Fall Athletics Newsletter by Devon Preparatory School

FALL 2024 ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER

‘ T H E T I D E I S R I S I N G ’

SPRINGSEASON HIGHLIGHTS

This 2024 Fall season, there were a lot of success and achievements that were accomplished throughout all of our spring high school and middle school athletic teams.

Varsity Soccer

JV Soccer

MS Soccer

Varsity Golf

JV Golf

MS Golf

HS Cross Country

MS Cross Country

HS Crew

MS Crew

VARSITYSOCCER

W h a t w a s o n l y a n e i g h t - w e e k s e a s o n a t t i m e s f e l t m u c h l o n g e r . C o m p e t i n g i n t h e

P C L c a n b e g r u e l i n g , a n d t h i s y e a r c a m e w i t h i t s o w n u n i q u e c h a l l e n g e s . I t ’ s

i m p o r t a n t t o k e e p p e r s p e c t i v e a s t h e t e a m g r o w s , e v e n w h e n i t f e e l s p a i n f u l o r

l i k e w e ’ r e s t a n d i n g s t i l l . C o a c h G r e e n f i r m l y b e l i e v e s t h a t “ p r e s s u r e m a k e s

d i a m o n d s , ” a n d t h a t ’ s w h y h e e m b r a c e s a d e m a n d i n g s c h e d u l e . I n t h e e n d , t h e

T i d e w i l l e i t h e r s h i n e b r i g h t l y o r f l i c k e r i n t o u g h t i m e s .

T h e f i r s t h a l f o f t h i s s e a s o n w a s t h e m o s t d i f f i c u l t p a r t o f t h e s e a s o n f o r t h e

T i d e . W i t h a y o u n g t e a m , i n c l u d i n g 1 2 n e w p l a y e r s f i v e o f w h o m w e r e f r e s h m e n a n d a r o s t e r o f o n l y 2 2 , w e w e r e a l r e a d y i n a d e v e l o p m e n t a l s t a g e . L o s i n g o n e o f o u r m o s t t a l e n t e d p l a y e r s e a r l y o n p u t a d d i t i o n a l p r e s s u r e o n o t h e r s t o s t e p u p , s o m e t i m e s b e f o r e t h e y w e r e f u l l y r e a d y . L o s i n g t w o m o r e k e y p l a y e r s t o c o n c u s s i o n s f o r e i g h t g a m e s d i d n ’ t h e l p e i t h e r .

A f t e r a n 0 - 5 s t a r t i n t h e P C L , t h e T i d e c a n a l l b e p r o u d o f h o w t h e y f i n i s h e d 5 - 2 t o m a k e i t t o t h e P C L p l a y o f f s . I n t h e p l a y o f f s , a n y t h i n g c a n h a p p e n , a n d w h i l e t h e T i d e d i d n ’ t a c h i e v e t h e o u t c o m e t h e y h o p e d f o r , C o a c h G r e e n w a s e x t r e m e l y p r o u d o f h o w m u c h t h e t e a m g r e w e s p e c i a l l y t h e 1 2 n e w g u y s . T h e c o a c h e s a r e e x c i t e d t o s e e w h a t ’ s n e x t f o r t h e T i d e a s t h e y c o n t i n u e t o d e v e l o p i n t h e o f f s e a s o n .

A s p e c i a l s h o u t - o u t t o B r a e d e n F i s h e r ‘ 2 6 f o r s t a n d i n g t a l l t h r o u g h o u t t h e s e a s o n b e t w e e n t h e p i p e s . T o o u r s e n i o r s — L u k e H o d l o f s k i ’ 2 5 , M a t t P a s c a l e ‘ 2 5 ,

R e i d A n d e r s o n ’ 2 5 , a n d R y a n S a m m s ‘ 2 5 — t h e t e a m t h a n k s y o u f o r y o u r l e a d e r s h i p a n d h a r d w o r k . Y o u e n d e d y o u r h i g h s c h o o l c a r e e r s i n a w a y y o u c a n b e p r o u d o f , w i t h m e m o r i e s t o l o o k b a c k o n f o r y e a r s t o c o m e . A n o t h e r s p e c i a l s h o u t o u t g o e s o u t t o o u r s e n i o r t e a m m a n a g e r , J o h n B a r n h a r t ‘ 2 5 . T h e t e a m a p p r e c i a t e s y o u b a c k i n g t h e t e a m a n d r e c o r d i n g s t a t s e a c h g a m e o v e r t h e l a s t c o u p l e o f s e a s o n s !

