Fall SportsWrap 2011

From the Director of Athletics, Pete Fagan:

The following reports were submitted by the coaches.

Coach: Pete Fagan

Captains: Lauren Butler and Katherine Krey

League Record: 4-0

Season Record: 10-3

Seniors: Lauren Butler, Katherine Krey, Lisea Lark, Giovanna Grigsby-Rocca

Most Valuable Player: Lauren Butler

Most Improved Player: Kelsey Hartman ‘13

This season’s team beat Cate for the first time in over 20 years. We also had quality wins over Laguna Blanca twice and finished undefeated in the Condor League. Led by the first-rate leadership of Lauren and Katherine, the squad finished with a regular season record of 10-3, losing only to higher division opponents. The girls qualified for CIF as League Champion and played first round at home. Ultimately, they lost to Cerritos in 3rd round play.

Coach: Jason Carney

Captain(s): Seniors Christina Eilar, Lucy Han, Paule Voevodsky

Season Record: 4-4

Most Valuable Player: Nu Xiong

Most Improved P: Jillian Elkin

Most Inspirational: The whole team! 12 of the 17 girls received votes

The girls lived by the motto JV Tennis isn’t a sport, it’s a lifestyle. And with that, 17 sophomores, juniors and seniors made their way to the lower courts each day with their rackets and smiles. The team enjoyed great success beating Cate twice and showing some outstanding individual progress over the season. In fact, the all-around improvement demonstrated was clearly the greatest in my three years coaching the team. The girls focused on improving skills while not at the expense of having a good time. This blend of hard work and play served the team well and kept morale high throughout the fall!

Coaches: Jeff Hooper, Aaron Snyder, Bill Omansiek, Tony Franco

Captain: Marshall Gifford

League Record: 3-0

Season Record: 5-5

Seniors: Marshall Gifford, Joe Bell, Lucas Currie, Derek Gulick-Stutz, Matt Wyckoff, Michael Xu

Most Valuable Player: Marshall Gifford ‘12

Most Improved Player: Kyrien Edwards ‘13

Most Inspirational Player: Lucas Currie ‘12

It was a really fun season, as the team improved immensely, as much as any I can remember. We enjoyed great senior leadership from all six seniors. Especially memorable: our big win at Cate on their family weekend 42-28.

Coaches: Bill Omansiek & Tony Franco

Captains The Sophomores

Season Record: 0-2-1

Most Valuable Player: Emmanuel Aruho ‘15

Most Improved Players: Apollo Kaneko ’15 & Kipper Berven ‘15

Most Inspirational Players: John Carey ‘15 & Reed Oliver Gulick-Stutz ‘14

This was a very young team led by a group of sophomores who love football. These eight sophomores worked very hard and helped the freshmen learn what Thacher football is all about. Game 1, at Dunn School: We were down 6-22 at halftime and stormed back to tie the game 22-22 in the last minute or two of play. The game was highlighted by a few things: a tough goal line stand in the second half to keep Dunn from scoring; a touchdown pass from John Carey to Paul Ammons ‘14, touchdown runs by Reed Gulick-Stutz and Emmanuel Aruho. There was solid play from the freshman group to support the sophomores. This tie felt much more like a win for Thacher and a loss for Dunn. Game 2: a tough loss to Cate’s JV. Game 3: a strong contest against OVS’s varsity team. Aside from our sophomore center, our team was all freshmen for this game. We were vastly outsized by the OVS team, but our guys hung in there. Although we lost this one, our freshmen put together 26 points against a varsity squad. Aside from the general gritty performance of our youngest football players, the highlight of this game would have to be Emmanuel Aruho’s kick-off return for a touchdown. We finished the season with an inter-squad scrimmage, Green vs. White, mixed classes on each team. It was a close and well-fought game that went down to the final seconds. Reed Gulick-Stutz scored the winning TD as the clock ticked down under 5 seconds. We hope to see these boys back out again next fall for the 11th season of Thacher football.

