Director of Athletics Mark Conroy shared highlights of the winter sports season at an all-school assembly on May 24. His comments and the specific awards are below. Way to go, Wildcats!
Riding:
A small handful of Williston students rode this spring at Fuller Horse Farm in Westhampton under the guidance of Laura Etzel. The team was led by senior veteran rider Momoka Oda. According to Laura, these athletes showed great determination and dedication in working towards achieving their individual riding and horsemanship goals.
Team Awards
Most Valuabe Rider for Overall Contribution: Momoka Oda ’18,
Most Valuable Rider for Horsemanship: Villard Xu ’18
Most Improved Rider: Harrison Winrow ’18
Sportsmanship Award: Noel Song ’22
Ultimate:
Under the enthusiastic guidance of Coaches Alex Rivenburgh, Lee Greener, and Teddy Schaffer, Williston’s Ultimate roster ballooned to 45 this spring, 30 of which were new to the program. Despite many new faces, the team started off strong with a decisive 15-7 victory over MacDuffie. The team was led in scoring this spring by senior Jaden Tanguay with 21 goals followed closely by Logan Geisness with 15 and Ethan Agostoni with 14. Sophomore Jason Rhett ended the season with 17 assists while fellow sophomore Abby Seltzer led the team with a 97% catch percentage. At the season ending NEPSUL tournament, the team came together to play their best ultimate of the spring finishing the day at 4-0 day with two overtime victories – one over Concord Academy and a second over Marinapolis in a terrific comeback. After being seeded 13th overall the team finished in 8th place.
One other highlight worth mentioning this spring was our girls combining forces with rival Deerfield to take second place in the NMH Girls Tournament.
Team Awards
JV
Most Valuable Player: Caleb Cost ’18
Most Improved Players: Sophie Edmunds ’23, Steven Wang ’20
Sportsmanship: Orion Minton ’23
Varsity
Most Valuable Player: Logan Geisness ’18
Most Improved Player: Ella Goodman ’19
Sportsmanship: Abby Seltzer ’20
Captain for next year: Abby Seltzer ’20
Girls Tennis:
Led by Coach Karla Schaffer, the JV girls’ tennis team enjoyed a season of great comraderie and improvement highlighted by a decisive win over rival Suffield and sweeping both of their matches with WMA.
The varsity girls team, led by Coach John Chiavaroli, enjoyed strong leadership from tri-captains Sabrina Liew, Fuka Iwama and Haley Beecher. The team competed hard all season with decisive victories over both Wilbraham & Monson and Cushing Academy as highlights.
Team Awards
JV
Most Valuable Player: Amanda Shen ’19
Most Improved Player: Katie Han ’19 and Ashley Nguyen ’20
Sportsmanship: Noel Livingston ’20, Anya Rozario ’20
Varsity
Most Valuable Player: Fuka Iwama ’18 – second year in a row
Most Improved Player: Hana Tsukamoto ’20
Sportsmanship: Sabrina Liew’18
Captains for next year: Julia Farnham ’20, Kate Quimby ’19
Baseball:
Our JV Baseball team led by Coaches Ketcham and Beaton had a terrific spring finishing with a record of 7-2. The team finished its season on a high note by shutting out its last three opponents – Westminster, WMA and Easthampton HS.
The Varsity Baseball team, led by Coaches Sawyer, Cunningham, and Shelffo had a very competitive season playing in the Western New England Prep League with 7 games decided by one run. The team went 4-3 in those closely contested games. Highlights of their season included league wins over Berkshire, WMA and Pomfret. Undoubtedly, the biggest highlight of the season was sweeping two thrilling one run games over rival Suffield Academy. In the first game, a 2-1 road win, Tim Fay pitched 6 innings of shutout relief and Nick Heafey had the game winning RBI. In the second game, captain Addison Walker led the team to a 3-2 win at home with strong pitching and the game winning RBI.
