This morning the Deerfield community gathered for School Meeting to recognize and celebrate the winter sport award winners from all the winter teams. Athletic Director, Mr. Howe, opened the ceremony with his “Winter Top 10” in poem form.
Winter Top 10
This winter, my first, in the lands of the Doors
Still gauging the rivalry between us and those Wild Boars
One indicator of our term and these numbers sound great
The DA teams outplayed those Choate teams by a score of 15-8!
So we start our top 10 sharing this impressive stat.
Now everyone in this room had something to do with that.
At point #9 way back in December
Boys hockey won the Flood Marr Tournament, a feat we’ll all long remember.
Girls hockey deserves their place on the Top 10 List too
They get the 8th spot for their 10-3 late season surge and for
finding out all they could do!
At #7 I pause to applaud what UConn Women’s basketball coach recently said;
He said, “Don’t be cool, and always try to put your teammates ahead.
Finding enthusiastic kids is harder than it has ever been.
When you focus on teammates and sportsmanship you already have a formula to win.”
Taking the #6 spot are all our sub-varsity teams and the job they’ve done
Their combined 80-47 record is proof of hard work, grit, and ability to have fun.
At #5 Henry Hayden deserves recognition for being a Class A wrestling winner
Also, in his corner, Griffin Thomas has been his mentor ever since Henry was a beginner.
The big news of the winter comes in at #4.
DeLisser, Chai, and Munn lead Girls squash to a New England Championship with a near perfect score.
It should also be known that our entire squash program has six teams in all
Their combined record this winter was 44-16 with a reputation that’s tall.
#3 goes to our hoops teams so exciting and fun
Our girls beat up on Choate in the end…were they really seeded #1??
Lights out Mannix scoring against Hotchkiss at will
Kaleb’s buzzer beater against Andover provided a campus wide thrill!
At #2 we have 2 second place New England Tournament finishes to share
Girls Swimming & Diving and Boys Alpine Skiing both had seasons of great flare
Whether it was flying in frigid air or churning waves inside
Our opponents continually looked for good places to hide.
The #1 spot will be shared by two performances that need some press
They both have team play and that Deerfield Spirit I guess
Ashley Chang is a swimmer who gave her team a huge lift
She swam while not feeling her best and could have said “no”
The one point she earned gave her team the #2 spot over Choate. The greatest team gift.
Then last but not least was Coach Kelly’s request for support with the JV Basketball team
They’re playing Loomis Chaffee and will likely get creamed
He said, ” Last year they beat us 61-10
This year, that same team wouldn’t win again.
The good guys would win today by a fairly big score
The final was DA 36 – Loomis 20 and our faithful fans stayed throughout wanting more!
As we head into our spring and the temperatures continue to rise
Don’t let things bother you like the rain and the black flies
What we have done so far this year was to hold our standards high
Team effort, grit and believing in others gives us the ability to reach for the sky
And now Seniors, help us make this season our best, as you prepare to say goodbye
A complete list of award winners can be found here:
Boys JV Basketball
Most Valuable Player – Nolan Zusi
Girls JV Basketball
Most Valuable Player – Vera Menafee
Most Improved Players – Valerie Ma & Samara Cummings
Boys Thirds Basketball
Most Improved Player – Sim Bethel
Boys JV Hockey
Most Valuable Player – Andrew Peck
Girls JV Hockey
Most Improved Player – Annabel Gerber
Boys JV Squash
Most Valuable Player – Vishawn Green
Girls JV Squash
Most Improved Player – Cassie Deshong
Boys Thirds Squash
Most Improved Player – Elliott Flagg & Alex Smith
Girls Thirds Squash
Most Improved Player – Janis Chen & Alya Abd-Aziz
JV Swimming
Most Improved Swimmer – Cynthia Lugo
Most Valuable Swimmer – Jiwon Shin
Boys Varsity Basketball
Deerfield Basketball Trophy (MVP) – Jackson Mannix
Most Improved Player – Colman Shea
Girls Varsity Basketball
Most Valuable Player – Felicia Renelus
The Keller-Birrell Award – Megan Graves
Boys Varsity Hockey
The Deerfield Hockey Cup – Justin Marler
7th Player Award – Justin Masella
Girls Varsity Hockey
Most Valuable Player – Meghan Halloran
7th Player Award – Elizabeth Wenners
Boys & Girls Varsity Skiing
The J. Scott Kelnberger ’79 Award – Sevrin Sarachek
The Doug Parker Trophy – Griffin Sarachek
The Arthur H. Ruggles Jr. ’33 Ski Award – Marie Cuda
The Philip H. Ball Jr. Ski Trophy – Alexandra Edwards
Best Skier/Brooke Gonzales ’97 Cup – Valerie Hetherington
Boys Varsity Squash
Deerfield Squash Racquets Trophy – Daniel Finnegan
Girls Varsity Squash
Bayne Bowl – Madeleine Chai
Boys Varsity Swimming & Diving
The Noel Stace Challenge Cup – William Hrabchak
The John A. Pigeon Award – Robert Meyer
Girls Varsity Swimming & Diving
Most Valuable Swimmer – Nikita Pelletier
The Coaches’ Award – Elizabeth Uhl & Eleanor Koschik
Varsity Wrestling
Deerfield Wrestling Trophy – Griffin Thomas
Congratulations to all the winter teams and award winners!