Over the past decade or so, Nick Albertson’s Deerfield Academy golf teams have been likened to a group of magicians: They turn tin cups into gold medals.

The Big Green has accomplished this stunt once this spring already, when it captured the Newport (R.I.) Invitational title for the third consecutive year and the fourth time in the six years it has been competing in the tourney.  Its second Magical Mystery Tour of the season is scheduled for Wednesday, when it travels to the Oak Ridge Golf Course in Agawam to compete in the Kingswood-Oxford Invitational Tournament.

“A lot of the kids call it the New England Championship,” explained Albertson, whose charges have won this event four times as well, dating back to the spring of 2000. “Despite the fact that a total of 23 teams annually compete in this tourney, geographically speaking, it’s more of a Western New England Championship.”

Oddly enough, all four of Deerfield’s Kingswood crowns have come during even-numbered years – 2000, 2006, 2008 and 2010 – but you can still count on the Big Green showing up Wednesday – just in case.

“After a stretch of winning three titles in five years, I think it’s time we got back to our winning ways,” said Albertson, whose golfers made it to the Kingswood podium the past two years, but got no higher than the low row, having to settle for bronze medals on both occasions. “What I remember most about the past two tournaments down there is the fact that we finished last year’s tournament (387) 17 strokes ahead of our score the year before,” added the Big Green mentor, “and we still finished third.

 “As I remember, last year was one of the lowest scoring Kingswood tournaments in quite some time,” said Albertson. “Everybody was on their A game that day,” including Avon, which won with a score of 380 … the lowest winning score since a 375 stood up at the 2004 tournament.

Deerfield will enter Wednesday’s showdown as one of the favorites, along with two-time defending champion Avon, Westminster and Taft. And all four teams have faced each other previously this season. The Big Green will haul a 22-1 record into the fray, having already bested Avon, 185-195, and Westminster, 200-214. Taft, meanwhile, owns the lone blemish on the Big Green’s scorecard, having pinned a 389-398 setback on it back in April. Deerfield evened the score four days later, however, as Taft was one of the seven teams Deerfield had to step over to earn its Newport title.

The Big Green, which also beat the likes of Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss, Salisbury, Tabor and Loomis when it stormed the Rhode Island seashore that day, did something during the tourney that, quite frankly, Albertson never thought he would see again. Deerfield won the crown by establishing a new record for team scoring: 299.

“We owned the previous record of 303, which we set back in 2008,” said Albertson, “and I figured that mark would stand for quite some time, but we beat it by four strokes … I guess I was wrong on that one.”

Deerfield’s Fab Five led the charge into the Newport record books as David Buoymaster (13) and Sam Lafferty (14) both finished one stoke off the medalist honors with 73s. Brandon Wu (15) posted a 75, while James Park (13) and Joshua Kim (14) carded a 78 and 80 respectively.

Park, who will be taking his golfing talents to Yale in the fall, will be looking to wrap up his prep career on a high note and on familiar territory. As a sophomore, Park finished fifth in a field of 115 golfers at Kingswood with a score of 75, while he edged up to fourth last year with a round of 72.

Kim, meanwhile, snuck into the top 10 as well last year, when he placed ninth with a 73. His previous Kingswood appearance saw him card a 76 to wind up sixth. Cam O’Connell (13), Dan Blohm (13) and Fritz Bowen (13) supplied the depth this season.

Sophomore Averi Westerman was the tournament MVP, and seniors Liza Bragg, Lizzie Jeffrey, and Maddie McGraw were named to the All-Tournment team.

For the season, the team finished 16-0 in the league and 16-4 overall.

Congratulations all!

Deerfield Academy spent the past two months compiling the kind of resume the Central New England Baseball League Tournament Committee just couldn’t resist: a 9-1 record against league opponents.

Although a .900 winning percentage is nothing to sneeze at, the CNEBL tourney officials aren’t known for going overboard when it comes time for a shout out to its member schools to “come on down!” These guys, who oversee the seven-team league, hand out just four invitations a year, so think of it as a little like Christmas and Santa Clause — they always know who’s been naughty and nice.  And, as it turns out, Deerfield’s been great. It put up an overall record of 11-5 during its regular-season run and earlier this week, Christmas came early for our boys of spring. They not only earned an invite to this year’s Blackburn Tournament, but were named its number-one seed as well.

So, Deerfield will be heading off to Worcester on Saturday, in search of its second league title in the past five years and its fifth crown since the 2000 campaign.  The tourney, which will be hosted by Assumption College, is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., when Worcester Academy, the tournament’s second seed, takes on third seed Exeter. Deerfield, will then take the field at 12:30 p.m., to face fourth-ranked Andover. The two winners will then square off in the title game, which is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

Irwin’s charges better plan on packing a bag lunch for their trek to Worcester, “because we’re hoping to make a day of it,” quipped Dave Irwin, the Big Green mentor, and with the way Deerfield has been playing this spring, don’t bet against it.

The Big Green shows a 3-1 record this season against would-be opponents come Saturday. It swept a doubleheader from Exeter in April by scores of 2-1 and 12-1, and has split a pair of games with Worcester, winning, 8-3 at home, and losing 4-1 on the road. Deerfield and Andover have yet to cross base paths this spring, however, as their doubleheader, which was scheduled for last Saturday at Deerfield, was cancelled due to rain.

The key to success this spring are those three magical words that never fail to bring a smile to a baseball coach’s face: hitting, pitching and defense, “and we’ve gotten all three from these kids this year,” said Irwin, through that inevitable smile.

“I must say that I felt confident about our chances of being a good team coming into the season,” added the Deerfield coach, “but I never quite expected this amount of success so far.”

