Rams of the Week

Aryanna Bodge ’23 (Pottstown, Pa.) and Belle DiCampello ’24 (Pottstown, Pa.) Varsity Softball
Ary pitched and Belle caught all 3 games we played last week, totaling 20 innings in 4 days of work. Their partnership has been the backbone of our squad and they were tough as nails to the end. 

Ella Grindle ’24 (Collegeville, Pa.) Girls’ Swimming and Diving  
Ella has demonstrated dedication and flexibility throughout this entire season. She stepped up to swim the 100 Fly in our first virtual meet against Stony Brook School, despite swimming alone. She then agreed to swim the 200 IM, one of the most challenging events in swimming, against Lawrenceville. Every time I ask her what she wants to swim, she replies that she will swim whatever the team needs. Her cheerfulness and team spirit have been an inspiration to her peers and to her coaches.

John Imperato ’21 (Kingwood, Texas) Varsity Boys’ Lacrosse
John had a 5-point week scoring 3 goals vs Peddie and 2 goals vs Lawrenceville.  A PG who will continue his playing career at Bellarmine University, John was the winner of the Rip Davy Award as the Hill Most Valuable Player of the L’Ville v Hill lacrosse game.  In 9 games this year John has totaled 13 goals and 3 assists.

Terry Shao ’24 (Shanghai, China) Boys’ Golf
Terry stepped up in a big way against Lawrenceville, shooting his career low score at home, and then defeating his opponent on a L’Ville course that was greatly impacted by campus construction.  Terry's good play was instrumental to the team retaining the Crooked Stick.

Deven Vennera ’24 (Pottstown, Pa.) Boys’ Swimming and Diving
Deven is a quiet, consistent contributor both in practices and in meets. He has shown steady improvement over the season, and even ended up swimming the 500 Freestyle (the longest event in high school swimming) against Lawrenceville, thereby contributing to our victory over our rival. He is agreeable and eager to learn.

Tyler Chenevert '22 (Shrewsbury, Mass.) Varsity Baseball
Co-captain Tyler Chenevert has helped lead the Baseball team all season long. He's vocal in the dugout, in centerfield, and he models hustle and effort in every drill during practice. Tyler has contributed on the mound, too, relieving starting pitchers in some tough spots. Opposing coaches have taken the time to compliment Tyler's talent and attitude. This past week against Peddie and Blair, Tyler had several hits, scored many runs, and earned a save. 

Anna Cowan ’24 (Arlington, Va.) Varsity Softball
Anna has been ready and willing to play multiple positions over the course of the season and has been a consistent and solid contributor throughout. In both games this week she recorded multiple hits and made key outs in the field.

Brett Reynolds ’21 (Chapel Hill, NC), Joey Asterino ’23 (Reading, Pa.), Anthony McMullan ’23 (Easton, Pa.) Varsity Boys’ Lacrosse
All three players contributed greatly in our game at Kiski on Saturday.  Brett had another great day at the faceoff X, winning 21 of 26 draws on the day and scooping up 11 ground balls which allowed us to claw back into the game.  Joey was a spark off the bench scoring 3 goals and dishing out an assist while playing both attack and midfield.  Anthony also registered a hat trick.  He was very good the week before at Hun and carried that into Saturday’s game vs. Kiski.

Emily Rakos ’21 (Lehighton, Pa.) JV Girls’ Lacrosse
Emily received the game ball in our win against Hun as she played every minute in the midfield. She had two draw controls, four ground balls, and a caused turnover. She was steadying on attack and strong in our re-defend. She certainly was the energy that the rest of the team could feed off of against Hun.

Kenny Palmieri '22 (Royersford, Pa.) Varsity Baseball
The 5th Form second baseman has done a great job all season at the top of the lineup, generating offense for the club when we need it most, and providing relief for our starting pitchers if required. In this past Saturday's win against Kiski, Kenny went 3-5 with 4 RBI, while also pitching 2 innings with 5 strikeouts.  Kenny's passion for the game and positive attitude help to make him a great teammate and leader on the diamond and in the dugout.

