MICDS' Reed Whitney Squishing Opponents On The Local Squash Courts

Reed Whitney is a junior at Mary Institute Country Day School in Ladue. Besides doing well in school, his passion is the game of squash--one of the fastest growing sports in prep circles today.

Squash is taking off like a bottle rocket around St. Louis. Cardinals World Series hero David Freese used squash as a winter conditioner.

Whitney is presently ranked No. 10 best junior squash player in the nation (ranked by the United State Squash Association) for boys 17 and under, and was ranked as high as No. 5.

His plan is to take his talents all the way to the U.S.Naval Academy at Annapolis at the end of high school. Navy’s squash coach Craig Dawson has been working on this admissions process for several years.

For now, squash is predominantly an east coast sport. Just like lacrosse and how it got started before moving to the Midwest and other regions of the country is a timely story.

“I want to play for Navy. I want to be a Midshipman and I want to give back by serving my country, and I want to see the world,” said this likable junior at MICDS.

Squash is becoming big time with the Rams. They have some 40 competitors; half male  and half female, battling it out daily on the Robert Hermann four individual and one team squash courts in their multiple purpose building located on the south end of the campus.

Squash is a fast-paced game, played with a racquet smaller than a tennis racquet and on a more defined court than say a handball court.

Reed inherited his hand combat skills from his mom Jenny who was an outstanding tennis player in her own right before blowing out a knee while playing at the University of Kansas.

Reed has international experience. He played last summer in both the Italian and German opens, finishing 13th in the tournament in Italy.

Reed’s dad Marv, native of Arkansas pronounces squash “a great conditioning sport,”and is one of Reed’s staunchest fans.

At 5-foot-10 and just a willowy 135 pounds, he has room to grow into a bigger players’ body.

Reed credits his present day coach Australian Heidi Mather who tutors him at the Missouri Athletic Club West and former coach Joe Gallagher.

Gallagher was his his elementary school basketball coach. "He (Reed) attacked basketball like he attacks his love of squash. He was the kind of kid who would be out there taking 100 jump shots every night of practice. Reed is really driven by this sport. He's a very mature kid and he exhibits a lot of power and speed," said Gallagher.

Heide Mather has been his coach at the MAC West for the past two years. She had lots of praise for this up and coming performer.

"He has come along way with his game in that time. He hit an all time high ranking of five in the country late last year in boys under 17."

Whitney has a number of colleges looking to recruit him, Navy, Cornell, Columbia, which is very exciting."

He also gives a shout-out to family friend Tom Beattie who introduced him to the sport and to his athletic trainers B.T. Hartloge and Dr. Jim Neuwirth of the St. Louis Center for Functional Medicine in Des Peres. The center puts him through his off the court paces regularly.

Terry Murray, MICDS coach, history teacher and a dean of students also had a hand in Reed’s court sense development.

A year and a half ago, prior to serious training, he was ranked 27th in the nation. With all the personal attention, he’s moved as high as the fifth spot nationally.

Reed doesn’t ride a bike or do triathlons. Rather, he’s put all his marbles into the squash basket. He hopes that, and a dream of becoming a plebe at the Naval Academy pays off  handsomely.