That’s probably because he never expected the perfect storm on the statistic sheet: a team batting average of .314, a team earned run average of 3.86 — which takes into account a 24-4 loss to a Springfield College JV team – and a fielding percentage of .920.

Offensively, the Big Green has had at least five of its members consistently lugging some big sticks to the plate this season. The biggest of which belongs to shortstop Conor Quinn (13). He either leads or is tied for the lead in just about every offensive category there is. He’s tops in batting average at .515, having produced 24 hits, which is first on the team, in 24 plate appearances. He’s first in RBI with 17, as well as home runs, with two and doubles, with seven, and runs scored with 19. His three triples tie him with Justin Finan (13) with the lead in that category. Finan’s other offensive stats show him with a .350 batting average, after having collected 14 hits in 40 at bats, while he has also driven in 13 runs.

First baseman Nick Goss (13) has chipped in a .341 batting average with 14 hits on the season, while catcher Colton Dana (13) owns a .341 average as well, with three doubles, a pair of triples and has scored 18 runs to date. He also brag of having produced a pair of Deerfield’s biggest hits this season: a walk-off single that produced a 2-1 victory over Exeter and a game-winning single that finished off Cushing Academy, 9-7, in extra innings.  Centerfielder Billy Smith (13) has also been chipping in at the plate all season long, as he heads into tourney action with a .304 batting average on a 14-for-46 campaign and has scored 11 runs.

Irwin has also been blessed with an outstanding pitching corps this spring — in both the starting and relieving departments. Drawing the starting nods this spring have been Finan, Bill O’Neil (14) and Ben Wood (13). Quinn, meanwhile, has been the guy Irwin has handed the ball to in closing situations.

Finan, who has gotten the starting nod from Irwin to face Andover on Saturday, owns a 3-0 record on the season. That record has been highlighted by a stingy 1.52 earned run average, as he has allowed just five earned runs in 23 innings. During that span he has also fanned a team-high 27 batters and walked just five. O’Neil stands in at 4-1, with a 2.37 ERA, having issued eight earned runs through 23 2/3 innings. He has struck out 14 and walked four in that time. Wood, meanwhile, has a 1-1 record and a 2.80 ERA, having allowed eight earned runs in 20 innings. He has 18 strikeouts and eight walks.

When making his relief appearances, Quinn has a very short walk from shortstop to the mound, and he has been very effective whenever he has climbed the bump. Heading into tourney action, he has posted a 2-0 record with one save. More impressively, he has allowed just one earned run over eight innings for an 0.84 ERA. He has also averaged one strikeout per inning.

No offense to composer Cole Porter, but that famous refrain of “Bulldog, bulldog, bow, wow, wow,” which is the heart and soul of the school fight song he wrote while attending Yale University during the early 1900s, needs a little tweaking.

After watching Yale feast on the competition to capture its first ever NCAA Men’s Division I Hockey Championship Saturday night, Handsome Dan (XVII), Yale’s bulldog mascot, showed his bite is definitely worse than his bark. So, Mr. Porter, here’s the deal: Less “bow,” more “wow.”

In fact, “Wow” would be a great place to start in describing Yale’s climb up the tournament ladder from nearly worst to first … its ascension from the 15^th seed in a 16-team field to the last team standing … to being the first team in tourney history to defeat three number-one regional seeds … Minnesota, UMass Lowell and Quinnipiac, has “wow” written all over it. Then, it all culminated Monday night, back home in Ingalls Rink, where, in front of more than 1,000 adoring fans, the Bulldogs took a bow. Among the players making a curtain call were two former Big Green standouts: Antoine Laganiere ’09 and Alex Ward ’11.

For Laganiere, however, this college stuff was just the tip of the iceberg. He no sooner had turned one dream into reality then saw a second come to fruition. On Tuesday night, the native of Ile Cadieux, Quebec, signed a free agent contract with the National Hockey League’s Anaheim Ducks. Laganiere’s signing now gives Anaheim two former Deerfield Academy players, as defenseman Ben Lovejoy ’02 is also on the Ducks’ roster.

“It’s exciting,” said Laganiere, of his signing an NHL contract. “I think it’s something every kid who’s ever laced up a pair of skates has dreamed about. I’ve got my chance to do something I’ve wanted to since I was a kid. Now, I just have to go out and make the most of that chance.”

“I’m really excited to be a part of the Anaheim organization,” added Laganiere, who chipped in an assist during Yale’s 4-0 win over Quinnipiac in the championship game and scored a goal during a 3-2 semifinal-round overtime win over UMass Lowell. “In the end, it was really a difficult decision, as many teams offered good opportunities and were very respectful and kind in every way.

“But, I saw a great potential in Anaheim for me, both to develop as a player and as a person,” continued Laganiere, who finished the season as Yale’s third leading scorer with 29 points on 15 goals and 14 assists and finished his four-year career there with 46 goals and 39 assists for 85 points. “I love the organization and the people there, and I know I will have the opportunity to work hard and hopefully one day play for them.”

One guy who can see that scenario happening is Brendan Creagh, who was Laganiere’s coach at Deerfield.

“Antoine’s an extremely talented and motivated athlete,” said Creagh, who watched his former charge ring up 68 points in 58 games while playing for the Big Green, “and those are two assets you have to have to be successful at the level of hockey he is about to be playing at. He showed he was a very talented and motivated athlete when he was here and during his collegiate career, so I’m quite confident he will do the same on the professional level.”

Although Ward, a sophomore, hasn’t logged the skating time, nor the statistics that Laganiere has accumulated, his attitude is a well-known commodity by the Yale coaching staff, “and that’s why they really love Alex down there,” said Creagh, who is well aware this Bulldog pup is able to put points on the board after posting 54 of them in 68 games at Deerfield. “Like Antoine, he’s a very determined and driven athlete and he’s one of those team-first guys as well … he’ll do anything to help the team and they love him for that at Yale.”

