Wyvern Nation Sports Wraps – September 19, 2019

Cross Country
The Girls’ Cross Country competed in the Choate Rosemary Hall Invitational on Sept. 14. The results are as follows:

Girls’ Veterans & Novice Race Results

Participating Teams:

• Choate Rosemary Hall Miss Porter’s School

• Greenwich Academy Westminster School

• Kingswood Oxford School Westover School

• Loomis Chaffee School Williams School

The Girls’ Cross Country team competed in a non-scoring invitational at Choate Rosemary Hall School on Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful day to race and while no team scores were calculated, our athletes set personal goals for the day. The course was exactly 5 kilometers in length.

The course records is 18:08 (girls).

Girls’ Veteran’s Race RESULTS: (56 runners)

There were 56 runners in the veteran’s race. The top five runners were Loomis (20:44), Choate (20:53), MPS (21:57), Greenwich Academy (21:57), and Greenwich Academy (22:26).

Olivia Reynolds ‘22 – Finished 32nd place overall with a time of 26:11.4
Stella Risinger ‘22 – Finished 34th place overall with a time of 26:24.3

Coach’s Note: “It was great to see our captains competing together in the Veteran’s race. They tackled Choate Hill with confidence and determination. They led the team with a positive attitude and finished their first race of the season strong. We are excited to see the team compete next weekend at the Canterbury Invitational in which we will run our top seven athletes against very competitive Division II schools.”

Novice Race RESULTS: (33 runners)

There were 33 runners in the race. The top five runners were Loomis (23:01), KO Emma Henry ’21 (25:10), Choate (25:31), KO Ashleigh Stepnowski ’22 (25:38), and Loomis (25:50).

Emma Henry ‘21 – Finished 2nd place with a time of 25:10.6
Ashleigh Stepnowski ‘22 – Finished 4th place with a time of 25:38.3
Charlotte Eberle ‘23 – Finished 6th place with a time of 26:07.8
Maggie Dwyer ‘23 – Finished 7th place with a time of 26:11.5
Lily Liu ‘22 – Finished 25th place with a time of 31:45.0

Coach’s Note: “KO was on fire in this race. Lots of excitement as our athletes represented KO for the first time as members of the cross country team. We have an amazing group of new runners this year that specialize in being strong examples of dedicated student athletes. We are excited to see the team compete next weekend at the Canterbury Invitational in which we will run our top seven athletes against very competitive Division II schools.”

The Boys’ Cross Country team competed in the Choate Rosemary Hall XC Invitational on Sept. 14. The KO boys’ team entered Saturday with a few kids sidelined by sickness or minor injury, but the following runners were able to participate. In the veterans category: Ethan Pinkes ’20 (captain), Sam Merkatz ‘22, Elan Stadelmann ‘20, Eli Johansen ‘22, Braeden Rose ‘21, Justin Rios ‘22, and Shumayl Shiek Syed ‘22. In the novice race Sam Bromberg’23, Nate Brodrick ‘22 and Jon Sohn ‘22 finished their first race ever.

In the veterans race (a distance of 3.1 miles, or 5.0 K, on a hilly course), form 6 captain Ethan Pinkes ‘20 and Sam Merkatz ‘22 had good results. Pinkes broke the 20 minute barrier with a time of 19:34 and Merkatz had one of his personal best times at 21:38. Stadelmann and Johansen also had strong races. In the novice race, Bromberg had a good outing with a time of 22:57 for his first race as a high school runner.

The Middle School Cross Country team played Taft on Sept. 18. KO middle school cross-country had a fantastic first meet at Taft today. There were about ten schools participating with over 300 runners and the camaraderie among the teams was palpable! The course was diverse with hills, trails, and flat terrain, and it was a beautiful sunny day with a late-summer breeze. For many of our runners, it was their first meet and they ran impressive times. Our returning runners also had some strong races and set some personal bests. One highlight was Jessica Mulligan ‘25 placing in the top ten for girls. Though our placements ranged from ten to 162, overall, it was a great start to the season. Go Wyverns!

Field Hockey

The Girls’ Varsity Soccer team lost 1-4 in their home opener against Miss Porter’s on Sept. 18. KO looked to hold their own during the early minutes, but Porter’s strength and skill eventually broke down the Wyvern defense fifteen minutes into the match. Porter’s took advantage of some communication breakdowns and quickly found the back of the net three times in a span of ten minutes. Nevertheless, KO switched things up in the second half and discovered something about themselves: they went with the punches and never gave up! Isabel Berckemeyer ’21 and Catherine Daniels ’21 combined to find the back of the net midway through the second half. Annelise Vaughn ’21 and Ely Alleyne ’23 put forth stellar performances on the outside flank and up top, looking to take people on and create things offensively. Kyra Dunnirvine ’23 also notched her first varsity minutes in the second half and came up with a few big saves. On the day: KO learned what it means to keep competing until the very end and truly committing to getting things done on the field.

