December 15, 2005 Issue                                                              

©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

New squash coach for Lions
by TOM UTESCHER

New Springside squash coach Rich Sheppard is the reigning 45-and-over national singles champion. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

Shepherds are more often associated with lambs than lions, but the Lions of Springside School will have a “Sheppard” guiding their squash flock this winter.

Actually, the team’s new mentor is Rich Sheppard, a Chestnut Hill Academy alum (’77) who currently has a daughter in the sixth grade at Springside. Sheppard’s familiarity with the school is complemented by an impressive list of accomplishments in the sport of squash.

He is the 2005 national singles champion in the 45-and-over category and has won numerous doubles titles, including the 35-and-over world championship and national championships in 40-and-over doubles and mixed doubles. Playing out of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, he’s seen generations of young Springside and Chestnut Hill Academy players come up through the ranks.

Although much of the new coach’s match line-up is still in flux, there’s no debate about the number one position. Back for her third season in the top spot, senior Emery Maine has distinguished herself not only in scholastic competition, but at the national level, as well.

She has been a member of Springside’s varsity team since she was a sixth-grader in the 2000-2001 season, when she played as high as number three on the Lions’ ladder. Nationally-ranked in every age category in which she’s participated over the years, Maine was a member of the United States Team that finished fourth at the Junior World Championships in Belgium last summer.

Even so, she’ll face stiff resistance from three Girls Inter-Ac League rivals, seniors Britt Hebden (Penn Charter) and Toby Eyre (Agnes Irwin) and junior Logan Greer (Episcopal Academy). In Inter-Ac matches last winter the Springsider posted the best record among this group (5-1), but she lost to Eyre and Greer at the Middle Atlantic Squash Association (MASA) Championships.

As a team, last year’s Lions finished third at the MASA tournament, and came in fourth in the Inter-Ac. While Maine was a reliable winner at the top of the team ladder, Springside tended to slip up on the lower rungs against its toughest opponents. That’s a problem that could confront the team’s new mentor as well.

Allie Dalglish, who played number two as a sophomore last winter, has left Springside for Lawrenceville, and two more members of the 2004-2005 crew, number three Anna Heilbrun and number seven Riley Jacoby, have graduated.

This season, the scramble for positions amongst the starting seven could evoke images of holiday shopping lines on Black Friday. One of the top contenders is the number four player from last season, current senior Alison Curry, who is now a team co-captain along with Maine. Other full-time varsity performers returning from last year are sophomore Nina Testa-Emlen (number five) and senior Elspeth Lodge (number six).

In addition, senior Whitney Manly-Power and sophomores Leslie Jacoby and Lucy Rice all got a taste of varsity competition a year ago. Another tenth-grader, Anna Hayne, is in the mix this season, and freshman Gretchen Carlson is looking to make her mark.

The only thing that seems certain is that there will be no minor role-players for the Lions, because the performance of the girls in the fifth, sixth, and seventh spots will have a major impact on the degree of success enjoyed by Springside.

After chalking up wins over Shipley (7-0) and Hill School (6-1) two weeks ago, the Lions lifted their record to 3-0 last Tuesday with a 6-1 home court victory over the Aces of Lower Merion High School.

Manly-Power, at number five, and Carlson, at number six, each posted a shutout, winning three 9-0 games, while Jacoby came close at number seven, with scores of 9-3, 9-0, 9-0. Also winning in straight games were Maine, in the top spot (9-1, 9-4, 9-1), and Testa-Emlen, at number four (9-3, 9-4, 9-2).

Curry was shaded in her first game, 9-10, by Aces number two Rebecca Holtz, but the Springsider carried the next three rounds in convincing fashion, 9-2, 9-2, 9-1. Hannah Morse saved Lower Merion from a clean sweep by Springside, winning 9-5, 3-9, 9-5, 9-2 over the Lions’ Lodge at number three.

In addition, the Lions’ Rice and Hayne played exhibition matches, and each won in three games.