Winter Sports Wrap-Up

3/17/2015

Highlights and awards from the winter athletic season.

Waking up each morning in this beautiful Ojai Valley, every Thacher student understands the power of place. There are some locations that hold deep meaning for everyone: the Pergola, Golden Trout, the Gymkhana Field. The significance of other places depends on the individual: a student’s first dorm room, the stall where he fed and mucked out his horse freshman year, the bench where she goes to watch the sun set over the western rim of the valley. And then there are those places that bring groups together—places where lifelong friendships are forged, where young men and women learn that the collective is greater than the individual, where they come to understand the meaning of the word “team.” Places like Upper Field and Voit Gym.

Upper Field, with its panoramic view overlooking the valley below, has always been one of the most beautiful vistas on a campus known for beautiful vistas. But when Thacher soccer players arrived back at school this fall, something was quite different: while the setting remained as they’d always known it, the field itself was completely torn up, a mud pit populated by grading demarcations, piles of dirt, and tractors of all shapes and sizes. As the School worked to reshape the field with fresh grass, an environmentally friendly irrigation system, and a brand new scoreboard, soccer players took to measuring the approach of their season by the progress of construction on the field. And when the pitch was ready to go, so were the teams.

The inauguration of the new soccer pitch marked the dawn of a new era for Thacher soccer in more ways than one. Freshmen played a larger role on both the boys and girls varsity sides than in any other season in recent memory. Between the two teams, no less than ten ninth-graders played significant minutes: Zanna Gulick-Stutz, Libby Hatton, Béa Pierrepont, Lexie Silverman, and Maddy Waltemath for the girls; and Oscar Luna, Björn Lynge, Griffin O’Neill, Michael Ratsimbazafy, and Carson Van Kalsbeek for the boys. Of course, with such incredible youth on both rosters, the leadership shown by upperclassmen on both teams was of vital importance.

Senior captains Mackenzie Boyden, Cassandra James, and Marissa Lopez led the girls’ team to a berth in the CIF playoffs while garnering individual all-league recognition in the process. The girls’ playoff run began in the final regular season game against Grace Brethren. Down 1-0 with the last seconds ticking away, Cassie, a first-team all-league selection in the Frontier League, ripped a firecracker of a strike into the top corner of the net to secure the tie that ensured the team’s playoff qualification. Days later, the girls found themselves tied once again, this time after two full halves, two ten-minute overtime periods, and multiple rounds of penalty kicks. Ultimately, it was Mackenzie, the Frontier League’s goaltender of the year, who sealed the team’s victory with a late-round PK save. The season finally ended with a defeat at the hands of a strong Riverside Prep team in the next round of the playoffs, but given the excitement of the last few games of the season, it’s hard to imagine that these girls would have traded their experience for anything.

On the boys’ side, senior captains Kipper Berven, Tycho Koll, and Andre Ntshaykolo led the team through a season characterized by both ups and downs but defined by an unmistakable upward trajectory. While a slow start to the season dashed the Toads’ hopes of a playoff berth, the team’s improvement from first game to last was profound and precipitous. Case in point: having lost 4-0 to a strong team from Foothill Tech early in the season, the Toads came out more resolute than ever for their second game against Foothill and captured a 2-1 victory on Tycho’s tap-in goal in double overtime. Although the team didn’t qualify for the CIF playoffs this time around, they sent a strong message to the rest of the league that Thacher soccer should be on everyone’s radar in the coming years.

Many evenings throughout the winter season, just as the sun set over Upper Field and the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams headed for the locker rooms, the lights in Voit Gym would flicker to life, and committed fans of Thacher athletics found themselves trading the wide open spaces of the soccer pitch for the shoulder-to-shoulder intensity of the basketball bleachers. Voit Gym has earned a well-deserved reputation in the league as a tough place to play, and for good reason: one writer for the Ojai Valley News referred to it as the “Thunder Hut,” a smaller version of the “Thunder Dome” at UCSB, for the noise and excitement brought by the crowd to each and every game. And while the fans come out every year, this one was special, as both the boys and girls hoopsters treated Thacher supporters to exciting CIF playoff runs.

The boys’ team, led by senior captains Emmanuel Aruho, Nate Currie, and Ben Yih, posted a number of program milestones along the way to second-place Frontier League finish, a CIF berth, and an opening-round win over Pilibos, the team that beat them in the same round during last year’s tournament. Among the highlights were incredible performances by senior Mitch Weil, who led the team in scoring, assists, steals, and free-throw shooting, and sophomore Laurence Jackson, whose rebound-per-game average of 9.1 was the highest in recent Thacher history. Both boys earned first-team all-league recognition for their efforts. This year’s team also took pride in its performance away from the friendly confines of Voit Gym. Jason Carney, the Frontier League’s co-coach of the year, pointed to four victories—those over Villanova, Fillmore, Cate, and Malibu—as especially meaningful, and he called the Malibu win “the best regular season victory in my 13 years coaching the team.”

