Before recognizing the nine fall programs and their accomplishments over the past season, Director of Athletics Mark Conroy took a moment to honor Al Lavalle, who worked in the Physical Plant Department for 3 years and in The Cage at the Athletic Center for a decade.
“Al had an incredibly profound impact on everyone who knew him,” said Conroy. “With all due respect to all of us who work with students on a regular basis here, no one in our community impacted more students than Al during those 10 years.”
Conroy then announced the following highlights and individual award winners. The award winners were also recognized during fall sports team night on November 16.
“I wanted to thank all of those of you who wore the blue and green this fall for competing so hard and so well,” Conroy said. “Your sportsmanship was outstanding.”
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Crew
Girls Volleyball
Boys Water Polo
Football
Field Hockey
Girls Soccer
Boys Soccer
Girls Cross Country
Boys Cross County
Williston is one of many local schools that participates in Northampton Youth and Community Rowing. Led this fall by David Sanders, 17 of our students took advantage of this opportunity by heading over to the Connecticut River every afternoon. The team competed in four regattas this fall: The Paper City Regatta in Holyoke, the Head of the Riverfront in Hartford (CT), the New Hampshire Championships in Pembroke, NH, and the Head of the Fish in Saratoga, NY. One of the highlights of the season took place at the prestigious Head of the Charles in Boston when Williston’s own Matthew Steinberg coxed one of the varsity boats.
Seven Williston students earned varsity letters this fall in the program: Josie Auferoth, Michael Pryde, Kelby Reid, Josh Simpson, Matt Steinberg, Chase Tanguay, Anton Wozniak.
The JV Girls Volleyball team was led this fall by Coaches Choo and Lawson. The highlight of their season was an exciting 2-1 victory over local rival Stoneleigh Burnham.
Girls JV Volleyball:
Most Valuable Player – Rachel Stein ‘16
Most Improved Player – Jordan Capelle ‘14
Sportsmanship Award – Gillian Peters ‘14
The varsity squad, under the guidance of Coaches Williams and Chambers, played competitive volleyball all season. While the team ended the season with a 3-10 record, this only tells part of the story, according to Coach Williams. Led by Captains Khrystyna Vatseba and Liz Calderone, the girls improved tremendously, worked hard together, and ended the season with a fantastic win over Miss Porters. Highlights of the season included a thrilling win over Wilbraham & Monson where our poise and ball control led us to victory, and a dramatic match against Suffield, which we ended up losing, 13-15 in the fifth game.
In recognition of their outstanding play during the season, Khrystyna Vatseba and Liz Calderone were both named NEPSAC All-Stars.
Girls Varsity Volleyball:
Most Valuable Player – Khrystyna Vatseba ‘13
Most Improved Player – Felicia Dixon ’14
Sportsmanship Award – Elizabeth Calderone ’14, Marina Dombrowski ‘13
Next year’s captains will be Elizabeth Calderone ’13 and Sydney Curley ’13.
This fall Coach Bill Berghoff pulled double duty as he did a tremendous job coaching both the Varsity and JV teams. Thanks, Coach! The JV team had an excellent season as it finished with a 7-2 record highlighted by sweeping Suffield and a season ending 7-6 victory over Loomis.
Boys JV Water Polo:
Most Valuable Player Award – Tiger Liu ‘14
Most Improved Player Award – Ray Kim ‘15
Sportsmanship Award – Arvin Fieldman ‘17
The varsity squad was led this fall by captains Dan Bridge, Matt Freire and Ryan Cavanaugh. The team played many close matches during the season – losing to perennial New England finalists Choate and Deerfield by single goals and defeating Andover, Hotchkiss and Loomis by a single goal. Unfortunately the team just came up short qualifying for the NEPSAC tournament by one place. For his outstanding play throughout the season, senior Ryan Cavanaugh was selected to the All New England team.
Boys Varsity Water Polo:
Most Valuable Player Award – Ryan Cavanaugh ‘13
Most Improved Player Award – Tony Kim ‘13
Sportsmanship Award – David Fay ‘13
Next year’s captains will be Wilder Denholm ’14, Matt Wagman 14.
The highlight of the JV football team’s season was an exciting 14-12 season ending win over Eaglebrook. 
Boys JV Football:
Most Valuable Player Award – Colin Brown ‘15
Most Improved Player Award – Justin Frometa ‘16
Sportsmanship Award – Nick Dalzell ‘15
Competing in the 10-school Colonial League, varsity football had another successful season finishing with a 4-4 record. Williston remains the only school in the league that has yet to have a losing record during the 8 years the league has existed. This year’s Wildcat squad, led by its 11 seniors, played tough competitive football throughout the season. The highlights of their season included defeating Gunnery 17-8 to retain the Miller Cup, beating local rival Wilbraham & Monson during their Parent’s Weekend and finishing the season with a hard fought 35-28 victory over St. Thomas More.
