Sports Report

Fenn’s 90 th year was a history-making one for Fenn sports. The fall season saw Fenn’s largest ever cross country team of 29 runners inaugurate a new cross country course on the North Campus after decades of Fenn athletes traversing the tried-and-true Monument Street course. At the conclusion of the winter season, the varsity hockey team took its rightful place in the Fenn record books with one of the best seasons in the School’s hockey history. The team’s enviable 13-0-1 record marked only the third undefeated hockey season in 24 years. Records aside, remarkable teamwork, spirit, sportsmanship, and leadership by team captains were hallmarks of all Fenn teams across all three seasons, as were outstanding individual accomplishments.

FALL 2018 SPORTS

Varsity Soccer A six-game midseason winning streak propelled Fenn’s varsity soccer team to a respectable 8-2-1 Fall record. Coached by Bob Starensier, Jason Rude, and Freemon Romero ’04, the varsity team opened the season with a pair of shutouts against Xaverian Brothers High School and St. John’s Prep before a loss to archrival Fay School. Fenn then went on the six-game tear, scoring convincing victories over St. Sebastian’s Country Day School, Boston College High School, Park School, Buckingham, Browne & Nichols, Shore Country Day, and Rectory School.

“The team grew as a unit and played some truly outstanding soccer this season,” said coach Bob Starensier.

Individual offensive performances also stole headlines with ninth grader Harry Bertos, along with eighth graders Edoardo Takacs and Luke Swaim, consistently leading the scoring barrage. Fenn outscored opponents 22-3 during their six-game surge.

The team registered a loss and a tie in the closing games of the season, but the much-anticipated Eaglebrook Tourney, always a season-ending highlight, was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.

“It was a big disappointment as we were playing some of our best soccer of the season,” said Starensier.

Through all of the goals, saves, wins, and losses, the highlight of the season may have been the October 12 Fall Sports “Pink Out,” when players from all Fenn sports teams wore pink to raise awareness, support, and funds for the fight against breast cancer. Breast cancer has impacted the lives of many coaches, players, and administrators at Fenn.

Junior Varsity Soccer Two dozen fast, fit, athletic boys represented Fenn with spirited, sporting, spunky soccer throughout the Fall JV soccer season. The team depended on tenacious defending from Sam Dean, John Donovan, and Garrett MacKenzie to contain a number of opponents with more-experienced lineups. Their competitive leadership, positional smarts, and ball-handling savvy anchored the back line, in front of sure-handed goalkeepers Hayden Shen and Niko Weaver. Midfield engineers Michael Mariani, Jack Moskow, and Johnny Drapeau were the principal links in the central third of the field. With calm first touches and the ability to deliver accurate service to strikers, they generated many of the blue-and-gold’s offensive opportunities. Up top, Ben Cook and Liam Mulcahy provided the classic attributes of a threatening attacking tandem – great pace, strong finishing instinct, and determined pursuit of lost possession. Coaches Rob Morrison, David Sanborn, and Derek Cribb guided the JV team to a 6-8 record, registering victories over Lexington Christian Academy, Shore Country Day School, Fessenden School, Hillside School, The Learning

Center, and Carroll School.

“The most memorable matches this season were actually the gritty, closer-than-expected losses to arch rivals and perennial power teams, Fessenden and Fay,” recalled coach Sanborn. “These well-trained opponents played with the same possession-driven methods to which Fenn’s JV side always aspires, and the strong competition they provided this fall brought out the absolute best in our boys – closely contested matches packed with sustained hustle, grim camaraderie, defensive urgency, fiery sportsmanship, and a persistent appetite for one more crack at goal, regardless of the score.” Fenn team captains were eighth graders Jimmy Mawn, Liam Mulcahy, and Jack Moscow.

Football Impressive wins over Fay School and Dexter Southfield School served as bookends in opening and closing Fenn’s 2018 football season.

