Canadian Team Named for 2013 Pan-American Squash Championships

     

    Ottawa, Ontario (July 3rd, 2013) – The Men’s and Women’s  teams who will be represent Canada at the 2013 Pan-American Championship, September 1st – 8th , in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were announced today by the Squash Canada selection committee . On the men’s side, Canada will be represented by Dane Sharp, Graeme Schnell, and David Letourneau. The Canadian women’s team will be Samantha Cornett, Hollie Naughton, and Nikole Todd.

     

    Ottawa, Ontario (July 3rd, 2013) – The Men’s and Women’s  teams who will be represent Canada at the 2013 Pan-American Championship, September 1st – 8th , in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were announced today by the Squash Canada selection committee . On the men’s side, Canada will be represented by Dane Sharp, Graeme Schnell, and David Letourneau. The Canadian women’s team will be Samantha Cornett, Hollie Naughton, and Nikole Todd.

    Leading the Canadian Women is Samantha Cornett of Ottawa. Samantha is the newly crowned Canadian Squash Champion having won the title at the 2013 Senior National Championships in Markham, Ontario. Samantha, just 22 years old, is the Number 33 ranked squash player in the world and has already represented Canada at numerous international events. Samantha represented Canada at both the 2010 and 2012 Women’s World Team Championships and at the 2011 Pan-American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. In Guadalajara, Samantha helped Canada win the team gold medal while also taking home the silver medal in singles.

     

        

    Left: Nikole Todd (left) and Hollie Naughton, at the 2013 Canadian Senior National Championships. Right: Samantha Cornett at the 2011 Canadian Senior National Championships.

    Hollie Naugton, of Oakville Ontario, is one of the most accomplished junior squash players in the world. After rolling to the Canadian Junior National Championship title in Richmond, British Columbia in April, Naugthon, still just 18 years old, made a run to the semi-finals at the Senior National Championships. Naughton followed up her domestic success by winning Gold at the 2013 Junior Pan-American Championships this June in Brazil by defeating the top three seeded players in the draw.  The 2013 Pan-Am Championships will be Naughton’s first time representing Canada at the senior level; and likely not the last.

    Nikole Todd of Regina, rounds at the Canadian women’s contingent at the Pan-Am Championships. Nikole, even though she is only 22 years old, is the teams elder statesman, punctuating the focus on youth the Canadian selection committee took into account when making their decision. Nikole, the 2012 Canadian University and College Women’s Champion is coming off a successful year of squash which saw her win the bronze medal  at the 2013 Senior National Championships. A representative of Canada in Lima Peru, for the 2008 Junior Pan-Am Championships, this will also be Nikole’s first chance to compete for Canada on the senior stage.

    The men’s team will be led by 2013 Senior National Championship runner-up, Dane Sharp, 27, of Toronto, Ontario.  Ranked 84th in the World, Dane is currently playing some of the best squash of his career and just returned from Mulhouse, France, competing for Canada at the pinnacle of world squash, the Men’s World Team Championships. Dane will be looking to continue to build on this year’s momentum and help the Canada team to a medal at the Pan-Am Championships.

    David Letourneau like Dan Sharp, is just returning from wearing the Maple Leaf at the 2013 Men’s World Team Championships in Mulhouse, France. Letourneau, 24, of Calgary was a standout on the US collegiate squash circuit. Widely recruited out of high school, David chose to attend Princeton University in New Jersey. In his time at Princeton, David was a four-time All-American honoree, as well as a two-time Ivy League champion, and helped Princeton reach the National finals on two separate occasions.

     

     

    Clockwise from left: David Letourneau at the 2013 Men’s World Team Championship (Source, Steve Cubbins). Dane Sharp at
    the 2013 Men’s World Team Championship (Source, Steve Cubbins). Graeme Schnell (right) at the 2013 Canadian University
    and College Championships 

    Graeme Schnell completes the Canadian roster for the 2013 Pan-Am Championships. Schnell, 25, is from Calgary and is competing for Canada internationally for the first time since the 2008 World University Games in Cairo, Egypt, where Canada placed 4th overall.  Graeme is a titan of Canadian collegiate squash. Representing his hometown University of Calgary, Graeme has won the last three Canadian University and College Championships, and five of the last six overall, setting the all-time record for wins at the event.

    Coaching the squad for Canada will be Squash Canada’s performance director, Jamie Hickox. Hickox  played professional squash from 1982 through 1997, and was ranked among the Top 15 players on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour.  In 1993 Hickox accepted the job as the Malaysian National Team Coach.  Hickox held that position until 1997, and then again from 2006 – 2010, before accepting the Performance Director role at Squash Canada. In his time as Malaysian National Team Coach, Hickox guided one of the strongest squash programs in the world that featured world number one, Nicol David.

    The Pan-American Championships serve as a compliment to the quadrennial Pan-American Games, with the Pan-Am Championships being held during the three years of the four year cycle when the Pan-Am Games are not being contested. The Pan-Am Squash Championships are open to men’s and women’s squash players in North and South America, with nations selecting three male and female athletes to represent them at the event.

    The 2013 Pan-Am Squash Championships will take place September 1st – 8th in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The competition will feature three disciplines, singles, doubles, and team format.   Canada, which did not send a team to the previous edition of the Pan-American Championships in 2012, will be looking to build on their 2010 results from Guatemala City, where Canada won the silver medal in both men’s, and women’s teams.