This past weekend, the Harriton-Lower Merion squash team played at the annual High School Nationals for Squash; the boys team finished 13^th out of 16 in the nation in Division 1, while the girls finished 14^th in Division 2. These results are remarkable! Not only does HLM remain the strongest public school team in the country, this is also the highest that HLM boys have ever finished.

Beginning at the onset of the tournament, the boys team faced 4 matches throughout the course of nationals. The first round of the tournament matched them up with Brunswick A. This turned out to be a struggle against the eventual runner-up of the tournament. The match score was 7-0, and each individual match was 3-0 in games. However, the team was not too disheartened, and strived to perform well for the rest of the tournament. Having lost in the first round of the main draw, the players continued to the consolation draw for a chance to claim a spot in the 9-16 rankings. The next day, on Saturday, the team faced Episcopal Academy. This match was seen as challenging, as the team faced EA earlier this season, and unfortunately lost. Again HLM lost to EA, however this time the boys won 2 matches in comparison to only 1 match in their previous encounter–a definite improvement.

At this point, the team was placed in the Plate 1 draw, playing for a spot in the 13-16^th place range. Later that Saturday, the team played against the Potomac School, and finally got the victory it worked so hard for. After winning 5-2, the team secured its spot in the plate championship, playing for 13^th. On Sunday, the team played against Westminster. In an exciting match, HLM won 5-2, claiming the 13^th place spot in the country! After 3 days of strenuous match play, the players are currently taking a well-deserved rest. This season has been quite the journey. HLM went completely undefeated against against all the local schools: Penn Charter, Conestoga, Lawrenceville, Shipley, and Germantown Friends. Additionally, HLM finished 4^th at the recent MASA tournament, and, of course, most recently 13^th place at nationals. Overall, it has been an extraordinary season, something that captain Harrison Mayo reflects on, “I am happy with our performance this season. I am especially pleased to see that we have been able to stay the best public school in the nation”. Despite some of the rough matches the boys have faced this season, they leave a behind a legacy of high expectations for the future teams to fill.

Meanwhile the girls, who also participated at nationals, had similar results to the boys. They too lost their first round on Friday the 7^th, in their case to the Hackley School by a score of 6-1. With that loss, the girls were placed in the consolation draw, where they played the Nichols School on Saturday the 8^th, and unfortunately lost in a close 4-3 match. After the loss, they were also placed in the Plate bracket. In the first round of this double consolation draw, they played Conestoga. The girls won this match 5-2! These results in particular were met with great appreciation because they lost their previous matches to Conestoga. Therefore, the whole team was happy to see a victory against our Central League rivals at nationals. The girls then secured their position in the Plate finals, which they played on Sunday the 9^th, and unfortunately lost 5-2 against Rye County Day, causing them to finish in 14^th place overall. These results are great for the girls and the boys.

The girls saw a definite improvement over the course of the season, and the boys saw an amazing improvement from all previous years of HLM history! The teams are satisfied, and hope to see similar, or even better results in the year to come.