In front of the fiery Homecoming crowd on September 22, Fenn showcased an exciting 28-12 win against archrival Fay School at Reynolds Field. With the Homecoming win in the rear view mirror, four losses littered the road ahead, but the team showed resilience in the last week of the season. On November 2, Fenn posted its second win of the season against Fay, this time a 22-14 decision on the archrival’s home turf in Southborough. Five days later, Fenn squeaked by Dexter Southfield to close the season with an 8-6 road win, which was a win for the highlight reel. “Winning the final game of the season against Dexter was the highlight,” said coach Matt Ward ’00. “We were at 4th down and goal and scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion as time expired.”

In that game, with the ball at fourth and inches, ninth grader Fru Nkimbeng rushed the ball into the end zone untouched as time expired to knot the game, 6-6. Buck Lewis, also playing in his final game in a Fenn uniform, plowed through for the two-point conversion and the Fenn win. The victory gave the boys in blue-and-gold a final season record of 3-4. Christopher Ryan ’10 and Rob Wasielewski assisted Coach Ward in calling the shots from the sidelines. Team captains were ninth grader AliJah Clark and eighth grader Ben Lisa.

Cross-Country It was a special moment in Fenn history on October 1, 2018 as the School inaugurated a new cross country course on the North Campus, marking a new beginning for a team that has seen many successes over the years on the old Monument Street course. Fenn beat Shady Hill School and Carroll School in the first meet on the North Campus, with Connor Soukup’s name written in the history books as the first boy to cross the new finish line.

Another run into the record books was the fact that this year’s team was the largest cross-country team in Fenn history, with 29 runners suiting up for the blue-and-gold. But the historical notes of a new course and largest team in history proved to be just two of the highlights of the Fall 2018 season.

“Fenn trained hard and succeeded as a team,” said coach David Duane.

Evidence of that success was Fenn’s final season record of 19 wins against just six losses.

The boys took that great team approach into competitions and placed

WINTER 2019 SPORTS

Varsity Hockey When Jeff LaPlante took over the head coaching duties of the varsity hockey team from Derek Boonisar at the start of the season, he could not have imagined that he, along with assistant coach Ryan Miklusak, was about to guide Fenn to one of the best seasons in the school’s hockey history. Yet as the season progressed and the team racked up one win after another, the possibility became reality. Undefeated at 13-0-1. With so many shining moments, it is difficult to select only a few highlights, but coach LaPlante recalls two pivotal games. “Fay was a tough game in their barn,” said LaPlante, when recalling the 4-3 win over Fenn’s archrival on January 18. “It’s always tough playing on the road against a rival, and we battled from behind the entire game.”

With three minutes remaining in the game and the score tied at 3-3, Teddy eighth out of 33 teams at the October 25 Jim Munn Invitational. At the November 7 Roxbury Latin Jamboree, despite sickness and injury wreaking havoc on Fenn’s lineup, the boys managed to take fifth place in the field of 17. “The boys also set individual goals and worked hard to achieve them,” said Duane, who worked with John Fitzsimmons to handle all coaching duties. Team captains were ninth grader Andrew Pesce, along with eighth graders Connor Soukup, Theo Randall, and Sam Lyons.

Stiga forced a turnover at center ice and rocketed down the left side, around the defenseman, and went short side and bar down over the Fay goalie’s shoulder for the 4-3 win.

“I knew after that game,” explained LaPlante, “we would have confidence going into a difficult week ahead with Belmont Hill and St. Sebastian’s on the schedule.”

After ticking off wins over BH (4-3) and St. Seb’s (6-2), as well as a pair

of wins over Fessenden School (8-3, 6-0) and another against Fay (6-2), Fenn faced off on February 13 against Roxbury Latin in a bigger rink.

“There was a lot of adversity in this RL game with the officials calling a lot of penalties on Fenn,” noted LaPlante. “It was frustrating because we were very disciplined in previous games, rarely getting penalties.”

