The countdown for the Deerfield Academy girls cross-country team continues.

Over the past five seasons, the Big Green girls have inched closer and closer to the top step of the medals podium at the New England Prep School Cross Country Championships.

In 2007, Deerfield finished ninth in the pack. The next year, the girls were eighth, followed by a sixth-place finish in 2009. Then, in 2010, Deerfield wound up third to qualify for a bronze medal and its first podium stop. This year, the Big Green took one more step up, finishing second and capturing a silver medal.

But that’s no second-place smile you see on coach Dennis Cullinane’s face in the team photo.

“Runners are never happy,” said Cullinane. “I felt we should have won the race and the girls felt the same way. I’m very proud of them for finishing second, but we all feel as though we could have done just a little bit better.”

Nobles led the pack with 16 points, while Deerfield ended up a distant second with 37 points. Loomis finished third, while Exeter and Hotchkiss wound up fourth and fifth respectively.

The difference in finishing first and second for the Big Green was that one of its runners was forced to drop out due to breathing problems, while another posted her worst finish of the season. “Unfortunately, if both runners had been able to run their typical race, we would have won the crown easily,” explained Cullinane

And so, Deerfield’s countdown continues for that elusive gold, “but I’d rather be defending our first title next year than still chasing it,” quipped Cullinane.

Leading the way for the Big Green, which prepped for the championship race by posting the first undefeated regular season (5-0) showing in school history, was Alanna McDonough ’12, who placed second, while Devinne Cullinane ’14 was eighth. Lilah Lutes ’14 was 14^th, as Olivia Mehm ’14 wound up 32^nd.  Rose Fisher ’13 wound up 42^nd, with Carlie Enzerra ’14 ending up 45^th.

Cullinane was the recipient of this year’s Moreau Hunt Award, while the Big Green will have tri-captains next fall. They will be Tatum McInerney ’13, Dashiell Schulte ’13 and Fisher.

“We feel good about our chances of finally reaching the top next year,” said Cullinane. “Alanna (McDonough) is the only primary runner we’re losing to graduation, so if our returning nucleus can continue improving and we’re able to get a couple of the top recruits we’ve been looking at, I think we’ll be in pretty good shape.

The Big Green appeared to spike the sneakers of its first five opponents to the gymnasium floor this past season, as it breezed to a 5-0 record and found itself well on its way to an invitation to the New England Prep School Girls Volleyball Championships.

By the time Deerfield crew hit postseason play, however, it had won just two of its remaining eight games to finish at 7-6, giving it a sixth seed in the tourney, where third-seeded St. Paul’s ousted the Big Green in first round play, 3-0.

“We went into the season with a very young and inexperienced team,” explained rookie coach John Pineo, “but that 5-0 start allowed the kids to realize that we could be a competitive team.”

And so, while Worcester and Hotchkiss were bested by 3-2 scores, and Williston and Loomis were chased by 3-1 margins and Hopkins was blanked, 3-0, Deerfield was fast becoming the new kid on the block while knocking everybody’s block off.

“We’d made some of those kinds of mistakes that young and inexperienced teams make as we went along,” said Pineo, “but I felt we learned from those mistakes … and that’s important.”

It wasn’t as if the entire team needed nametags to identify each other, however. As Pineo pointed out, his two co-captains: Marly Morgus ’12 and Hannah Insuik ’13 were two of the best around. Insuik, an outside hitter, earned a berth on the Boston Globe All-Scholastic Team, while Morgus, a setter, won the Coaches Award. The dynamic duo then added to its postseason plaudits by joining teammate Ashley So ’13 in this fall’s Western New England Prep School Girls Volleyball All-Star contest.

“They were the glue that helped keep this team together,” said Pineo. “They took the younger kids under their wings and served as coaches out on the court. They were simply immense as players and as leaders.”

Some of the younger players whom the Big Green’s Big Three helped bring along were Lizzie Jeffrey ’13 and Tan Sertthin ’13, as well as Kate Ginna ’14, Claire Collins ’15, and Kemi Akande ’15.

“We’ll be losing a tremendous player and team leader in Marly Morgus,” said Pineo. “On the bright side, however, we’ll be returning nine players who took their lumps this year, but who learned a great deal from their experience.

“I’m excited about next year,” added Pineo. “With the talent we have returning, I think this program is going to continue to grow in the right direction.”

Tri-captains for next year’s team will be Insuik, Jeffrey, and So.  

