A great week for Deerfield teams!
Boys Varsity Tennis:
It was a smooth day at the office for boys varsity tennis on Saturday as they cruised to a 7-0 victory against NMH.
In doubles, the Green only lost one game throughout its three matches and in singles it was a similar fate with no set losing more than 2 games.
This win brings the team to a 3-1 record for the year. Next up on Tuesday, 5/11 is the team’s first (!) home match of the season against Loomis Chaffee.
Results (doubles):
- Sarachek/Ueland (DA) def. Wajima/Kang 8-0
- N. Depp/O. Depp (DA) def. Litovchenko/Korec 8-1
- Peh/Park (DA) def. Ho/Almutabaganini 8-0
Results (singles):
- Sarachek (DA) def. Litovchenko 6-0, 6-1
- Ueland (DA) def. Wajima 6-0, 6-0
- Peh (DA) def. Kang 6-0, 6-0
- N. Depp (DA) def. Ho 6-2, 6-0
- Salz (DA) def. Almutabaganini 6-1, 6-0
- Park (DA) def. Korec 6-0, 6-2
Order of finish (doubles): 3,1,2
Order of finish (singles): 2,3,6,5,1,4
Girls Varsity Water Polo:
After playing an excellent first quarter against a skilled Williston team, the girls found themselves unable to defend effectively against the opponent’s dominant player. As the lead widened and fatigue set in, the team lost its offensive continuity for extended periods before rallying to play well in the final quarter. Despite the final margin in both losses to Williston, the girls gained vital experience and never lost their belief in the better days to come.
In the wake of Friday’s contest, the girls returned to the pool on Saturday for a Green vs. White game in which every player had an opportunity to sharpen individual skills, develop game awareness, and compete with great spirit. The white team comprised of ninth and eleventh graders edged the green team comprised of tenth and twelfth grades in a game in which neither team ever held more than a one-goal lead until the final seconds.
Girls Varsity Tennis:
Varsity Girls Tennis Logs Another Win
The Deerfield varsity tennis squad added another shutout to the win column on Saturday, defeating visiting Northfield Mount Hermon. The team was coming off a solid week of practice with Wednesday’s competitions cancelled. Preparation paid off as Deerfield came out swinging in all doubles matchups. Strategy, volleys, and communication led to three decisive Deerfield victories. Congratulations to new doubles pairing, Olivia Waterfall and Devon L’Esperance, on their first win together.
The team continued its winning ways at singles, sweeping NMH at each position in straight sets. Deerfield’s singles lineup needed to shift this week and the team responded well. Emily Pajak joined the starting lineup and delivered a great result of 6-0, 6-2. Hunter Pulliam, Olivia Waterfall, and Evan Burkett continued to stack wins during their debut seasons with the team, while veterans Emma Weech and Isha Rao did the same. The team is back on the road Tuesday to face off with Loomis-Chaffee in nearby Windsor, CT.
The team will be on Deerfield’s courts again Saturday, May 15th for our seniors’ final home match!
Individual Results:
Singles:
- Isha Rao, W 6-0, 6-1
- Hunter Pulliam, W 6-2, 6-2
- Emma Weech, W 6-0, 6-1
- Olivia Waterfall, W 6-0, 6-1
- Evan Burkett, W 6-0, 6-1
- Emily Pajak, W 6-0, 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 4, 5, 2, 3, 6
Doubles:
- Rao/ Pulliam, W 8-1
- Weech/ Burkett, W 8-1
- Waterfall/ Devon L’Esperance, W 8-0
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Exhibition Play:
Linnea Dreslin, L 6-0, 3-6, (10-12)
Kiki Brainard, W 6-2, 6-0
Alex Kelsey, W 6-0, 6-0
Girls Varsity Lacrosse:
The girls varsity lacrosse team played with a great deal of heart and grit this week as they faced Greenwich Academy and local rivalry, Northfield Mount Hermon. The Big Green played with passion and persistence, but ended up losing both contests to two talented and athletic opponents. In both games, the Deerfield defense executed at a high-level in their discipline, focus, and intensity. Ultimately, DA struggled to earn draw control possessions and maintain possession in the offensive end. We’re looking forward to back to back contests against Loomis Chaffee and the opportunity to celebrate our seniors at tomorrow’s home event.
