WILDCAT

WILDCAT ROUNDUP

SPORTS SHORTS

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON:

Looking back on the tremendous sophomore year Filip Rebraca ’18 spent on the NCAA Division I University of North Dakota basketball roster, there’s no doubt he’s fulfilling his destiny. The son of of Serbian former NBA player Željko Rebrača, Filip was named to the Preseason All-Summit League First Team in October and the All-Summit League Honorable Mention Team in 201920. He appeared in 32 games, starting all of them; led the Fighting Hawks and the league with 13 double-doubles, the most by a UND player in a single season during the program’s Division I era; and reached double figures in 27 of the 32 games he appeared in. He’s had two great college seasons, noted his Williston coach, Ben Farmer, who added he has “high expectations” for Filip’s COVID-modified junioryear season.

ROSS GOES PRO: Springfield College’s all-time leading basketball scorer (with 2,634 points) Jake Ross ’16 went pro this summer when he was picked up by the Bulgarian team BC Yambol. Ross was the only player in the history of Division III college basketball to score more than 2,500 points and pick up more than 1,000 total rebounds. At press time, he was in Bulgaria, preparing to compete.

GOAL ORIENTED: Fiona Bundy ’18

earned Division III All-American honors for her lacrosse prowess earlier this year at Bowdoin. Bundy scored 48 goals in her rookie season for the Polar Bears, and seemed ready to duplicate that success through four games this spring. She scored a team-high 14 goals with three assists, 14 draws, and 12 ground balls. She has 62 goals through just 22 games in her career.

WINNING LAX DEBUT: Mason

Balch’s stick work led him to play on Bryant University Bulldogs’ NEC AllRookie Team when he debuted as a firstyear in 2019. The attacker and 2018 grad played in all 14 lacrosse games his first season, starting in 13. He ranked third on the team in goals (15), assists (11), and points (26) and added 19 ground balls and two caused turnovers, signaling a promising spring ahead.

POOL POWER: As a Providence College Friar, Sally Alrutz ’19 has been making great strides. She finished first at the Harold Anderson Invitational in the 100-yard backstroke (56.31) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:02.69). She also placed fifth in the 100-yard backstroke at the New England Catholic Invite (59.69). At the Big East Championships in March, she was named to the All-Big East team after she finished third, while notching two Friar program records: 56.01 in the 100-yard backstroke and 2:01.40 in the 200-yard backstroke.

Humanities on a Mission

The Williston Northampton School was honored that Alfred Griggs, P’93, ’95 served as chair of the Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2001. However this was just one of the countless ways he has worked for the common good. In July, Griggs was presented with the 2020 Mass Humanities Governor’s Award, which recognizes individuals for their public actions, grounded in an appreciation of the humanities, to enhance civic life in the commonwealth.

A Marine veteran who flew more than 100 missions during the Vietnam War, Griggs earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. He later attended Harvard Business School and joined the family business: a Coca-Cola bottling franchise in western Massachusetts. After expanding the business to plants in upstate New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire during his career, he retired in 1992.

During a retirement that has been anything but quiet, Griggs has focused his considerable energy on nonprofit leadership. He has steered boards of regional charities, including the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, the Beveridge Family Foundation, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health Board. We congratulate Griggs and thank him for his service.

DISCUSSING INJUSTICE An associate professor of education at Lesley University, David Nurenberg ’94 hopes his new book, What Does Injustice Have to Do With Me? (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020) fills a niche. “There are many resources to help teachers work with BIPOC students in underprivileged urban schools,” he said. “That work is vital, but only addresses half the problem. We also need to help white students in a uent public and independent schools understand antiracism and social justice.”

POLK SCORES GRANT

Michael Polk ’18 was awarded the 10,000 Entrepreneurs grant by Alumni Ventures Group. A sophomore at Princeton University and a football player for the Tigers, he is now on a leave of absence. He owns L.A.-based Billboardology and is a founding member of fintech firm DH Securities. ANGRY YOUNG PLAYER In Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix, Calvin Ticknor-Swanson ’16 plays an angry counter-demonstrator, representing one side of the divide in a nation fractured by the Vietnam War during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. “I learned a lot about how a professional film shoot functions and how to conduct myself on set,” he said. “I also learned not to take any opportunity for granted, because you never know when a global pandemic will hit that will prevent you from having experiences like these.” Ticknor-Swanson graduated last spring from Northwestern University.