The JV Thirds Boys’ Soccer team won 5-1 against Suffield Academy on Sept. 18. On a beautiful fall afternoon, KO wasted no time by scoring an early goal by central midfielder Jacob Joseph ’23, who had two goals throughout the game. Soon after, Charlie Liu ’22, Mason Zimmer ’23, and Grant Pennoyer ’22 all scored, giving KO a comfortable lead. By the end of the first half, KO was up 4-0. KO played a strong defense, only allowing one goal in, which came in the closing minutes of the game. The defense was led in the first half by Ben Baby ’22, JJ Kannan ’22, Aiden Ladewig ’23, and Mason Zimmer ’23. Both goalies, Mac Louis ’23 and Paul Giliberto ’23, had strong performances, making over ten saves combined and allowing only a single goal.

The Varsity Boys’ Soccer team scrimmaged Westminster on Sept. 14 and lost 1-3. The Wyverns started strong, controlling the midfield until 25th minute and had several goal chances, but the ball, unfortunately, did not pass the opponent’s goal line. After one defensive mistake, Westminster scored their first goal and KO struggled to maintain concentration, especially their defensive line. In four minutes Westminster scored another two goals. After the first half, Westminster was winning 3-0. During the second half, KO had many chances to score, but a single goal came a little late by senior Brandon Stake ’20 at the 70th minute of the game. Westminster’s goalie saved at least 3 of our goal shots later in the game. All of our 23 players got some time to play in the game.

Volleyball

The Varsity Girls’ Volleyball team fell to a strong team from Hopkins on Sept. 18 with a loss of 0-3 (10-25, 6-25, 19-25). Hopkins came out strong in the first set, with effective hitting, passing, and serving. KO struggled to stay on the service line and struggled to piece together a consistent string of attacks. Mackenzie Caruso ‘22 passed well against Hopkins’ attacks, and the combination of Kathryn Westrick’s ‘20 setting and Sydney Smith’s ‘21 hitting earned KO its points. In the third set, KO was determined to play better defense, and it showed! Fewer balls hit the floor, and as a result, more successful plays were run (and won). Smith again had numerous kills from both the front and back row. Jillian Plaut ‘23 made her varsity debut in the outside hitter position and passed extremely well on serve receive and defense. The game was close and was tied at 19-19 before Hopkins won the serve and stayed on the line to finish the game. 

The Varsity Girls’ Volleyball team opened their season with a 3-0 against Williston Northampton on Sept. 14. After a great preseason and two play days at Glastonbury High School and Loomis Chaffee where the players worked on team cohesion and improved upon on their strong fundamental skills, they were excited for the season to begin. The team took the match in 3 sets, 25-21, 25-11, 25-22. Co-Captains Sydney Smith ‘21 and Kathryn Westrick ’20 were an offensive force to be reckoned with, with strong setting from Westrick and many successful attacks from Smith, from both the front and back rows. Bella Leuschner ’20 served extremely well, staying on the line for 5 points in each of the first two sets. Making her varsity debut, Mackenzie Caruso ’22 stepped into the role of libero with consistency, setting up many KO offensive strikes. Trinity Hudson ‘20 played a key role in the team’s success, with a few kills in the middle and a 5 point stint on the service line in the second set. Lucy Gardner ‘21 and Audrey Decker ‘20 contributed offensively in the middle hitter/ blocker position, as did Naomi Wong ‘22 on the outside and Lindsey Bailey ‘22 on the right side. Lexi Vail ‘22 also made her varsity debut, adding to the team’s strong defense.

The JV Volleyball team won 3-2 against Hopkins on Sept. 18. After manufacturing an exciting comeback in the first game, KO JV volleyball was prepared to go the distance once again and pull off a thrilling 3-2 win in the fifth set against Hopkins! This time it was more of a rollercoaster of successful playmaking and regrouping, and the team made sure to execute at crucial moments to take the first, third, and fifth sets. Throughout the game, steady passing from Melissa Hasbrouck ’21 and Aliza Sadiq ’22 in the back row laid the foundation for the success of our offensive plays. On offense, Hailey Williams ’23 launched low and powerful serves over the net to give us an advantage from the get-go and boosted the team’s spirits. We would be remiss to forget mentioning one of our managers, Eli Brandt ’23, who handled his first day of managing the book with skill and poise, despite some particularly tricky scenarios on the court.

The JV Girls’ Volleyball team won 3-2 against Williston Northampton on Sept. 14. With only two official days of practice as a team behind them, KO JV volleyball went into their first game with a focus on developing their routines, and they ended up with an energizing 3-2 comeback win to start off the season. The JV Wyverns’ strengths started at the service line with impressive runs from Esha Kataria ’20 and Ahana Nagarkatti ’21 that gave KO the upper hand in both the first and last sets and kept Williston Northampton off balance. Though KO was down 2-1 in sets at one point, solid defense from veterans like Olivia Pear ’21and Amrita Natarajan ’22 kept the points alive until they were able to find their footing again on offense. It was a thrilling comeback, involving newcomers and returners alike, and a great start to the season!