Nick Garofano ‘16

Nick has been an instrumental part of the boys’ varsity lacrosse team’s offense this spring. His ability to initiate offense, dodge past defenders, and find teammates after being double-teamed, has established him as a major offensive threat. Last week Nick registered 17 points in the team’s two games, going 5/3 against Division 1 opponent Taft, and 3/6 against league opponent, Gunnery.

Mary McCarthy ‘15

Mary has had a great start to the season for the girls’ varsity water polo team. Mary posted big games in the net over the weekend for the Wildcats as the team won a pair of one goal games. She racked up 14 saves in the 6-5 win versus Andover, during which she added scoring a goal to her stat sheet. Against Exeter, Mary recorded 18 saves in the 5-4 win. Mary is a great leader and role model for the younger girls on the team.

Justin Frometa ‘16

Justin had a great start to the season for the varsity baseball team on Saturday as he went 2-4 with two doubles and 3 RBI in the team’s come-from-behind win over Gunnery.  He also played well defensively at catcher.  Justin’s enthusiasm is infectious and his work ethic is unparalleled on the team.

Marielle McHale ‘18

Marielle had a great start for the jv girls’ lacrosse team on Saturday against Loomis Chaffee. Starting at center, she played both offense and defense throughout the game, contributing at both ends and in transition.  Marielle scored one goal and was integral in creating six more.  Most importantly, she led the team in loose ball controls. Marielle has great work ethic and this is exemplified through her play on the field.

By Coach Gunn

Defending champions Williston Northampton School earned a third-place finish in the New England Interscholastic Squash Association (NEISA) Class C Championships held at Pomfret School on Saturday, February 28.

Led by three Easthampton natives—senior co-captain Julia Valine, fellow senior Hannah King, and sophomore Lindsay Whipple—Williston’s 41 points trailed only Greens Farm Academy (56) and host Pomfret (49) in earning the third place by one point over Canterbury School (40).  Originally seeded fifth overall, this terrific performance was made all the more special as the eight other teams voted Williston to receive the prize for best sportsmanship.

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In a thrilling NEPSAC Class A Championship game, Williston edged rival Suffield Academy by 51-48.   The Wildcats came out of the gates fast behind the hot shooting of guards Ryan Richmond ’15 and Jake Ross ’16.   The Suffield Tigers proved up to the challenge as they battled from behind all day, refusing to let the Wildcats pull away. The Wildcats led at the half 30-25.

In the second half, the game remained closely contested.  The Tigers used a strong inside game to keep the score close.   With under a minute to play, clinging to a 48-47 lead, Williston junior Jake Ross came up with a key steal and converted one of two free throws to up the precarious lead to 49-47.  Suffield turned the ball over on the next possession and quickly fouled junior Chris Hudson.  Hudson calmly sank both free throws to seal the victory for the Wildcats.

It was a tremendous season for Williston and first year coach Mike Shelton as the team made the move from Class B to Class A.   The Wildcats finished 23-3, avenging their only Class A loss.  Suffield and Williston split their two game series during the season.  The Wildcats were led by Tournament MVP Richmond with 15 followed by Ross and Hudson with 11 each.

Williston’s boys basketball team defeated Tabor Academy 66-51 to reach the NEPSAC Class A Championship game. Today’s contest was a rematch of a game played on February 27 that Williston won 68-57. Today the Wildcats pulled away in the second half to win going away 66-51.   The first half was a see-saw battle that ended with Williston taking a narrow 25-24 halftime lead.  In the second half, the trio of Jake Ross (junior from Northampton), Ryan Richmond (senior from Toronto), and Chris Hudson (junior from Hodgdon, ME) led the Wildcats to victory.  Ross had 22, Richmond 18 and Hudson 16.   Tabor was led by Jess Bunting with 17.  The championship game will be played at 1:00pm at Endicott College in Beverly, MA. Williston will face Suffield Academy, who defeated Kent School in their semi-final matchup.  Williston and Suffield split their two games this season with Williston defeating the Tigers 76-59 at Suffield in January and Suffield topping the Wildcats 61-54 in February in Easthampton.

Admission at Endicott is $10 for Adults and $5 for Students. Concessions will be available on site. Tickets and concessions are CASH ONLY.

The girls hockey team suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to St. Paul’s School in their semi-final matchup. St. Paul’s scored the game’s only goal with 27 seconds remaining in the first period. The game was played at an uptempo pace with both teams having numerous scoring chances, but both goaltenders were outstanding. Williston finishes the season with a 20-1-4 record, the best in school history.

Williston’s girls hockey and boys basketball teams advanced to the  semi-final round in their respective tournaments, while the girls basketball team came up just short on Wednesday.

The girls hockey team (20-0-4) fell behind Choate early in the game, but rallied in the second period behind two goals by Rachel Rockwell ’16 and one by Delaney Belinskas ’16 to take a 3-1 lead. In the third period Williston limited Choate’s offensive chances until late in the game when goaltender Morgan Fisher ’16 made a couple of key saves. The Wildcats will host sixth seed St. Paul’s School in the semi-final round at 3:00 p.m. at Lossone Arena. The championship game will be played on Sunday, March 8 at 3:00 p.m. at Berkshire School.

The boys basketball team (21-3) came out on top in a spirited contest with two-time defending champion Phillips Exeter Academy. The Wildcats rallied from an eight point deficit with 10 minutes to go to take a late lead and held on for a 61-56 win. Jake Ross ’16 scored 17 of his game high 27 points in the second half to spark Williston. The boys will host six seeded Tabor Academy in the semi-final round at 1:00 p.m. at the Williston Athletic Center. The championship game will be played on Sunday, March 8 at 1:00 p.m. at Endicott College in Beverly, MA.

