Bronxville Sends 13 Players to US Junior National Squash Championships; Five Players Finish in Top 10; Molly Stoltz and Conner Stoltz Win First Place
Written by Guest Contributor
Mar. 11, 2015: This past weekend, Bronxville sent thirteen players to the prestigious US Junior National Squash Championships in Princeton, NJ. Only the top 32 players in each age group across the country qualify for the tournament, which means that qualifying is a big accomplishment in itself.
Bronxville was well represented at the nationals, sending the following players: Ellie Clifford, Lily Jebejian, and Molly Stoltz (Girls Under 11), Ronin Kaplan and Charlie Clifford (Boys Under 11), Conner Stoltz and Coulter Mackesy (Boys Under 13), Julia Curran and McKenna Stoltz (Girls Under 15), Harry Charlton and Tyler Mackesy (Boys Under 15), Ryan Murray (Boys Under 17), and Sam Epley (Boys Under 19).
Not only was the size of the local contingent impressive, but the results were equally so. Five of the thirteen players ended up in the "Top 10" of their age groups and two of these players came in first place.
In the Girls under 11 division, Molly Stoltz, the number-one seed, won in the finals in four games over Lucie Steffanoni of Darien, CT. Prior to her defeat by Molly, Steffanoni had only lost 16 points the entire tournament.
In the Boys Under 11 division, Ronin Kaplan was runner-up in the consolation, finishing tenth overall and upsetting the number-ten-ranked player along the way.
In the Boys Under 13 division, Conner Stoltz finished first, defeating Mac Aube of Rye in four games in the final. (This is Conner's second national championship. He won the Boys Under 11 division in 2013 as well.) Also in this division, Coulter Mackesy came in sixth after unfortunately having to face his Bronxville Middle School teammate Stoltz in the quarter-finals.
In the Boys Under 17 division, Ryan Murray upset the second seed (Andrew Douglas of Brooklyn, NY) in the second round and won the Classic Plate for fifth place in a five-game match against fifth-seed Duncan Joyce of Haverford, PA. This is a particularly impressive result, as this is Ryan's first year in this age group.
Bronxville once again showed its incredible squash talent at the national championships.
Pictured here: National champions Conner and Molly Stoltz.