Girls Varsity Rowing:
It was another week of awesome growth and development for the girls’ rowing team! Our top two boats got their first fours racing experience of the year—of two years, really!—up at NMH, while our novice rowers took their first racing strokes ever in a race-piece workout vs Berkshire at home. All crews felt great about their racing and are excited to keep building their speed and experience in the final two weeks of the year. Go Big Green!
Girls JV Tennis:
We had no matches since our last report, though we had some great competition in challenge matches and a rainy day of fitness. The team has been wonderful to work with and has improved most dramatically in doubles. Our serving has become more consistent and our volleys sharper and more confident. Recently in practice, we sustained regularly rallies of 30+ shots from the ground and in volleys. Some pairs even reached 100+ shots. This is great improvement!
Varsity Baseball:
Deerfield lost to Avon 11-1. The lone bright spot in the game was RF Geoff Jamiel who went 2-2 with two doubles and scored the only run on a sacrifice fly by LF Tynan Creagh in the 6th inning.
Deerfield beat Avon in the first game of a Saturday double header by a score of 5-2. SP Tommy Leimkuhler pitched 6.1 innings and held Avon to 4 hits and 2 ERs while striking out 5 batters. LF Tynan Creagh went 2-4 with an RBI and 2B Kevin Griffin went 1-2 with a SB and scored 2 runs. The game was tied 2-2 going into the top of the 6th inning and Deerfield scored 3 runs to make it 5-2. RP Tyler Mudd entered the game from CF with 1 out in the bottom of the 7th inning to get the save.
Deerfield lost the 2nd game of the Saturday double header by a score of 4-0. The Deerfield defense made 3 errors in the game that led to all of Avon’s runs. SP Tyler Mudd was excellent; he held Avon to just 5 hits and struck out 7 batters. At the plate, 1B Sam Mackenzie was the only Deerfield batter with 2 hits
Boys JV Lacrosse:
vs. Avon: For this game, our team welcomed the help of varsity lacrosse goalie Alex Rolfe ‘24 and defenseman Alex Sotirhos ‘24 in preparation for going against the Varsity B level team on Avon. To call this game a challenge however would be false, as the boys were able to beat Avon 11-2. A notable moment of this match was the goal made by Joe Lochiatto ‘22, his first of the season. Alex Rolfe ’24 made 6 saves today, and our own goalie Ryan Amundson ’24 made 4 saves. Game ball went to Alex Fontecchio ‘24.
vs. Eaglebrook: Today we faced Eaglebrook once more, after beating them 12-8 last week. We went into this game prepared to overcome Eaglebrook again, winning 13-8. Most impressive was Will Scharfenberger ‘23’s 7 goals this game, one of which was an assist from Henry Griffin ‘24 who also made 2 goals today.
Boys Varsity Track & Field:
Deerfield Track & Field hosted Northfield Mount Hermon on Saturday, May 8, on a mild, overcast afternoon. Without sun or significant wind to contend with, athletes from both teams were gifted ideal meet conditions to achieve personal and school best marks – and they delivered!
Once again, the Deerfield squad was dominant on the track and steady in the field, taking individual first place in 8 track events and 3 field events. Chandler Dicks ’23 and Max Kainamura ’22 won uncontested hurdles events, Elic Ayomanor ’22 and Donnie Gray ’21 took 1st and 2nd place in the 100 and 200 meter races, and Deerfield’s two relay teams won their events. Perhaps most impressively, Deerfield swept Top 3 honors in the 1500 meters (Quinn Hampson ’22, Chase Whitney ’22 and Thomas Lyons ’21) and the 800 meters (Hampson, Chip Coffin ’21 and Charlie Lewis ’21). Wins by Coffin in the triple jump, Tyler Simon ’22 in the shot put, and Bob Provost ’23 in the javelin added to the ledger. All told, the boys team compiled a 98-42 win against NMH that spoke of a team effort across the board.
