FRIENDS SELECT

Athletics 2009-2010 Year in Review

nation to win led to an exciting 2010 season. In total, four out of Spring 2010 five boats made it to the semifinals at the Stotesbury Regatta this Varsity year. The team’s individual achievements included four gold The season’s emphasis on player development, goal-setting and medals, two won by senior Jake Gardner-Rosen in the varsity tactical tennis decisions played a key role in the varsity tennis single event and two by junior Oliver Ingram in the junior varsity team’s ability to finish the 2010 season in the first round of the single event. Gardner-Rosen also placed second at Nationals in Friends League Tournament. Seniors Jackson Hyland-Lipski, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. who finished the year with a 2-6 record, Eric Bellet, Amanda Mauri and Giovanni Cararra will be missed next season. All four novices in the girls division proved to be natural rowers who excelled in the Dr. White Regatta. Despite a slow start, the Juniors Taylor Dibble, Mariah Burke and Darien Headen look freshmen boys ended the season on a strong note by placing fourth forward to returning and will be joined by many talented junior in the semifinal race at Stotesbury. Sophomore Sage Wattles and varsity players to strengthen the 2011 squad. Among them are junior Emily Johnson competed in two junior varsity events, com- freshman Asha Davis, who had the best record on the team at ing in second at the Cooper Cup event and making it to the semifi- third singles and won four matches with just one loss. nals at Stotesbury. The junior varsity boys, came in third at the Cooper Cup and had their best race of the year at Stotesbury. Senior Stephanie Curtin fought an injury all season, but remained Varsity dedicated to the team. The team’s hard work over the winter to prepare for the season culminated in a season of firsts for Falcons’ softball. Included in those “firsts” were a preseason trip to South Carolina, three Varsity straight Friends Schools League wins and six total league wins. The season began with the sixth annual spring training trip to The team placed first in its division and qualified for the Friends Myrtle Beach, S.C., where the team played four games and partic- Schools League playoffs, where it earned the number two seed ipated in several practices. A young and relatively inexperienced and finished with 10 wins – the most in school history! team, the lineup included two freshmen, four sophomores and three juniors for the majority of the season. The team gained a lot Seniors Michelle Degutis, Tessa Glover, Keara McLaughlin and of experience during the season and learned a great deal from two Camy Anderson did a terrific job of guiding the team through the new coaches, John Noonan ’05, and Bobby Santore. tough times. And sophomores Grace Finkbiner and Cate MacQueen have already shown they are ready to continue to lead Junior Craig Presant led the team offensively and earned the the program, along with returning juniors Anna-Claire Siena and Outstanding Player Award and a Friends Schools League honor- Drew Colman. able mention. Sophomore Major Van Winkle received the Most Improved Player Award for his contributions to the team. The 2011 season looks promising, since all of the players from the Crew 2010 campaign will be back. The crew team’s first winter training, plus its overriding determi-

2009-2010 All Friends Schools League* Players: Sam Winward, First Team, Varsity Soccer; Cammy Anderson, First Team, Varsity Soccer; Amy Blum, First Team, Varsity ; Morgan Williams, Honorable Mention, Varsity Field Hockey; Grace Finkbiner, Honorable Mention, Varsity ; Craig Presant, Honorable Mention, Varsity Baseball; Grace Finkbiner, First Team, Varsity Softball; Cate MacQueen, First Team, Varsity Softball.