A number of boys earned postseason recognition for their outstanding play during the season. Senior Dylan Arthurs and junior Ledell Robinson were both named to the All New England team by the NEPSAC coaches. Dylan and Ledell were joined by junior Marquis Francois on the All Colonial League First Team. Earning Second Team All-League honors were seniors John Woodside and Sebastian Rivera and junior Frankie Zumbo.
Boys Varsity Football:
“Jim Purce Memorial” Award for Overall Excellence – Ledell Robinson ‘14
“Edward Stimets Jr. Memorial” Defensive Excellence Award – Marquis Francois ‘14
“Lindy Hanson Memorial” Offensive Excellence Award – DonQuale Williams ’13, Frankie Zumbo ‘14
“Richard R. Francis” Most Improved Player Award – Scott Hendrick ’14, Nick Kioussis ‘13
Mills Kicking Game Award – Zach Pyser ‘14
Sportsmanship Award – John Woodside ‘13
The JV team, under Coaches Klumpp and Anderson’s guidance, played competitive field hockey all season highlighted by one goal wins over Millbrook, Taft and Pomfret.
Girls JV Field Hockey:
Most Valuable Player Award – Maisy Glick ‘15
Most Improved Player Award – Lindsay Whipple ‘17
Sportsmanship Award – Ashley Fitch ‘15
The varsity field hockey team entered the fall with the difficult task of replacing 90 percent of its scoring and a number of players who were strong three- and four-year contributors.
Led by captains Maggie Fitzgerald and Laura Aptowitz, the team had an excellent season, finishing the regular season with a 9-5 record. The team scored 53 goals during the season with six shutouts. The most exciting win took place at Pomfret when the team found itself down 2-1 with 5 minutes left before rallying to score 3 goals in the last five minutes to win 4-2.
The final game of the season proved to be equally exciting as the girls defeated NMH in overtime 2-1. This win earned Williston the Western New EnglandClass B title for the third year in a row! The team’s outstanding season earned them a #4 seed where they lost a tough match to eventual finalist Cushing. Two girls earned postseason recognition. Juniors Taylor Senecal and Catie Laraway were both to the Western NE All Star team while Catie was also named to the NEPSAC Class B All-Tournament team.
Girls Varsity Field Hockey:
Most Valuable Player Award – Laura Aptowitz ’13 and Catie Laraway ’12
Most Improved Player Award – Maddy Jerolman ‘15
Sportsmanship Award – Meg Fay ’15
The girls’ soccer program enjoyed another very successful fall season. The Junior team finished at 5-1 while the JV team finished at 5-5-2, including a season-ending shutout of NMH.
Girls Thirds Soccer:
Most Valuable Player Award – Soshi Wintman ‘17
Most Improved Player Award – Dohee Kim ‘17
Sportsmanship Award – Cameron Stanley ‘16
Girls JV Soccer:
Most Valuable Player Award – Molly Zawacki ‘17
Most Improved Player Award – Catherine Ding ‘14
Sportsmanship Award – Caroline Borden ‘16
The girls varsity team had a very exciting season this year. While the first half of the season proved to be a bit of a roller coaster as injuries plagued the team, the girls stepped up to triumph in the second half of their fall season.
Highlights included a 1-0 win over Hotchkiss to give them their only loss of the season, shutting out Kent and Taft and fishing the season with a convincing 6-1 victory over NMH. The girls’ strong finish to their season earned them a #7 seed in the NEPSAC tournament where they traveled to Rivers before dropping a heartbreaker 2-1 in overtime.
Junior Gia Parker and senior Amanda Cronin were both chosen to compete in the Western New England All-Star game in early November where they represented Williston with distinction!
Girls Varsity Soccer:
Most Valuable Player Award – Amanda Cronin ’13, Gia Parker ‘14
Most Improved Player Award – Christina Zalewski ‘14
Sportsmanship Award – Lucy Boland ‘14
Alumnae Award – Kelly O’Donnell ‘13
Next year’s captains will be Maddie Hatch ‘14, Ellie Padilla ’14, Gia Parker ‘14.
It was another excellent season for the boys’ soccer program. Coach Kudla and Whipple’s JV A team had an excellent season with a record of 6-4-3 going undefeated in their last four games. Both the JV B and Junior teams also had solid seasons. Coaches Niedz and Bagley led the JV B team to several wins including a season ending 4-2 victory over Berkshire. Coach Garcia and Luikart led the Junior team to a 4-3 record.
