On Saturday, Oct. 19, KO hosted its annual Hewett Day, as Upper and Middle School students competed on the field and cheered for their classmates on the sidelines. Hewett Day began with an event introduced for the first time this year. The varsity boys and girls soccer teams played in night games on the turf, Hoffman Field. While girls soccer suffered an unfortunate 1-4 loss against Westminster, boys soccer won 3-0 against Marianapolis Preparatory School, encouraging the mass of fans at the game.
Athletic Director Debbie Fiske was instrumental in getting the temporary lights onto the turf. Her goal for the night games was to spread them out and to have a larger amount of the student body watching various games. This helped classmates be able to watch each other’s games, as they’re not playing at the same time.
Following Friday night, Hewett Day kicked off Saturday morning as the Middle School teams took the field. Both Middle School field hockey and Middle School girls soccer won against their rival, Renbrook School. The day started to pick up as other Upper School teams took the field, and the majority of the student body began to arrive. Many students and faculty felt that school spirit played a pivotal role of Hewett Day, as it’s the one day of the year where students can come out and support every team. “The great thing about Hewett Day is that everyone comes together and is really supporting each other,” history teacher and Varsity girls soccer coach Tracy Deeter said. “You’re not just there for your own team, you’re there to cheer for everyone else.”
Mrs. Fiske seconded this, saying that a strong presence from the student body and alumni makes Hewett Day special. “[Hewett Day] has been a tradition that was way back before my time and it’s the one weekend that people say that ‘I’m going to make an effort to get to campus, cheer people on, so these alumni come back and take a chance at the weekend’,” she said. Hewett Day also had many miscellaneous vendors during the weekend, from Savoy Pizzeria and Iron & Grain food truck Friday night, to a concession stand, barbecue and KO apparel shop all ran by the KO Parents Association.
Many great games were played throughout the course of the day, but one great win came from JV Boys’ soccer, who won 1-0 against Marianapolis. After a hard fought two halves, junior midfield Wil Elliot scored a header in front of the goal with one minute left in the game to finally take the lead. “It was an amazing goal considering the circumstances,” sophomore midfield Henry Pelletier said. “There was only 1:15 left, so it was really a lifesaver.”
The final game played was the anticipated varsity football game against Dexter Southfield. Although playing an excellent game all four quarters, they just barely got edged out, losing on a last-minute field goal, 24-21. “It was really disappointing, especially to all us fans,” junior Conor Caneday said. “We really thought KO could pull through and win that one.” Fans across the entire community seemed to enjoy the day. “It’s nice to have Hewett Day because it’s a huge tradition,” sophomore Max-William Kanz said. “We look forward to it every year.”
Hewett Day was an absolute success this year, as both teams and fans had a great time, showing excellent school spirit, while seeing some exciting games and epic wins from our Wyverns.