Several players earned all-league recognition for their outstanding play this spring. First Team honors went to senior pitcher Will Jordan. Second team honors went to sophomores Nick Heafey and Jonathan Toth and senior Addison Walker.
Team Awards
JV
Most Valuable Player: Ray Toth ’22
Most Improved Player: Thomas Motyka ’21
Sportsmanship Award: James White ’19
Varsity
Walter R. Miller ’41 MVP: Tim Fay ’18
Most Improved Player: Aidan Burke ’19 – second year in a row!
Sportsmanship: Kyle Grabowski ’20
Next year’s captains will be Nick Barber ’19 and Aidan Burke ’19.
Girls Golf:
Coach Liz Kay’s JV Girls Golf squad made steady improvement throughout the season highlighted by wins over Taft and Miss Hall’s. Led by Coach Ann Pickrell, the 2018 varsity girls’ golf team compiled a 7-9 match play season record this spring. The team highlights included decisive victories over Westminster and Miss Porter’s and a narrow 3-2 loss to a strong Choate squad. The team finished 10th overall at the NEPSAC Championship Tournament held two weeks ago at Taft.
Team Awards
JV
Most Valuable Player: Zoe Okaisabor ’19
Most Improved Player: Lilly Flint ’22
Sportsmanship: Virginia Kozikowski ’19
Varsity
Most Valuable Player: Sarah Sullivan ’19, Emily Warren ’19
Most Improved Player: Nikki Foster ’20
Sportsmanship: Atah Okaisabor ’18
Captain for next year: Sarah Sullivan ’19
Track and Field:
Under the leadership of head coach Chris Pelliccia and fellow coaches Martha McCullagh, Jane Lucia, Matt Porter, Jacob Rivers and Ashley Jenkins, both the boys and girls track and field teams enjoyed very successful seasons. The girls’ team had a terrific spring finishing their dual meet season with a record of 12-3. Highlights included exciting wins over Westminster, KO and Hopkins. At the New England championships hosted at Tabor last Saturday, the girls enjoyed a strong day of performances finishing in 7th place out of the 14 teams competing. Individually, 5 girls earned points on the day:
• Claire Harrison placed 5th in the 100 High Hurdles
• Natalie Romain placed 5th in the shot put
• Sophomore Chloe Prouty placed 3rd in the 300 low hurdles
• Senior captain Sophie Carellas placed 3rd in the pole vault
One girl had a very strong day with two second place finishers:
• Junior Gates McPherson finished 2nd in both the high jump and the discus.
The boys’ team had a tremendous season finishing with a record of 13-1 with its only loss to Class A Avon. Highlights included wins over Suffield, NMH and Berkshire. At the NEPSAC championship at Tabor, the boys had a terrific final meet on the biggest stage finishing in 3th place out of 12 schools. Earning team points on the day for the boys were:
• Insoo Kang who took 6th in both the Triple Jump and the 110 high hurdles.
• Christian Anzeveno who took 5th in the Discus.
• Andikan Ntia-James and GB Osuntugun who finished in 4th and 5th respectively in the shot put.
• Jake Goodman who finished 4th in the 400.
• Braeden Heald who took 2nd in the 300 meter hurdles.
• Michael Polk who took 2nd place in the high jump.
• Elijah Hutchinson who took 2nd in both the 200 and 400 meter races.
• Sophomore Nick Sinofsky came in 2nd in both the 800 and the 1500. (more on those performances in a bit!)
• The 4 x 400 relay team of Jake Goodman, Braeden Heald, Michael Polk, and Elijah Hutchinson that came in 2nd place.
• The 4 x 100 relay team of Brandyn Jones, Braeden Heald, Michael Polk and Elijah Hutchinson that also came in 2nd place.
• Aboud Abuissa became a NEPSAC champion when he won the 110 meter high hurdles with a time of 16.45!
Amazingly, we had 5 school records broken this spring in the boys track and field program. I would like to recognize these new record holders.