Coaches: Justina Zenner, Chris Vyhnal

Captain(s): Seniors Paige Bowie, Sarah Hancock, and Emma Patterson

League Record: 12- 6

Season Record: 5- 3

Seniors: Sarah Hancock, Emma Patterson, Paige Bowie, Anouk Ackerman, Emily Jordan, Margot Hughan

Most Valuable Player: Sarah Hancock

Most Improved Player: Ciara Byrne ‘14

Coaches Award: Anouk Ackerman

This squad made it to the first round of CIF play. Highlights include: In our match against Santa Clara, Sarah had 12 kills. In our game against Mission Prep, Lexie Kirkwood ’14 had her best game with 19 assists. In our game against Santa Clara, Anouk had her best game, with 6 kills and 5 digs. Emily had her best game against Cate with 21 assists. Paige, Maddie McMorrow ’13, and Ellie Hancock ’13 had their best games against Laguna, Paige with 11 digs, Ellie with 6 kills and Maddie with 23 digs. Emma and Caira had their best game against Cate, Emma with 10 kills and 7 blocks, and Caira with 7 kills and 9 blocks. Margot and Kallie O’Connor ’13 both had their best game against Santa Clara, Margot with 5 digs and Kallie with 3 kills.

Coaches: Chris Vyhnal, Liz Witmer

Captains: Alice Hyde ‘12, Susanna Renfrew ‘14

League Record: 11-1

Season Record: 12-4

Most Valuable Players: Alice Hyde, Susanna Renfrew

Most Improved Player: Lili Boyle

Most Inspirational Player: Alice Hyde

An impressive year for the JV squad on several counts: best ever League and overall win-loss records, a victory over rival Cate in their gym in which we came back from down 8-13 to win 15-13 in the deciding third set, and another come-from-behind, 3-set victory over perennial Condor League powerhouse Laguna Blanca--beating them for the first time in at least 10 years at their gym on their Parents’ Weekend.

Coaches: Fred Coleman, Sarah DelVecchio

Captains: Andrew Atwong ’12 and Ian Bearden ‘12

League Record: 3-0-0

Season Record: Brentwood Invitational – 4th place.

Seniors: Andrew Atwong, Ian Bearden, Kalieb Kelbisow, Chance Rodriguez

Most Valuable Runners: Simon Novich ‘14 and Justin Myles ‘13

Most Improved Runner (Novice): Jeffrey Rhee ‘14

Most Improved Runner (Veteran): Olivier Domergue ‘13

Most Inspirational Runners: Andrew Atwong, Ian Bearden, and Justin Myles

Captains for 2012 Season: Justin Myles and Shravan Rajasekaran ‘13

CIF: 9th place, CIF Southern Section, Division V

Although many runners logged substantial miles during the crucial summer training period, and five boys qualified for early camp, the quality of this team came as a surprise (for the second consecutive year), given the loss of three of our top four runners from last year’s 6th place-at-State team. Our first significant test came at Brentwood, where the boys placed fourth in a strong field of nineteen teams. Outstanding sophomore Simon Novich won the race, just ahead of greatly improved junior Justin Myles. Ten days later we ran at home for the first of three Condor League meets. The boys dominated to establish themselves as another outstanding Thacher team. A week later, off to Cate for the second League meet, where they repeated their earlier performance and solidified a position as odds-on favorite to win the Condor League Championship yet again. Then the varsity runners (top seven) were 10th best Division 5 team (winning their race) at the famous Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) Invitational, the largest cross country invitational in the land. They gained valuable experience on the course that is the site of both the Southern Section Prelims and Finals. On 2 November at Midland the boys secured their fifth consecutive Condor League Championship with a dominating performance: five runners in the first seven finishers.

On to the post-season: At the Southern Section Prelims, the boys ran extraordinarily well, placing 2nd in the strongest heat. This qualified them for the sectional finals where the following Saturday the top five boys ran 1:19 faster than last year’s team (which went through as # 6), but finished 9th, failing to qualify for State by a narrow six points (and about four seconds!). This was probably the fastest Division V boys race in California Cross Country history. The order of finish at the last race of a great season was:

#1) Justin Myles (16:20)

#2) Simon Novich (16:21)

#3) Andrew Atwong (16:49)

#4) Kevin Griffee (17:54)

#5) Shravan Rajasekaran (18:00)

#6) Ian Bearden (18:01)

#7) Daniel Kruth (18:04)

Coaches: Fred Coleman, Sarah DelVecchio

Captains: Melanie Reimer ’13 and Jasmynn Roman ‘13

League Record: 3-0-0

Season Record: Brentwood Invitational – 2nd Place.