That attitude, drive, and determination would probably go a long way in explaining why Ward is the only Yale walk-on to make the varsity roster during the seven years Keith Allain has been coaching the Bulldogs.

“It’s been a blast playing hockey here at Yale the last two years,” said Ward, who was the recipient of the Deerfield Hockey Cup–the team’s MVP award–in 2011, “but the last couple of weeks, that’s been awesome.

“It was surreal being a part of all the celebration,” added Ward. “You grow up watching these championship games on TV, but never figure you’ll be a part of one of them … until this. I remember thinking that I never wanted to leave the ice … that I wanted this celebration to last forever.”

And it nearly did.

“After a locker room celebration, we got on the bus and headed back to the hotel, where … I’ll never forget it, … there were about 300 Yale fans waiting to greet us … it was just an awesome night,” remembers Laganiere. “I don’t think any of us got any sleep.”

And is often the case, morning came early for the weary Bulldogs. The bus departed the hotel at 7 am sharp for an 8:30 am charter flight home. “We got a police escort from Bradley (airport) to the campus,” said Ward. Then, it was suddenly back to reality–the books never close on an Ivy League campus. Ward had to prepare for a French class at 9:20 Monday morning, while Laganiere had an economics seminar at 10–and don’t bother blaming the mascot for eating your homework.

“It was really kind of cool,” said Laganiere of his seminar. “The professor, whom I never thought of as a sports enthusiast, gave me a shout out and all the kids started clapping.”

That night, the love fest culminated with a rally at Ingalls Rink. More than 1,000 fans attended. They had pictures taken with the championship trophy and their favorite players.

“Then,” said Laganiere, “all the players sat down at a long table and signed autographs for the fans as they filed past … it was a lot of fun.”

It better be–where he’s headed, he’ll be doing a lot more of it. 

We’ve all heard about dreams coming true, so do yourself a favor: turn on ESPN 2 Thursday, April 11, at 4:30 pm and actually watch one come true for a change.

If you bleed Green, you can’t lose. Thursday’s opening semifinal round game of the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Tournament, aka the Frozen Four, will feature three–yes, that’s right, three–Deerfield Academy alums.

The tournament’s first game will feature former Big Green standouts Malcolm Lyles (08), Antoine Laganiere (09) and Alex Ward (11), but they’re not all on the same side anymore. Lyles (08) plays for UMass Lowell, while Antoine Laganiere (09) and Alex Ward (11) suit up for Yale. 

The matchup will guarantee that the Big Green will have at least one grad in Saturday night’s title game, as the winner of the Yale-Lowell game will take on the winner of Thursday night’s other semifinal round game between Quinnipiac and St. Cloud St. That game will also be televised on ESPN 2, beginning at 8 pm Saturday night’s title tilt will be televised on ESPN, beginning at 7 pm.

So, between 4:30 and 7 on Thursday afternoon and again on Saturday evening between 7 and 9:30 you can bet the phone will be off the hook and the “Do Not Disturb” sign will be on the doorknob of the Brendan Creagh residence. He has a vested interest in the proceedings. He’s the Deerfield Academy boys hockey coach and tutored all three players.

“Having coached and having gotten to know these three young men so well will certainly make this a fun game to watch,” said Creagh, who, pledged neutrality as a fan. That promise will go out the window come Saturday night, however, as one or two of his former charges will have a chance to capture a national championship.

“I just couldn’t be happier for these guys,” added their former mentor. “All three were outstanding athletes but more than that, all three were real hard workers and this indeed is a great example of just where hard work can take you.”

“Making it to the Frozen Four is certainly something every college hockey player dreams about,” said Laganiere, who ranks third on the Bulldog scoring charts this season with 27 points on 14 goals and 13 assists. He finished fourth in scoring last season with 33 points and was the team’s second leading goal scorer as a junior with 19. “And making it even sweeter is the fact that being a senior, you certainly can’t wrap up your college career in a better way than this.”

For the former Deerfield standout, who chalked up 68 points in 58 games through two seasons with the Big Green, Laganiere knows first hand just how difficult it is to be among these last teams standing.

“We had some pretty good teams here at Yale during my freshman and sophomore seasons,” reflected Laganiere. “In fact, we made it to the Elite Eight level of the NCAA tournament both those year. Ironically, that’s as far as we would go though, as we lost both years to the eventual champions … Boston College then Minnesota Duluth.”

The Bulldogs, who enter Thursday’s encounter with a 20-12-3 record, “had some real ups and downs this season,” said Ward, who is the only walk-on to earn a spot on the Yale varsity roster during the seven years Keith Allain has spent as the Bulldogs head coach.

“In fact,” added Ward, who tallied 54 points in 68 games for the Big Green and was the recipient of the Deerfield Hockey Cup (MVP) in 2011 “our worst stretch of the entire season came during the ECAC playoffs … after beating St. Lawrence in the quarterfinals, we lost to Union (5-0) in the semifinals … then lost to Quinnipiac (3-0) in the consolation game.

The next 12 hours proved to be the longest 12-hour stretch of the entire season for Ward and Laganiere and their teammates. “We lost to Quinnipiac on a Saturday night,” recounted Ward. “The next morning, we had practice, then we all went over to a nearby restaurant to watch the Notre Dame-Michigan game.”

The outcome was crucial to any remaining hope that Yale could advance onto the NCAA tourney. It was pretty simple: A Notre Dame win and Yale’s in … a Michigan win and Yale’s out.

“When we got to the restaurant, Michigan was up 1-0,” said Laganiere. Fortunately, Notre Dame cane back to tie it, then went up 2-1 and won it 3-1 on an open-net goal.”

