Spring Sportswrap 2012

The spring season began fast and furiously for Thacher athletes, writes Director of Athletics Pete Fagan. After a brief practice week, our teams went off to spring break to rest for the next two months of competition. For most, the first few weeks and contests were baby steps. Boys’ Varsity Tennis acclimated to the season by playing back-to-back early matches vs. St. Bonaventura and Rio Mesa. The Girls’ Varsity Lax team participated in two tournaments, winning one at Birmingham Charter and coming in as runner-up at Western States, while Boys’ Varsity Lax team had tune-up games against Stevenson School and Menlo-Atherton as well. Without a doubt, the early games of the season prepared all teams for competitive Condor League play and beyond.

Track and Field
Coaches: Joel Sohn, Sarah DelVecchio, Theana Snyder, Derick Perry, Kurt Meyer, Rich Harris

Captains: Anouk Ackerman ‘12, Andrew Atwong ‘12

Seniors: Anouk Ackerman, Andrew Atwong, Anton Doty, Julian Garcia-Kasimirowski

Condor League Boy’s MVP: Andrew Atwong

CIF qualifications in Boys 4 x 100, Boys 4 x 400, Girls 4 x 400; Anouk Ackerman in the 800 and 1600; Andrew Atwong, Shravan Rajasekaran ‘13, and Simon Novich ‘14 in the 800, 1600, and 3200; Anton Doty ‘12 and Nayla Kidd ‘14 in Discus, and Anton in Shot Put High Jump (Finalist 5th place) and Long Jump, as well; Wallace Kalkin ‘14 in Triple Jump; Hutton Becker ‘13 in the 300 Hurdles; Jack Weil ‘13 in the 400; Kennedy Green ‘15 in the 100 and 200; Momo Lewis ‘14 in the 100; and Emiliano Vargas in the 110 High Hurdles, and 300 Hurdles.

Season’s highlights:

•Andrew Atwong went unbeaten for the whole season in Condor League in the 1600, 800, and 3200. He ended up a three event Condor League champion and the Condor League MVP.

•The boys and girls 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 went unbeaten in the Condor League.

•Momo Lewis went unbeaten in the Condor League in the 100 meter sprint

•Kennedy Green won the 100 and 200 as a freshman with limited practice.

•The team grew from seven members last year to over 30 this year.

•Julian Garcia-Kasimirowski came out for his first season and became an integral member by competing in the Triple Jump, High Jump, Shot Put, and Discus.

•Anton Doty came out for his first season and finished 5th overall in CIF Southern Section finals. He would easily be a top athlete in almost any other state.

•Wallace Kalkin competed in her first season and won the Condor League triple jump. She also competed in the long jump and high jump.

•Nayla Kidd came out for her first season and won the discus throw, while also scoring in the hurdles and the shot put at the Condor League championships.

•The girls’ 4 x 100 relay team broke the school record held since 1996

•Anouk Ackerman broke the 800 meter school record with a new time of 2:23.47

•The girls team finished 2nd in the Condor League by only 10 points, while the boys team won the league championship by 60 points, scoring 2 and ½ times more points than 2nd place Cate.

•The team qualified 13 individuals and 3 relay teams to the CIF Southern Section Prelims.

•The team performed well all season and looks to build a program for the future.

Coaches: Heather Grant, Peter Robinson, Kaitlin Mundle, Alex Peaty

Captains: Lauren Butler, Emma Patterson

League Record: 1-2

Season Record: 10-7

Seniors: Lauren Butler, Sarah Cresto, Giovanna Grigsby-Rocca, Emily Jordan, Lisea Lark, Emma Patterson, Paule Voevodsky

Most Valuable Player: Lauren Butler

Most Improved: Ciara Byrne, Susanna Renfrew

Most Inspirational Player: Emma Patterson

Captains for the 2012-2013 season: Julianna Childs, Brittany Holden

Won the CIF first round game vs. Chadwick and lost in a heart-breaker (9-8 in over time) vs. the number one seed Palos Verdes High School who went on to play in the Southern Section final. Season’s highlights: Our success this year probably had lots to do with the leadership we had from the seniors on the team. This was a team that had tremendous amounts of fun all season and were determined to win and to commit the work and emotional investment necessary to do so. The girls all were devoted to the group and to producing their best play all season. Said one of the girls, “We had the most incredible, spirited team. I had such an amazing season because of the attitude.”

Highlights of the play from the seniors: Sarah Cresto and Giovanna Grigsby-Rocca (the dynamic duo of defense: terrific footwork, communication, and stick skills in transition to attack). Paule Voevodsky was the most consistent, most cerebral player on the team; her contributions allowed the team to play smarter more organized attack. Emily Jordan played all positions on the field--low defense, midfield, attack--and did so with gusto. Lisea Lark gave a tremendous performance in the Dunn game when two starting defenders were gone on a college trip. Lauren Butler provided tremendous leadership, and was complimented by opponents’ parents at playoff game where she had 17 saves (65% save percentage). Emma Patterson was a leader in the midfield in tangible (goals and assists) and intangible (causing turn-overs, making smart passes, taking advantage of opportunities on attack), which her teammates recognized by voting her the Most Inspirational.

Other statistics highlight the achievements of the group:

Five girls with 20 or more goals in the season, led by Julianna Childs with 47 of the teams’ 177 goals. Fourteen of the eighteen girls on the roster scored a goal this season. Four girls had 10 or more assists, led by Brittany Holden with 18.