Fenn was whistled for seven penalties, in fact, including a misconduct call on Luke Swaim. RL was tagged with only two penalties.

Andrew Heinze, Ben Cook, and Conor MacLean showed great leadership to calm the storm, and the coaches called a timeout to regroup. With 2:49 remaining in regulation, MacLean pounced on a rebound and pushed it over the goal line to tie it at 2-2. When the buzzer sounded, Fenn players were prepared for overtime, but the RL players lined up for the traditional handshake.

“Our players were not satisfied with the tie at all,” recalled LaPlante. “It was bittersweet, but the streak was still alive heading into the final three games.” Fenn went on to finish the season with convincing wins over Rivers School

(6-2), Rectory School (3-1), and Dexter Southfield School (4-1).

“This group really operated like a team. They knew their roles. They were tough to play against every game,” said LaPlante. “They got along well and supported each other. They teased each other a bit, but all in good fun. They laughed a lot.”

Of course there was plenty of reason to smile. Ninth grade captain Conor MacLean was Fenn’s hot hand, scoring a team-high 26 goals, including six hat-tricks within eight games. He also contributed 11 assists. Joining MacLean as an offensive threat were ninth grader Andrew Pesce, also a captain, who scored nine goals with seven assists, and eighth grader Luke Swaim, who had nine goals and five assists. MacLean, Pesce, and Swaim were supported by Andy Barton, who registered five goals and 11 assists.

The multi-talented Swaim, who was an alternate captain, played a significant role back on the blueline in some games, as well. Another element of the team’s success was the stellar play of Fenn’s #1 defenseman Ben Cook, who took on opponents’ best players and shut them down shift after shift.

In goal, Andrew Heinze, also an alternate captain, was phenomenal. The ninth grader played in every game. The stronger the opponent, the better Heinze played. Heinze, along with fellow netminder CJ Bailey, allowed just 23 goals in 14 games, while the team’s offense scored 66 goals.

LaPlante, always quick to credit others, praised Miklusak as well. “Ryan was a great listener with solid hockey knowledge. He kept me sane every week as the pressure mounted with the win streak.” The undefeated season is the third in 24 years for Fenn. The last time Fenn went undefeated was in 2008, when LaPlante was an assistant to Boonisar. “Boonie was a great role model for me,” said LaPlante, who was Boonisar’s assistant for eleven years before Boonisar retired from the rink and assumed the headmaster’s seat.

And the future looks bright for the varsity hockey program, as Teddy Stiga (7g, 7a), Liam Teto (2g, 2a), Ben Cook (2g, 8a), and goaltender CJ Bailey return for the 2019-2020 season.

Junior Varsity Hockey The JV hockey team outscored opponents, 25-20, in its six games last season, proving it possessed an offensive arsenal equal to any team in the JV ranks.

Fenn’s first win of the season was a 7-1 outburst against Park School on February 1. The team’s best game was its season-ender, a 9-1 thrashing of Rectory School on February 21. Those two victories dotted a season that also saw one tie and three losses.

“We are very proud of the progress that the team made over the course of the year,” said coach Jason Rude, who worked the bench with coaches Kate Wade, Olivia Boger, and Paul Heinze. “We are confident that several players from this year’s squad will go on to contribute at the varsity level next year.”

The JV captains were ninth grader Joe Doherty and seventh graders Jamie Book and Oliver Ali.

Varsity Basketball The 2019 varsity basketball team could be called the Comeback Kids. The defining moments of their season involved impressive rallies to come from behind. Against Boston College High School

on January 23, Fenn fell behind by 12 points with just two minutes remaining on the clock, but the boys in blue-andgold flew back to defeat the Eagles, 58-55. Another stunning comeback took place on February 6 at St. John’s Prep. Fenn was down by 22 points, but rallied to force double overtime before losing, 68-61.

