On Wednesday, March 23rd, Director of Athletics Mark Conroy held the annual winter athletic assembly to recognize the outstanding athletic achievements from this past season. Williston’s athletic teams had a very successful winter that included setting new records, winning NEPSAC championships, and having a great deal of fun in the process.
Boys and Girls Swimming and Diving
The 25 member boys swim team finished their dual meet season with a 6-6 record including impressive wins over NMH, Westminster, and Worcester. At the NEPSAC Championships, held at Rhode Island College, the boys swam very well finishing in a respectable 5th place. A number of boys distinguished themselves with excellent performances at the championships.
The 400 Freestyle Relay team of Calvin Frye, Jason Albanese, Chris Lansill and David Fitch placed third. Senior Calvin Frye placed 3rd in the 100 freestyle and 5th in the 50 freestyle. The 200 Freestyle Relay team of Calvin Frye, Mark Wei, Chris Lansill, and David Fitch won a NEPSAC title, and finally, junior David Fitch finished an outstanding swim season by winning NEPSAC titles in both the 50 Freestyle and the 100 freestyle. This capped off a spectacular season for David, in which he set school records in three events: the 50 freestyle, the 100 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. David’s time in the 100 freestyle qualifies him for All American consideration.
The Girls Swim team had an exceptionally strong dual meet season finishing with an 8-3 record including convincing wins over NMH, Kingswood Oxford, St. George’s and Kent. This momentum carried into the postseason as the girls saved their best swimming for the NEPSAC championships. In what Coach K called “an incredible performance,” the girls won their first NEPSAC girls swimming and diving championship in our school’s history!
Junior Emily Yeager finished 3rd in the 100 backstroke. Junior Natalie Aquadro finished second in the 100 breaststroke and 3rd in the 200 IM. Sophomore Anabelle Farnham placed second in both the 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle. The 200 Medley Relay team of Sally Alrutz, Natalie Aquadro, Maya Soley, and Annabelle Farnham became NEPSAC champions when they set a new school and NEPSAC record. The 400 Freestyle Relay team of Sally Alrutz, Emily Yeager, Natalie Aquadro, and Anabelle Farnham also set a new school record on their way to becoming NEPSAC champions.
Additionally, we had three young ladies who won individual titles. Sophomore Maya Soley won a NEPSAC title in the 500 freestyle. Junior diver Gabby Mercier had a tremendous season culminating with a NEPSAC title in the 1-Meter diving event while setting a new school record. And finally, freshman Sally Alrutz won a NEPSAC title in the 100 backstroke, placed 2nd in the 100 butterfly, and led off the 400 freestyle relay breaking a 15 year old record in the 100 freestyle. Sally also set a school record in the 200 IM at the Bud Erich championships.
Award winners and captains will be announced at their upcoming Banquet Night.
Boys Basketball
The JV, 3rds and 4ths teams all competed well throughout their seasons. The biggest highlights of the Cullen and Ketcham led JV season were back to back wins over Salisbury and MacDuffie. The Thirds team rebounded from a slow start to finish at 8-4 with thrilling victories over Loomis, Deerfield and Winchendon. Coaches Joshua Harper and Bryan Malinowski led the 4ths team to a season for the ages sweeping through its 8 game season undefeated.
Under the leadership of Coaches Shelton, Garrity and Lapolla, the Varsity Boys Basketball team enjoyed another outstanding season with a record of 23-5 including going 17-2 in Class A. The 23 wins ties the record set last year for the most in school history. The team played proficient at both ends of the court, allowing 48 points a game while scoring an average of 65. While there were many great wins during this terrific season, there are a few that stood out: sweeping both Loomis and Deerfield, a thrilling comeback road win at Avon Old Farms, avenging an early season road loss to Andover with a convincing win at home and, of course, sweeping our friendly rival from Suffield, Connecticut in all three of our games.
The team’s outstanding season earned them the #2 seed in the Class A tournament where it earned the opportunity to host two games here at Williston. In the quarterfinals the team beat a tough Hotchkiss squad 57-49, and in the semifinals they defeated rivals Suffield 62-51. In a thrilling championship game held at Rhode Island College the boys defeated the top seeded Phillips Exeter Academy 56-53 to repeat as Class A champions. Senior Jake Ross was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
4ths:
Most Valuable Player Award – Chris Barber ‘21
Most Improved Player Award – Isi Donnelly ‘21
Sportsmanship Award – Ethan Nestelbaum ’21, George Spence ‘21
3rds:
Most Valuable Player Award – Noah Clack ’18
Most Improved Player Award – Adam Johndrow ‘19
Sportsmanship Award – Nick Barber ’19, Jessup Goldberg Cook ‘20
JV:
Most Valuable Player Award – Eni Ikuku ‘17
Most Improved Player Award – Zach Bernstein ‘16
Sportsmanship Award – Eric Chen ’16 – second year in a row
Varsity:
Most Valuable Player Award – Chris Hudson ‘16
Most Improved Player Award – Matt Folger ‘16
Sportsmanship Award – Kyle Doucette ‘16
Girls Basketball
This winter was another very successful season for our girls’ basketball program. The JV squad had a competitive season under Coaches Schneider, Garcia, Thompson and Mahoney. Highlights included an exciting two point victory over Suffield and winning three of their last four games.