In contrast to Coach Carney’s long tenure with Thacher hoops, Coach Whitney Livermore CdeP 2004 entered her first season with the girls’ varsity team in hopes of guiding them to the same sort of success that the team enjoyed when she wore a Thacher uniform a mere 10 years ago. Relying heavily on senior captains Georgie Becker and Sasha Ongley, Coach Livermore’s team advanced far into the playoffs. The girls earned road wins at Rolling Hills and Mesa Grande and a home victory over Woodcrest Christian before ultimately falling to second-seeded Bishop Diego in the CIF Southern Section semifinal before a three-deep, standing-room-only crowd in a boisterous Voit Gym. Over the course of the season, sophomore Jordan Perry established herself as a force to be reckoned with and was named to the Frontier League first-team. And although the final game didn't end as the team and the passionate Thacher crowd had hoped, there’s no mistaking the fact that these girls rekindled a magical home-court advantage that will last for many years to come.

Winter has turned to spring here in Ojai; the Upper Field is now home to the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse teams, and Voit Gym sits dark in the evenings. Though the basketball and soccer seasons have ended, the excitement and passion these teams brought to their respective homes still echo in the hearts of the Thacher faithful, and all of us look forward to next year, when new teams with fresh faces will carry on the great work begun by the soccer and basketball teams this winter.

Coaches' Season Summaries

Boys' Varsity Soccer

Coach: Fred Coleman

Captains: Kipper Berven '15, Tycho Koll '15, Andre Ntshaykolo '15

League Record: 4-7-1

Season Record: 4-8-1

Seniors: Kipper Berven, Tycho Koll, Andre Ntshaykolo, John Carey, Kevin Griffee, Declan Kelly, Andrew St. George

MVP: Kipper Berven '15

MIP: John Carey '15

Best Sportsman: Tycho Koll '15

Most Inspirational: Kipper Berven '15

Captains for 2015-’16: Jack Pierrepont '16, Chase Van Kalsbeek '16, Toto Van Son '16

Season highlights: With seven seniors, five juniors, one sophomore, and five freshmen, we were more experienced this year, while having the most freshmen ever on a varsity team. We were fortunate that our youngest players were experienced because they were seldom able to practice. Despite increased competition from Frontier League schools and early loses against excellent sides like Fillmore, Foothill Tech, and Grace Brethren, the boys never lost heart and were able to improve throughout a challenging season.

With hard work and perseverance our technical proficiency improved, and that led to some very well played games, especially during the second half. Our league record was 3-3-0 over the last six league games, a dramatic improvement over our 1-4-1 record during the first six league games against the same teams. The highlight of our season was a second overtime 2-1 victory over Foothill Tech which had defeated us 4-0 earlier. (Later, Foothill defeated Grace Brethren, another excellent Frontier League team)

Boys' JV and 3rds Soccer

Coaches: Juan Sanchez, Cal Jensen, Luis Jungo

Captains: Liam Kirkpatrick '17, Karl Kelly '16, Gus Gumble '16

League Record: 7-2-2 for JV team; 2-3 for 3rd team

MVP: Ryan Jackson '17

MIP: Alden DelVecchio '17

Coach's award: Gus Gumble '16, Liam Kirkpatrick '17

Most inspirational player: Kevin Ryu '16

Season highlights:

● This was a great season all around. It was great having 34 kids interested in playing soccer at the JV level and that gave us the opportunity to create two teams within the JV squad and let the more experienced and competitive players play at a higher level, while the players new to the sport, had the opportunity to learn and experience the sport in a more relaxed, yet demanding environment.

● The three coaches will argue that probably what made this season successful was the unity and support of the group. There were times where many players from the 3rd team had to step up and play with the JV due to injuries or other commitment by JV players. For instance, Griffin Sohn '16 was a great surprise. He played the left defensive position for many games after Peter Conte '18 got injured in a game and was out for several weeks.

● The other particular characteristic about this group was that they understood the type of soccer the coaches wanted them to play. The coaches asked them to play a quick and simple one touch pass style known as “tiki-taka”. This was fundamental in winning many close games such as the ones against Grace Brethren, Foothill and St. Bonaventure (JV). This game style was also replicated and put in practice by the 3rd team as well (with less skill, but they executed the idea when possible).

● One of particular highlights of the season was witnessing the evolution of Kevin Ryu '16. Kevin joined the JV team because “he wanted to take it easy,” but soon he realized that he could not play the sport well if he was lazy in practices. Long story short, Kevin became the main goalie for the 3rd team and even stopped a penalty in the game against Besant Hill at home.