So, Yale was in, but it was forced to take a long and winding road to Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center, where this year’s Frozen Four is being held. The Bulldogs, who by now were seeded 15th out of 16 teams, were shipped out to the West Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich., and forced to stun such hockey powerhouses as Minnesota (3-2 in overtime) and North Dakota (4-1).

“A lot of people look at us as a Cinderella story,” said Laganiere, who went undrafted by the NHL, but who has been receiving a great deal of interest from a dozen or so NHL teams during his senior season. “We don’t look at it like that though … we have a lot of confidence in ourselves and certainly feel as though we deserve to be here.”

The Cinderella role is certainly nothing UMass Lowell (28-10-2) will qualify for, especially after ringing up a 6-0 mark in postseason play (4-0) to win the Hockey East Crown and 2-0 to outlast the Northeast Regional Tournament field to earn a third seed in the overall tourney.

For Lyles, who was converted from defense to forward this past season, extending his final campaign on the collegiate level with a trek to the Frozen Four is sure to be one he will long remember.

“Malcolm was an outstand defenseman for us during his three years here,” said Creagh of Lyles, who collected 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists in 25 games during his senior year with the Big Green.

“He was an outstanding all-around athlete who also participated in football and track while he was here and played a prominent roll in all three sports,” added Creagh. “ From here, he went on to play hockey at Boston College for two years before transferring to UMass Lowell.

“I played with Malcolm for one year at Deerfield,” said Laganiere, “and it will seem nice to cross paths and see him once again. I remember him as an outstanding hockey player as well as an outstanding athlete.

While Lyles was heading up the Deerfield defense during the 2007-08 campaign, Laganiere was one of the big guns up front.

“Antoine is one of the most talented hockey players we’ve ever had here at Deerfield,” said Creagh. “He’s an outstanding skater, he has great vision out there on the ice … he always knows where everyone is. He’s a great stick handler and can shoot or pass equally well.

“Personally, I was very surprised Antione wasn’t drafted by the NHL,” added Creagh. “But I think it could all work out in his favor.  At 6-4 and 215 pounds, he still has room to fill out physically and his hockey talents have continued to improve over his four years at Yale. I know interest in him has been growing and, as a free agent, he now has the opportunity to go where he feels he’ll fit in best.”

As for Ward, Creagh isn’t surprised one bit that he has risen to such heights in hockey.

“Alex could have gone to a Division III college and had an outstanding career in three sports … having made a major impact here at Deerfield in hockey, soccer and tennis,” said Creagh. “But he chose the challenge of Division I hockey, and anyone who knows Alex knew he’d make it. He’s a very determined, a very driven young man and he’s always willing to do what’s asked of him by his coaches.”

It took just mere seconds after Oscar Miao had scripted “The End” to his swimming career at Deerfield Academy that pandemonium began to set in.

The Deerfield senior swims the anchor leg of the 400 freestyle relay. That makes him the final swimmer in the final event and means he’s the guy that gets to close out the good … the bad … or the ugly. And on this final night … this championship night … Miao, and those who went before him — Quinn Smith (14), Matt Hrabchak (15) and Miles Smachlo (16) – helped turn something good into something great.

The Fab Four punched the clock in a winning time of 3:07.03, to ensure the Big Green its third New England Prep School Division I Swimming and Diving Championship in the past six years and its 20th title overall. But if this all sounds rather nonchalant, then Deerfield sure took the hard way to get there.

“We needed a perfect storm in order for us to have pulled this off,” explained Big Green coach John Burke. “We entered the relay trailing Suffield by seven points (356-349), so we not only needed to win the race, but we needed Exeter … or someone besides Suffield … to finish second. If we won and Suffield finished second, they still would have picked up enough points (34) to win the championship by one point.”

Well, Burke got exactly what he wished for. Deerfield picked up those 40 points with the relay win, as Exeter collected 34 by finishing second in 3:11.4. Suffield, meanwhile, took away 32 points as it placed third.

What all that translated to – nearly instantaneously – up on the bright lights of the scoreboard was that Deerfield finished atop the 10-team field with 389 points. Suffield wound up second, just one point back at 388, while Exeter placed third with 355 points. What that all translated to down on the pool deck and in the grandstand was that Deerfield’s pool party had suddenly transformed into a rock concert.

“It was sheer pandemonium,” said Burke, who personally took part in the levity by taking the coach’s customary victory leap into the pool off one of the starting blocks and his feat “is probably out there for the whole world to see because one of the students video taped it … I know … I saw it … he played it for me,” said Burke with a smile breaking from ear to ear.

“I must admit that going into this meet, I really didn’t know what to expect,” admitted a very relieved Deerfield mentor, whose swimmers had posted a 6-1-1 record during their dual-meet season. “What I did know was that Deerfield and Suffield were considered the co-favorites.” And that probably came as no surprise to anyone, considering that when the two teams battled during their only regular-season meeting, something took place that Burke has witnessed just once previously in his 11 years of coaching. “We ended up in a tie,” explained Burke, “we finished all even at 93-93.”

Miao, who shared this year’s John A. Pigeon Award with diver Taylor Clough (13) as the team’s Most Valuable Participants, combined with Smith to serve as catalysts for Deerfield’s trek to the title by earning four goal medals each. In addition to supplying half the horsepower during their pennant-clinching 400 freestyle, they teamed up with Smachlo and Ben Wood (13) to win the 200 medley relay in a New England record-setting time of 1:33.85.  During individual competition, meanwhile, Miao captured the 50 freestyle in a time of 21.09, and the 100 freestyle in 46.80. Smith was first in the 200 individual medley (1:49.85) and the 100 backstroke (51.49), while Hrabchak collected three golds, winning the 200 and 500 freestyle races in 1:41.99 and 4:30.24 respectively.