Varsity Girls Basketball, under Coaches Rodgers and Whipple, had a terrific season going toe to toe with the finest teams in Western New England to finish with a 14-7 record. There were plenty of highlights during the season including finishing runner-up at the Ray Brown Tournament in December, a terrific 41-36 comeback victory over Wilbraham and Monson, and great road victories over Deerfield and Kent. Arguably, the biggest highlight took place late in the season when the girls knocked off another strong tournament bound Pomfret squad at home 54-44. The team’s excellent season earned them a #8 seed in the Class B Tournament where they lost to eventual champion Tilton.
JV:
Most Valuable Player Award – Julia Farnham ‘20
Most Improved Player Award – Isabelle Cheney ‘20
Sportsmanship Award – Erin Daley ‘19, Fuka Iwama ‘18
Varsity:
Most Valuable Player Award – Olivia Bonavita ‘17
Most Improved Player Award – Fiona Bundy ‘17
Sportsmanship Award – Rylee Leonard ‘16
Girls Hockey
The JV team, led by Coaches Ward and Valine, enjoyed an excellent season finishing with a 10-3-1 record. Highlights included shutout victories over Choate and Berkshire, and decisive road victories at Hotchkiss and Loomis Chaffee.
Varsity Girls ice hockey enjoyed another truly remarkable season under the leadership of Coaches Christa TalbotSyfu, Alex Tancrell-Fontaine and Andrew Syfu finishing with an outstanding record of 21 wins, 3 losses and 1 tie. The team’s 21 wins sets a new school record for the second year in a row improving on last year’s record of 20 wins. The team played outstanding defense during the regular season, as they gave up a total of 16 goals in 24 games! This stingy defense included 14 shutouts led by senior goaltender Morgan Fisher.
Highlights of their special season included three terrific road wins – beating Westminster at their rink for the first time in 13 years, an exciting 2-1 overtime victory at Choate, and a terrific 5-3 victory over an excellent Loomis Chaffee team. The team also counts amongst its highlights raising $1800 in their Pink in the Rink victory over KUA. The girls also had a great deal of success in both of their holiday tournaments finishing runner up at the Harrington Tournament and winning the Winchendon Tournament for the second year in a row. The team’s outstanding regular season earned them the #2 seed in the Division 1 tournament. In the quarterfinals, the girls beat Milton 3-1 before a heartbreaking loss to Loomis in the semifinals.
JV:
Most Valuable Player Award – Sophia Schaefer ‘18 – second year in a row
Most Improved Player Award – Kira Bixby ‘19
Sportsmanship Award – Morgan Fogleman ’16 – second year in a row
Varsity:
No awards yet since they have not had their Banquet night yet.
Boys Hockey
The JV Boys Hockey team, led by Coaches Fay and Demerath, played competitive hockey all winter and finished the season particularly well, winning five of their last six games. Their one loss was a narrow 4-3 loss to Berkshire during the streak.
Under Coaches Cunha, Hanford, and Lessard, the Varsity Boys Hockey team competed hard all season against a very competitive schedule. The team enjoyed several highlights including beating eventual Large School champion Thayer Academy 5-3, sweeping Winchendon in both their contests, and recording an exciting 4-3 victory at Millbrook. The season finished on a high note as the team won their last two games, including a 3-0 shutout at Pomfret behind senior goalie Shane Mason. Senior Jack Kelly led the team in goals scored for the second year in a row with 16, and Shane anchored the team logging nearly 1100 minutes while recording a .905 save percentage.
JV:
Most Valuable Player Award – Jacob Zaranek ‘17
Most Improved Player Award – Danny Kissane ‘19
Sportsmanship Award – Cam Ward ‘17
Varsity:
Daniel D. Carpenter Most Valuable Player Award – Shane Mason ‘16
Most Improved Player Award – Sam Milnes ‘18
Sportsmanship Award – Steven Gower ‘17
Ski Teams
Led by Coaches Hing, Eberle, and Pelliccia, Williston’s ski teams enjoyed successful seasons competing in the Mountain Institute League. The winter culminated with the New England Class B Championships held at Crotched Mountain in New Hampshire. Both teams competed well against the other 14 competing schools. Sophie Carrellas had an outstanding season dominating the league races with first place finishes but was injured for the Championships. The boys team had a successful day defending its NEPSAC title from 2015. Highlights include senior captain J.J. Celentano finishing in the top half of the competition in the Giant Slalom, sophomore Oliver Lawrence finishing 16th in the Slalom, and junior Devin DeVerry became Williston’s first NEPSAC individual champion in many years winning the Slalom race.