Two consecutive championships … four titles in the past five years … five straight tourney appearances. Based on those credentials, it would appear as though Deerfield Academy might be wearing out its welcome at the New England Prep School Boys Water Polo Tournament.

Fortunately for the Big Green, however, popularity isn’t a prerequisite for this pool party, talent is. It’s what gets you there and keeps you there. And with nine of 18 players returning from this year’s squad, Deerfield’s a good bet to be making more waves next fall, too.

“This one was particularly sweet … I think they always are when you’re able to rise up, in this case, from the fourth seed, and win it all,” said coach Mark Scandling, whose club won the previous year’s crown – but accomplished its mission via a completely different route.

“Last year, we came in here seeded as the number-one team,” said Scandling, “so there’s a good deal of pressure on you to perform well throughout the tourney … or at least for as long as you’re still competing.

“This year, we were seeded fourth,” added the Big Green skipper. “That means your trip into the tournament will be much harder on you physically, because you’re facing the top-seeded team in the semifinals. But, it’s much easier psychologically … there’s no pressure to win.”

Even without the pressure to win, Scandling still knew his crew would have a tough time getting back to the title round. For starters, the Big Green was going up against top-seeded Exeter, which had earned that distinction thanks to an undefeated season. Then, there was that 8-2 beating the Big Red had already handed Deerfield during the regular season. And if that’s not enough, there’s more: The tournament was being played at Exeter.

“Coach Scandling is a great motivator,” said Austin Bridges ’12, a Big Green co-captain, who finished his career with three gold medals dangling from around his neck.  “He kept stressing all season long that we held our destiny in our own hands and that if we played the way we’re capable of, we’d be OK.”

“It was like we had them right where we wanted them,” said Chris Miao ’12, Deerfield’s other co-captain and another proud owner of three gold medals. “During the regular season, we’d trailed them by a 1-0 score at halftime, so we knew we could play with them.

“Plus, Exeter had blown everyone out of the water this season,” added Miao. “They hadn’t had any close games so we figured if we could stick with them, they might get flustered and make some mistakes.”

Well, Deerfield’s game plan played out perfectly. The Big Green stuck with the Big Red from start to finish and pulled off an 11-10 upset win. And from there, it was all down hill as Deerfield sank Choate, 11-5, in the finals for the fourth time in five years.

“The Exeter game was close from start to finish,” said Scandling. “Exeter held a two goal lead twice during the first half but was unable to pull away any further than that. During the second half, we got up by a pair of goals twice, but weren’t able to stretch the lead.”

Exeter trimmed that final two-goal lead in half but was never able to get any closer. Goalie Francesco Franzinetti ’14 turned a pair of clutch saves, and Jack Vallar ’12 stole the ball in the final minute of play to preserve the victory.

Will Grant ’12, who posted a team-high 82 goals on the season, led the way in the playoffs with a dozen goals – six in each game. “Plus, defensively, we had him cover Exeter’s top scorer,” said Scandling, “and he limited him to just one goal for the entire game.”

Grant earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award as well as being named the team’s MVP, for his two-way play, while Bridges (five goals) and Miao (two goals) received All-Tournament Team honors. Other veterans chipping in on the gold-medal effort were Henry Lee ’12 and Oscar Miao ’13, who will be one of next year’s co-captains along with Sloan Damon ’13.

Despite a 12-6 finish and a 5-1 start, Scandling took a three-game losing streak – which included a pair of one-goal setbacks to Suffield and Choate – midway through the season to heart and decided to make some changes.

“What made it worse was we were ahead in all three of those games,” said Scandling. “We became fatigued toward the end of those games and lost them.”

So, the veteran Big Green coach tried something as simple as changing the time of his practices. “We switched with the JV team,” explained Scandling. “That got us in and out of the pool an hour earlier each day and it really paid off.

“All these kids … particularly the seniors … have a lot on their plates here at Deerfield,” said Scandling. “Many are involved in AP classes and other leadership programs throughout the school and they need time to deal with it all successfully. So, I switched practice times with the JV team.”

The switch allowed the members of the varsity team to get through practice in time to do some studying or whatever needed to be done before going to the Dining Hall.

“It really gave us a boost,” said Bridges. “It freed up some time before dinner to tie up some loose ends … it even gave us the opportunity to go back to our dorm rooms for a little rest if need be.”

And it worked out well for Scandling, too. His charges showed their appreciation by going out and winning six of their last seven games.

