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Friday, April 6, 2007


Choate Squads Spring Into New Season
An Inside Look at Each Varsity Spring Squad - Part I

By Rohit Shankar '09, Rohan Hong '09, and Chip Lebovitz '10

News Staff Reporters


Archery

This year looks to be a great season for the Archery team. The team

consists of ten experienced archers and sixteen newcomers. It is rare to have

such a large number of returning archers and new under-classmen. “I’ve

been coaching archery for past seventeen years. I’ve watched the team grow

from four archers to twenty-six archers,” says Mr. Day, the head coach of

Archery squad.

Six archers, including captains Emily Hudson ’07 and Sean Lubner ’07,

went to the National Indoor Championship on March 2nd. Their leadership

will be important since the team is full of freshman players.

The biggest news for the archery team this year is the great number of

freshmen who joined the team. All are beginners and will need to learn to

shoot well, but they ensure the future of the team. “A number of under-formers

secure the team, ensuring that archery is becoming more popular in our

campus,” says Coach Day.

During every practice, Coach Day focuses on posture and form, which

are the most essential factors to shooting consistently. Also, he emphasizes

that archers concentrate when they aim at their targets.

The Archery team is going to compete in two JOAD (Junior Olympic

Archer Development) competitions on April 14, and the team’s goal is to have

satisfying results in the second JOAD competition. On March 31, the team

traveled to Rhode Island for the first JOAD tournament of the season. Captain

Lubner scored 488 out of 600, leading veteran archers. Alex Manti ’08 scored

an impressive 304, the highest among the beginners. More

matches against three different archery clubs come after the

JOAD tournaments.



Boys Crew

The upcoming season will be an interesting one for

the Boys Varsity Crew. After a tough preseason in Miami,

Florida, the team seems reared back and ready to go. They

are lead by captains Barrett Lachance ’07 and Frank Persico

’07. The team is made up of four different boats, in which

the positions of each rower have yet to be decided. These

positions will most likely be decided in seat racing. There

are several key rowers for the team, such as Jesse Reisner

’08, Alex Hirt ’09, Tyler Maloney ’08, Eric Schwarzenbach

’09 and coxswain Brian Bottini ’07, who will greatly impact

the team’s performace. There is also a great deal of young

talent which could help the team as the season goes along.

During the season, Choate will try to do its best during

its ten different races. Last year, they came in second place

in the Founders’ League to Kent, but hope to come out on

top this year. The difference this year could just be, plainly

and simply, hard work. As rower Jesse Reisner said, “It’s

a matter of just using every day to get faster in each boat.”

There are also many teams working hard to beat Choate this

year, because in the past several years Choate has continuously

defended its championship cups against Noble and

Greenough, Pomfret, and Gunnery. One of the biggest races

of the year will be against the Deerfield Doors on May 19th.

Apparently, Deerfield has a fast team this year, but it is a

challenge that Choate hopes it can overcome.



Girls Crew

Girls’ Varsity Crew is looking forward to another successful

season this year. The team looks to continue its long

tradition of success, including its first boat’s three year

undefeated streak and its fourth boat’s medaling at New

Englands. Also, the team hopes to dominate the Founders’

Cup again by defeating Miss Porters and Deerfield.

Compared to the teams in recent years, this season’s

team has many talented young members. Co-Captain Kathy

Heflin ’07 and Regina DePietro ’07 will be the only two seniors

in the group. The real strength of the varsity team will

lie in juniors and sophomores. Co-captain Sarah Barnekow

’08, Britta Roosendahl ’09, and Mimi Inuzuka ’08 will join as top rowers. “We

are building up a lot of strength this year, with mandatory lifting sessions and

also a lot of focus, as is usual, on water technique,” says Heflin. Every rower

has to try hard to defend and improve the team’s record from last year, and it is

much more difficult for top rowers who have already gained satisfying results.

“1st boat finished first in the Petitie Finals at New Englands last year,” says

Heflin. The team atmosphere is quite competitive, and every rower desires to

have a better season and competitions.

The strength of Girls’ Crew is their determination and speed. Yet, this

strength can not be achieved without “great and innovative” racing equipment.

“We are fortunate to have many great supporters and friends of Choate

Crew,” says Heflin.

The team will face its first competition against Pomfret on April 14. “With

a lot of youths, but also a large team of 23 experienced and determined rowers,

I look forward to a very exciting and fun season,” says Heflin.



Golf

Last season, the Varsity Golf team performed quite well to finish with an

8-4 record. After winning 2nd place honors in the New England Championship

and the Founders League, the squad hopes to continue their success this

spring. Led by Coach Bob DeMarco, the team is filled with experienced players

who will be key contributors to the team’s achievements. After losing five

golfers from last season, Mark Dee ’07 is the only returning varsity linkster.

“Golfers like Alex Cohen ’08, new this year, and Zach Remsen ’07, and Greg

Van ’07, who played JV last season, will make a vital core of the team,” says

Captain Dee.

The team is supported by the strong foundation of Choate’s golf program.

The team has maintained a top place in both New England and Founders

League tournaments for many seasons. The team is able to be so consistent

because of its good foundation, which includes the JV Golf team. “Quietly we

do our best job and what we can do,” says Dee. The JV team finished with an

impressive 5-0 record last year, and this strong foundation is one major reason

why the Choate Golf program performs so well every year.

“Everybody knows pretty well what he is doing, and our coach helps us

to focus on playing golf,” adds Dee. The team will compete with the Pomfret

School for their first match this season on the 11th of April. “We have a solid

core of seniors, who have much experience, and good number of newcomers.

We will keep striving to have good results and to pick up where we left last

year,” says Dee.



Boys Lacrosse

The upcoming season for the Boys’ Lacrosse Team will be full of surprises.