“I was pleased with how the boys developed,” said coach Peter Bradley. “They started the season as 11 individuals and worked hard at becoming one team. The more they became a team, playing for each other, the better basketball they played.”

Bradley has coached Fenn’s varsity basketball team for 27 years. Coach Tony Santos worked with Bradley on the sidelines this season.

Fenn won the season opener on January 9 at Rivers School, 56-49. After a loss to Fay School, the varsity team put together a three-game streak with victories over Xaverian Brothers High School, Groton School, and BC High. After another stumble against Fay, Fenn won two straight, defeating Shore Country Day School and Carroll School. Fenn concluded the season with three straight victories over Buckingham Browne & Nichols, St. Sebastian’s Country Day School, and Lawrence Academy, finishing the season with a 10-6 record.

The team took second place in the Fenn Basketball Tournament after losing to Fay in the finals.

The varsity captains were ninth graders Timmy Smith and Fru Nkimbeng.

Junior Varsity Basketball The JV basketball team earned big backto-back victories over Fay School to start the season. Interspersed with a sprinkle of losses, Fenn also beat Xaverian Brothers High School at home (January 18, 33-24) and on the road (February 13, 57-44). Wins over Shady Hill School (January 24, 35-28) and Lexington Christian Academy (February 21, 35-31) also highlighted the season, as the team finished with a 6-7 record.

“Our team had a tough schedule, facing numerous middle school varsity teams,” said coach Chris Ryan ’10. “But we always battled hard against every opponent.”

Ryan, in his first year of coaching the JV team, worked the bench with coach Freemon Romero ’04.

Ninth graders Ryan Lewis and McCliff Metellus showed exemplary leadership as Fenn JV captains. Four seventh graders played important roles on the JV team, which bodes well for the future of the basketball program.

Thirds Basketball Gold Buoyed by brilliant shooting ability, the Thirds Gold team earned a 4-3 record this season.

The offense was golden on January 23, when Fenn hit 13 three-pointers in an impressive 42-20 win over Park School. In fact, the Gold team won both of its games over Park School. The other victories came against Belmont Day School and Rivers School.

“The players were very supportive of one another throughout the season,” said first-year coach Megan Macomber. “They had great spirit going into every game, even in games that we lost badly.”

Thirds Basketball White The White team was defined by resiliency and inclusivity, with every athlete playing an important role on the team.

In a season with several wins by margins of more than 15 points, the White

team’s most impressive game was a 36-34 loss at Carroll School on February 6. “Even though we lost, our team showed impressive resiliency in battling back,” reflected coach Rob Wasielewski. “Despite trailing for all of regulation, our team did not give up, continued to stay within reach of our opponent, and made some fantastic plays down the stretch to tie it up and send the game to overtime.” The team finished with a 3-4 record with victories over Pike School, Xaverian Brothers High School, and Rivers School. The White team also won bragging rights in the Thirds Classic, a fun-filled intramural game to end the season.

Thirds Basketball Blue The Thirds Blue team, showing strong team camaraderie, got off to a rocky start but finished the season with smooth sailing.

Saving the best for last, the Blue team was its sharpest on February 15 when it hosted Buckingham Browne & Nichols. With less than 30 seconds to play and Fenn up by just one point, Jake Athanasoulas drained a three-pointer from a tough angle with a defender draped all over him. The three-pointer gave the Blue a 23-19 victory over BB&N, closing the season on a high note.

“The players always showed an upbeat approach to every game and showed the ability to check in with each other on good plays, as well as any mistakes made,” said first-year head coach Jimmy Manyuru. “Every player was willing to come off the bench and play in any role assigned. It was a true ‘team first’ mindset.”

The Blue team’s other win of the season came on February 8, a 31-14 win over Fay School, to finish the season with a 2-5 record.

Wrestling The 2019 Fenn wrestling team had another successful season, finishing the year with five wrestlers ranked in the top four in the New England Junior Prep League. Eighth grader Colby Bloch won the New England Championship in the 145-pound weight class.