T o o u r t e a m l e a d e r s , b o t h w i t h a n d w i t h o u t t h e c a p t a i n ' s b a n d : l e a d e r s h i p c o m e s i n m a n y f o r m s , a n d I ’ m p r o u d o f h o w e a c h o f y o u l e d i n y o u r o w n w a y .

I t ’ s e a s y t o f o r g e t t h e j o u r n e y o n c e y o u r e a c h t h e m o u n t a i n t o p , b u t w e ’ r e s t i l l c l i m b i n g . W e ’ r e b u i l d i n g a c u l t u r e o f h a r d w o r k , t o u g h n e s s , s e l f l e s s n e s s , a n d b r o t h e r h o o d . B y t h e e n d o f t h e s e a s o n , w e e m b o d i e d t h o s e v a l u e s . W e ’ r e n o t p e r f e c t , b u t t h e j o u r n e y c o n t i n u e s u n t i l w e ’ v e a c h i e v e d o u r g o a l s .

T h a n k y o u t o t h e p a r e n t s w h o f e d u s a n d c h e e r e d u s o n , a n d t o t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n f o r s u p p o r t i n g m e b o t h o n a n d o f f t h e f i e l d .

JVSOCCER

The Devon Prep JV soccer team finished the year with 1 win, 2 draws and 10 losses. Not exactly the results we were looking for. We lost Joey Hamill ‘28 early on and he was clearly one of the most talented players on the roster and also one of the hardest working players we had He was sorely missed on the field but he was always there to support us on the bench and I know the team appreciates his leadership on and off the field

Our goal at the JV level is to get the boys prepared to play at the varsity level in the future We do this by offering training that develops skill and we provide as much playing time as possible to allow all our players to develop Having the addition of Coach Lester who trains club players as a profession, really helped the program by challenging players to take their game to a higher level with some great new drills he introduced Against a tough Episcopal team, Joey, Brendan Brady ‘28, Calan Gibson ‘28, and Dean Huey ’28 played their tails off. Chase Chapman ’27, Charlie Finnegan ’26, James Kaune ’28, Colin Ireland ‘28, and Colin Brannan ‘27 played strong on defense but we came up losing by a goal but what an exciting game to be a part of

Last year we got embarrassed at Malvern Prep 8 nil This year was different, Liam Baracco ‘28 was on fire doing his patented moves faking people out, Charlie Finnegan had an outstanding game and was exceptional defensively, Jake Hirst ‘26 discovered he had an overdrive and looked like a dog doing zoomies. Michael Cline-Thomas ‘26 was on fire this game and somewhere along his soccer journey learned to strike a ball incredibly hard Charlie Kleiner ’28 played very steady out at right mid and sent several through balls that we had opportunity to score on. In the end we lost 2 nil but we really stuck together and had some great chances I was so proud of the boys for their effort What a great result compared to the year before.

We played Conwell Egan at home and I just remember the first half Gustav Najdek ‘27 was being absolutely peppered with shots. This team was really well organized and they were putting severe pressure on us in our defensive 3rd We got out of the first half with only 1 goal and I made a note it could have been 5 nothing. Kudos to Gustav. At home against Archbishop John Carroll, Jason Kleiner ‘26 got us on the board followed by ”a screamer” as one of his teammates described it that came off the foot of Calan. Prasad Nunez ‘28 finished the scoring while Brian McGowan ‘26, and James Kaune anchored our defense for the win

Having come off success against Carroll, we traveled to St Joes Prep with high hopes and we played a very talented St. Joes Prep team on natural turf. At half we were down by 2 goals but knew we had just scored 3 goals in the prior game and that “2 goals up is the worst score in soccer”. At halftime, we inserted a player who had super natural powers, this “being” showed up in the second half disguised as Kyle McDougall ‘28! Kyle, single handedly, lifted his team up by playing out of his mind. His energy was contagious and good things began to happen First, a penalty was called in the box which George ButoiTeodorescu ’28 took and scored on. Now down a goal, St Joes felt the pressure and Chase and Finn had to come up big several times to keep their attack from scoring again Then Dean sent a beautiful ball to George who scored his second goal of the day to tie it up. Who says super human energy isn’t contagious!

