Varsity Teams Prepare for Post-Seasons A Summary of the Finals Weeks of theWinter
By VJ Gandhi ’10 and Paul Scarinci ’10
News Staff Reporter
Boys Varsity Basketball
With a current record of 9-9, Boys Varsity Basketball has truly shown a drastic improvement since last year. After two great wins over Trinity-Pawling and Williston Northampton, the boys dropped a game to basketball powerhouse Avon Old Farms by the score of 70-51. In the next week, the boys will have the day off on Saturday, and return on 20th with a home game against Cheshire Academy. Finally, on the 22nd, the boys will travel to Deerfield Academy with hopes of repeating last year’s dramatic win over the Doors at home. After some players were left out of the lineup due to personal reasons and injuries, the boys are now in full-strength and ready to finish the season with a winning record. The highly anticipated game against Deerfield will be played away; however, rooter buses will be available for all Choate fans.
Girls Varsity Basketball
The Girls Basketball team is having a good season this winter with a record of 12-7, and 5 – 0 in the Founders league. Head Coach Jim Davidson leading the way, the girls will face a number of good teams in the upcoming weeks. After a home game against Taft on Saturday, the girls will face Kent and Williston Northampton next week. With the New England tournament approaching on the 27th, Choate will need to play hard in order to remain as a top seed in the tournament. The team is currently ranked 6th in New England. Although they have had a remarkable season so far, the team has played less than half of its games at full strength. “Everyone plays very hard and to the best of their ability,” said Coach Davidson. Jill Mastroianni ’08 and Erin Grajewski ’08 have done a great job leading the team so far, and they will need to keep up the effort as they enter the last push to the tournament.
Boys Ice Hockey
The Boys Varsity Ice Hockey team is currently standing with a 10-7-3 record. The final regular season game will be played against Kent on February 23. “The team has done very well and has gone very far this season,” says Head Coach Pat Dennehy. However, the past couple weeks have brought a few injuries and one player, Mark Goggin ’09, traveling to Slovakia with the USA National Team. Captains Connor Goggin ’08, Sam Wheeler ’08, and Jamie Nudy’08 have done a very good job leading the team and setting a good example for the younger players. Founders League continues to be the best league in New England, and holds some very tough squads. After starting the season so well, the boys have won one of the last six games, including two ties. With three games left in the season, the boys will need to play their best hockey in order to qualify for the New England Tournament. After Avon this past Wednesday, the team will travel to Watertown to once again take on the Rhinos from Taft, who stands with a record of 12-7 after beating Salisbury 3-2 on February 6. In their previous meeting with Taft, the Boars won by the score of 4-0. On Monday, the boys will host South Kent, who recently defeated Belmont Hill 5-3. In their final home game of the season, the boys will face Loomis Chaffee for the second time this season. In December, Choate defeated the Pelicans 3-1. Lastly, the boys will travel to Kent for their final game of the season before New Englands. With four teams left in its schedule, Choate will need to stay focused in order to fill the last spots available for the New England tournament.
Girls Varsity Hockey
With a current ten-game undefeated streak and a 12-3-2 record, Girls Varsity Hockey looks to end its season on a high note. With three remaining games, two of which are away, the girls are in a comfortable position in the New England rankings. As the current 6th seed, the Boars will look to repeat last year’s magic run at the NE tournament, and come away with their second straight championship. Along with seven young but talented freshmen on the team, the seniors will need to lead the team through its remaining obstacles. The girls will end their season with a very busy schedule. The team will be playing three games in four days, the first two coming last Wednesday and Thursday. On Saturday, Choate will travel to Taft and play the Rhinos for the second time this season. Back in January, the girls got the best of Taft, and left with a 3-1 victory. They will play Hotchkiss away on Wednesday, and finish their regular season on the 23rd with a home game against Cushing Academy.
Boys Varsity Squash
Boys Varsity Squash boasting a 15-5 record this season, look forward to its first Founders League Championship in some fifteen years. Head Coach Will Morris states, “We have typically been runner-up in Founders to Taft, but this year we have beaten the Rhinos twice.” These encouraging words will help the team focus and hopefully prevail against Avon Old Farms, Westminister, and Kingswood Oxford. These matches will determine whether or not Choate will be deemed Founders League Champions. Last weekend, a number of the best prep school squash teams arrived to compete in the National High School Team Championships. Our boys were competing for the impressive eleventh place overall out of all the boys squash teams in the entire country.
On February 22-24, the Boars will head off to play in the extremely competitive New England Tournament. “Choate’s greatest challenges here will be Exeter and the notoriously good Brunswick, who have already beaten us this year,” said Rodrigo Quan Miranda ’10. He goes on to say for the team to succeed they’ll need to “train hard, not underestimate any teams, and absolutely stay as focused as possible, which is definitely something hard to do at the end of the season.” The boys have four games left before in the season, with three of them being home. On Saturday, the boys will host Kingwood-Oxford as well as Avon Old Farms at 4:15 pm.
Girls Varsity Squash
According to Head Coach Tom Foster, the success of the Girls Varsity Squash team this year “can be attributed to two factors; hard work and excellent senior leadership.” The girls are lead by Captain Ellie Foster ’08, and top seed Maggie Remsen ’09 (both top twenty players in the country in their respective age groups). With their leadership the girls have achieved an impressive 12-3 record, which cancels out their predicted mediocre season expectations. The team faces only two more opponents, Rye Country Day and a tough rival Deerfield squad at home on the 20th, before heading off to defend their Founder League Championship from last year. This team will play in the Division A New England Championships on February 22-24, and Mr. Foster determinedly says, “If we play well in the tournament, another top 5 finish is not out of the question.” The girls have also competed for 7th place in the Team High School National Championships this past weekend. “Not too shabby!” exclaims the excited head coach. Coach Foster goes on to say that “practices have been focused and the willingness to work to get in tremendous physical condition has allowed some of our players to prevail over more skilled opponents.” The girls will host the Doors from Deerfield Academy in their final game of the season on the 20th.
Varsity Wrestling
This year’s squad has recently ended the regular season with the record of 10-10, Coach Milmoe’s best record in four years coaching the team. Along with great coaching from Assistant Coach, Sam Doak, this year’s team has been highlighted by its degree of leadership. Seniors Captains Christian Duffy, Jeff Mead, and Chris Douglas have set good example for a solid young team with much talent. However, other leadership has come from three-year starters Kendall Thigpen ’09, Lane Franklin ’09, and David Lam ’09. “This years’ team is the best team I have seen in my four years coaching,” says coach Milmoe. “Great wins throughout the season have been against Deerfield and Exeter.” Nine of the wrestlers on the team have qualified for New England’s because of their regular season record: Tyler Bisson ’11 (11-4), David Lam ’09 (15-7), Jeff Mead ’08 (14-5), Babisa Adumbire ’09 (12-4), Derek Bertolini ’11 (16-6), Lane Franklin ’09 (13-0), Kendall Thigpen ’09 (7-3), Christian Duffy ’08 (16-4), and Chris Douglas ’08 (20-4). This weekend, the boys will travel to Andover to participate in the Class A League Tournament along with 16 other teams.
Derek Bertolini ’11, wrestling at the 140 lb class, makes a move in a recent home meet. PHOTO/Ian Morris