● Finally, losing two games 8-1 and 6-0 (vs Fillmore) was hard for many of the players as we won or tied all the other games in the season. They knew that Fillmore was good, but they never stop playing their best game and trying their hardest. For many of them, Fillmore ́s coach's words were a good consolation to those two losses. “We looked forward to playing Thacher because it was the only team that really challenged us in the league” (I know that the scores might not reflect that statement, but they were closer games than they appear, especially the second game). The kids were proud to be recognized by superior (soccer-wise) schools.

Girls' Varsity Soccer

Coaches: Bob St. George, Sabina McMahon

Captain: Mackenzie Boyden'15, Cassandra James '15, Marissa Lopez '15

League Record: 6-5-3 (4th place out of 8 teams)

Season Record: 8-6-4

Seniors: Mackenzie Boyden, Cassandra James, Marissa Lopez, Kameelah Sims-Traylor, Sarah Van Son

MVP: Cassandra James '15

MIP: Margaret Troast '16

Sportsmanship: Sarah Van Son '15

Most Inspirational: Mackenzie Boyden '15

Frontier League:
Outstanding Goalkeeper: Mackenzie Boyden '15

All League 1st Team: Mackenzie Boyden '15, Cassandra James '15,

All League 2nd Team: Marissa Lopez '15, Tyler James '16

All League Honorable Mention: Krista Cabrera '16, Zanna Gulick-Stutz '18, Lexie Silverman '18

Captains for 2015-16 season: Krista Cabrera '16, Tyler James '16

CIF qualification? Yes, by virtue of our 4th place finish

Season highlights:

● 4th Place finish in a very competitive league.

● Solid defensive play all season led by Mackenzie Boyden '15, Marissa Lopez '15, Margaret Troast '16, Lexie Silverman '18, and Sarah Van Son '15.

● Exciting end of the season with a last minute goal by Cassie James '15 to tie Grace Brethren (1-1), a league rival and number one seed in the CIF-Southern Section, that secured our playoff qualification.

● Exciting 1st Round playoff win (1-1) on penalty kicks (5-4) at home against Rancho Mirage High School. We came from behind to tie on a goal by Kami Sims-Traylor '15.

● Leading scorers were Zanna Gulick Stutz '18 and Tyler James '16.

● “Fab Five” Freshmen: Zanna Gulick-Stutz, Lexie Silverman, Libby Hatton, Maddy Waltemath, and Béa Pierrepont.

● The captains and other seniors provided outstanding leadership throughout the season and team bonding moments - Winter Camping weekend trip, pizza munch outs, etc. Great team spirit!

● The team played hard for eachother and never gave up. We only lost to three teams in our league and four teams overall.

● We were very competitive in every game.

● 5 players who started the season on the JV team played important role in our success at different time during the season: Lydia Paxton '16, Bridget Levy '17, Serafina Nieves '17, Isabel Ouweleen '17, and Béa Pierrepont '18.

● Multiple comments from opposing coaches about the quality of play by our team, team defense, and high level of sportsmanship by our players

Girls' JV Soccer

Coaches: Heather Grant, Jon Swift

Captains: Bailey Cypheridge '15, Hayley Kong '15

League Record: 3-8

Season Record: 4-8-1

Seniors: Bailey Cypheridge, Hayley Kong

MVP: Hayley Kong '15

MIP: Maya Wilcox '17, Clare Rogowski '17

Most Inspirational Player: Isabel Ouweleen '17

Season highlights: This was a great season for the Girls’ JV Soccer team. We improved steadily as the season progressed and adjusted to the greater demands of the new athletic league with a busy game schedule and more challenging opponents than were faced in previous seasons. Throughout the season, the girls remained positive, upbeat, and supportive of one another. When reflecting on the season, a number of the girls mentioned how much fun they had, how much they learned about the game of soccer, and how much they appreciated the positive nature of the team. The coaches couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls than were on the JV team this winter.

Boys' Varsity Basketball

Coaches: Jason Carney, Donald Okpalugo

Captains: Emmanuel Aruho '15, Nate Currie '15, Ben Yih '15

League Record: 8-4 (2nd)

Season Record: 12-9

Seniors: Emmanuel Aruho, Mohammad Bakhiet, Alex Chen, Nate Currie, Mitch Weil, Ben Yih

MVP: Mitch Weil '15

MIP: Cole Anderson '16

Hard Work Award: Alex Chen '15, Laurence Jackson '17

CIF qualification? Advanced to the 2nd round of the CIF Tournament

Season highlights:

Mitch Weil '15 led the team in scoring, assists, steals, FT shooting...he played his best ball in the biggest games.
Laurence Jackson '17 led us in rebounding...in fact he set a record for the highest rebound per game average in Thacher history (at least since I’ve been coaching the team) at 9.1 rpg.
Both Mitch and Laurence were named to the Frontier League 1st team.
The six seniors were great...provided wonderful leadership throughout the season....close knit group...we often yelled “Family” coming out of timeouts...
Incredible season that saw us come away with four massive road wins: Malibu, Villanova, Fillmore, and Cate...Malibu win is the best regular season win in my 13 years coaching the team.
Pilibos playoff win was awesome...avenged playoff losses to them in ‘09 and ‘14.
Ojai Valley News reporter called our gym the Thunder Hut (for its noise) while referencing UCSB’s Thunder Dome...gym was consistently filled and loud throughout the season.