“This was certainly one of the most thrilling championship events I’ve ever been involved in,” said Miao, who will be taking his talents in the 50 freestyle to Yale University in the fall. “That final race was just incredible … but I really wasn’t nervous. I think I was too focused on what my teammates were doing and what I was going to have to do to be nervous.

“Besides,” added Miao, “my three teammates who had competed before me had provided me with a comfortable lead and I knew that if I swam the way I’m capable of swimming, that we’d be in pretty good shape.”

As for his competitors in the anchor leg, Miao was getting positive vibes about what would be going on around him during his final paddle across Koch Pool.  “We’d competed against both Exeter and Suffield during the regular season and I felt all things being equal, the Exeter swimmer had the nod over Suffield’s swimmer.”

“As the final lap unfolded, everything was looking good for us,” said Hrabchak, who, by this point in time was strictly a spectator, having competed in the second leg of the race.  “You could see Oscar was the first into the final turn … then it was Exeter … then Suffield. Then, as the swimmers got closer to us, you could see the Exeter swimmer had about a half-body length lead over the Suffield swimmer and that’s when we knew we had it … and that’s when everyone started going nuts.”

 Not all the gold-medal action took place in the pool, however. Some of it took place over the pool, and that’s exactly where Clough was capturing the one-meter diving competition to become just the second diver in NEPSAC history to be named chairman of the board for four consecutive years.  Grant Gritzmacher, who dove for Hopkins School from 1993 to 1996 and who is the swim coach at Westminster School also won the event four years in a row.

“It’s been a great run,” said the Dartmouth College-bound Clough, of his four titles and a four-year undefeated dual-meet record of 36-0. “I think you can attribute the success I’ve enjoyed here at Deerfield to some outstanding coaching and an ability to focus on the job at hand.”

A gold medal and a spot in the history books weren’t the only things Clough came away with on this night of nights, however. He capped off the evening by being named recipient of the Babcock Award, which is annually presented to the most valuable participant in the boys meet.

The awards celebration marked the first time in Deerfield’s swimming annals that the school swept these MVP awards. Jenner McLeod (13) who helped pave the Big Green girls to a third-place finish in their championship meet by capturing four first-place finishes, earned the Grace Robertson Award as the girls MVP. It marked the third time in the past four years that a Deerfield girl had won the trophy. Last year, Liza Bragg (13) was the award’s recipient, while Julia Pielock won it in 2010.

The Big Green also picked up a pair of silver medals and a bronze medal on the evening. Smachlo finished second in the 100 butterfly in 52.60, while Wood took second in the 100 breaststroke in 59.29. Deerfield’s 200 freestyle relay team, which consisted of Conor Sullivan (15), who shared this year’s Coaches’ Cup with Wyatt Sharpe (13), Travis Russell (14), Doug Vallar (14) and Hrabchak wound up third in a clocking of 1:27.82.

Although the Big Green failed to pick up first-place points in these three events, they still proved crucial in allowing Deerfield to come away with the top prize. Just think, Smachlo picked up 17 points for his second-place effort in the butterfly, while Suffield placed fourth less than one second later to earn 15 points. Reverse that finish and Suffield wins the crown.

Wood’s second spot in the breaststroke earned him 17 points, while Suffield placed third, less than two seconds back to earn 16 points. Switch those two results and you end up in a tie.  As for the 200 freestyle relay, Suffield took the blue ribbon in that event, which was good for 40 points. The 32 points Deerfield picked up for its third-place finish, meanwhile, allowed the hosts to keep the Connecticut contingent within striking distance.

Some people think 13 is an unlucky number.  Sonja O’Donnell is one who would beg to differ.

“This was my thirteenth year of coaching this team,” said O’Donnell, the Deerfield Academy girls swimming coach, and she wouldn’t have missed a minute of it. “To me, this has been a lucky year … a lucky thirteen.”

O’Donnell would be the first to admit, however, that much of that luck had a great deal to do with a pair of very talented swimmers – compliments of the Class of  ’13, of course – who helped lead the Big Green to the medals podium during each of their four years here.

For seniors Liza Bragg and Jenner McLeod drip drying on the medals podium became as much a part of their standard operating procedure as slipping on their swim caps. This dynamic duo once again captured a maximum of four gold medals each to help lift Deerfield to a bronze medal at the New England Prep School Division I Swimming and Diving Championships.  Suffield captured the crown with a total of 385 points, while Exeter saw its championship streak end at three straight years, as it placed second with 355 points. Deerfield placed third with 316 points.

The two, who reached the legendary status in prep school pool halls from St. Paul’s to St. George’s, seemed to get rather greedy whenever a gold medal went up for grabs at the other end of the pool. Over their four-year careers, Bragg, who was the recipient of the team’s Most Valuable Swimmer Award and who will be taking her swimming talents to Duke University in the fall, captured an incredible 15 of a possible 16 New England championship races she competed in.  McLeod, meanwhile, who has been recruited by Kenyon College, finished her prep school career by capturing 11 of her 16 title bouts.

“ I doubt there will be many who can match those marks … especially when you consider that eight of those championships were accomplished through relay races,” said O’Donnell, whose Big Green teams made the most of having both Bragg and McLeod around. During their four-year tour of duty, Deerfield earned a silver medal and three bronze medals during those New England championship meets.

With Bragg and McLeod capturing their customary four first-place finishes this winter, the Big Green girls were able to post six gold-medal performances out of the dozen the meet had to offer.