Coaches John Fitzsimmons, Steve Gasper, and Derek Cribb were pleased with the tremendous efforts of all of the boys in the Fenn School wrestling program.

The 2020 season looks promising, too, with a number of varsity wrestlers returning to the team.

SPRING 2019 SPORTS

Varsity Lacrosse The varsity lacrosse team roared out of the gate last spring, winning its first four games against Dexter Southfield School (April 10, 6-3), Carroll School (April 11, 8-4), Pike School (April 17, 10-4), and Shore Country Day School (April 18, 9-3). Its first loss of the season came on April 24, and it was a heartbreaker against archrival Fay School in Southborough. While Fay dominated on face-offs and possession time, Fenn kept it close all the way before surrendering the go-ahead goal with just two minutes remaining.

After the loss at Fay, Fenn bounced back with two road wins: a 14-0 shutout of Worcester Academy in a mismatch on April 29 and a win over Carroll School, 6-5, on May 2.

Despite losing only once in those first seven contests, Fenn finished the season with a 6-6 record outside of tournament play.

“While we didn’t get as many wins as we would have hoped for, we had a number of close games that ended in tough losses,” said coach Matt Ward ’00. “Despite the disappointing losses, our team stayed positive and continued to compete into the final stretch.”

In the Fenn Junior School Lacrosse Tournament on May 18, the boys in blue-and-gold finished fifth out of six teams. Offensively throughout the season, the team relied on the sharp skills of Teddy Stiga, Luke LoPresti, Ryan Winters, Ben Cook, Andy Heinze, and Andy Barton. Defenders Andrew Pesce and Luke Swaim were key in shutting down opponents’ top scorers. Kal Lonergan, a seventh grader, was stellar in goal throughout the season.

“This 2019 Fenn lacrosse team can be defined by their fun-loving attitude and ability to compete with any team,” said Ward, who was assisted by Chris Ryan ’10 and parent Michael Lonergan. Captains for the year were Andy Heinze, Ryan Winters, and Ben Cook.

Varsity Baseball Continuous improvement was the theme that wrapped around the Fenn varsity baseball season, manifested in the most meaningful way by the team saving its best baseball for the end of the season.

“I wish the season could’ve gone on longer,” said coach Bob Starensier. “The boys were really hitting their stride at the end.”

Starensier, along with assistant coaches Jeff LaPlante and Ryan Miklusak, guided the team to a 4-5-1 record.

Wins over St. John’s Prep (April 10, 7-6) and Dexter Southfield School (April 24, 6-5) were early bright spots in the season, but the climax came on May 8 at Hillside School in Marlborough. Fenn pounded out 12 hits in the 6-2 road victory, chipping away with a pair of runs in the second, another in the fourth, two more in the sixth, and another in the seventh. Conor MacLean, in his final year in a Fenn uniform, stood tall on the mound through six innings, striking out eight. In the next game on May 15, Fenn notched 11 hits through just four innings, but the result was a crushing 8-7 loss at Fay School in Southborough.

When Fenn hosted the Junior School Baseball Tournament on May 18, the team employed a combination of excellent pitching, strong defense, timely hitting, and the safety squeeze to defeat Fessenden, 3-2, in the first round. In the championship game, despite a fifth inning rally against Rectory School, Fenn was edged, 3-2, to force the team to settle for second place in the tourney. “The boys were incredibly supportive of their teammates and made every day fun, whether it was in the constant rain or bitter cold,” Starensier said. “They brought positive spirit to each game and practice.”

Conor MacLean and Timmy Smith were varsity baseball captains.

Junior Varsity Baseball The JV baseball season was a resounding success. Fenn compiled a record of 9-3- 1, which was the result of a total team effort.