The 4 x 100 relay team of Brandyn Jones, Braeden Heald, Michael Polk and Elijah Hutchinson ran a 43.32 to break a record that was set in 2016.
Senior captain Elijah Hutchinson has enjoyed a terrific career in the track program. This year, he tied Michael Dereus’s school record in the 200 when he was timed in 21.8 in a race at Cheshire.
Postgraduate Michael Polk added his name to the record books when he broke two school records this spring. Early in the season he high jumped 6’7” to break a school record held by Doug McMillan that was set 33 years ago in 1985. Later in the spring, he triple jumped 45’8” amazingly breaking Cam William’s 2009 record by over two feet.
Finally, I mentioned earlier that Nick Sinofsky came in second at the NEPSACs in both the 800 and 1500 meter races. In doing so, he broke school records in both races that were set 14 years ago by David Bach. His time of 1:57.59 in the 800 shaved one second off the record. In the 1500, he broke the record by nearly 5 seconds when he became the first Williston runner to run under four minutes in this race finishing in 3:58.38.
Team Awards
Girls
Most Valuable Player: Gates McPherson ’19
Most Improved Player: Greta Saxe ’23
Sportsmanship: Ji Soo Hwang ’21
Next year’s captains will be Caroline DiFiore ’19, Claire Harrison ’19, Catherine King ’19, Gates McPherson ’19
Boys
Frank Putnam Most Valuable Player Award: Elijah Hutchinson ’18 (second year in a row)
Most Improved Player: Josh McGettigan ’18
Sportsmanship: Insoo Kang ’19
Next year’s captains will be Abood Abuissa ’18, Jake Goodman ’19, Insoo Kang ’19, and DJ Poulin ’19
Softball:
Led by Coaches Amber Rodgers, Erin Davey and Allison Marsland, varsity softball enjoyed another terrific season finishing with a record of 10 wins and only 2 losses. There were many highlights during the season including posting 6 shutouts thanks to the dominant pitching and terrific team defense. Other highlights included a thrilling 11-10 win over Worcester and a huge 7-2 win at Suffield during the final week of the season! The team’s strong regular season performance earned them their fifth postseason league tournament berth in a row! After getting rained out on Saturday, the team took on Hopkins on Sunday with a chance to earn a share of the league title. In a dominating performance, the Wildcats shut out the Hilltoppers 7-0.
I do want to recognize two players who both achieved a milestone this spring – coincidentally, they happen to be related! In the last regular season game of the year, sophomore Jersey Strum pitched a no-hitter in a win over Stoneleigh Burnham. What made this accomplishment even more amazing was that she threw only one ball the entire game – that’s right…the rest were strikes!
Finally, it is fair to say that the prospects of Williston softball improved significantly when Jordan Strum arrived on campus four years ago. She has had a tremendous impact on the program most notably as our pitcher. Jordan finished her career in style when she became the first pitcher in our school’s history to break the lofty milestone of 500 strikeouts in a career when she fanned a batter vs Loomis on May 9
For their outstanding play during the season, seniors Gabby Jones and Jordan Strum were both named league all-stars for the second year in a row.
Team Awards
Most Valuable Player: Jordan Strum ’18 – fourth year in a row
Most Improved Player: Marielle McEnaney ’18
Sportsmanship: Gabby Dicomitis ’18, Anna Harvey ’18
Boys Lacrosse:
JV Boys Lacrosse, led by the dynamic duo of Hanford and Johnson, had an excellent season with several wins to their credit including winning their last four games in a row over Bement, Eagle Hill, Eaglebrook and WMA.