Will Schaller ’22 (Bel Air, Md.) Varsity Boys Lacrosse
Will was instrumental in the team’s victory at Blair Academy last weekend, marking Blair’s leading scorer throughout the game and limiting him to just one assist.  Additionally, he scooped up three ground balls, had one pass knockdown, and had one goal and one assist.  

Piper Schmidt ’23 (Wilmington, Del.) Varsity Girls Lacrosse
Piper has done an outstanding job steadily growing each day on our team. Many people say, "grow one percent better every day," - that's much easier in theory than in practice. Piper has done just that, if not more, this season. Working her way into being a stronghold on a strong midfield unit, we are excited to see her continue to step into her role on this team in the coming weeks!

Colette Zidek ’23 (Anchorage, Alaska) Girls Track and Field
In the meet against Blair last Wednesday, Colette won the javelin throw – her first time ever competing in the event after the coaches approached her to see if she’d be interested in trying it – and then moments later she stepped onto the track and won her 1600m race, out-kicking her Blair opponent in what became a sprint over the final 100 meters to win the most exciting race of the day by one-tenth of a second.  The team-first mentality Colette exhibited in learning a new event and the competitive spirit and mettle she displayed in fighting through fatigue (and shin splints) to hold off her opponent at the end of the mile are just some of the attributes that make her a valuable team member and teammate.      

JV Girls Lacrosse Starting Defense
Claire Hartemink, Ava Gawronski, Rosa Rodriguez and Camille Beeding are our starting defense and have held our opponents to 9 goals in 3 games. Camille and Rosa had never even picked up a stick before this year and all four have worked hard together to provide great stability in our defensive end. Going into our last three games, we will count on them to continue to lead the team.

Maya Brigandi ’22 (Pottstown, Pa.) JV Girls Lacrosse
In the game last week against Mercersburg, Maya had 7 draw controls, 4 ground balls, and 3 goals, and followed that up with another strong performance against Blair with 5 draw controls, 7 ground balls, and 3 goals. Her hard work and positive attitude bring the whole team to a better level of play, we are lucky to have her.

Brendan Grable '21 (Phoenixville, Pa.) Varsity Baseball
Brendan, the team's backstop this spring, caught 14 innings of baseball this past weekend and worked with 6 different Hill pitchers to keep the Blues in both games till the end.  Brendan works hard each day to improve in all aspects of his game and responds positively to feedback from coaches and peers alike.

Girls Crew: 1V Boat
The 1V girls boat of Raina Shah ’21, Amber Cao ’21, Melody Chen ’22, Avery Reigner ’22, and Audrey Lehneis ’21 went into their competition this past weekend at Manny Flicks in Philadelphia with accustomed zeal for racing.  They are always at their best when next to other crews and that showed itself in spades in their flight.  Cox Raina Shah commented “The girls’ race was full of solid power and high spirits, with our ‘fiery’ start that allowed us to get ahead and stay ahead from the very beginning of the race as we like to do.  Our focus became to increase the distance between us and the other crews, and we then raced against the clock.”  The girls thus had a full sprint and ended 20 seconds ahead of 2nd-place Haddonfield and the rest of the 5-boat field.  It is a joy for their teammates and coaches to see these girls zipping around the river looking to “crush souls” at every opportunity!

Girls Track and Field: 4x100-Meter Relay
In Thursday’s win at Lawrenceville, the girls’ 4x100-meter relay team of Kiki Lange ’21, Sarah Kenvin ’23, Susanna Soderman ’21, Sydney Floyd ’21 set a new school record of 50.52 seconds in the event.  Success in the 4x100m relay depends on a collection of four talented sprinters, and on the timing of the handoffs.  For our girls to have put together both essential pieces of the 4x100m relay—talent and chemistry—already in the first meet of the year, when we are not even at peak fitness, is extraordinary. Such an accomplishment is a testament to their incredible talent, their experience in the sport, and the work they put in with Coach Dollhopf at practice to put together quality exchanges.