During the individual competition, Bragg captured the 200 Individual Medley crown for the fourth consecutive year – and the way in which she accomplished this victory was, well, in a word: typical. To the layman, her winning time of 2:04.58, probably doesn’t mean much. To a swimmer, it’s awesome. Just ask Exeter’s Olivia Jackson. She finished second to Bragg – nearly four full seconds behind her – in 2:08.47.

“Liza won the event rather handily,” said O’Donnell of a clocking that could be hanging from the Koch Pool record board for quite some time. “It was a personal best for Liza, as well as a school and a Division I New England meet record. And,” added the Deerfield mentor, “it also earned All-American consideration.”

Bragg’s other individual event that turned into gold was the 100 backstroke, where she prevailed in a time of 57.23.

“It’s been a great ride and a great deal of fun,” said Bragg, of her four-year rule of the pool. “In my wildest dreams, when I first came here I never could have anticipated that things could have ever gone like this.”

“But,” added Bragg, who will be competing in the 100 and 200 backstroke as well as the 200 and 400 individual medley for the Blue Devils, “there’s no way I would have had this kind of success if I hadn’t had the outstanding teammates I had on those relay teams.

“Setting individual records is one thing,” said Bragg, “but being able to win eight relay races in four years takes a lot of teamwork and because of that teamwork, I was able to enjoy a very successful career here at Deerfield.”

For McLeod, her expertise in the individual frays comes in the 50 and 100 freestyle races, where she once again swept the competition. She won the 50 in 23.89, while she captured the 100 in a clocking of 51.79.

Then, it became payback time, which would put this Deerfield swimmer and her coach both on McLeod Nine. During the post-meet celebrations, McLeod climbed the medals podium to receive her four gold medals, plus something she wasn’t expecting: The Grace Roberson Award, which is annually presented to the Most Outstanding Swimmer of the girls meet.

“To be completely honest, the possibility of winning that award never crossed my mind until I heard my name called,” said McLeod. “it was such an emotional meet, especially so after the 400 relay  … which was our last race for Deerfield, being named the meet’s MVP was probably the furthest thing from my mind.”

“It’s a wonderful acknowledgment of Jenner’s accomplishments, her character and her spectacular swimming abilities,” said O’Donnell, who looked on last year as Bragg won the same award. In fact, this marks the third time in the past four years that a Deerfield girls has been named the meet’s MVP, as Julia Pielock was the award’s recipient in 2010. “It’s voted on by the league’s coaches, so it’s a very prestigious award.”

This year’s ceremonies also mark the first time ever that Deerfield participants swept these awards, as Taylor Clough (13) received the Babcock Award, emblematic of the boys Most Valuable Participant, after he captured the one-meter diving competition for the fourth consecutive year.

“It all makes this award so very special,” said McLeod. “Having watched Liza win it last year and Julia, whom I really looked up to when I first came to Deerfield, win it my freshman year, this award means a great deal to me.

“Plus,” added McLeod, “being able to win this award along side Taylor to give Deerfield its first sweep of these awards, means a great deal to me as well.”

It proved ingenious – except to the opposition – when O’Donnell opted four years ago to stick these two freshman phenoms on the same two relay teams: the 200 and 400 freestyle. It seemed as though no matter who filled the other two slots on these crews, they inevitably left the competition high and dry.

In this year’s 200 relay event, Bragg and McLeod combined with Juliette Lee (14) and Nahla Achi (15) to post a blue-ribbon effort in 1:37.31, defeating second-place Exeter (1:39.91) by more than two full seconds. The margin of victory grew to nearly five seconds in the 400 relay, as Bragg, McLeod and Lee teamed up with Claire Collins (15) to clock in at 3:32.48 to finish first nearly five seconds in front of Suffield (3:37.19).

While both relay times proved fast enough to establish new pool records and earn All-American consideration, neither were fast enough to garner New England record status. Both of those were set last year.  Bragg, McLeod, Ritchie Howe and Julie Hwang set both the 200 and 400 marks at 1:35.65 and 3:31.49 respectively.

Rounding out the medal rush for the Big Green was Claire Collins (15), who earned a bronze in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.83) and helped the 200 yard medley relay team finish in third spot in a time of 1:50.36. She would later receive the Coach’s Award, along with Natalie DeMuro. The remainder of that unit was made up of Elizabeth Eastman (13) Maggie Savage (15) and Achi. The leading diver for Deerfield during the championships was Elissa DeNunzio (14) who placed sixth out of a field of 24 with a final tally of 355.70.

For the second straight season, Deerfield Academy made it to the middle rung of the medals podium at the New England Independent Schools Association Girls Class A Squash Tournament. Prior to accepting the silver medal, it got to glance down at Nobles School as it was being presented its bronze medal. Then, the Big Green players got to look up to watch Greenwich Academy receive its gold medal – again.

Yes, this year’s title quest concluded in a photo finish of last winter’s race, as these two rivals refuse to blink until the fat lady sings. This season, the Gators, who now have 15 New England championship pennants dangling from the rafters of their gymnasium, bested Deerfield by a 10-point margin, 112-102. And, considering Greenwich swept all seven brackets of the tourney, a 10-point margin was a rather slim one.

Deerfield, which finished second to the Gators last year by a five-point bulge, 107-102, has managed to stay within striking distance of Greenwich by posting a pile of second-place bracket finishes. So, while Greenwich was posting seven firsts, worth 16 points each, Deerfield was runner-up (15 points each) in six of the seven brackets.

Last winter, Deerfield won two brackets and finished second in thee others to keep the margin of victory at five, while it bested the Gators two years ago, 109-108, to put an end to Greenwich’s New England championship streak at 13. That championship eventually leaned Deerfield’s way after it rang up four firsts and three second-place finishes. Greenwich, meanwhile produced three firsts and four seconds to end up on the outside looking in for the first time in more than a decade.

