By Ryan Fantasia

Winsor’s squash team has seen great success in recent years, notably placing sixth at the U.S. High School Team Squash Championships in 2022. Led by Caroline Eielson ’24, the team battled against teams from all around the country. The team battled against teams from all around the country and were led by Caroline. She found success in the courts long before she joined Winsor’s team, earning third place at the squash US Open in 2019 and being named the U13 national champion. 

Eielson also had a successful individual squash season. Apart from being ranked first in the USA for her age division, she saw great success representing Team USA at the Junior Pan American games, held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, which included teams from across North and South America. Eielson was one of four girls chosen to represent the US; she earned a silver medal for the individual division, a gold medal for the team division, and a bronze medal for the doubles division. 

We sat down with Caroline to ask her a few questions about both her own personal experience as a squash player and about the Winsor squash team.

Squash is such an individualized sport – how has your experience been on the Winsor team? Do you prefer playing on a team or individually?

Squash is definitely more of an individual sport, but I really love the support that being on a team, specifically the Winsor team, gives me while I’m playing. It’s always great to cheer for other people and to know that you have that same support when you’re playing. Additionally, our team Instagram account has definitely helped with that aspect; we mainly use it to hype up members of our team on their matches – both for Winsor and individual matches. It’s also a great way to share our success with the rest of the Winsor community. 

Do you have any pre-match rituals?

I always listen to “Pepas” by Farruko before any match. More than just being a fun song, I think it really gets me excited to play. I’ve also recently changed the meal that I eat every night before my race. I used to eat a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal, but recently, I’ve been trying to eat steak because it’s such a good source of protein. 

Is there anything you’re looking forward to for Winsor’s season this year?

We graduated a few seniors last year, but our team this year is already looking incredibly strong. I’m very excited to see what this young group can do and I’m hoping to either defend or beat our sixth place finish at nationals next year! 

-silver medal at pan ams individual 2022

-gold medal at pan ams for team USA 2022

-bronze medal at pan ams for doubles 2022

-ranked 1 in the US in u17

-2nd place at nationals 2022

-u13 national champion 

-been ranked 1 in US in u13, u15, u17

-US squash scholar athlete 2021 and 2022

-3rd at US Open 2019