Brandon Bastian '21 (Barto, Pa.) Varsity Baseball
Brandon's performance on the mound in Saturday's MAPL opener gave the Blues plenty of confidence on their way to a 10-5 victory over Peddie.  Brandon pitched 4 innings, giving up 4 hits and only 2 earned runs while striking out 5. In three innings of work last week, the co-captain also picked up 5 K's.  A Varsity contributor since he arrived at Hill, it's great to see Brandon handle his leadership role this year with such enthusiasm and pride.

Faisal Choudhri '24 (Alpine, NJ) JV Baseball
Faisal has embraced Hill Baseball fully and this year and he's performed many tasks for the squad, including operating the scoreboard, and none more thrilling than singing the National Anthem prior to Saturday's MAPL opener. Even the umpires noted Faisal's courage and talent for his singing such a demanding piece.

Louis Gimbert ’21 (College Station, Texas) Boys Track and Field
New to track this year, we asked Louis to try one of the sport’s most physically demanding events, the intermediate hurdles.  His performance in the 300-meter hurdles in our time trial was impressive, so we placed him in the event for our opening meet at Lawrenceville.  Only, in New Jersey, they run the 400-meter hurdles; so, in his second time ever running the event, we added another 100-meters to the distance.  Not only did Louis willingly do this, he ended up winning the race by four seconds.  He then came back to run a leg on our 4x400-meter relay team.  Louis has exhibited a selflessness and toughness that have allowed him to quickly become a valuable contributor to the team, and we look forward to seeing what the rest of the spring brings for him.   

Anna Lignelli ’22 (Pottstown, Pa.) JV Girls Lacrosse
Anna was incredible in the goal in our 7-1 opening win against Peddie. She had 8 saves and two ground balls and definitely inspired the team with how well she played. She is very skilled in her position but at the same time an amazing teammate who is always supporting and cheering others on. We are so lucky to have her in the cage and on our team.

Nikheel Madhoo ’23 (Perkasie, Pa.) Varsity Boys Tennis
Nikheel went 2-0 in our match at Peddie on Saturday and battled through an injured arm, after almost withdrawing from the match, to pull out an important singles win which was crucial in helping our team win the match 4-3. 

Mandy McCarrick ’22 (Elmira, NY) Varsity Girls Lacrosse
Mandy has been a force on the field from day one. In addition to her relentless drive on the field, she brings the energy and enthusiasm to the team each and every day. Leave it to Mandy to lead the team in song or start the dance party. We would be a different team without her vibes and love her for it! #cellygamestrong

Katie Newkirk ’22 (Montclair, NJ) Varsity Softball
Last week we asked Katie to adjust positions, moving from the outfield to 3^rd base, and she took the challenge in stride. Her willingness to jump in wherever the team needed her was paramount to our victory on Saturday as she accounted for 2 key outs at 3^rd base when Peddie tried to rally late in the game.

Boys’ Crew Novice 8+
This past Saturday, the Boys Novice 8+, consisting of Benji Wang ’23, Michael Rapp ’24, Ben Sullivan ’24, Carver Fulmer ’23, Ariston Goeke ’24, Colin McLenaghan ’24, Isaac Ramon ’24, Nate Whittemore ’23, and Patrick Dunn ’23 raced to a convincing 27 second win over intraleague rival, Blair Academy. Led by some skilled and motivating coxing from Benji Wang, the boat settled into a nice rhythm and got to an early lead. They never took their foot off the gas and continued to increase their lead throughout the entire race. Special shoutout to Nate Whittemore, who was racing in his second race of the day, a truly impressive athletic feat.

Girls Crew: Novice 4+
This Saturday, the Girls Novice 4+, consisting of stroke Ella Lee, 3 Isabelle DiLiberti, 2 Smeena Gill, bow Mia Jacobs, and coxswain Nicholas Won, won their 1500m race against a Blair Academy Novice 8+ rowing in 6s.  This was an unusual arrangement, but it highlights how many things that novices need to learn in order to row and then to race successfully—the stroke and physical training sufficient to sustain maximum effort for a full race, boat handling skills, and the melding of the crew into a unit that can work together.  The 4+ is a challenging boat—unstable, heavy compared to other boat classes, bow-coxed which is tough for cox and crew alike.  These girls and their coxswain Nicholas—in rowing, boys can cox girls and vice-versa—performed splendidly in fast water and heavy winds in the runup to Saturday and then executed flawlessly both their race and the innovative “practice pieces” after.  These rowers and their coxswain have shown an unusual level of athleticism, enthusiasm, and stick-to-it-ness.  Bravo!    