Along the way, a school record fell in the 4×100 meter relay. With Coffin coming out of blocks on the lead leg for the first time, the team of Coffin/Gray/Christian Reavis ‘23/Ayomanor dropped a whopping .45 seconds from their previous best, and set a new Deerfield Track & Field all-time record of 43.455 seconds. That time put them as far ahead of the previous best (set in 2019 by a team including Gray) as that previous best is ahead of the 6th best time in school history. Congratulations to the team on their magnificent effort to kick-start the first home meet of the season!
Deerfield will host Cushing Academy on Saturday, May 15, in their final meet of the shortened 2021 season. We all look forward to another Saturday afternoon at the track!
Girls Varsity Track & Field:
All of the athletes on the girls’ track and field team were excited to come out and enjoy the home-field advantage this past Saturday. We had our hurdle crew ready as we hosted NMH on the Big Green track. Many parents were able to cheer on our team for the first time and you could feel the excitement in the crowd.
It was an extremely exciting day as not one but two Deerfield records were broken. Senior Jaxon Palmer cleared a monstrous Javelin throw at 118 feet. Then, a new athlete on the track named Kaelin Creagh broke our 200-meter record crossing the finish line with a lightning time of 26.149 seconds and almost breaking our 100-meter record with a time of 12.713 seconds. These two athletes are also members of the 4×100 meter team who almost broke yet another Deerfield record along with fellow athletes Simi Lawal and Ismay Anderson. Janie Doyle and Jazz Baker took second and third in the shot put, while Kate Kelly took first place in the high jump and second place in her relatively new event, the triple jump. Josephine Louis was not far behind in the field events by earning second in the long jump and third in the pole vault. Finally, the distance runners were out with Ali Thomas and Georgia Barnes earning second and third place in the 1500 meter race followed by Aerin Lo and Jean Jin earning those same spots in the 3000-meter race.
As always, the list of impressive athletes goes on and on. Although we lost to NMH, we had a great first home meet of the season. Every athlete put everything into their events and we look forward to seeing them do it again next week against Cushing. It will be our last meet of this short season, so it promises to be a great one.
Girls JV Lacrosse:
JV Lacrosse spent the week honing our skills in preparation for a big game week with games on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. After a surprise Head of School Day on Monday, we got back to work on full field transitions and team defense, building into continuous 3v2s. We also practiced cradling in congestion, checking, and ground balls. Our team is getting good at boxing out and fighting for the ball on the ground! We are looking forward to our first home game against Loomis Chaffee on Tuesday and then back to back contests against Cushing’s varsity on Friday and Saturday. Here’s to a great week!
JV Baseball:
After a rather tough start to the season. The team has showed immense improvement in the past few weeks. With two dominating wins everyone that showed what we were capable of on the field. Everyone did their part to help the team win and it was incredible to witness. With three more games remaining on the schedule the hunt for a winning season is back on track.
Ultimate:
After a missing last season, the Ultimate team welcomed many new players this year. This week, we saw our new players truly begin to blossom and capitalize on their growing skills! Among many other accomplishments, Anne Brown ’21 has stood out in her offensive cutting, Jeff Wang’s ’23 speed strengthens our zone defense, and Forrest Gao ’23 can often be found practicing long-distance throws after practice ends.
We played two games this weekend. In the first against Eaglebrook, we came out with an early lead, had a slight let up in the middle, but finished strong with a final score of 13-7. On Saturday, we had a highly competitive game against NMH, with both teams battling for a lead back and forth throughout the first half. Though we lost 11-15, Deerfield scored the first points of both halves, and fought it out for nearly 2 ½ hours to finish the full game. Ellie Shilling ’21 rose to the occasion with energy that boosted her teammates and put pressure on the Hoggers. Ben Chen ’21 and Shane McCarthy ’21 led the team in defensive plays. Over the course of the game, 6 different players scored goals, demonstrating the versatility and growing strength across the entire squad. The best part of Saturday was the show of Spirit and sportsmanship – both NMH and Deerfield nominated a Spirit Award for the other team, NMH sang a song for Deerfield, and seniors shared plans for next year.