Boys Junior Soccer:
Most Valuable Player Award – Zach Maddox ’16, Tim Fay ‘18
Most Improved Player Award – Bryan Soder ‘18
Sportsmanship Award – Teddy Wolfe ‘16
Boys JV B Soccer:
Most Valuable Player Award – Erik Ostberg ‘14
Most Improved Player Award – Pun Shusang ‘15
Sportsmanship Award – Giovanny Jimenez ‘13
Boys JV A Soccer:
Most Valuable Player Award – Nile Buranasiri ‘15
Most Improved Player Award – Phillip Lee ‘16
Sportsmanship Award – Teddy Carellas ‘15
The varsity boys soccer team enjoyed another excellent season. The team finished with a 6-5-4 record to rank in 10th place out of the 50 schools that play soccer in Western New England. The team’s strength this fall was its stingy defense led by goalie Bailey Gawron who posted seven shutouts.
There were several highlights during this fall but none more satisfying than defeating perennial Class A power Loomis 2-1 at home. The team’s outstanding regular season earned them a No. 8 seed in the Class B tournament and a match up at No. 1 seed Pomfret. As is usually the case, the boys played their hearts out, but just came up short in knocking off the No. 1 seed 2-1. This was the team’s fourth postseason berth in the last five years.
Three seniors earned postseason recognition. Mark Richards, Pierre DeLiso and Griffin Foley all were named Western New England All-Stars. In addition Mark ended his outstanding career by being named both All-State and All-New England.
Varsity:
Most Valuable Player Award – Mark Richards ’13 (second year in a row)
Most Improved Player Award – Nick Idi ‘14
Sportsmanship Award – Caleb Wint ‘14
12th Player Award – Conor Archbald ’13 (second year in a row)
Next year’s captains will be Caleb Wint ’14, Bailey Gawron ’14, Caleb DeMello ‘14.
Led by Coaches Greg Tuleja and Katie Fay, Williston girls cross country team had a terrific season finishing with a record of 8-4. As usual, the team enjoyed wonderful team spirit as 37 girls comprised the largest roster in decades.
The highlight of the team’s dual meet season was defeating Miss Porters 26-33 in a great race. The team finished its dual meet season on a high note by defeating four teams in our last home race of the year.
As is usually the case, in addition to the team success, there were many individual highlights during the season. Four JV runners won ribbons at the New England championships held at Hebron Academy– Jen Cavazuti, Matri Dalal, Hannah Gagnon, and Erin An. Senior Devon Greenwood rebounded from a difficult injury to finish her Williston career as one of the most decorated runners in our school’s history. For the fourth year in a row, Devon earned All New England recognition by finishing in 7th place out of the 103 runners competing at Hebron.
Most Valuable Runner Award – Devon Greenwood ’13 (fifth year in a row) and Hannah Lewis ‘13
Most Improved Runner Award –Maitri Dalal ‘15 and Jen Cavazuti ‘16
Sportsmanship Award – Miranda Gohh ‘13
Next year’s captains will be Lindsay Richardson ‘14, Bianca Schultz ‘14, and Sylvia Skerry ’14.
Under the direction of coaches Christa Talbot and Caitlin Bradley, the 2012 boys cross country team enjoyed their finest dual meet season in a decade, finishing with an excellent 11-1 record.
Highlights of their outstanding season included going undefeated against all the Division II teams on their schedule, beating Division I opponents Taft and Avon on their courses, and earning a decisive 22-39 victory over perennial rival Worcester Academy. The team earned fourth place finishes at both the Westminster and Shaler Invitationals.
The team finished its excellent season by finishing in fifth place out of the 18 schools that competed at the New England’s. Individually, four runners distinguished themselves during the season by running some of the fastest times ever on our cross country course. Pat DeNuccio finished in 9th, Andy Pierce finished in 5th, Corey Palumbo 4th and Evan Jacobson finished in 1st running the fastest race ever on our course with a time of 15:57.
Andy and Corey both earned All-New England honors by finishing in the top 15 at the New England’s. This was Andy’s second All-New England recognition. Both boys also competed very well at the NEPSAC All-Star meet held at St. Mark’s.
Boys JV cross country:
Most Valuable Runner Award – Christian Knapp ’14, Cade Zawacki ‘15
Most Improved Runner Award – Tyler Greenwood ’17, Emmett O’Malley ‘15
Sportsmanship Award – Oliver Demers ‘14
Boys varsity cross country:
“Alan Shaler” Most Valuable Runner Award – Evan Jacobson ’13
Most Improved Runner Award – Alec Guay ’13, Pat DeNuccio ’13
Sportsmanship Award – Andy Pierce ’13
Next year’s captains will be Matt Cavanaugh ‘14, Oliver Demers ‘14 and Nick Pattison ’14.