“Every single player made important contributions over the season,” said coach Tony Santos. “Whether it be a clutch hit, a sparkling pitching performance, or brilliant defensive play, the boys rose to the occasion.” The team demonstrated its resilience time-and-again this season, coming back from significant deficits in several games. On May 22 against Dexter Southfield School, Fenn was down 7-2 heading into the final at bat but rallied for seven runs to squeak away with a 9-7 lead. AliJah Clark pitched the complete game and shut down Dexter in the last at bat to secure the win.

“All of the coaches really enjoyed working with these boys,” said Santos, who guided the team with Dave Irwin, Paul Heinze, and Rob Wasielewski. “We are so proud of their accomplishments.”

Varsity Tennis Fenn’s varsity tennis team picked up season-opening victories over St. John’s Prep (April 10, 6-0) and Milton Academy (April 18, 7-3) to get off to a solid start, but was forced to play in between the rain drops for the rest of the wet spring season. As rainouts began to dot the schedule, Fenn stitched together a three-game home win streak with victories over Shady Hill School (May 6, 4-3), Boston College High School (May 8, 6-2), and St. Sebastian’s School (May 10, 4-2).

“This was a senior-laden team,” said coach Rob Morrison. “We had terrific leadership from Peter Scheibe and #1 Singles player Tucker Winstanley.” Fenn finished in fifth place in the Fessenden Junior School Tennis Tournament on May 18 in Newton. Tournament highlights included a first round win for Scheibe, as well as two opening round victories by Winstanley before he was defeated in the semifinals of the consolation round.

Overall, the varsity tennis team compiled a 6-5 record outside of tournament play.

Scheibe was the captain of the varsity team.

Junior Varsity Tennis Fenn’s JV tennis team picked up wins over Dedham Country Day School (April 17, 6-2) and Fessenden School (May 16, 6-2) to highlight a challenging season that included two wins against six losses and two ties. Facing tough opponents and raindrops in many games, the boys in blue-and-gold needed to keep it upbeat through some soggy times.

The performance of captain Theo Randall throughout the season earned

the praise of coach Dave Sanborn. “Theo Randall’s competitive persistence, exemplary sportsmanship, and enthusiastic team leadership guided the JV tennis team to an upbeat spring season,” said Sanborn. “Playing both singles and doubles in every match, he relied on fitness, sound court positioning, and steady ground strokes to compete with spirited focus throughout the season.”

Sanborn was assisted in the coaching duties by Derek Cribb.

Track and Field Fenn’s track and field team raced to another successful season under head coach David Duane, mixing new track talent with some veterans. Ninth graders Fru Nkimbeng and Harry Bertos turned in consistently solid performances, as did eighth graders Edoardo Takacs and Peter Favero, among many others. Fenn placed second out of seven teams in the annual Fenn Relays on May 22. The team of Rain Yang, Takacs, and Nkimbeng finished first in the long jump relay. The medley relay team, which consisted of Yang, Takacs, Bertos, and Aidan O’Connell, also took the top honors in its event. Third place went to Fenn’s shot put, high jump, shuttle hurdle, and 4x100 relay teams.

On May 18, Fenn competed in the Hillside Jamboree and finished fifth out of ten teams. Yang scored for Fenn in the long jump, Peter Favero placed in the mile, and the 4x100 relay team of Nkimbeng, Hayden Shen, Yang, and Favero also put up points for Fenn.

Although rain played havoc with the schedule, Fenn picked up early season wins over Milton Academy (April 10), Dexter Southfield School (April 17), and Applewild School (April 18). In the meet against Dexter, the history books recorded the first-ever turbo javelin competition at The Fenn School.

While some rain dotted the rest of the schedule, Fenn put together two straight road wins over Carroll School (April 29) and Belmont Day School (May 1). Fenn finished fourth of six teams in a meet at St. John’s Prep on May 8, then beat Boston College High School and The Learning Center on May 10. Victories over TLC and Carroll School (May 13) and Landmark, Glen Urquhart, and Covenant Christian (all May 15) finished off the season before the Hillside Jamboree and Fenn Relays.