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74. 1
AWARDS JACKET
This week's achievers in sports
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He took up squash at the age
NAME: Eugene Perle
of 35, when he came to Detroit
TEAM: Fifteen-year member of from Pittsburgh. During the
the Jewish Community Center 1970s, he played the sport only
squash team, which competes in
intermittently.
the Michigan Squash Racquets
The real turning point in Per-
Association against teams in
le's squash career came when he
southeastern Michigan.
turned 45. His buddy, Don Eu-
DEED: Perle, 59, has been ranked genio, asked him to be his dou-
as one of the top three singles bles partner in a Cleveland
squash players in the nation for tournament.
the past 11 years in his age
After this event, Perle told his
bracket by the United States wife she was going to be a
Squash Racquets Association "squash widow on the week-
(USSRA). He resides in West ends."
Bloomfield and has been a pro-
For the last 15 years, he has
fessor of urban planning at become extremely competitive in
Wayne State University for 25 squash and played in dozens of
years.
tournaments. Perle's country-
For the past two years, Perle wide exposure began in 1984
when he made it
to the semi-finals
of a national sin-
gles tournament
in Cleveland.
Over the past
five years, Perle
has coached indi-
vidual players and
gives clinics by re-
quest in south-
eastern Michigan.
In squash's off-
season, from May
through Septem-
ber, Perle plays
tennis and golf.
However, during
this time, he does
keep up his
squash by playing
once a week.
The competitive
season runs from
October-April,
when Perle plays
at least four times
a week at the
Maple-Drake Jew-
ish Community
Center.
has been the USSRA singles age
55-and-over champion. He has
also been the USSRA doubles
champion for the last five years.
John Fuller from Toronto was
Perle's partner for the first four
years, and Fred Bracher from
Philadelphia was his partner last
year.
In addition, Perle won last
year's national singles and dou-
bles championships in his age
group in the Canadian Squash
Racquets Association. Perle is the
third person ever to win all four
championships in one season.
He has also played for the U.S.
squash team during the past
three Maccabi Games in Israel.
Perle won bronze medals in sin-
gles in 1985 and 1993 and is hop-
ing to compete in the 1997
games.
THE SKINNY: Perle has a wife and
three grown children. He has
participated in athletics all his
life. Perle attended Dartmouth
College in New Hampshire,
where he received three varsity
Perle's first major competition
this season will be a doubles
tournament in November in
Montreal. He plays in at least
two national singles and doubles
tournaments division each
month from November to April.
QUOTE: "Squash has become a sig-
nificant part of my life. Through
participation, I have met an
amazing number of nice people
throughout North America, some
of whom have become good
friends," Perle said. "One of the
greatest things about the sport
is that it is a game one can enjoy
for life while staying physically
fit and active as well."
Junior Division
N
NAME: Benjamin Gitler
TEAM: Berkley High School var-
sity football and wrestling
DEED: Gitler, 17, is a 6-foot-l-inch,
185-pound senior at Berkley
High. He is being recruited by
five colleges.
Last March, Gitler qualified
as an All-State wrestler, placing
sixth in the 172-pound weight
class at the Class A tournament
in Battle Creek.
This spring, Gitler will captain
Berkley's High School wrestling.
He is being scouted by Duke Uni-
versity and Swarthmore College.
Gitler plays tight end and
defensive end for the Berkley
football team. He started both
ways as a junior and now as a
senior. Last year, the Oakland
Activities Association voted
Gitler to the All-League second
team.
Berkley's varsity football team
had an 8-3 record in 1994. They
lost in the Class A regionals to
Royal Oak's Kimball after beat-
ing Birmingham's Brother Rice
in the districts last November.
Cornell, Princeton and Cen-
tral Michigan Uni-
versity are
recruiting Gitler
for football.
THE SKINNY: Gitler
started playing
football at age 12.
He a was corner
back and running
back for Berkley's
Norup Middle
School.
Gitler began
wrestling at age
14. His freshman
football coach was
also the varsity
wrestling coach,
and he persuaded
Gitler to try out for
the team.
Gitler admits he
enjoys both sports
equally well. He
says, "Wrestling is
more individual
and self-motivat-
ing. Football is
more of a team
C:
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