Next up was Cardinal O’Hara We had some good opportunities but couldn’t find a way to get it in the back of the net. We played well, but our solid defense had some trouble containing O’Hara’s big, strong and fast striker and he was getting chances with regularity Tommy Sack ‘26 made an outstanding save off the cross bar to keep it tied and then again was tested and made an incredibly acrobatic 1 handed save to get the draw and the point. Well done Tommy. Thank you for working through a tough injury and playing solid for us in goal this year. You really improved at your position. Against a very talented Roman Catholic team, with Xavier Smith ’28 in goal, Xavier also came up big 2 times for our squad. And that is a perfect segue to thank Clarke Gilbert who took time off to help train the Goal Keepers We are grateful for your help.

F o r t h i s 2 0 2 4 M S s o c c e r s e a s o n , t h e D e v o n P r e p T i d e c o m p e t e d i n

a n e x t r e m e l y c o m p e t i t i v e R e g i o n 1 7 C Y O s o c c e r l e a g u e . I t w a s

d e f i n i t e l y o n e o f s t r o n g e s t i t s b e e n o v e r t h e l a s t s e v e r a l y e a r s .

E v e r y t e a m w a s c o m p e t i t i v e a n d s h o w e d a l o t o f t a l e n t t h r o u g h o u t

t h e e n t i r e s e a s o n . A s f o r t h e T i d e , t h e y g r e w a n d i m p r o v e d e a c h

a n d e v e r y g a m e a n d p r a c t i c e s . E v e n t h o u g h t h e T i d e t o o k s o m e

d i f f i c u l t d e f e a t s , t h e y n e v e r s t o p p e d f i g h t i n g a n d f o u g h t t o t h e

v e r y l a s t w h i s t l e o f e a c h g a m e . T h e t e a m w a s l e d b y a g r e a t 8 t h

g r a d e c l a s s , w h o g u i d e d t h e y o u n g e r g u y s a l l s e a s o n l o n g . T h e

t w o b i g g e s t h i g h l i g h t s o f t h e s e a s o n w a s w h e n t h e T i d e c a m e u p

v i c t o r i o u s o v e r S t . M a x , 2 - 0 a n d P J P I I , 3 - 1 . T h e t e a m f i n i s h e d

t h e r e g u l a r s e a s o n w i t h a r e c o r d o f 2 - 7 - 1 . E v e n t h o u g h t h e t e a m

d i d n ’ t f i n i s h w i t h t h e r e c o r d t h e y w a n t e d , t h e T i d e s h o w e d u p t o e v e r y g a m e a n d g a v e i t t h e i r a l l , r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e o u t c o m e o f t h e g a m e . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e T i d e s s e a s o n c o n c l u d e d i n t h e t h e f i r s t

r o u n d o f t h e R e g i o n 1 7 p l a y o f f s a f t e r h a v i n g a b a t t l e w i t h S t .

P e t e r & P a u l .

T h e T i d e l o o k s t o b o u n c e b a c k f r o m t h i s s e a s o n n e x t f a l l , w i t h

b r i n g i n g b a c k a s o l i d 6 t h a n d 7 t h g r a d e s q u a d b a c k i n t o t h e

l i n e u p . W e w o u l d l i k e t o t h a n k a n d w i s h t h e b e s t o f l u c k t o o u r

8 t h g r a d e g r o u p , w h o w i l l b e t a k i n g t h e n e x t s t e p f o r w a r d i n

j o i n i n g t h e H S t e a m n e x t s e a s o n ( J a c k s o n F i s h e r ‘ 2 9 , M a x D i B o n a

‘ 2 9 , G i l l O ’ N e l l ‘ 2 9 , J J M u r p h y ‘ 2 9 , L o g a n W a g n e r ‘ 2 9 , N a t h a n

Q u i n n ‘ 2 9 , a n d N i c k L a n i g a n ’ 2 9 ) . C o a c h C a r t e r a n d t h e t e a m

a p p r e c i a t e s y o u r e f f o r t s o v e r t h e l a s t f e w y e a r s a n d l o o k f o r w a r d

t o s e e i n g w h a t y o u h a v e t o c o n t r i b u t e a t t h e n e x t l e v e l !