Seniors: Mackenzie Polley and Liza DiNizio

Most Valuable Runner: Melanie Reimer

Most Improved Runner (Novice): Isobel Hayne ‘14

Most Improved Runner (Veteran): Brittany Holden ‘13

Most Inspirational Runners: Melanie Reimer and Liza DiNizio

Captain for 2012 Season: Melanie Reimer

CIF: 4th Place, California State Championships, Division V

Our girls logged many more miles than ever before during the crucial summer training period. Six girls qualified for early camp and returned for rigorous pre-season workouts. Our first significant test came at Brentwood where the girls ran well in a field of twenty-one teams, placing second only to Paraclete, a Division IV school. Junior captain Melanie Reimer won the race and new-to-the-team junior Julianna Childs placed second.

Then we came home to take the first of three Condor League meets, followed by a similar result in the second League meet at Cate, just a week later. Next, our top seven varsity runners won their race (overall 4th best Division V team) at the famous Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) Invitational (the largest cross country invitational in the land), where they gained valuable experience on the course that is the site of both the Prelims and Finals of the Southern Section. On 2 November at Midland the girls secured their second consecutive Condor League Championship with a dominating performance on a flat, fast course on a warm, but pleasant day. On to the post-season: At the Southern Section Prelims, the girls ran extraordinarily well, winning both their heat and the #2 position overall in the vast Southern Section without their superb #2 girl, Julianna Childs. This qualified them for the finals where, the following Saturday, the whole team ran true to form, placing a close 2nd in the Southern Section and earning an invitation to the State Championships in Fresno. On 26 November the girls finished 4th at State. The order of finish (5K or 3.11 miles) was:

1) Melanie Reimer (18:45 and 5th place overall) Mel was 13th last year.

2) Julianna Childs (19:33; 20th place) 1st year running -- amazing!

3) Brittany Holden (20:34; 50th) Our most Improved Veteran -- Steady as a rock.

4) Jasmynn Roman (20:47; 59th) Overcame great adversity to help us when we needed her the most.

5) Isobel Hayne (20:50; 62nd) Most Improved Novice.

6) Georgie Becker (21:27; 85th) What a great freshman season!

7) Hutton Becker (21:44; 101st) Fought back from injury to join us for the finish.

(For an approximation of a flat three-mile time, subtract about 50 seconds.)

Coaches: Brian Pidduck, Bo Manson

Seniors: Jesse Gates, Katie Yu

We started the term bouldering out at the Gymkhana Field and learning the critical knots, along with belay technique on the lawn in front of Camp Supply. Once we had solidified these abilities, we moved onto using the ropes on Y-Crack and Banjo Cave here on campus. Many climbers pushed their personal limits on the likes of Batman Boulder, Brooke’s Boulder, Double Overhang, and the perennial test piece, the Jameson Plaque route. While many of this year’s climbers spent hours working on this problem, Alex and Jack completed it. A standout performance was Jack Weil’s succeeding on Jameson Boulder for the first time on Gymkhana Weekend in front of a dozen or so parents. On Wednesday afternoons, we ventured to the nearby crags of Foothill Crag, Sespe Wall, and Potrero John Slab. Often, our objective was to put our skills to the test on certain climbs, but just as often we found ourselves enjoying the simplicity and beauty of our surroundings.

 

Season highlights: Jackson Dolphin ‘14, Jack Weil ‘13, Drew Combs ‘14, and Will Muir ‘13 successfully completed the TMEPS route at Banjo Cave, a test piece that demands superior balance and finger strength. • Jesse Gates ’12 and Alex Duncan ’13 joined us for a weekend camping trip to the west side of the Sierra Nevada, near Victorville, where we climbed the multi-pitch routes of Kern Slab. •Alex D., Jesse Gates, and Ian Muir enjoyed a cool, crisp afternoon on the slate conglomerate of Petrero John Slab, working on the stiff sport routes there. Also at Petrero John, Alex and Jesse tied into the lead-end of the rope to practice their leading technique, the most advanced form of climbing at Thacher.