Coaches: Kara Hooper, Genevieve Jensen CdeP 2008

Captains: Margot Hughan ‘12, Katherine Krey ‘12

League Record: 4-1

Season Record: 4-2

Most Valuable Player: Annie Beckham

Most Improved Players: Sasha Ongley ‘15, Grace Bingham’15, Madison Rubeli ‘14

Most Inspirational: Katherine Krey, Margot Hughan

Season’s highlights:

We kicked off our season against Midland, a perennially tough opponent for us; from there, we beat Besant Hill 13-2 on the road, with 10 different scorers. We faced Cate on their Family Weekend and earned a convincing 8-4 win, and finished off our season with an exciting 10-8 win at home against them. In that game, Annie Beckham notched 4 goals, and Anniika Bhasavanich 3. Perhaps the most exciting victory came against Midland, who we beat 8-6 on their Family Weekend, avenging the early season defeat. It was a one goal game throughout the contest. Over the course of the season, Katherine Krey, Jin Ah Jung, Grace Bingham and Madison Rubeli anchored our defense, along with stellar goalie Sarah Ratsimbazafy ‘13. Low attackers Mia Voevodsky, Annika Bhansavanich and Sage Whipple (all sophomores) combined for 19 goals, while Beckham led the team with 14. She also broke the JV record for most draw controls in the season, snagging 24. We had 30 girls participating this season, and all improved dramatically; at the start of the season, just a handful had any previous experience.

Coaches: Cam Spaulding, Brandon Doyle, Bob St. George, Alex Peaty

Captains: Garen Fabian ‘12, Marshall Gifford ‘12, Ian Bearden ‘12

Captains 2013: J-J Ntshaykolo, Grady Jacobsen, Zane Schryver, all Class of 2013

League Record: 4-0

Season Record: 7-6

Seniors: Captains plus Matt Wyckoff and Marlon Miller

MVP: Garen Fabian

Most Improved Player: Liam Driscoll ‘13

Most Inspirational Player: J-J Ntshaykolo ‘13

Season’s highlights: 2012 was a strong year for Thacher lacrosse, and knowing the abilities of this team, we went out and played the hardest schedule that we’ve had in the eight years I’ve been head coach. The results were a handful of close losses to quality teams, and one sweet victory in the last thirty seconds of a tight game at Oak Park. Playing such a difficult schedule meant that we were more than ready for our in-league rival, Cate, playing them to an 18-0 advantage in our two games. There was some outstanding individual play, most notably from Garen Fabian, who for the second year lead the team in scoring and points; from Grady Jacobsen, who kept this team in many a close game with his lights-out netminding; and from JJ Ntshaykolo, our Junior All-American who anchored what came to be one of the most stingy defenses in all of Southern California. It was on defense that this team shone most brightly, limiting opposing offenses to only 5.31 goals per game, the fifth best of the 67 So-Cal teams. Next year promises more of the same as we are returning three strong long poles in juniors J-J, Kyrien Edwards, and Theo Omamo-Richardson, as well as Grady Jacobsen in the goal. In addition, we are returning a dozen seniors next year, so we are looking to have a banner year for Thacher lax.

Coaches: Nick Van Sant, Bo Manson

Captains: Parker Dawson ‘13, Sandy Ballou ‘13

League Record: 2-2

Season Record: 2-8

Many freshmen who came in with little to no stick skills showed significant improvement, in particular, Nate Currie and Kevin Griffee. Kipper Berven, Stuart Brown, Griffin McMahon, Andre Ntshaykolo and Orren Fox came in with skills and improved greatly.. By the end of the season, Aidan Waugh, Alex Zaldastani, and David Chao looked like our most valuable sophomores.

Season’s highlights include

•beating Cate on their home turf, 7-5

•the last two games of the season when we were joined by some varsity players, who brought out the best in the younger guys.

•our final Big Gymkhana weekend game against OVS. It was the most exciting of the season. We were down by two points at the beginning of the fourth quarter, tied the game, and then won in sudden death overtime. Griffin McMahon had the assist for this winning goal. The guys from OVS are friendly and play to win and we all enjoyed that game.

Coach: Pete Fagan

Captains: Willie Halsted ‘13, Conrad Troast ‘13

League Record: 2-4

Season Record: 7-7

Senior: Fidel Lopez

The season was filled with both highs and lows. A high point was beating Dunn the second time after losing to them earlier in the season. We also squeaked out a win against Laguna with a 9-9 win-on-games victory. Also highlighting the season was a great win by Conrad Troast against Cate’s #2 player Austen Lochre, who arguably is the 2nd best player in the league. All the boys put forth a great effort all season and we definitely showed improvement as the season progressed.

Coaches: Tony Franco, Robert Torres, Mike McGowan, Cal Jensen CdeP 2006

Captains: Joe Bell ‘12, Tim Kent ‘12

League Record: 3-3

Season Record: 7-7

Seniors: Joe Bell, Tim Kent, Charlie Evans, Will Kirkland, Derek Gulick-Stutz, Walker Conynham

Most Valuable Player: Joe Bell

Most Improved Player: Derek Gülick-Stutz

Most Inspirational Player: Derek Gülick-Stutz, Will Kirkland

The team won its last four regular season games to be eligible for the CIF playoffs: one over Villanova and and one over Condor League champ Dunn. Joe Bell finished with a .375 batting average and two home runs. Evan Farese ‘13 hit two home runs in the playoff game vs. Village Christian Academy and played four different positions. Tim Kent pitched well throughout the season, logging nearly forty innings on the mound. Cody Renfrew ‘13 also pitched well and played a solid second base. Freshman John Carey pitched a complete-game shutout vs. Villanova, the first freshman to do this in recent memory.