Under Coaches Mooney, Syfu and Dietrich, Varsity Boys Lacrosse finished with an excellent overall record of 12-3. The team enjoyed some terrific wins including closely fought victories over Albany, Pomfret, and Kimball Union. Undoubtedly, the two most exciting wins during the spring were thrillers over Berkshire and Loomis. Against Berkshire, the boys held on for a thrilling 9-8 win to beat the Bears for the first time in 18 years. The victory over Loomis was a terrific see saw battle decided late when senior captain Mason Balch found the back of the net with seconds to go to give the Wildcats a heart stopping 10-9 win. At the season ending Colonial Tournament, the boys defeated Gunnery 10-5 in the semi-finals to advance to the championship game where they came up just short to Pomfret.
I do want to congratulate the members of the boys’ lacrosse program for winning a very special award this spring when I was notified recently by the Western Mass Lacrosse Officials that Williston was this year’s recipient of the team Sportsmanship Award given to that team that quote “displays the greatest sportsmanship on the field by the players and coaches”. The president of the officials said that this year’s vote was as close to a landslide as they have ever had. I have to say that while I enjoy winning as much as the next person, receiving this sort of honor is what I value most about our athletic program. Congratulations boys!
In terms of postseason recognition, four boys were named to the all-league eam: seniors Mason Balch, John Kilcommons, and Rob Champigny and sophomore Kevin Talbot. Named Honorable Mention all league were Joey Ford, Sam Milnes, and Max Livingston. Additionally, we also learned on Tuesday that one of our seniors was named Williston’s second ever US Lacrosse All American.
Team Awards
JV
Most Valuable Player: Reilly Gluz ’19
Most Improved Player: Mike Beaulieu ’20
Sportsmanship: Mike Slate ’20
Varsity
Frank Dorsey Most Valuable Player Award: Mason Balch ’18 – second year in a row
Most Improved Player: Connor Power ’18
Sportsmanship: Rob Champigny ’18, Max Livingston ’18
Captains for next year: Joey Ford ’19, Hunter Sarro ’19
Girls Lacrosse:
Girls Lacrosse at Williston had another outstanding season. The JV team demonstrated great team spirit and improvement throughout the season highlighted by victories over Berkshire, Pomfret and a thrilling 5-4 win over Choate.
Led by Coaches Fulcher, Breidis and Lonergan, the Varsity Girls’ Lacrosse team had another outstanding season finishing with a 14-2 record.
While there were many great wins during the season, there were several victories that stood out including decisive wins over Hotchkiss, Choate, Berkshire and Westminster. The biggest win was at Loomis late in the season when the girls knocked off the always tough Pelicans on their home turf 9-6. The team’s excellent regular season earned them the #1 seed in the first annual Western New England Class B tournament. In the semi-finals, the girls won decisively over the host school Greens Farms Academy 16-5 to earn a trip to the finals against Canterbury. In the championship game, the girls played wonderful team lacrosse winning 12-4 to earn the championship.
In terms of postseason honors, opposing coaches named Sophia Schaeffer and Madison Fulcher-Melendy to the “All Tournament Team” while Madison, Fiona Bundy and Shana Hecht were all named to the All Western New England all-star team. Congratulations girls!
Team Awards
JV
Most Valuable Player: Grace Bean ’22
Most Improved Player: Riley Tirrell ’22
Sportsmanship: Maddie Elsea ’19
Varsity
Most Valuable Players: Fiona Bundy ’18, Madison Fulcher-Melendy ’18
Most Improved Player: Christina Vote ’21
Kate Risley ’93 Sportsmanship Award: Caroline Channell ’18
Davis Award for overall contribution: Shana Hecht ’18, Sophia Schaefer ’18
Next year’s captains will be Rachel Burke ’19, Emma Gentile ’19, Maura Holden ’19, Campbell Nyrardy ’19
Boys Tennis:
Coach Ken Choo’s JV tennis squad enjoyed a season of wonderful improvement highlighted by wins over Rectory, WMA and Bement.