VARSITYGOLF

T h e D e v o n P r e p V a r s it y g o lf t e a m h a s b e e n b u ild in g m o m e n t u m o v e r t h e p a s t s e v e n y e a r s .

T h is y e a r ’ s t e a m w a s a b le t o c o n t in u e t h e g r e a t t r a d it io n o f s u c c e s s o n t h e c o u r s e , w it h

C a p t a in s J o h n C u r r a n ‘ 2 5 a n d A n d r e w C a r r o c c io ‘ 2 7 le a d in g t h e w a y . T h e t e a m w a s r o u n d e d o u t w it h G a p p y C io c c a ’ 2 5 , J u d e Mc C a n n ’ 2 6 , C h r is P u lla n o ’ 2 6 , P a t Ma n io n ’ 2 6 , D a n D o w l in g ’ 2 7 , S c o t t C u n n in g h a m ’ 2 8 , G a v in S c h r a e g le ’ 2 8 , a n d B e n V e it h ’ 2 8 . T h is y e a r ’ s t e a m a ls o in c lu d e d a t e a m m a n a g e r t h a t h a s a g r e a t g o lf g a m e ( L o g a n T u r n e r - 8 t h g r a d e ) .

T h e T id e G o lf T e a m w a s a b le t o p la c e t h ir d in t h e r e g u la r s e a s o n w it h a 1 0 - 3 r e c o r d in t h e

P C L . A t t h e e n d o f t h e r e g u la r s e a s o n , D e v o n P r e p w a s a b le t o c la im t h e m o s t s p o t s o n t h e

P C L T o p 6 4 L is t t h a n e v e r b e f o r e : J o h n C u r r a n ( 1 s t p la c e , b o y s A ll C a t h o lic ) , A n d r e w

C a r r o c c io ( 1 0 t h p la c e , b o y s A ll C a t h o lic ) , S c o t t C u n n in g h a m ( 2 4 t h p la c e , b o y s ) , C h r i s

P u lla n o ( 3 9 t h p la c e , b o y s ) , P a t Ma n io n ( 4 3 r d p la c e , b o y s ) , a n d J u d e Mc C a n n ( 6 3 r d p la c e , b o y s ) . S c o t t C u n n in g h a m f in is h in g 2 4 t h o v e r a ll w h ile p la y in g b o t h s o c c e r a n d g o lf a t t h e s a m e t im e is q u it e a n a c h ie v e m e n t .

T h e P C L P la y o f f r o u n d s e t t h e s t a g e f o r t h e r e m a in d e r o f t h e p o s t - s e a s o n . T h e t e a m s h o w e d u p a n d p la y e d s t e a d ily t o f in is h a s t h e lo w A A t e a m , w h ic h a d v a n c e d t h e m t o D is t r i c t p la y . A s a n ic e b o n u s , P a t Ma n io n s e c u r e d A ll P C L r e c o g n it io n w it h h is s c o r e . A t D is t r ic t s , t h e D e v o n

P r e p g o lf t e a m w o n b y a s t a g g e r in g 2 0 7 s h o t s . J o h n C u r r a n w a s t h e m e d a lis t ( lo w o v e r a l l s c o r e ) o f b o t h A A a n d A A A t e a m s . C o n s id e r in g t h e c o u r s e la y o u t a n d c o n d it io n s , t h i s w a s a n im p r e s s iv e f e a t . T h e t e a m w a s q u a lif ie d t o g o p la y in R e g io n a ls w it h a c h a n c e t o m a k e S t a t e s . R e g io n a ls p r o v e d t o b e a m u c h t o u g h e r t e s t , w it h D e v o n P r e p c lin g in g t o a la t e le a d . T h is m e a n t t h a t D e v o n p r e p s e c u r e d y e t a n o t h e r c h a n c e a t p la y in g in S t a t e F in a ls a t P e n n S t a t e U n iv e r s it y .