“It was another outstanding season for the Deerfield girls squash program,” said its mentor, Karinne Heise. “We went 12-2 during the regular season and finished second in the New England tournament, so that’s plenty to be proud of.”

The only thing that fell into the what-if category as far as this team was concerned, was a shot at the National Tournament title. Last year, the Big Green placed second there – behind Greenwich – but this year’s festivities, which were scheduled for Feb.9, were postponed to due to a snowstorm.

This has been a storied time for a storied program. Over the past three years, only one other New England girls prep school team has been more successful than the Big Green. Over the past three years, Deerfield has chalked up one New England crown and a pair of second-place finishes.  Just getting there, though, has been a lot of fun, too, as this program has rolled to a 48-6 record during that time span.

Emily Jones (13) is one of three Big Green players – Hunter Sechrest (13) and Addie Fulton (14) being the others – who have played a part in this three-year surge.

“Playing squash at Deerfield has just been a phenomenal experience for me,” said Jones, who has been plugged in as Deerfield’s top seed for the past two years and has responded quite well with a 9-3 showing this season and a two-year mark of 21-9 considering she’s facing the best of the best night in and night out. Adding to her due diligence is the fact that up until eighth grade, Jones’s primary sport was tennis, and now, five years later, she’s ranked 15th in the Under -19-year-old bracket in the country and is about to continue her squash career at Harvard University.

“I feel as though a great deal of the success of this program belongs to coach Heise,” added Jones, who was named recipient of the Bayne Bowl, which is annually presented to the team’s Most Valuable Player. “She’s helped create a winning atmosphere as well as a supportive atmosphere on this team and they’ve gone hand-in-hand to help make this program not only one of the very best in New England, but one of the very best in the entire country. I know when I came in here four years ago, I immediately felt as though I was a part of this team and I know the freshmen who have made this team the last three years have felt the same way. We’re just one big family and everyone pulls for each other.”

The pulling is always made much easier by the winning and there was plenty of winning this winter – top to bottom in the lineup. In fact, Jones’s nine victories marked the only spot throughout the lineup that a regular Big Green player failed to earn double figures in wins.

Sam Chai (15) who went 17-2 last year, before capturing the New England title in the Third Bracket, moved up to the second tier this winter to go 10-1 and grab a silver medal. Fulton (11-2) was a silver medalist at No. 3, while Carey Danforth (14) has rolled up a 30-4 record and a pair of second-place finished at the New England tourney to show for last two years on the roster.

Lindsey Dewey (14), who won the seventh bracket at the New Englands last year after a 17-2 record, moved up two slots this winter and it paid dividends for the Big Green as she went 12-1 on the campaign and took home a silver medal. The sixth slot went to Annie Blasberg (16), who followed up a 14-2 regular-season record with a second-place finish, while Hunter Sechrest (13) who will be playing at Dartmouth next year, wrapped up her Big Green career at the seventh tier by going 12-1 and like most of her teammates, finished second at the New England meet.

“I felt good about our strengths as a team this year,” said Heise of a Deerfield squad that blanked eight of its opponents by 7-0 margins, while it settled four other outings by a bulge of 6-1. “I’m very happy with the way things went for us … I think the girls gained a great deal of experience from the level of play they achieved last year and this year, they just continued where they left off.

“We’re only losing two of our regulars to graduation this spring,” added Heise, “so I’m hoping we can continue the momentum we’ve been able to build over the past few years.”

Mike Silipo landed the kind of recruit this season that any high school football coach in the country would covet. The kid’s got good hands… quick feet … and an uncanny ability to get to the ball.  Sam Khalifa will never be known as one of coach Silipo’s Legends of the Fall, however. Football is not his sport – squash is.  And that’s just fine with the Big Green football mentor. Silipo spends his winters tutoring prep school wall bangers, and has been for nearly three decades now. “And this kid’s got to be one of the best at his age level that I’ve ever seen,” said Silipo, “much less coached.”

Khalifa better be one of the best Silipo has ever seen or coached. He’s the top ranked Under-17 player in the world, so it goes without saying he was the top seed on Silipo’s lineup card. You probably wouldn’t be overly shocked, either, to find out that he went undefeated this winter (15-0) and captured the No. 1 Bracket during the New England Prep School Athletic Conference Division I Boys Squash Tournament, which was hosted at Deerfield’s Dewey Squash Center.

With Khalifa leading the way, the Big Green rolled to an 11-2 regular season record and 15-3 overall showing before earning a bronze medal at the championship meet. Brunswick School won the A crown with 109 points, while Belmont Hill finished a single point behind at 108. The Big Green, meanwhile, closed out with 90 points.

“We went into the tourney as the third seed,” said Silipo, “so I guess you can say we finished right where we were suppose to … but we also knew the battle to finish third would be wide open among Deerfield, Hotchkiss, Milton and Taft.”

The Big Green mentor knew through previous meetings that his crew had a slight advantage in its bid for the final slot on the medals podium, having bested Hotchkiss (5-2) and Taft (6-1) but falling to Milton (5-2). So, a little déjà vu all over again certainly wouldn’t hurt their chances – and it didn’t.

In the end, Deerfield earned the third and final medal, as the race for fourth place proved more highly contested. Trailing Deerfield’s 90 points were Hotchkiss with 82, Milton with 81 and Taft with 73. And the ownership of that bronze medal was never really in doubt. Through the first four matches, Deerfield accumulated 50 points, while Milton had 47, Hotchkiss 44 and Taft 43. Over the final three, meanwhile, the Big Green continued to acquire points, posting 40, while Hotchkiss netted 38 and Milton and Taft closed with 34 and 30 respectively.