This was a special season for Coach Tyree’s varsity tennis team as we enjoyed our finest season in many years finishing the regular season at 8-2. The team was blessed with a terrific combination of experienced, skilled players and depth. The top 6 included sophomores Kenny Wang and Joey Nolte, freshman Nikhil Sierros, juniors Ethan Dursht and Joey Robbins, and senior Nitish Raja. As an example of their depth, the team won five of their matches by 7-0 scores, including shutouts over perennially competitive opponents Berkshire, NMH, Westminster and Suffield. Two matches worth noting: first, a gritty 5-2 home court win over Avon Old Farms when the team demonstrated great poise in face of some challenging situations. Second, despite a match loss to A class powerhouse Deerfield, our number one doubles team of Ethan and Kenny shocked their opponents with a tie break win, our first doubles point against Deerfield in years. The team’s excellent season earned them their first NEPSAC tournament berth since 2009. Unfortunately, the boys came up short to a tough team from Middlesex. Despite this loss, it was a terrific season, and the future remains very bright with the return of four of the top six players.
Team Awards
JV
Most Valuable Player: Toyo Sato ’20 (second year in a row!)
Most Improved Player: Peter Seo ’20
Sportsmanship: Tucker Motyka ’22
Varsity
- L. Hepworth Most Valuable Player Award: Nikhil Sierros ’21 – third year
Most Improved Player: Kenny Wang ’20
Sportsmanship: Joey Nolte ’20
Next year’s captains will be: Ethan Dursht ’19, Kenny Wang ’20
Girls Water Polo:
To say it was another wonderful season for girls’ water polo would be an understatement! Building on last year’s special season, the girls set a new school record for wins in a season finishing at 13-6. For the second year in a row the girls qualified for the NEPSAC Liquid Four championship tournament. There were many highlights during the season including sweeping two matches each with Loomis, Choate, Suffield and Andover. Arguably, the two biggest wins of the season were a hard fought win over Hopkins 10-8 and avenging an early season loss to Deerfield with a late season 7-5 thriller. Our excellent regular season resulted in the team earning the #3 seed and the opportunity to play Exeter at Brunswick School. In a tremendously competitive game, the girls played their hearts out but came up short to Exeter 11-8.
Amazingly four girls were named to the All NEPSAC water polo team – the most of any team in NEPSAC. Lizzie Cuevas and Ella Mattocks were both named to the Second Team while Abbie Coscia and Dylan Fulcher-Melendy were both named to the First Team.
I do want to give special mention this morning to two young ladies who set more school records this spring. Junior Abbie Coscia continues to rewrite the record books when it comes to scoring. This spring she accumulated more points in a single season then anyone in the history of our program broke the record for most points in a season when she scored 95! Not to be outdone, sophomore Dylan Fulcher-Melendy had another terrific season in goal breaking her own school record for saves in a season with 216. Amazingly, she also set two other school records this spring – most steals and assists in a season – did I mention she is a goalie?! Wow!
Team Awards
Most Valuable Player: Abbie Coscia ’19
Most Improved Player: Molly Kinstle ’21
Sportsmanship: Dylan Fulcher-Melendy ’20
Next year’s captains: Abbie Coscia ’19, Dylan Fulcher-Melendy ’20, Sabrina Shao ’19
Boys Golf:
The JV team, led by Coaches Whipple and Garrity, had a very competitive season finishing with several victories highlighted by a season sweep of NMH and wins over Westminster and Rectory.
Despite a record-setting 2017 season that saw a number of top players graduate, the varsity boys’ golf team entered the season with confidence that they could continue their recent success. The first match of the season reinforced that confidence as the Wildcats swept Suffield, Salisbury, and Westminster thanks to great rounds by Tom Lawry and Jake Durocher. Another strong outing for the team included quad match wins over Choate, Kingswood and Loomis, where captain Jack Phelan and junior Tyler Senecal both recorded impressive rounds of 37. Undoubtedly, the biggest highlight of the season was winning the Suffield Invitational Tournament over 8 other schools. It’s worth noting that junior Tyler Senecal won the individual championship by shooting an impressive 75. The boys ended their season with a record of 17-3. Incredibly, over the last three years, the boys golf team’s record is a remarkable 53-7-1!