The team lost many of its stars from last year’s team, which was awarded

Honorable Mention in the STX/Inside Lacrosse National Top 25 Poll. However,

the team has gained five new post-graduate players, as well as many

other talented athletes. They were able to bond during preseason in Florida,

promising a very exciting year. The team is lead by Captains Sam Sabky ’07

and Matt Winter ’07, who is a U.S Lacrosse All-American Goalie. The team

comprises many other talented and promising members, including Addison

Brooks ’07, Jamie Nudy ’08, John Beek ’08 and Christian Kelso ’09. Even all

these great players, one concern of Captain Sabky’s is the team’s depth. “We

have a total of 21 players, which leaves no room for injury, so we’re making

sure that we’re taking care of the tiniest problems before they progress into

something serious.”

Many of Choate’s games last year were tightly contested matchups that

often ended in overtime victories. People can expect much of the same this

year—the competition has not weakened a bit. The Founders’ League as a

whole will be the toughest it has been in several years. One date to remember

is April 14th, when Choate will travel to Deerfield to face, and hopefully beat,

their rivals once again. This will be by far the most heated contest of the year,

and will be a barometer for the team’s season. The Boys lacrosse squad should

provide much excitement and many accomplishments.



Girls Lacrosse

Coming back from its preseason in Florida, the Girls Varsity Lacrosse

hopes to launch another successful season this year. Led by head coach Ms.

Heidi Howard, in her second year of coaching, the team is looking forward

to a great season. “One of our goals is to have fun and to learn from every

practice and game. Another goal is to have no regret at the end of the season,”

says Coach Howard.

The strong senior class will be the key to the team’s success. Hilary Knight

’07 and Liz Fagan ’07 along with other seniors will make the core of the team.

PG player Rachel Romanowsky ’07 will be another key player. “Our Choate

lacrosse program is well focused on getting young talents. We are going in a

right direction,” says Coach Howard confidently. The team also includes two

freshmen players: Ashley Rinere ’10 and Caroline Potolicchio ’10. Although

it is rare to have freshmen players in the varsity team, the coach thinks that

they will contribute to the team throughout the season.

Coach Howard will focus mostly on attack and shooting during practice.

She wants her players to settle into their play as quickly as possible. Yet the

most important factor in the game is confidence, especially

for a team with many competitions against tough rivals.

Thus, building confidence will be always a priority during

practice. “We have nine seniors who will be important contributors

to the squad. The leaders of our team are excellent,”

says Coach Howard. The squad has many talented players,

since most of varsity players from last year returned.



Boys Tennis

There is much cause for excitement this spring for the

Boys Varsity Tennis Team. Though only two regular starters

from last year’s team are returning, a flurry of new talent has

given Choate a formidable team. The two returning starters

are Captain Ben Gettinger ’07 and Max Mullen ’08. In most

matches, these two will head the top of the lineup. The other

key members of the varsity team who will immediately make

an impact are Christophe Lirola ’08, Brian McDermott ’08,

Tom Guo ’09, and Chip Lebovitz ’10. They face a very difficult

schedule, one of the toughest in New England, agaisnt

teams such as Taft, Andover, and Deerfield, all of whom have

improved tremendously over the past several years. It will be

a challenge the team will certainly be able to overcome.

The season has already begun for the several of the Varsity

players, as they participated in the Kingswood-Oxford

Invitational this past weekend. Overall, as a team, Choate

finished third behind The Hopkins School and Hall High

School of West Hartford, Connecticut. Mullen finished

second in the 2nd singles tournament as well as being runners-

up with Gettinger in the 1st doubles contest. In another

solid effort, Lebovitz and Guo won their consolation bracket

of the 2nd doubles competition. All in all it was a solid start

to the year, but it could have been better. “I would say it was

a pretty good start to the year, but we left some things on the

table,” said Gettinger. The tournament is just the beginning

of great things to come for the tennis squad this year.



Girls Tennis

The Choate Girls Varsity Team is poised to improve on

an excellent season last year. During last year’s campaign,

the girls had a strong season, finishing the year at 9-4. There

is no reason to believe that they can be even better this year.

With only three players lost from last year’s squad, the girls

are poised for a great year. The team is coached by Kevin

Rogers and is captained by Seniors Libby Shuman ’07 and

Ali Weiner ‘07. Returning players from last year’s team are Allison Raskin ‘07,

Zana Salzman ‘08, Claire Monagan ‘08, Chloe Gettinger ‘09, and Sarah Strang

‘07. There are also many new players on the team this year including, Devon

Acevedo ‘09, Mari-Taylor Troutman ‘09, Alyssa Gruen ‘09, Lizzi Ottens ‘08

and Emmane Saleh ‘08. This combination of youth and experience will help

lead the team to victory in many of their dual matches. The toughest matches

on the year for the girl’s team will come against great teams like Hotchkiss,

Greenwich Academy, Kingswood-Oxford, and as always Deerfield.

The one thing that will separate the team from all of its competitors in

New England is its depth. The four singles and three doubles format makes

each match very important. With the depth and ability of each player on

the roster, the doubles matches are where Choate could win many of their

matches. As Coach Rogers said, “Our success may well depend on how the

doubles tandems play as the depth of our roster is usually what puts us over

the top in matches.” Clearly, this season could be a most rewarding one for

the Girls Tennis Team.


  



Ben Gettinger '07 stretches his body to hit a backhand volley during practice under unusual spring weather. Gettinger had a successful weekend at the Kingswood-Oxford Invitational Tournament, finishing second place in the 1st Doubles event with partner Max Mullen '08. Gettinger also took third place in the 1st singles contest. PHOTO/IAN MORRIS



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