“I generally make that switch of practice times every year,” said Scandling, “but this year, I made it a lot earlier in the season. Maybe next year, I won’t make a switch … maybe I’ll start the season off with the varsity taking the first practice.”

Scandling’s second move to help keep his players more rested was opting to develop some of the younger players on the bench much sooner than he normally had.

“Right after that three-game losing streak, I decided to get some of the younger kids involved,” said Scandling. “I figured getting them more pool time would allow them the opportunity to make a bigger contribution to the team.”

And they did. During the playoffs, Conor Sullivan ’15 helped out with a pair of goals, while Quinn Smith ’14 and Jay D’Amour ’13 scored one goal each as they were rotated through the lineup. 

Jan Flaska’s glass is always half full. He’s the type of coach who can describe a final record of 2-11-3 as “a good season.”

The Deerfield Academy boys soccer coach will tell you he expected his team to be a good one this season. He’ll tell you he had three players on this year’s roster who earned All-League honors. He’ll tell you he had an outstanding defensive team this fall, one that allowed only 29 goals in 16 games, an average of just under two goals a game. He’ll tell you his team played well in close games. Unfortunately for Flaska, there were just too many close games this fall.

Of Deerfield’s 11 setbacks this season, seven games were decided by a single goal – three by a 1-0 margin and four more by a 2-1 deficit. Then if you throw in a trio of 1-1 ties the Big Green was forced to settle for, it’s easy to see its offense simply wasn’t able to keep pace with its defense. While the Big Green defenders were allowing just 1.8 goals per game, the offense mustered just 13 tallies, or 0.8 goals per game.

Deerfield’s three entries on the Western New England Prep School Soccer Association All-Star roster were, needless to say, concentrated on the defensive end of the field. That list included goalie Ben Bolotin ’12 and midfielders Kurt Heise and Sean Connors, who were both co-captains this season. In fact, Heise was the recipient of this year’s Holbrook-Ellis Cup for his contributions to the game at Deerfield.

Three other contributors on this fall’s defensive unit that Flaska pointed out were Colin Crihfield ’12, Colten McCormick ’12, and KC Beard ’12.

As for the offense, Jackson Dayton ’13, who was voted captain of next year’s squad, headed up the Big Green’s stat sheets with seven points on five goals and a pair of assists, with one of those scores coming in a 1-0 victory over Avon.

Flaska also pointed out Deerfield’s win over Salisbury, as well as a pair of hard-earned 1-1 ties.  One came against Worcester Academy, during which Alex Osgood ’13 scored Deerfield’s lone score, while the other was the season finale against Choate.

Flaska’s optimistic attitude has already set on next year’s fortunes, as the Big Green returns 14 lettermen from this fall’s squad.

It turned out to be another typical autumn for the Deerfield Academy field hockey squad. And around these parts, that means the Big Green reached double figures in the win column and earned yet another invite to postseason play. In fact, the Deerfield field hockey program marked its 20^th birthday this fall, and in two decades of existence, it has missed tournament action just four times.

It didn’t take long to figure out this year’s rendition of Deerfield field hockey would make it to the postseason, as it jumped out to a 9-2-1 record, which included a six-game winning streak. The Big Green, which was hoping to add to its six Western New England Prep School Field Hockey League crowns, saw that quest end in first-round play when it fell to Westminster, 2-1. Jamie Haddad ’12 scored for Deerfield just 29 seconds into the game, but a pair of second-half tallies saw Westminster moving on.

“We really had a great season. Unfortunately, it ended a little sooner than we’d hoped it would,” said Big Green mentor Kristen Veiga. “We had a sound offense, a strong defense, and two very good goaltenders, and a good number of them will be back next year.”

That goal by Haddad marked the final tally of a high-scoring career, as she led the Big Green in scoring for the last four years. This season she paced the team’s scoring charts with 14 points on nine goals and five assists. Mettler Growney ’13 followed with six points on five goals and one assist, while Lucy Lytle ’15 produced three goals and two assists for five points.

Lili Gahagan ’12 headed up the Deerfield defense, while new faces belonging to Kelsey Gallagher ’13 and Julia Hamilton ’14 also played prominent roles. In goal, Hannah Latham ’13 and Ally Benedict ’13 split the chores between the pipes.

Haddad, who earned an All-Tournament Team selection, was the recipient of this year’s Deerfield Cup, while she and Gahagan were both named to the league’s All-Star team.

And that face couldn’t help but break into a huge smile when this proud mentor reflected on his rookie campaign.