The girls basketball team (18-4) fell to Pomfret School 59-56. The Wildcats led by one at halftime, but Pomfret built a 10 point lead in the second half. Williston cut that lead to two points late in the game,  but was unable to get any closer. Williston was led by Natalia Baum’s team-high 22 points.

The semi-final games will both be held at Williston on Saturday, March 7. The boys basketball team will take on Tabor Academy at 1:00 p.m., and the girls hockey team will face St. Paul’s at 3:00 p.m.

Three Williston teams will play in NEPSAC tournaments, with the quarterfinal round taking place on Wednesday, March 4. All three teams are the higher seed, which means they will play at home.

“Williston is hosting not one, not two, but three NEPSAC quarterfinal tournament games,” Athletic Director Mark Conroy wrote in an email to the community.  “We just happen to be the only boarding prep school in New England who can make this claim!  This also happens to be the very FIRST time in our school’s history that we have hosted three tournament games this time of year.  So, yes, it is a very special day!”

Below are the match-ups and times for the Wednesday games. Full tournament brackets can be found here.

3:15 p.m. – NEPSAC Class B Girls Basketball Tournament – #4 Williston (18-3) vs. #5 Pomfret

4:15 p.m. – NEPSAC Division 1 Girls Hockey – #2 Williston (19-0-4) vs. # 7 Choate

5:45 p.m. – NEPSAC Class A Boys Basketball Tournament #2 Williston (20-3) vs. #7 Exeter

The semi-finals are on Saturday, March 7 at the higher-seeded site with times to be determined. The finals are on Sunday, March 8.  Boys basketball at Endicott College in Beverly, MA; girls basketball at Loomis Chaffee School; and girls hockey at Berkshire School. 

“Let’s do everything we can as a community to be a great host to our opponents while we show our great school spirit inspiring our teams to play their hearts out,” wrote Mr. Conroy.  “Always proud of the green and blue!”

Read the article on the three tournaments by MassLive.

Devin DeVerry ’17

Devin has enjoyed a great season thus far for the boys’ varsity ski team. Last week at the NEPSAC B championship tournament, Devin placed second in the Slalom and third in the Giant Slalom. Devin’s stellar performances helped lead the Wildcats to the NEPSAC Class B Championship.

Rachel Rockwell ‘16

Rachel is enjoying an outstanding season for the girls’ varsity hockey team. On Wednesday, Rachel assisted on the game tying goal with just 55 seconds left in the game against Choate. In the team’s win over Kimball Union on Saturday, Rachel scored the game winning goal.  Rachel has played an important role for the Wildcats on defense and her defensive skills help generate opportunities on offense. Rachel is a hard worker and a great team player.

Sophia Schaefer ‘18

Sophia has led the girls’ jv hockey team all season long. She is a hard-working defenseman who is also the team’s leading scorer. Sophia has been a big part of the Wildcats recent 3-game winning streak against Vermont, Deerfield and Cushing. Sophia is a great leader who is able to lead by example through her team first mentality.

The announcement came as a happy surprise this week: After a miscalculation in the results, the Williston Northampton School’s boys ski team moved from a second-place finish the NEPSAC Class B Championships to first, taking the title for the first time in over a decade.

The Wildcats will receive a trophy as NEPSAC champions and will share the title with the Rivers School team, who were originally awarded the top honor at Ski Sundown on Wednesday, February 11.

Alpine ski coach Ed Hing called the win a “tremendous accomplishment,” and noted that while he was disappointed that the boys didn’t get a chance to celebrate the moment last Wednesday, he’s pleased that they’re now getting the recognition they deserve for their hard work.

The boys were led by Devin DeVerry ’18 (2nd in the Slalom, 3rd in the Giant Slalom), Jesse Cassuto ’17 (5th in the Slalom) and Anthony Aquadro ’15 (10th in the Slalom). Finishing behind the Wildcats were Rivers School, Taft School, Concord Academy, Thayer Academy, Avon Old Farms School, Trinity-Pawling School, Lawrence Academy, Loomis Chaffee School, Salisbury School, and Milton Academy. For the boys team this was Williston’s first championship since 1993.

The girls also had a tremendous day on the mountain, taking third at the NEPSAC Class B Championships. The girls team was led by Sophie Carellas (2nd in Slalom, 4th in Giant Slalom) and Jen Carellas (6th in Slalom, 8th in Giant Slalom). Miss Hall’s School finished first and Loomis Chaffee second. The Wildcats were followed by Taft, Milton, Rivers, Miss Porter’s School, Thayer, and Concord Academy. The girls last took the title in 2008.

Congratulations to both teams on their great finish to their season!

Chris Hudson ‘16

Chris is enjoying an outstanding season for the boys’ varsity basketball team. His contributions have helped drive the Wildcats to a current record of 14-1 on the season. Chris had a huge game in Williston’s 2 point victory against Hotchkiss on Saturday. Chris had a double-double with 18 points and more than 10 rebounds. Chris leads by example as he works hard on and off the floor to improve his game.

Gabby Mercier ‘17

Gabby has been an integral part of the success of the Wildcats diving team this season. Gabby continued to perform well on Wednesday as she set a school record in the 6-dive category with a score of 234.95, a record that had been held since 2003. On Friday she broke another long standing school record in the 11-dive category at the Suffield Diving Invitational with a score of 341.85.

Chris Espinal ‘17

Chris has been instrumental in helping the boys’ 3rd basketball team to a 5-2 season thus far. Chris helped lead the Wildcats to victory on Saturday against Loomis Chaffee, scoring 10 points and pulling down 14 rebounds in the victory.  Chris brings a great combination of athleticism, enthusiasm and work ethic to each day, and is a leader for the younger kids on the team.