A t S t a t e s , J o h n C u r r a n c o m p e t e d f o r a c h a n c e t o b e t h e I n d iv id u a l S t a t e C h a m p io n . J o h n w o u ld f in is h h is f ir s t r o u n d a t + 1 ( 7 3 ) o n t h e B lu e C o u r s e . T h is f ir s t d a y s c o r e g a v e J o h n a c h a n c e t o c o m p e t e o n d a y t w o , a n d h e t o o k a d v a n t a g e o f e v e r y o p p o r t u n it y J o h n p la y e d h is lo w e s t r o u n d o f t h e y e a r w it h a b o g e y - f r e e 6 7 ( - 5 ) , t h a t e a s ily c o u ld ’ v e b e e n a 6 4 h a d a c o u p le o f p u t t s f a lle n J o h n e n d e d u p f in is h in g s e c o n d in s t a t e t h is y e a r , w h ic h w ill u lt im a t e ly s e c u r e J o h n ’ s p la c e a s o n e o f t h e b e s t g o lf e r s t o e v e r p la y a t D e v o n P r e p T h a t le f t o n ly t h e t e a m m a t c h a s t h e f in a l t e s t o f t h e y e a r

T h e b o y s c a m e o u t f ir in g d u r in g t h e t e a m m a t c h a n d u lt im a t e ly h e ld a le a d a t t h e t u r n , t h a n k s t o s t e lla r p la y b y C h r is P u lla n o , S c o t t C u n n in g h a m , a n d D a n D o w lin g W it h n in e h o le s t o p la y , t h e t e a m d id e v e r y t h in g t h e y c o u ld t o f ir e a t p in s a n d m a k e p u t t s , e s p e c ia lly A n d r e w

C a r r o c c io , w h o f ir e d a t w o - u n d e r p a r o n t h e b a c k n in e , a n d t h e a lw a y s s t e a d y J o h n C u r r a n p a r s c o r e . U lt im a t e ly , t h e b o y s p la y e d t o a t h ir d - p la c e f in is h a s t w o o t h e r t e a m s s h o t n e a r l y p e r f e c t s c o r e s c o lle c t iv e ly . T h is y e a r ’ s t h ir d p la c e f in is h w a s im p r e s s iv e e s p e c ia lly c o n s id e r in g w e h a d t w o p la y e r s in t h e ir f ir s t e v e r y V a r s it y g o lf y e a r ( b o t h S c o t t a n d D a n p la y e d t w o s p o r t s a ll s e a s o n ) . T h is y e a r ’ s t e a m h a s s e t a h ig h b a r f o r t h o s e r e t u r n in g n e x t y e a r , w h e r e w e e x p e c t t o s e e m o r e g r e a t g o lf . C o n g r a t s t o a ll t h e b o y s a n d b e s t o f lu c k t o t h e s e n io r s a s t h e y c h a s e d o w n b ig g e r d r e a m s .

AnotherfantasticJVGolfseasonisinthebooks.Thisyearsawayouth resurgencefortheteamwith7outof11playersintheirfreshmanyear.We lostsometoughmatchestothelikesofLaSalle,HolyGhost,Radnor,and Episcopal.However,theteamshowedupbig,fillinginforthevarsityteam, withastrongwinagainstSt.Huberts.LiamFerrise‘27wasasteadyperformer forthemajorityoftheseason,holdingthe#1spotformostoftheseason. AndrewMurray’28demonstratedthathecancrushtheballoffthetee,while TadManion‘28andLucaCalzaretta’28attimesprovidedsomegreat approachshotswiththeirirons.NickMasciantonio‘28wasaquietinfluence onthecourse,neversettlingandalwaysfocusingonhowhecouldhavedone better.DesmondMault’28wasasteadyhand,neverlettinghisemotions showduringhisround.Onceagain,WillShank‘26wasaquietleaderonthe team,allowingtheyoungerplayerstolearnfromhisexperience.Aspecial thankyoutoBenVeith’28whowasabletojoinusforpartoftheseasonand raisedeveryone’sgamebyhisapproachtothegame.Also,thankyouto ConorMcGowan‘28andSunnySingh‘27whojoinedourteammidseasonand tookitallinastheyworkedtogrowtheirownpersonalgame. Thefutureof DevonPrepgolfisbrightwiththetalentonthisJVteam.

