A Message From the Coach

The 2009 US Squash National Coach of the Year, Jack Wyant recently completed his second season as the head coach of both the men's and women's squash teams at Penn in 2011-12.

The men's team won the 2012 Hoehn Cup and finished the season as the No. 9 team in the nation. He also coached Penn's first CSA All-American since 2006-07 when senior captain Thomas Mattsson was named second-team.

The women's team finished No. 4 in the nation and third in the Ivy League. Five players qualified for the Ramsay Division of the Individual National Championships and four of those players repeated as All-Americans.

The 2010-11 season was the first time Wyant coached both the men and women. In addition to finishing his second season coaching the men's side, Wyant completed his eighth season at the helm of the Quakers' women's squash program.

He led the squad to a 13-3 finish and a No. 2 national ranking in the 2009-10 season, in which the Quakers competed in both the Ivy League title and national championship matches. Kristen Lange earned first-team All-America for the fourth straight year, while classmate Sydney Scott and freshman Nabilla Ariffin were named second-team All-America.

In the 2008-09 season, Wyant coached the Quakers to a third-place finish in the Ivy League with a 10-4 overall record. Lange was named Ivy League Player of the Year and first-team All-America along with Scott, while Alisha Turner was honored as second-team All-America.

In 2007-08, the team had the program's most successful season under Wyant, finishing 15-1 while being crowned Ivy League champions. In addition, the Red and Blue were runners-up for the national championship at the Howe Cup. Wyant returned 12 players including All-America and All-Ivy Turner, Lange and Scott, who held down the top three spots. Lange reached the final of the CSA Individual Championships for the second year in a row. The Quakers went undefeated in the regular season to clinch the Ivy League title.

In 2006-07, Wyant led the finest campaign the Quakers had since their national championship run in 1999-00. Penn finished 10-2 while enjoying time ranked No. 1 in the nation.

The season featured three All-America selections in Lange, Paula Pearson and Scott. Penn started the campaign with a 6-0 record that catapulted them to the top of the national rankings. A loss to eventual champion Princeton ended the streak, but the Quakers rebounded to finish 10-2. The team finished ranked No. 3 in the nation and built a strong foundation for success with a young and hungry team.

In 2005-06 Wyant led the Quakers to a 10-5 overall record and a No. 5 national ranking. Eight of the Red and Blue's 10 wins came with a scoreline of 9-0. Wyant saw three of his players rack up postseason honors as Radhika Ahluwalia, Pearson and Turner earned All-America honors. In addition, Turner was an All-Ivy selection and Ahluwalia garnered Academic All-Ivy.

Wyant's debut season of 2004-05 saw him lead the Quakers to a 5-7 overall record and a No. 6 national ranking. In addition, he coached sophomore Pearson to first-team All-Ivy and second-team All-America honors.

Prior to coming to Penn, Wyant served as the head coach of the girls' squash team at Milton Academy in Milton, Mass. At Milton, Wyant designed and managed daily practices, created Senior Day to honor the Class of 2004, and instituted a Girls' Squash Alumnae Day to foster interaction between past and present Milton players, all while at the helm of a team that went 13-0, including an 83-8 varsity individual record.

Before arriving at Milton, Wyant served as an assistant brand manager for Procter & Gamble Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio for four years.  During that time he helped develop several concept testing processes and executed multiple online and offline marketing programs for various national brands.

Wyant is no stranger to squash at its highest levels. He was named the head coach of the 2007 United States Junior Women's World Championships team and guided the squad to an eighth place finish in Hong Kong in August, 2007. Most recently, Wyant led the US team to a fourth-place finish at the 2009 World Juniors held in Chennai, India. That matched the best finish in the team's history, and earned Wyant the US Squash National Coach of the Year honor.

As a junior player, he won the U13 and U15 doubles national championships before capturing the U17 singles title. Wyant was a three-time All-America and four-time All-Ivy honoree for the Princeton squash team. While at Princeton, he was the only three-year captain in the program's 75-year history, and helped the Tigers to the 1993 Team National Championship.

Wyant was named the 1992 National Intercollegiate Rookie of the Year and was awarded the George C. McFarland Trophy for Leadership and Sportsmanship twice while at Princeton.

After leaving Princeton, Wyant competed on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) tour for three years. During that time, he played in tournaments in England, Europe and Central America as well as throughout North America.

Wyant had the honor of representing the United States in international competition six times, twice as a junior, twice as a professional, including the Pan-American Fed Games, and twice as a coach. He ultimately achieved a ranking of No. 3 in the United States.

A 1996 graduate of Princeton University, Wyant received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.