Eighteen Students Take Home 21 Awards at Athletics Banquet

Students who won athletic awards at the May 12, 2016 Athletic Awards Banquet posed for a photo outside after the event. (Photo: Ms. Christine Ashe)

The leaves have changed, it is fall, and all new faces have joined the Northwood family. It is exciting to begin a new year with the promise of new and exciting athletic accomplishments. Northwood sports have begun in the fall with soccer offerings, as well as, crew, rock climbing, and conditioning. Athletes are excited to “show their stuff” and prove they have been working hard all summer.

This year, however, marked a change in the Northwood three seasons of sport tradition. It was the last year for fall sports. Beginning next year, winter sport training for hockey and ski athletes will begin in the fall. The fall season was the second longest season in the school and for the soccer teams, it culminated in the battle at Old Forge. The Old Forge Tournament is an experience Northwood alums, men and women, will not soon forget. Though most of the Northwood community is excited about this transition into a new shape, a new chapter, we will still miss a crisp fall day with a good game to watch.

The winter season at Northwood, the signature season, takes on a shape of its own. Hockey players and Ski racers alike buckle down in the hopes of being the best they can be. This could be the year! The year we win the Northwood Tournament. The year we win the Cushing Tournament. The year of top podium grabs and elite race invitations.

Only those who have lived this fast paced, stop-for-nothing six month grind will understand how good it feels when the ice and snow give way to a warmer, more mellow spring in Lake Placid. All of the students on campus are given the opportunity to choose a spring sport or activity to take them through to the end of the school year. Not everyone opts for a team sport in this time. The menu of items range from lacrosse to rock climbing and whitewater rafting. Spring time at Northwood has its own palpable signature feel that can be equated to the end of a roller coaster ride. Picture it: as your car is pulling slowly back up to the loading dock and you prepare to jump out, the exhilaration was worth it but for now it’s over. Until next time.

Since it is the end of the ride there is much to celebrate. Athletes and teams have built success in many definitions of the word. They have scored the most goals, won the most games, placed the highest, won the race, and brought home the most trophies or medals. Or, and perhaps more importantly, they have rebounded from a set back, bonded as a team, learned the importance of resilience, developed grit, become a leader. The annual sports awards night is a special formal dinner dedicated to celebrating the sports seasons of the year and to award the prestigious Coach’s Award. The Coach’s Award is not a Most Valuable Player award. The Coach’s Award goes to the athlete who best exemplifies, in the eyes of the coaches, what it means to be a good teammate and who goes above and beyond to improve him or herself.

This year’s winners by sport are:

FALL SEASON

Boys’ Varsity Soccer: Ben MacFarlane

Boys’ JV Soccer: Teagan Grisi

(student photos courtesy of Mr. Michael Aldridge)

“We can all learn a lesson from him, as far as, his humility and sound character.

“He is quiet and doesn’t seek praise, and he always keeps his ego in check despite his many successes. In the end, he knows all you really need to do is give it your best, love your teammates and love the game. This is exactly what Teagan Grisi does.”

Kim Mongrain ’16: Conditioning

Bridgit Sullivan ’16: Girls’ Soccer

Wenze Wang ’16: Crew

“Four falls ago a ninth-grader joined our team.

“Like most of the kids who join our team, he didn’t really know about rowing, though he came from a country that’s had its share of international success in it. He showed a lot of athletic ability, and a lot of pride, and a very competitive nature, and he seemed to like to row, but he wasn’t really into the racing thing, not interested in suffering for speed. I think he was very sorry not to be at a school with a basketball team. He just kept coming out to practice. . . almost all the time. And this year, somehow—I don’t know, I think maybe we just wore him down—he started working hard, even when we didn’t ask him to, and he was there whenever there was dirty work to be done, like getting shells out of the bus garage. It seemed, finally, that he was buying in. I think if high school were a six-year process, we might have a States medalist in this kid. Sometimes these awards aren’t so much about boat-moving ability as they are about durability. This one is for Bruce Wang.”

Teagan Grisi ’17: Lake Placid Experience

Doris Liu ‘ 16: Lake Placid Experience

WINTER SEASON

Mia Wright ‘ 18: Girls’ Hockey White

Syd Collins ‘ 17: Girls’ Hockey Blue

Harrison Coull ‘ 16: Alpine Skiing

“A consummate team player in an individual sport who always led by example and kept his nose to the grindstone when things weren’t easy in training. Sometimes, coaches would suggest problems with equipment to explain issues on the hill but Harrison Coull never went for it; he was the embodiment of personal responsibility. He accepted and learned from his trials and errors and he owned his successes. He did all of this with a calming and even-keeled temperament. The team will miss him greatly.”

Kimmy Ellis ’17: David Phelps-Kimbal Award

“Kimmy Ellis graduated from Children’s Racing (U16) to the big leagues in her first year as a U19. In that first year with the big kids in the face of so much adversity where all of a sudden an athlete finds herself at the bottom of the ladder age-wise with all the odds stacked against her (experience, training, equipment, start position, etc) we too often see athletes lay off in terms of effort. Kimmy, only worked harder both in the gym before we got on-snow and once we hit the slopes. Her equipment was always tip-top and she showed up ready to take advantage of every single training opportunity. This paid off for Kimmy, who leap-frogged many competitors that were ahead of her in the previous season. We look forward to more of the same next season. The David Phelps-Kimbal Award for the most improved skier of the year goes to Kimberly Ellis”

Morgan Broderick ’18: Freestyle Skiing

Patrick Harrington ‘ 16: Boys’ Midget Hockey

“Pat [Harrington] said very little but was a great role model and captain for his teammates. Pat made the coach’s’ job easier knowing that he was an extension of the coaching staff instilling and reaffirming the values and expectations that we set forth for each player on the ice, in the locker room, around school, or when we were traveling.”

Joey McGuire ‘ 16: Boys’ Prep Hockey

Eric Strait ‘ 16: Boys’ Junior Hockey

SPRING SEASON

Palmer Feinberg ’17: Golf

Jacob Mosakowski ’17: Whitewater

“In his second spring season, Jacob Mosakowski led the squad. His calm, cool demeanor influences other paddlers to give the rapids a try. He’s a pretty serious dude but you’ll never see him smile more than on the river.”

Bridgit Sullivan ’16: Girls’ Lacrosse

“An anecdote that best describes Bridgit Sullivan: There was a time this past winter when Mr. Spear Tapped my shoulder during a school meeting and pointed my attention to the door where the faculty usually stand for check in. Bridgit had come in a little late, presumably from dish crew and was standing with the faculty. Mr. Spear said to me, “Can’t you see Bridgit coming back here in a few years as a young faculty member? Doesn’t she look the part?” I emphatically agreed. Bridgit is hard working, poised, and talented. I hope she does come back in a few years because she would be an excellent lacrosse coach.”

Kaden Pickering ’17: Boys’ Lacrosse

“Though, sometimes, he is not always the best player on the field, he does everything right. I always had to remember to take him off the field because he looked as strong at the end of a double shift as he did when he first went on. Kaden Pickering‘s relentlessness, toughness, and selfless play separated him from his peers.”