While we couldn’t gather together for this year’s Athletic Award ceremony, we got to hear Director of Athletics Mark Conroy announce the awards during a recorded event in the Phillips Stevens Chapel (you can watch the event here). This year, the top awards were as follows:
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.”
This year the Denman Bowl will be shared by two boys. The first recipient had a tremendous career at Williston during his four years here earning eight letters. In the fall, he was a captain and MVP of water polo earning All NEPSAC honors as both a junior and senior. During the winter, it would be an understatement to say that he has been a significant contributor to our swim program. Here is just a sampling of his accolades as a swimmer: three-time team MVP, seven-time NEPSAC champion, current holder of four school records, three individual and one relay. His tremendous accomplishments in our swim program make him arguably one of the most accomplished swimmers in our school’s modern history. Beyond these outstanding accomplishments, he is widely considered by his coaches not only as a fierce competitor but also as a humble gracious competitor and a wonderful role model for his younger teammates. It gives us great pleasure to award this 2020 Denman Bowl to Sam Haddad.
The second recipient accomplished that rarest of feats in the boys sports world these days as a three sport varsity impact athlete winning nine varsity letters in nine seasons. In the fall, he was a three year starter and one of the leading scorers on our very accomplished boys soccer team that made the NEPSAC tournament the past two years. During the winter, he was also a significant contributor to Coach Farmer’s very successful varsity basketball teams specializing in relentless defense and making “winning plays” on both ends of the court. In the spring, he was a two time all league player as a sophomore and junior winning MVP honors last year as a junior. Beyond these accomplishments, he is regarded by his coaches as a tremendous athlete and competitor who always played his best in the game’s biggest moments. It gives me great pleasure to award this 2020 Denman Award to Nick Heafey.
The 2020 Alumnae Bowl recipient has been a student at Williston for six years during which she has won a remarkable 14 letters.
To say that she enjoyed an accomplished athletic career at Williston is an understatement! Consider this list of accomplishments in 14 varsity seasons as member of the volleyball, squash and water polo teams – she served as a team captain 5 times, she earned 10 individual awards including 5 Sportsmanship awards and 4 MVP awards. She earned All NEPSAC recognition 6 times and, finally, she became the first water polo player in our school’s history, boy or girl, to be named an All American! All this without a senior spring!! While all these accolades are noteworthy, what made her truly exceptional is what one of her coaches referred to as her “selfless excellence”. She was that rarest of competitors who was universally admired by not only her own teammates and coaches but by her opponents for her incredible sportsmanship and her commitment to making certain that athletic competition brings out the best in all of us! It gives me great pleasure to award the 2020 Alumnae Bowl to Dylan Fulcher-Melendy.
Conroy also shared the winners of the Blanket Awards:
Students at Williston are strongly 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 level of commitment, the Athletic Department presents a senior award, the Blanket Award, to recognize distinguished 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. It gives me great pleasure to recognize 27 seniors who will be receiving a Blanket. This is the second largest group of recipients in the last ten years….just another feather in the cap of the class of 2020!
(1) One year student: Caroline O’Connor
(2) Three year students: David Costello, Nick Heafey
(24) students who have been at Williston for at least four years:
Katie Borden, Aidan Bourbonnais, Maddie Cardaci, Jade Chan, Sydney Ewell, Julia Farnham, Dylan Fulcher-Melendy, Rachel Goodman, Ryan Goodman, William Gunn, Conrad Kang, Grace Lane, Keyu Lu, Finlay MacDonald, Luke Po, Chloe Prouty, Sahnet Ramirez, Bryn Saarela, Michael Slate, Jersey Strum, Jonathan Toth, Connor Touhey, Stephen Wang, Louisa Weed.
Congratulations to all our Blanket Award recipients!
Conroy addressed the audience, saying, “on behalf of the entire Athletic Department, to include Ms. B, Mr. Garvey, Mr. Malinowski, JT, Coach Lapan and all of our coaches, let me take this opportunity to pass on our congratulations to all the seniors on their graduation from Williston! In the athletic arena, your class has represented Williston with distinction, enthusiasm, and an exceptional commitment to representing the school with the highest ideals of sportsmanship. You have truly “honored the Green and Blue!” We have missed you all this spring but could not be more proud of all of you!”