Colin Brown '23 (Boyertown, Pa.) JV Baseball
Colin has improved in all aspects of his game since the Autumn 2 session, especially hitting. Colin works hard during every drill, listens to instruction, and applies it as best he can. He is also the first player every practice to put the bases in when we start and drag the infield when we're done. Colin has been a tremendous model of selflessness and dedication.

Will Lesko ’22 (Villanova, Pa.) Varsity Boys’ Lacrosse
In the team’s game at US Military Academy Prep School, Will contributed on four of the team’s 10 goals with one goal and three assists, bringing his totals on the season to seven goals and four assists.  He also collected four ground balls and sparked our Extra Man Opportunity unit that converted on 5 of 8 opportunities. 

Lulu Nakagawa ’23 (Las Vegas, NV) Varsity Girls’ Golf
In the first match of her Hill career, 4^th former Lulu Nakagawa maintained her quiet yet confident demeanor and managed to figure out a tricky Blair Academy golf course which usually rewards local knowledge. Having never seen the layout, Lulu led Hill in scoring with one of the lowest rounds of the day from both teams, carding a 47. Look for even lower scores in Lulu’s future.

Amelia Nordhoy ’22 (Reading, Pa.) Varsity Girls’ Lacrosse
Right out of the gates, Mimi has found her voice on and off the field and shown to be a reliable and consistent force on our attacking unit. Over the last three years she has worked hard at her craft of lacrosse and it has paid off. We are excited to see Mimi's impact on the field as this season unfolds.

Gilbert Saunders '22 (Gilbertsville, Pa.) Varsity Baseball
In the Blues' first game since May 2019, Gilbert did it all by going 4-4 at the plate with two doubles, 3 runs scored, and two RBI last Saturday against Pennington en-route to a 12-2 victory.  On the mound, Gilbert pitched four scoreless innings with five strikeouts, giving the squad plenty of breathing room to play sound, relaxed baseball.  Gilbert's leadership in the dugout and on the field has helped keep our younger players focused and contributed to a strong sense of ownership among this year's team.

Romil Shah ’23 (Collegeville, Pa.) JV Boys’ Tennis
Romil is very open to learn new techniques, and he loves to compete and leaves it all on the court every day.  The other day, he got hit in the nose with the ball and had a bloody nose. While he was being attended to, his primary focus was finishing his match. That is the kind of player I love to work with. Whomever I pair him up with, he just gets on the court and tries his best. 

Andres Villarreal ’22 (Victoria Tamaulipas, Mexico) Varsity Boys’ Golf
Andres has made tremendous improvement as a golfer this year. He works hard and he is a great teammate. 

Courtney Bodolus '23 
Kerry Elliott '23 
Ric Guan '23 
Mallory Horner '22 
Spencer Metz '22 
Poppy Otten '21 

Kamilia Barkasi '21 
Luke Cawley '22 
Aidan Dunn '21 
Ava Gawronski '22 
John Ju '23 
Kunal Patel '21 
Susanna Soderman '21 

Sydney Floyd '21 
Tess Gray '21 
Eric Nordquist '21 
Ruthanne Sandner '22 
Colette Zidek '23 
 

Andrew Chirieleison '21 
Zach Kaplan '21 
Mia Keane '22 
Maggie Kondrath '23 
Marah Krick '21 
Jake Mitchell '23 
Dami Odubona '23 
Carrie Shang '23 

Mamadou Bah ’21
Mary Kate Barnhart ’24
Anna Cowan ’24
Olivia DeVol ’21
Quinton Tang ’21