JV Boys:
Most Valuable Skier Award – Adam Johnsrud ‘20
Most Improved Skier Award – Ben Robes-Kenworthy ‘20
Sportsmanship Award – Matt Seltzer ‘20
Varsity Girls:
Most Valuable Skier Award – Sophie Carellas ’18 (second year in a row)
Most Improved Skier Award – Molly Solan ‘19
Sportsmanship Award – Lizzy Warncke ‘16
Captain for next year will be Sophie Carellas ’18
Varsity Boys:
Most Valuable Skier Award – Devin DeVerry ’17 (fifth year in a row)
Most Improved Skier Award – Gavin Girardin ‘19
Sportsmanship Award – JJ Celentano ’16
Captain for next year is Devin DeVerry ‘17
Girls Squash
The girls squash program enjoyed another successful winter season under the leadership of Varsity coach Peter Gunn and JV coach Adeleen Brown. The Varsity team enjoyed great team unity as they competed hard throughout the winter. Highlights included thrilling 4-3 wins over both Berkshire and Suffield for the first time in five years! At the NEPSAC Class C Championships held at St. Paul’s in New Hampshire, the team enjoyed a terrific performance finishing in second place. Julie Lord finished in 1st place in the 5th flight, and in addition to the team’s runner-up performance, they received a wonderful honor at the end of the tournament when they were presented with the Sportsmanship Award for the second consecutive year.
JV:
Most Valuable Player Award – Chloe Lee ‘17
Most Improved Player Award – Atah Okaisabor ‘18
Sportsmanship Award – Ellie Scott ‘18
Varsity:
Most Valuable Player Award – Caroline Borden ’16 – second year in a row
Most Improved Player Award – Julie Lord ‘16
Sportsmanship Award – Sophia Triana ‘16
Next year’s captain will be Mika Sovjani ’17 and Lindsay Whipple ‘17
Boys Squash
All three boys squash teams enjoyed competitive seasons. Both Coach Simpson’s Thirds team and Coach Chiavaroli’s JV team demonstrated great improvement this winter highlighted by wins over Eaglebrook, Suffield, and Albany Academy.
Under Coach Ryan Tyree, the Boys Varsity Squash team had an exciting season with a mixture of returning veterans and new faces. Led by dedicated captains Phillip Lee and Kevin Li, the team demonstrated steady improvement and resilience throughout the winter. Highlights included avenging an early season 5-2 road loss to Berkshire with a thrilling 4-3 victory at home, and the boys won a gutty 4-3 victory over a tough squad from Kingswood Oxford in the final game of the season.
Co-Ed Thirds:
Most Valuable Player Award: Oscar DeFrancis ‘20
Most Improved Player Award: Ruby McElhone Yates ’21, Akivah Mazile ‘20
Sportsmanship Award – Ava Greenbaum ‘21
JV:
Most Valuable Player Award – Nithish Athavan Raja ‘18
Most Improved Player Award – Joey Robbins ‘19
Sportsmanship Award – Aiden McCreary ‘19
Varsity:
Most Valuable Player Award – Kevin Li ’16 – second year in a row
Most Improved Player Award – Henry Poehlein ‘18
Sportsmanship Award –Phillip Lee ‘16
Captain for next year – Henry Poehlein ‘18
Riding
This winter a handful of students participated in Williston’s Riding program at Fuller Horse Farm in nearby Westhampton. According to Coach Laura Etzel these students worked very hard to improve their jumping skills. By the end of the season, each rider was able to execute a course with 7 jumps – a wonderful accomplishment.
Most Improvement in Riding: Villard Xu ‘18
Most Improvement in Horsemanship: Momoka Oda ‘18
Sportsmanship Award (Helping Hands Award): Corrine Gawle ‘20
Most Valuable Rider for best all-around horsemanship: Aidenne Alden ‘18
Wrestling
Coaches KaneLong, White, and Rivenburgh’s wrestling team had a very good season finishing with a team record of 10-7. Highlights of their season included victories over rivals Suffield, Pomfret, and Wilbraham and Monson. Undoubtedly, the biggest highlight of the team season took place at home in January when they defeated Tabor Academy in thrilling style with a 39-36 victory – this was our first win over Tabor in the past 16 years! The team finished with the highest winning percentage in individual matches in the past 16 years winning over 67% of their matches.
At the Class A League Championships held at Hyde School, a number of boys distinguished themselves. Junior Hunter Adams finished in 2nd, sophomore Harrison Winrow finished in 4th, and senior captain Mikey Lloyd was 5th. Harrison added to his great day by winning the Most Falls in the Least Time Award, pinning 4 opponents in 3 minutes and 42 seconds combined.
JV:
Most Valuable Wrestler: Sam Canney ‘17
Most Improved Wrestler: William Gunn ‘21
Sportsmanship: Andrew Andrew ‘18
Varsity:
Donald J. Knauf Most Valuable Wrestler Award – Mikey Lloyd ‘16
Most Improved Wrestler Award – Ben Normandin ‘19
Sportsmanship Award – Bina Sweet ‘17
Peter M. Edgerton ’74 Most Pins Award – Hunter Adams ’17 (second year in a row)
The captain of next year’s team will be Bina Sweet ‘17
Awesome!