Boys' JV Basketball

Coaches: Etienne Emanuel, Bill Omansiek

League Record: 3 wins, 9 losses

Season Record: 3 wins, 12 losses

MVP: Ronan Byrne ‘17

MIP: Taylor Gaines ‘17

Most Inspirational: Jahmari Josiah ‘16, Tobi Oyinlola ‘17

Coaches Award: Luke Leasure ‘17

Season highlights:

Elias Ceseña's '18 three pointer at the half vs Cate.
Ronan Byrne's '17 steal and layup vs Cate.
Taylor Gaines's '17 vast improvements.
Ronald Wong '18 breaking through the press.
Nick Edwards’s '18 calm but assertive play.
Luke Leasure's '17 drives to the basket.
Reese Proctor’s '17 uncanny knack for making 3 pointers.
Braden Roh’s '17 tough defensive footwork.
Jahmari Josiah '16 blocking shots and full court hustle.
Tobi Oyinlola '17 being very animated as he blocked shots.
Marc Jiang’s '16 fearlessness driving to the basket.
Ronan Byrne's '17 6-threes vs Foothill.
Anthony Nikitopoulos’s '17 and Max Damon’s '17 development from pure basketball beginners.
Connor Callahan’s '18 impact on our play in the Villanova game.

Girls' Varsity Basketball

Coaches: Whitney Livermore, Derick Perry

Captains: Georgie Becker '15, Sasha Ongley '15

League Record: 7-7

Season Record: 12-11

Seniors: Georgie Becker, Sasha Ongley

MVP: (not yet determined)

MIP: (not yet determined)

CIF-SS Division 5A Semifinalists

Season highlights: Grew throughout the year, bolstered by excellent upperclassmen leadership and happy energy and commitment from all. Highlights: game-winning 3-pointer from Georgie at the buzzer of our first time playing Carpinteria (who went on to win the league).

Girls' JV Basketball

Coaches: Cam Spaulding, Ed Bennett

Captains: Stella Frank '15, Emily Su '15

League Record: 3-8

Season Record: 3-8

Seniors: Stella Frank, Kenlyn Mirbach, Meagan Rodriguez, Emily Su

MBP (Most Ballin’ Player): Samantha Baird '16

MIB (Most Improved Ballers): Elizabeth Zhang '16, Annie Everett '17, Olivia Driscoll '18

QOLC (Queen of Lob City): Stella Frank '15

Season highlights: This season held some wonderful moments. Early on, when points were hard to come by, each basket was a real celebration, and small hustle plays were met with huge cheers from players and fans alike. With 23 girls on the squad and two novice coaches at the helm, there was a measurable degree of chaos that characterized both our practices and games.

Here are some general and specific highlights:

In an early game, Sophia Fung '17 brought the crowd to their feet with a tough block on the opposing team’s best player. As a team, we celebrated during play, leading to a basket by the opposition. Hilarious.
The combination of Sam Baird '16 and Sammie Muckle '16 down under the basket led us to dominate the glass in most of our contests, and these two girls accounted for over 50 percent of our points.
Annie Everett '17 played some inspired stretches at point guard, showing an ankle-breaking crossover dribble, stout defensive hustle, and some great in-game leadership. She also scored our only 3-pointer of the season in the final game.
Kenlyn Mirbach '15 was a force to be reckoned with on the defensive end, creating many timely disruptions and fast—often too fast—breaks.
Rose O’Neal '17and Elizabeth Zhang '16 were defensive powerhouses!
And, of course, Stella Frank '15. First to practice almost every day, and always the last to leave after putting up some foul shots, Stella provided the highlight of the year when she faked a shot and was fouled at the 3-point line in the final game of both the season and her Thacher career. She had yet to score in her four years on the JV, and on her final foul shot, she banked one home—the result of all those hours of practice, not to mention arriving at the gym at 7 that very morning to work on her free-throws. The crowd screamed, the bench erupted, and her teammates on the floor rushed to embrace her... even as the other team brought the ball up the floor. A moment I’ll never forget!

Back

Explore

Admissions

Academics

Programs

Community

Winter Sports Wrap-Up

More About Thacher