*The Friends Schools League is a co-educational high school athletic league for -area independent schools. The nine member schools are: , The Academy of the New Church, Friends' Central School, Friends Select School, , Germantown Friends School, Moorestown Friends School, The and . Fall 2009 Varsity Girls Soccer Winter 2009-2010 The team’s late-season success qualified it for the District 1 The 2009 team continued to be a significant factor in the Friends Playoffs and a much coveted home game. Three starters will Varsity Cross Country League, with leadership from senior captains Camy Anderson, Varsity Boys Basketball return next year, including Gibson and sophomore Shannon The 2009 team featured several new runners and the leadership of Melanie Young, Lauren Reddick and Stephanie Curtin. Young, talented and inexperienced, the 2009-2010 Varsity Boys Griffin, who also missed the season due to an injury. sophomore Michael Gomella and juniors Jun Yeon Cho and Anderson led the team with 12 goals, which earned her a Friends Basketball team began the season 4-1, with excellent wins that Darien Headen. Schools League Honorable Mention selection. Young controlled included a 73-50 win over Calvary Christian Academy. The team Varsity the midfield and tallied an impressive five assists in a single game. struggled after the holiday break, but bounced back during the first Both the girls and boys varsity swimming teams had successful At the Friends School League Championship meet on October 23, week of February, just before historic snowfalls buffeted the seasons in 2010. For the first time in the nine years that swimming Sarafina Kietzman-Nicklin placed 28th out of 66 runners, with a Goalkeeper and junior Drew Colman led FSS defense with break- region. Displaying tremendous grit, the team first battled has been recognized in the Friends Schools League, the girls fin- personal best time of 25:47. Senior Grace Jackson chopped away saves and incredible athleticism. Juniors Heather Silver Germantown Friends School, which at one point in the fourth ished with a .500 record (3-3) against league teams and an overall almost two minutes off her personal best to finish in 44th place, and Vanessa Hart joined lightning-fast senior Lauren Reddick on quarter was ahead by seven points. Undeterred, the Falcons pre- winning record of 5-3. with a time of 28:50. Kietzman-Nicklin also finished first in the defense and together, were nearly impenetrable as Colman’s last vailed with a game-winning shot at the buzzer by junior Oliver girls’ race against the Shipley School on October 13. line of defense. Meanwhile, sophomore Grace Finkbiner proved Feighan. Two days later, the boys defeated Phil Mont Christian One of the season’s most exciting moments came at the end of the daunting at outside midfield. Academy in double overtime. girls meet against George School. FSS was behind by one point The boys faced stiff competition in the league meet, with all the going into the final 400 freestyle relay. To win the meet, juniors other teams running separate varsity and junior varsity squads. With support from juniors Anna Claire Siena and Mariah Burke, All of the Falcons’ starters will return for 2010-2011, led by junior Grace Garbrecht, Mariel Rowland, Heather Silver and Emily Nonetheless, freshman Alex Ryley continued his streak of 23- sophomores Brooke White and Olivia Brown, and new additions, Brett Nagle, who ranked in the league’s top 10 in 2009-2010, Johnson had to place first in the event, which is exactly what they minute races and sophomore Michael Gomella finished in just freshmen Elizabeth Hawkes and Kate Feske-Kirby, the girls with a 13.8 point-per-game average. did, with a final time of 4:24.15 – and the thrill of beating the over 25 minutes. team eagerly looks forward to the 2010 season. George School for only the second time in the school’s history. Varsity Girls Basketball Varsity Boys Soccer Varsity Field Hockey The girls team finished the season by winning four of their last six The team’s victories also included games against Abington Friends While the 2009 roster was alarmingly small during preseason, With six key seniors, Friends Select’s field hockey team was a games for a 9-12 season record, including two conference wins. School, the Barrack Hebrew Academy (2) and The Shipley several additional players came out in September – all of whom force to be reckoned with in 2009. The season’s achievements School. At the Friends Schools League Championship meet in figured in the lineup. included winning a hard-fought battle against Germantown The team won its opening tournament, but lost sophomore Gabby February, the girls team finished fifth. Juniors Heather Silver, Friends and the last game of the season against Friends Central. Gibson, honored as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, to a Mariah Burke and Emily Johnson all scored in their individual The freshmen made some great plays, especially Ben Holl, who season-ending injury. Sophomore Grace Finkbiner (Friends All- events. The team will lose only one senior and is gaining a strong included a hat trick in his first varsity game. In addition, Jacob Driving the offense was senior Amy Blum, with 12 goals and nine League Honorable Mention) and junior Wylie Wilson did a great class of rising freshmen for next season. The swimmers are opti- Phillips became a regular at marking back. Senior leaders Eric assists during the playoffs. Controlling the middle of the field of job of filling in for Gibson and helped the Falcons grab a big mistic about matching this season’s record and moving up in the Gottschalk, Giovanni Carrara and Brendan Locke helped guide were senior Michelle Degutis, who won the Most Outstanding early win by defeating Abington Friends School for the first time final team standings. the team throughout the season. Even though the results did not Player Award, with three goals and three assists, and junior Wyle in four years. Seniors Sarafina Kietzman-Nicklin, another lead- always favor Friends Select, the team continued to play hard, day Wilson, with four goals and one assist. Holding down the fort for ing rebounder, and Keara McLaughlin also played key roles in While the boys team (3-5) did not achieve the same success as the in and day out. This determination, combined with the return of the team were senior defenders Morgan Williams, who received the team’s success, which included a dramatic double overtime girls team, it did score a league win over Abington Friends two key leaders, juniors Sam Winward and Oliver Ingram, Friends Schools League honorable mention, and Keara win over Phil Mont Christian Academy. The team was also well School. All of the team’s swimmers will return next year with bodes well for the 2010 campaign. McLaughlin. The team tied for fifth place in the Friends Schools served by freshman point guard Kai Hardy, who directed the hopes of building an even stronger roster. League and ended with a 10-2 record. offense.

Future College Athletes Four members of the Class of 2010 will participate in varsity level college athletics: Amy Blum, field hockey, Wesleyan University; Eric Gottschalk, sailing, Boston University; Keara McLaughlin, basketball, arcadia university; Jake Gardner-Rosen, crew, Georgetown University.