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Historical InformationA Brief History of the Pacific Coast Doubles Squash Championships The game of squash doubles started on the Pacific Coast in 1964 when the first court was built at Lewis & Clark College due to the generosity of Portland lumberman and Multnomah Club squash player Aubrey R. Watzek who donated a squash building to the school which contained two singles and one doubles court. Portland enjoyed an unusual doubles boom in the early 1970's when courts were constructed at the Multnomah Club, at Reed College -- again due to the generosity of Watzek -- and at Portland State University. Doubles squash in Vancouver began in 1967 when the Men's Athletic and Recreation Centre constructed its downtown squash complex and the first doubles court in Western Canada. In 1970 the Vancouver Racquets Club and the Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club both expanded their facilities by constructing doubles courts and, in 1985, the Chancery Squash Club built a new court. In 1990 the most recent addition occurred with construction of a new court at the Evergreen Squash Club. One doubles court in California was constructed in 1974 at the University Club of San Francisco and a second one was recently added in 2003. Tournament play at all courts has been impressive since Vancouver first hosted the Lapham Cup and Grant Trophy matches between the United States and Canada in 1969. This event set the stage for future national tournaments in doubles, hard ball and soft ball in all the major western citiies. The Lapham-Grant matches were also played at Portland in 1974, in San Francisco in both 1978 and 1990 and returned to Vancouver in 1979. The Lapham will be played in San Francisco in February 2004 at the University Club of San Francisco. National championships have reached the West as well. The Canadian National Doubles have twice been held in Vancouver, along with the Canadian Veterans Doubles Championship when that tournament was held as a separate event. In 1991 the Multnomah Club hosted the U.S. National Doubles Tournament, one of the many significant events held during the Club's centennial year. The list of annual tournaments held in each of the cities is too long to mention, but the longest running event is the Oregon State Championships which was first held in 1966 and which has been contested each year since. The history of the Pacific Coast Championships began in Portland in 1972. For the first five years the event had just a championship draw but a men's 40+ division has been held each year since 1977, the same year that the tournament championship moved to San Francisco for the first time. While the veterans tournament was played as a separate event until 1981, that year the entire tournament was played in Vancouver which set the stage for the current system where the tournament rotates between Portland, Vancouver and San Francisco. A men's 50+ tournament has been held since 1980 and a men's 60+ section was added in 1991. A women's event and a mixed doubles class were added in 1985 and a Division II has also been played most years. Several teams have distinguished themselves during the history of the event. Perhaps the best has been the San Francisco Bay area's Kris Surano and Andre Naniche. These two have been ranked in the USSRA top twenty ten different times and achieved number 5 ranking on four separate occasions. They were coast champions in 1981 and 1983 and have been finalists in four other years. The Multnomah Club team of Chuck McGinnis and Ron Ragen were champions in 1978 and 1980 and made the finals on three other occasions, in addition to winning the 40+ event in 1982 and 1983 and the 50+ championship in 1990. Sometime before the year 2000 these two will be eligible for the 60+ event. Another great Portland team was John Dennis and Jack Scrivens who won the championship in 1972 and 1973 and the 40+ event in 1978. The Pacific Coast winners who enjoyed the most national prestige were Rob Hill from Denver and Andy McDonald from Vancouver, B.C. who, as Princeton teammates, won the Pacific Coast Championship in both 1984 and 1985 and the USSRA National Championship in 1984. Another great Multnomah Club team included the late Al McKeown and his partner Mike Davis. This pair won the Pacific Coast Championship in 1974 and 1976 and the 40+ event in 1986 and 1987. In that year, they were ranked first in the veteran class in the United States. One other team has won twice. John Hungerford and Richard Jackson of Vancouver took the title in 1987 and 1988. Hungerford had teamed with Victor Harding in 1979 for a third win. Recently, the last two Coasts in 2002 and 2003 have been won by the the team of Tony Catalan Jr. of Portland and Kevin Jernigan of San Francisco. A fine 40+ team not mentioned before includes Sandy Koski and Khalid Mir, the Multnomah Club's teaching professional. These two were champions in 1988, 1989, and 1990 before moving to the 50+ event. In that class, the best record is held by Canadians George Morfitt and Roger Ovens who were champions in 1987, 1988, 1989 and who were finalists in 1990. The women's event has been dominated by three Multnomah Club players, Trisha Harding, Kate LaGrand and Marjin Wall. Playing in all possible combinations, these three have been Coast champions each year since 1989.Mixed doubles has produced a different winning team every year with only Brett Elebash holding claim to two titles, once with Kris Surano and a second time with Vancouver's Glen Williams. Come February of next year, another chapter will be added to the story of doubles squash on the Pacific Coast. Ed: Glad he kept it brief.. November 20, 2003 The University Club Singles and Doubles Squash Extravaganza The Bay Area sports scene will get a jolt of something different when a major squash tournament featuring competition in men's and women's play opens here December 5 -7, 2003 at the University Club of San Francisco and you are cordially invited to participate. Inaugurating the University Club's new state-of-the-art squash and health center, the tournament will be the first of it's kind in the Bay Area featuring players competing in singles and doubles play over one weekend. Play will be held on the Club's 3 brand-new international singles courts and 2 brand-new North American Doubles Courts. Held since 1976, the nationally-recognized, single-elimination squash tournament will involve singles competitors and doubles teams in an unprecedented 24 divisions. Men's Singles: 6.0 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 Women's Singles: A (6.0 - 5.5) B (5.0 - 4.5) C (4.0 - 3.5 ) D (3.0 - 2.5) Doubles: A B Div II (C/D) 40+ 50+ 55+ 60+ 65+ 70+ Women Mixed The University Club has the only doubles squash courts in Northern California and is a premier squash facility on the West Coast. With some of the best players in the Bay Area and a chance to play both singles and doubles , this tournament will be a fantastic event! The entry form can also be downloaded through the www.univclub.com site (and then click on member login) or directly from this xpiron location(700 kb PDF file). The squash players in the San Francisco Bay Area have made many friends while participating in this premier tournament and we are anticipating seeing those old friends and making new ones. Don't miss out on the fun! California Junior Squash Championships The Pacific Athletic club hosted the inaugural California Junior Squash Championships on the weekend of August 15-17. The event attracted almost 70 participants, which made it the biggest ever junior squash tournament held in California. The Pacific Club boasted more than 20 local entries from our own junior program and other competitors traveled from as far away as Utah, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and L.A. The weekend's play produced some breathtaking squash with many nationally ranked players performing. One of the many highlights of the weekend was the Boys under 19 final. The match between Trevor McGuiness (under-17 # 2) from PA and Niko Hrdy from Sacramento (under 17#24) thoroughly entertained the many spectators with some excellent squash. Both players showed a degree of skill and athleticism beyond their years. Trevor eventually ran out the winner by 3 games to 1. The girls under 17 draw was won by a great up and coming player from Seattle, Kristen Lange. She also competed well in the boys under 19 draw finishing fifth in a very strong field. The Pacific Club also had one event winner with William Mohr winning the Boys under 11 draw. William defeated Andrew McGuiness (brother of Trevor) from PA in the final by three games to one. Kudos should go to all of our junior players who all competed with great heart and enthusiasm. The winners and runners up were as follows: Girls Draws We would like to thank our sponsors for this event - Northern California Squash Racquets Association (NorCal) and Black Knight |
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