Team Awards
JV
Most Valuable Player: Alex Berg ’19
Most Improved Player: Eric Albanese ’20
Sportsmanship: Graham Allardyce ’19
Varsity
Robert C. Varnum ’60 Most Valuable Player Award: Jack Phelan ’18
Most Improved Player: Cam Jefferson ’18
Sportsmanship: Junya Ozaki ’18
Captain for next year: Tyler Senecal ’19
I would like to ask Ms. Brousseau and Mr. Kearney to come forward to help me with this next presentation.
As you all know very well, students at Williston are encouraged to participate and get engaged in all aspects of student life here. Many of our graduating seniors have made an exceptional commitment to participating in our competitive athletic program. To honor this distinguished level of participation, the Athletic Department presents a senior award, the Blanket Award, to recognize exceptional participation. For students who have been at Williston for more than one year, they are eligible for the award if they missed only one season not including their senior year.
One year student:
Marielle McEnaney
Two-year students:
George Goodhead, Dani Marquez, Gavin Prough, Xavier Thibault, Tori Zingarelli
Three-year students:
Tosh Ayabe, Sabrina Liew, Sara Renkert
14 students who have been here at least four years:
Fiona Bundy, Gabby Dicomitis, Madison Fulcher-Melendy, Fuka Iwama, Mike Janocha, Gabby Jones, Julia MacLean, Marielle McHale, Junya Ozaki, Tori Palumbo, Natalie Romain, Sophia Schaefer, Alana Serafino, Cam Ziomek
It is our privilege this morning to award our two most prestigious senior athletic awards. The George Denman Bowl for boys and the Alumnae Bowl for girls are “awarded to seniors whose contribution to the athletic program have been characterized by exceptional achievement, faithful participation, and loyal devotion to the best interests of the school.” The award is determined by a vote of our program’s head coaches.
This year’s Denman recipient had a tremendous career at Williston during his two years earning 5 letters. In the winter, he was strong contributor to two varsity basketball teams that won a combined 34 games the past two years. His positive energy and leadership were a big part of the team’s success. During the spring, he played lacrosse for the first time ever this spring as a senior and amazingly became a starter on defense. His athleticism, toughness and competitiveness quickly made him an asset to a very strong team. In the fall, his contribution to the football program was exceptional. His accolades include two time all league selection, First Team All NEPSAC as a senior, school record holder in sacks, Boyden Award winner, and Erickson League Defensive Player of the Year. Beyond these outstanding accomplishments, he is widely considered by his coaches to be a fierce competitor, a tireless worker on and off the field and a tremendous leader. It gives us great pleasure to award the 2018 Denman Award to Xavier Thibault.
The Alumnae Bowl recipient won 17 varsity letters during her six years at Williston. In the fall, she earned five letters – the first three as a member of the soccer program before switching to field hockey as a junior. As a testament to her athleticism, in her first year ever playing the sport she led our team in goals scored! During the winter, she earned six letters and was a huge contributor to a very successful run for our girls’ ice hockey program. As a senior, she was the leading scorer on a team that made it the NEPSAC championship game. She earned All NEPSAC Honorable Mention recognition for her outstanding season. During the spring, she also earned six letters in varsity softball where she was an immense contributor to the program helping the team win two league championships. Captaining the team as a senior, she earned all-league recognition during both her junior and senior year. Her versatility in the field and her clutch hitting at the plate made her one of the finest all around softball players in our program’s history. Beyond her outstanding accomplishments, she is considered by her coaches to be a fierce competitor and a wonderful, supportive teammate. It gives us great pleasure to award the 2018 Alumnae Bowl to Gabby Jones.
Scroll through photos of the ceremony below, or see them here on Flickr.