“We knew if we played the way we’re capable of, we’d be in pretty good shape,” said Silipo, whose club finished the season with an 8-2 record against teams in the Class A register And, just to show how far the Big Green has come since competing on the B level just two years ago, it owned a 3-0 showing this winter against team in that bracket, including victories over No. 3 St. Paul’s, No. 4 Groton and No. 8 Avon Old Farms.  

Khalifa’s appearance obviously made the Big Green a much better team, but it was a team that would have likely held its own throughout much of a highly competitive Class A schedule. That optimism had to do with the fact that Silipo welcomed back his top seven players that had led Deerfield to a 10-10 record and a 10th-place at the New England tournament last winter. The only difference was that this year, everyone moved down a peg or two to allow the new guy do his thing.

With familiar faces in brand new places, two-time captain Ted Henderson (13), who was the recipient of this year’s Squash Racquets Trophy, posted a 9-6 record on the season as the team’s second seed and wound up 10th at the New England championships. Tripp Kaelin (14), the third seed, went 13-3 during regular season and finished fourth in the New England fray. Cam Dewey (14) was this winter’s fourth seed, where he rang up a 12-3 showing and posted a sixth-place finish.

The five guy was Connor Henderson (15), who went 8-7 before finishing sixth at the New Englands. The sixth spot, meanwhile, belonged to Dan Blohm (13), who enjoyed a successful season by rolling up a 13-2 record and earned a bronze medal at the championships, while Jamie Kjorlien (15) was 8-2 and landed a silver medal in postseason action. Tad Huffard (15), who also saw some playing time this winter, took advantage of it by registering a 10-3 record.

The third seed Deerfield owned heading into this winter’s championship was well earned. During its 11 league victories, the Big Green rarely gave its opponents time to take off their warm-up jackets before they were tossing in the towel. Four of Deerfield’s wins came via 7-0 drubbings, while five other opponents were dragged into the fast lane as well, succumbing by 6-1 scores.

And the best may be yet to come, as Silipo will be losing just three members of this year’s team to graduation and just two of his top eight players, “so we’re hoping we can put ourselves in position to have another strong showing next season and hopefully we will be able to improve on our third-place finish come tournament time.”

Things are certainly looking rosy for the Green. It will have the defending Class A New England champion and the premier player in all of New England coming out of its corner next season. Ironically, however, there’s one place Khalifa would be hard pressed for bragging rights to being No. 1. And that would be in Cairo, Egypt. Back home, there’s good chance he’s No. 2 in the family’s pecking order.

Sam’s older brother Amr, is the top rated Under 19 player in the world. And the freshman at St. Lawrence University recently capped off an undefeated 15-0 season by strutting his stuff through the tournament field to capture the College Men’s Squash Association Tournament championship.

He proved that earning the title was no fluke, either, as he battled back from a two-game deficit to knock off the defending champion in the semifinals. Then bested this year’s top seed, a senior from Princeton University, by a 3-0 count.

“He’s my coach,” said Khalifa of his older brother, Amr. “Growing up, we spent a great deal of time together. He was always the teacher and I was always the student.”

As for playing against each other, that part of the learning curve ended early on, because, as Khalifa put it, “some of our matches had a tendency to get rather intense.” And so, this sibling rivalry has remained on the coach-player level, so both brothers can focus that intensity on opponents outside the family.

“We’re both scheduled to take part in the World Open this summer in Poland,” said Khalifa. “Due to our age difference, we won’t face each other this year, but next year, we could … and that could be fun.”

Mark Scandling knows all about life preservers. He coaches the Big Green boys water polo in the fall and you can find him tutoring girls water polo in the spring. It’s doubtful, however, he ever dreamed he would need a life preserver at his other job: wrestling coach.

There he was though, the first day of practice at mat’s edge. He wasn’t attired in the typical Deerfield Wrestling jersey, however, he was wearing a lifeguard shirt. Because to the members of this winter’s wrestling program, that’s exactly what he would he.

The bottom line for Deerfield Academy wrestling this winter had nothing to do with wins and losses, nor Class A titles or National championships. This season, it was all about survival. Not to sound overdramatic, but due to an overall lack of participation in the sport of late, the school was considering pulling the plug on the program and Scandling took it upon himself to keep it breathing.

“I just didn’t want to see it end … at least not without giving it one more shot,” said Scandling. And so the former Big Green mat mentor, who had stepped away from his coaching duties three years ago, returned to the helm to save and win – in that order.

Now, three months later, he can look back and declare mission accomplished. “We were able to reestablish a base for future success,” said Scandling.

It didn’t take him very long to figure that out, either. Once the patient’s prognosis went up on the bulletin board with an accompanying sign-up sheet, “I knew we were no longer a dead man walking,” quipped Scandling, as he greeted 19 enrollees on the first day of practice. And if they all stick with it, the program won’t be needing and more mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for quite some time. This year’s roster consisted of two seniors, four juniors, nine sophomores and four freshmen.

One of those juniors was Asu Billigren, who was the first girl to join the Deerfield wrestling ranks since back in the 90s. She wrestled in the 126-pound weight bracket.

“You gotta give her a lot of credit,” said Scandling. “She came to practice every day and she never backed down from anyone. She showed a lot of spunk and she earned the boys respect for it.”

Gene Thagard (15) was the lone Big Green wrestler who earned a trip to the National Prep Tournament at Lehigh University this winter. The invite followed a fifth-place finish in what Scandling described as “an extremely tough 126-pound weight class.”

Sloan Damon (13) wrapped up his prep school wrestling career in the 152-pound weight class with a regular-season record of 14-1, and was the recipient of the Deerfield Academy Wrestling Trophy for his accomplishments. Kade Johnson (14), meanwhile, drew a fourth deed at the New England tournament in the 170-pound weight bracket.