T h e D e v o n P r e p M i d d l e S c h o o l G o l f T e a m h a d a n e x c i t i n g

a n d r e w a r d i n g s e a s o n , w i t h p l a y e r s d e v e l o p i n g s k i l l s a n d

d e m o n s t r a t i n g t e a m w o r k a n d s p o r t s m a n s h i p a c r o s s o u r

t w o g r o u p s . T h e D e v e l o p m e n t a l G r o u p f e a t u r e d D e c l a n

I r e l a n d ‘ 3 0 , G a b e G a l l a g h e r ’ 2 9 , G r a d y S t . D e n i s ‘ 3 1 , J a k e

P e l l e c c h i a ’ 2 9 , M a t t e o M a s s a r o ‘ 3 1 , T e d d y O ' B r i e n , a n d

W i l l F e r r a r o . T h e y s h o w e d r e m a r k a b l e g r o w t h i n

u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e g a m e a n d c o n s i s t e n t l y i m p r o v e d

t h e i r s w i n g s a n d c o u r s e e t i q u e t t e .

M e a n w h i l e , t h e C o u r s e - R e a d y G r o u p — C h r i s V a u g h n ’ 2 9 ,

C o l u m M o o n e y ‘ 2 9 , G a v i n W a r d ’ 3 1 , J a c k F a t i c a ‘ 2 9 ,

K e l l a n J u l i u s ’ 2 9 , K e l l e n S m i t h ‘ 3 0 , M a t t P a c i t t o ’ 2 9 ,

R i l e y B r e n n a n ‘ 2 9 , a n d R y a n A q u i l a n t e ’ 3 0 — d e m o n s t r a t e d

s k i l l a n d m a t u r i t y o n t h e c o u r s e , c o n t r i b u t i n g i m p r e s s i v e

r o u n d s a n d p r o v i d i n g g r e a t l e a d e r s h i p f o r t h e t e a m . W e w e r e t h r i l l e d t h a t b o t h g r o u p i n g s g o t t o c o m p e t e i n m a t c h e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e s e a s o n . T h e t e a m w a s f i l l e d w i t h

e n t h u s i a s m a n d a r e a l d e s i r e t o i m p r o v e . B o t h g r o u p s c r e a t e d a s u p p o r t i v e , f u n , a n d c o m p e t i t i v e e n v i r o n m e n t , m a k i n g t h i s y e a r m e m o r a b l e f o r D e v o n P r e p M i d d l e S c h o o l

G o l f !

HSCROSSCOUNTRY

TheDevonPrepHighSchoolCrossCountryTeamhadanamazingFall2024season!

Theteamconsistedof16boysontheroster,andwasledbyCo-CaptainsSamKleiner'25andPierceRohlfing'25.

OurFirstunofficialmeettookplaceattheendofAugustattheOakbourneRelays.Thisisafunrelayeventanda greatwaytokickofftheseason!

WehadabusySeptember.Forthefirst3weeksofthemonth,wehadPCLmeetsonWednesdaysandXC InvitationalsonSaturdays.ThePCLMeetstookplaceatBelmontPlateau,whichisachallenging5Kcourse.The invitationalsprovidedsomerelieffromthehillsandallowedformultiplepersonalbestsoftheseason!! WithOctobercametheendoftheregularseason,andalloftheChampionshipevents!PCLChampstookplace onSaturday,October19atBelmont.Thiswasourlastfull(JVandVarsitytogether)teamrace.OurJVRunners, AJAdams'28,OliverParenteau'28,MichaelFormica'28andConorWhomsley'28allrangreatand3outofthe4 finishingwithaseasonbestatBelmont!

OurVarsityTeamcontinuedontocompeteinDistrict121AChampionshipsonOctober24th.TheTideendedup finishing1stwhichqualifiedustoadvanceasateamtoPIAAStateChampionships!Inaddition,SamKleinertook homethegoldinplacingfirstoverall!!TherestoftheVarsitysquad,CharlieKrug'25,PierceRohlfing,ArieVan Turnhout'28,AndresGarcia'28,MannyStrid'28andCalebGarecht'27allfinishedinthetop20!

NextupwasStateChampionshipsinHershey,PAonNovember2nd.TheTidehadagreatday,andranwellon theevenmorechallengingHersheycourse.Itwasagreatwaytoendtheseason!

