford Yang of Hinsdale Central in 3-2 after falling behind 2-0 in the semifinals.
In the second boys division, Franklin Godinho ‘29 played his way to the finals. He has shown tremendous improvement as a freshman in his first year of playing squash, thanks to his work ethic and determination, as well as coach Adel’s influence. Perhaps the most exciting part of the weekend was Dora Huang ‘27 completely destroying the girls bracket. She won every best-of-three game 2-0, and in the best-of-five final, defeated her opponent 3-0, claiming the trophy without dropping a single set. Huang has consistently been the best girls player on the team, and this individual trophy adds to her recent player of the month award.
The Boys Varsity Squad now looks forward to the US High School Team Championships, where they will fly to Philadelphia and compete from February 20-22. They have a real shot of taking back a national championship to LFA for the first time ever.