31 Years at Nichols - Nichols School

Sport Focus
The team celebrates following their CISAA league championship win.
Boys’ Varsity Squash:
New Kids on the Block
by Charlie Barth ’06
The Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association Squash
Championships, held at the National Squash Academy in Toronto,
Ontario, is a grueling day of squash. The day starts promptly at 9:00
a.m. when players disperse to their assigned courts to meet each of six
different opponents over the course of seven hours. The Nichols team
has been physically and mentally preparing for this day all season; a
demanding match schedule coupled with more than the occasional
court sprint after practice was about to pay off. To help the team step
up the conditioning, alumnus, Peter Marlette ’06, fresh off a stint of
professional soccer overseas, has been a fixture at Monday practices,
putting the team through a variety of demanding strength, speed and
endurance exercises. The team was confident and ready.
After dispatching Crescent School, 6-3; Ridley College, 9-0; Upper
Canada College, 9-0; Trinity College School, 6-3; and Appleby
College, 9-0, the team faced six-time defending champions St.
Andrew’s College, which was fittingly the only obstacle that remained
in the way of a Nichols CISAA Championship. The first four players
to get their matches underway were captains Greg Vanderhorst ’13
and David Sherris ’13, along with Leyton Johnston ’16 and Matthew
Sherris ’15, all of whom were unbeaten on the day thus far. Each player
dropped a hard fought first game against a formidable opponent. The
team was now facing an uphill battle.
However, the Nichols team met adversity without hesitation; all
four of our players rallied to 2-1 victories in their respective best out of
three matches. Along with methodical 2-0 wins by Fred Maynor ’14
and John Bassett ’14, the team was on its way to a 6-3 win, and the
first CISAA Squash Championship in the School’s history. Andrew
Wolney ’14, Colin Hogan ’14, Jack Vanderhorst ’18 and Zach Cole
’14 rounded out the team in the finals, while varsity players Michael
Montante ’13, Nathaniel Hughes ’14 and Matthew Hogan ’15 all
contributed during the regular season.
It was a gutsy performance to say the least, but simply winning was
not as impressive as the way in which the team won. Led on the court
by Leyton and John, the team is not short on skill, but every player
showed an incredible respect for the game over the course of the
season. With strong leadership from the captains and upperclassmen,
composure and etiquette came naturally to this group of young men,
and they represented Nichols School brilliantly with their conduct on
and off the court.
Two days later, the team finished an undefeated season in the
Buffalo High School League by winning the Buffalo High School
Championships with an 8-1 victory over Canisius High School. The
team finished 26-3, and several players enjoyed tremendous success
both for the team and individually in national tournaments across the
United States. One of the hardest things to do in sports is to defend
a title, but with next year’s captains, John and Fred, leading a strong
returning team, Nichols will be hard to beat.
Spring/Summer 2013
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