BradySmith'27ranneckandneckwithCaleballseasonandtheypushedeachothertomultiplepersonalbests.

UnfortunatelywehadafewinjurieswithSpencerCollins'26andLoganDunkle'27outformostoftheseason. WewillmissourseniorswhichalsoincludeWyattTheissenandwishthemallthebestinthefuture!!

With8freshmen,3sophomoresand1junior,theteamhasagreatfoundationandbighopesforthefuture!

Thiscrosscountryseason,themiddleschoolteamstartedwiththreereturning8th gradeveteransinTrevorHeebner-Elliott‘29,EvanMartin’29,andFredTucker‘29joined byahandfulofnewcomers:6thgraderHugoDerval’31,7thgradersRyanAufiero‘30, andJackBourdow‘30,and8thgraderHaydenBarbera’29.Inpractice,theteamgrew accustomedtorunninglongdistancesatValleyForgePark,withsomerunnersgettingin uptosixmilestowardtheendoftheseason.They'llneverforgetthehillworkoutwhen theybestedCoachIrvingtoearnChick-Fil-A.InotherpracticesatWilsonFarmParkand atDevonPrep,therunnerspracticedpushingthemselvesatracespeed,running kilometerrepeatsattheirpersonalbestracepaceorbetter.Fortheraces,one midseasonhighlightincludedRyan,Hugo,andTrevorallearningmedalsattheShipley Invitational.

Bytheendoftheseason,theteambecameacohesiveunit,withrunners supportingeachotherandpushingeachotheralongtheway.Allboysrantheir personalbesttimeagainstastackedfieldatthefinalmeet:theCYO Championship.HaydenandJack,runningcrosscountryforthefirsttimethisyear, eachshowedenormouspotential,bothbeatingtheirpreviousbesttimesbya minuteormore.Ryanrantough,takingclosetotwominutesoffhistimefromthe startoftheseasonandsnagginganothertop30finish.Hugoalsofinishedinthe top30ofhisrace,andwasthemodelofconsistencyallseason,alwayslookingfor waystoimprove.Finally,EvanandFredclosedouttheirmiddleschoolcross countrycareerwithtwoorthreebacktobackconsistentefforts.Inhisfinal middleschoolrace,Trevorranagutsyraceandearnedanothertop20finishto leadtheteam.Congratulationstoeveryoneonajobwelldonethisseason.

This fall, the high school team added seven rowers, increasing the size of the team from 8 to 15. With a young team, expectations were measured and the focus was on consistency and conditioning. Between September 3 and November 3rd, the team had 49 practices and 5 events (4 regattas and our annual triathlon). Adding two coaches and renting a second launch allowed for more flexibility with line ups and practices, and rowers were able to get feedback specific to their level of experience.

The Forge Triathlon was a highlight of the season, as the effort put forth by the team over the erg, run, and stairs was commendable. Brendan Cuff '27 and Darian Williams '27 set the pace, winning the Varsity and Novice categories. At our races, Brendan Cuff showed impressive growth in the single, gaining speed over the course of the season and holding his own in the varsity single. Likewise, Teddy Marvin '27 and Sal Albert '27 produced results in the varsity double at the Head of the Schuykill and Hidden River Chase that belies their experience. At the Navy Day Regatta, a quad made up of two novices (Cameron Sacunas '28, Darian Williams '27) and two rowers with one year of experience each (Sherwin Dsouza '27, Christopher DeMaio '25) finished in the middle of the pack in the high school quad, proving to be competitive against crews with more experience.

This winter, we will embark on a winter training program that will help set the table for our primary season. The spring season promises shorter, sprint races that should allow this young team to be more competitive against local teams.

This fall, the middle school team practiced on campus on our rowing machines, learning the technique of the rowing stroke and improving fitness over the course of the fall. Season highlights included the middle school team competing for the first time in the Forge Triathlon, with Andrew Stauffer ‘29 and Patrick Carroll ‘29 tying for first place. This fall, experienced middle school rowers were able to get on the water with the high school team, and Joey Bratteson ’29, Brian Daniel ’29, and Andrew Stauffer spent multiple afternoons on the Schuylkill River.

All Catholic Golf