Abbie Coscia ’19 broke the single-season scoring record of 48 goals   during the Wildcats’ water polo match against Staples last week. Maddy Stern ’14 previously held the record, which she set in 2014. Coscia currently has 64 goals in the team’s 2016 campaign, and with one regular season game remaining against Loomis and the NEPSAC tournament on the horizon, she is eager add to her total.

The Holyoke native complimented her teammates after setting her record. She said, “When I realized I broke the record as a freshman, I was really proud of my accomplishment; however, I couldn’t have done it without the help of my teammates and my coach.”

Head Water Polo Coach Bill Berghoff has been impressed with Abbie’s natural scoring ability. “Abbie has a great instinct for finishing a shot, and she is not afraid to take the opportunity a defense gives her,” he said. “This record is also impressive in that Abbie is far and away our number one scoring option and other teams know that. Even though she has been double-teamed recently, she still finds good chances to score.”

Coach Berghoff is excited about his young team’s bright future.  He said of Abbie and her teammates, “She, and some other fast improving young teammates, are signs of great things to come for the future of the program.”

Now that Coscia has broken the single season scoring record, she has set her sights on being Williston’s all-time leading scorer by the time she graduates, a record that Stern currently holds, with 136 goals.

Alexis Ryan ‘17 broke a 30-year school record in discus previously set by Leah Stahlsmith ’87 in 1987. Ryan’s throw of 109’0” at the Wildcats’ home meet last Saturday broke Stahlsmith’s previous record of 108’ 11” by one inch.

The Arizona native has put a great deal of time and effort into achieving this milestone.  She said, “I worked very hard to break this record. When I found out what the school record was in discus my freshman year, it became my goal to break it ever since. I worked with a coach back home over the summer, I worked out, bought throwing shoes and took it much more seriously.”

Ryan recalled her emotions when she first learned she broke the record.

“All I remember is throwing the discus, hardly feeling the throw at all, as if the disc weighed nothing, and I could tell from the way it flew it was my personal record, but when I heard, ‘We have a new school record!’ I was completely overjoyed and felt like all my work was worth it,” she said. “I will go down in Williston history for beating a 30-year old record, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Throwing Coach Noah Lipnick is proud of his student’s accomplishment.  He says that Ryan “has been working so hard to beat the school record since last year when I started coaching her in discus. She’s a tremendously versatile athlete, and I’m proud to have her on the team!”

Ryan has had a great spring for Girls Track, winning the discus, javelin, and shot put events this season.  She has helped Girls Track to a 10-1 record as they enter this weekend’s quad meet against Cushing, Hopkins, and Worcester.  While Ryan is proud of her school record, she is eyeing New England glory as well. “Now my next goal is to beat the New England discus record,” she added, “so I’m nowhere near done here.”

The relay team of Kolby Terrelonge ’16, Isaiah Brooks ’16, Mark Wilson ’16, and Michael Dereus ’16 ran a school record time of 44.0 sec. in the 4x100m relay on Saturday against Westminster and Hopkins. The previous record of 44.3 was set in 2005 by James Dixon ’05, Fernando Jones ’07, Vincent Outerbridge ’06, and Sidney Baptista ’05.

Dereus spoke on behalf of the 4x100m team. “We’d mainly like to thank all of our coaches for cheering us on, ” he said after breaking the record.  “Our reactions were just of pure joy because we have worked so hard to have smooth hand-offs and run as fast as possible.”

Head Track Coach Chris Pelliccia  said about his record-breaking relay team, “As a first-year head coach, it’s been great to get to work with four such talented athletes–they sometimes make my job easy!”

Dereus and his teammates are still hungry to set an even-faster time in the 4x100m this Saturday.  “We continue to strive to not only be proud of our milestone, but to surpass it this upcoming meet for our senior day,” he said. “We will continue to work hard and make our coaches and teammates proud.”

Saturday’s home track meet is shaping up to be an exciting event. Let’s cheer on our Wildcats as they strive to set even more records! Go Williston!