Athletics Update: Sun Shines on Spring Athletes
The beginning of the spring athletics season usually coincides with cold, wet weather. As middle school athletes took to the fields, courts, and trails this week, however, the sun was shining and long sleeves were optional. All eighth teams hit the ground running (and pedaling) with the good weather and had a successful week of tryouts and practices. With rosters finalized, teams began to establish their identities, set expectations, and create goals for the season. Initial takeaways from the coaching staff include Alice Guo and Tomas Wright Katz emerging as leaders on the JV ultimate team; Ben Dowers and Angle Geng holding down the fort as the lone seventh graders on the mountain biking team; Wisdom Badgett and Olive Kiraly bringing veteran experience to the JV tennis team; and Oliver Gottesman and Petros Samuel making marked improvement on the boys’ lacrosse team. With athletics offline until next Wednesday, coaches encouraged their athletes to stay sharp during the extended weekend with hopes of picking up where they left off yesterday.
- The girls’ lacrosse team welcomed four sixth graders to an experienced squad. Olivia Dawson, Brynn Franklin, Fiona Holland, and Annika Vittal are surrounded by veteran talent and are positioned to learn a ton this spring.
- Sahana Miduturu, Emme Taylor, Julia Street, and Kalkidan Shiferaw were late additions to the track & field team, but are off to a great start so far as they work to improve their stamina and figure out their distances.
- Eidan Kulman-Tamanaha and Brendan Bandar will look to translate their baseball talents to the tennis court this spring. Both students used their athleticism to earn spots on the varsity team this spring.
- Aleta Sandoski, Lila Abruzzi, and Betel Zewude all earn spots on the varsity ultimate team after strong performances during tryouts. The trio will get significant time on the field due to small ultimate rosters this spring.
Mountain Biking Gets Rolling With Help From Visiting Experts
As our mountain biking program continues to grow we’ve made some friends in gnarly places. One of those places is the New England Mountain Biking Association (NEMBA), and we were fortunate enough to have an introductory clinic during our second practice of the year, led by local chapter president Mary McCarthy and regional board president Adam Glick.
Mary and Adam talked to us about the finer points of trail etiquette, demonstrated various riding positions and talked about the center of gravity, and led a drill where we practiced safely going over implements in the parking lot. Our riders were attentive and engaged, turning into mountain biking sponges for the session and soaking up the expert instruction. It was an awesome start to what is sure to be a thrilling spring season. Our fleet of riders will be conscientious shredders, and we look forward to further partnership with our NEMBA colleagues.
– Alex Tzelnic, physical education teacher and middle school coach