“The kids did an outstanding job this season … no doubt about it,” said Schloat. “Each and every one of our runners came into preseason camp this summer in top shape, and they used every practice and every race they had to make themselves better.”

And it paid off big time, as the Big Green finished second at the Division I New England Prep School Boys Cross Country Championships for the second consecutive year. Exeter won the event with 55 points, while Deerfield finished with 93 and Hotchkiss posted 120. Northfield Mount Hermon School and Choate were fourth and fifth with 130 and 135 points respectively.

Individually, Ben Wood ’13 led the charge for Deerfield by finishing fifth in a time of 16:20 to earn All-New England laurels.  Robert Beit ’13 also made the All-New England listing by finishing 13^th in a time of 16:48.  Rounding out Deerfield’s top five finishers were Fred Quesada ’12, who was 18^th in 16:58, Reed Horton ’14, who placed 27^th in a time of 17:03, and George Reich ’13, who wound up 30^th in 17:09.

“We were expecting to be strong this season,” said Schloat, whose club wound up second at the Canterbury Invitational and went 6-2 during the regular season. “We had a number of outstanding runners returning from last year’s team that wound up second, plus we had an outstanding JV team to pick from, so we felt real good about what we could do this fall.”

Just like at the New England Championships, Deerfield placed second for the second straight year at Canterbury Invitational, with Wood and Beit earning top 10 finishes at 5^th and 8^th respectively. Quesada was 17^th, while Horton and Brad Marshall ’12 were 25^th and 42^nd respectively. And while on the subject of repetition, for the second straight year, the Deerfield boys captured the Richard Miller Invitational, which is hosted by Westminster School. Deerfield took the team title with 31 points, while Tabor Academy was second with 54. The Big Green wrapped up the crown early, as Quesada, Wood, Beit, and Reich finished second through fifth, respectively, and within 15 seconds of each other.

Deerfield captured a tri-meet against Trinity Pawling, Berkshire, and Kent when Horton finished third, while Alfonce Nzioka ’12 and Marshall wound up fourth and fifth respectively. In a meet which the Big Green swept both Loomis and Choate, Wood and Quesada placed first and second respectively, while Beit, Reich, and Horton came in fourth, sixth, and eighth respectively.

In its regular-season finale, meanwhile, Deerfield downed Northfield Mount Hermon School, 24-33. Wood was a second-place finisher, while Quesada, Reich, Beit, and Horton filed in fourth through seventh respectively.

Old Mother Nature certainly didn’t turn out to be a fan of Deerfield Academy girls soccer this year.

First, she combined with Tropical Storm Irene just prior to the opening of preseason training camp to turn the girls’ playing field into the bottom of the Deerfield River for about 10 days. But, in her defense, she can’t be accused of being sexist.  She sent everyone on the lower playing fields – football, boys soccer, boys and girls cross country, and field hockey – in search of new digs for the entire season. Then, in late October and early November, more rain forced the Big Green to cancel three of its games, and they just happened to be “three games that I felt were quite winnable,” said Heidi Valk, the Big Green girls soccer mentor.

So, what Valk and her charges were left with was a 5-6-3 record, “But I’m happy with the season,” said Valk. “The kids battled every step of the way. They worked hard, they played hard, and they gave their best every time they went out on the field, so from a coach’s standpoint, I certainly couldn’t have asked for any more than that of them.”

A blend of both experience and youth finished atop the Deerfield stat sheet this fall as a senior and a freshman led the team in scoring. Paving the way was Connie Rhodes ’12, who tallied 12 points on five goals and seven assists, while Mercedes Fissore-O’Leary ’15 was second with 10 points on five goals and five assists. And both girls would later be named to the Western New England Prep School Girls Soccer League All-Star Team.

Other point producers for the Big Green included Vanessa Avalone ’13, who finished with six points on four goals and a pair of assists and who was elected co-captain of next year’s club along with Cate Wadman ’13. Samantha Chai ’15, meanwhile, had four points on four goals. Back on defense, key contributors included Libby Whitton ’12, Wadman, Caroline Coppinger ’15, and Julia Fissore-O’Leary ’15. Youth also ruled between the pipes this season, as Libby Murray and Maryanne Iodice, a pair of sophomores, split time in goal for the Big Green and combined for a goals against average of 2.5.

As for team honors, Rhodes and Whitton shared the Marjorie Ellis Cup.

“I’m already excited about next year,” said Valk. “We’ve got 13 players returning from this year’s team, and they all picked up valuable experience this season, so I’m really optimistic about our chances.”