KO swimming and diving team dives right back into the season
After two years with only one meet, the Kingswood Oxford swimming and diving team looks to rebound with a strong set of both new and returning swimmers. The girls and boys teams are led by Head Coach Kata Baker and Head Coach Alex Kraus, respectively.
Due to COVID-19, the swimming and diving teams were only allowed to participate in one meet last winter and are now more eager than ever to get back to their regular schedule. However, jumping right back into a swim season after over a year will not come without hard work. “We always ease our swimmers back into the season because it can be rough getting back into the water as we are usually out of shape,” Coach Baker said. “We just naturally start off with less yardage and more drill and skill work.”
The team has already started thinking about their main goals and hopes for the season, both for themselves as individual athletes and for the team at large. “Really the goal for my veteran swimmers is to get reoriented with a regular practice and meet schedule which compared to last year is pretty intense,” Coach Baker said.
Meanwhile, for the newcomers, it is all about adjusting to the demands a full season requires. “We have a large group of freshmen and upperclassmen who are new to the team, so for them it’s just a matter of learning about the ins and outs of Upper School swim meets,” Coach Baker said. Creating a positive, uplifting, and cohesive team culture is of the utmost importance this season due to the fact that the team consists of both a large number of veteran swimmers and plenty of newcomers who have never worked together before.
The girls team will be led by senior Co-captains Allie Wildstein and Stella Risinger, while the boys team will be led by senior Co-captain Marrich Somridhivej and junior Co-captain Eli Brant. The varsity teams will not only have many new underclassmen joining them this season, but they will also have eighth graders on their teams who have lots of talent and strong swimming backgrounds. Coach Baker and Coach Kraus will look to their captains to bring everyone together so as to slip into the new season as seamlessly as possible.
Due to COVID-19, there are several rules and regulations the team must abide by this season, such as being masked up at all times when not in the pool. However, there has been one challenge stemming from the pandemic that has proven most significant for the program as a whole: finding a pool to swim in.
“The biggest impediment for us is that, because of the pandemic, a lot of pool rental spaces that would normally be available to us are just not entertaining visitors at this time,” Coach Baker said, “so it has been tricky for us to find a home pool.” The team’s usual hosts unfortunately denied the team use of their facilities, so as of right now, the team is unsure of where their home pool will be located. At this moment, it is simply a matter of connecting with people to find a suitable pool. However, the coaches and athletic staff are working tirelessly to find a place for the team to swim. They already have options lined up and are in the process of finalizing decisions and tying up loose ends to ensure the team has a home pool as well as a season as a whole.
Looking ahead, the team is simply excited to just be back together again. Both teams have doubled in size from previous years and look to utilize their strength in numbers to their advantage both in and out of the pool. In previous years, each team would have only about nine or 10 swimmers at practice, so Coach Baker and Coach Kraus are ecstatic about their prospects this year and are confident in a successful season marked by a positive, supportive team atmosphere and plenty of victories.
Boys varsity squash optimistic for a successful season
With a strong team and lots of experience, the boys varsity squash team looks to start their 2021 winter campaign off strong at home against Williston Northampton on Saturday, Dec. 12.
The team is slated to play a competitive schedule this year but has no shortage of talent and optimism to compensate for that.
“I’m super excited and optimistic for our season,” senior Co-captain Henry Pelletier said. “We have a very competitive schedule this year, and I think our team is pretty well rounded and ready to take on whatever challenges come our way.”
As of right now, the team’s lineup, or ladder as it is called in squash, consists of Pelletier at the first slot, senior Teddy Keegan at the second, senior Co-captain Aidan Dillow at the third, senior Carter Smith at the fourth, and senior James Beerbower at the fifth. The bottom half of the ladder is made up of senior Teddy Schwartz at the sixth slot, seventh-grader Cole Keegan at the seventh, freshman Jack Krieble at the eighth, senior Robert Correa at the ninth, and senior Shrinaath Narasimhani at the tenth.
Smith believes that this year will bring lots of challenges but also many rewards. “The top half of our ladder boasts tons of experience and talent,” Smith said. “Although the competition will be challenging, I see our team performing at a high level all season as long as everyone works hard in practice to polish the finer points of their skills.”
Girls Squash Looks to Build New Foundation
For their first official season back following the pandemic, the KO girls varsity squash team looks to ease back into the challenges a normal squash season may bring and dust off their rackets in preparation for their first official matches in over two years.
Last year, the team competed in only one match and had a limited number of practices, meaning that most players this year will not have experienced a normal season since the winter of 2019. This poses a challenge for Head Coach Cameron Biondi; however, he is more than willing and excited to take it on. “I am excited for this season and I want to focus on helping the team reframe this season as a time to improve and move forward rather than a ‘return’ to the level of play they had before,” Coach Biondi said.
The team this year is equipped with a strong group of returning players led by senior Co-captains Amrita Natarajan and Mackenzie Caruso. The overall goal of the season is to simply ease the girls back into the challenges and opportunities a full season poses.
Achieving this goal will prove to be no easy task, but with leaders like Natarajan, Caruso, and Coach Biondi, the team is already thinking about the necessary steps needed to ensure success. “To ease them back into the competitive season, we’re going to have to be careful about how we balance skill work with match play,” Coach Biondi said. “We’ll also have to be mindful about fitness and conditioning, especially if we wear masks during play.”
Rebuilding the overall foundation of the team is also of the utmost importance. Most players have not had the consistency of a real squash season in over two years, meaning the team must focus on basic skill work in the beginning weeks if they want to build this strong foundation. A new season also brings new players. “We will have several players in the program who are totally new to squash, so there will also be a focus on bringing them into the fold and working on fundamentals with everyone,” Coach Biondi said.
The winter season officially began on Wednesday, Nov. 17, and the girls squash team is scheduled to compete in the WALKS play day scrimmages at Westminster School on December 1. This is a very quick turnaround for the team; however, Coach Biondi is excited to be able to see the girls back in action and get them into the swing of things before they set off for winter break.
Girls varsity basketball eager to start off strong
With a full game slate on tap, the KO varsity girls basketball team is ecstatic to be back on the court and reignite rivalries with some familiar NEPSAC Class B foes. Head Coach Quinn O’Brien, in his fourth year leading the Wyverns, hopes to make a statement early to set the tone for the rest of the season.
As a result of the pandemic, the team was limited to just five games last year, taking place in the last week of February and the beginning of March. Senior guard Natalia Correa was disappointed to miss out on a full season of competition but has worked extremely hard on her craft to lead the team in her final games as a Wyvern.
“I’m definitely looking forward to having a normal season with a full game schedule this [winter]”, Correa said. “Although we were able to play a few games last season, having the chance to have a full schedule of games and practices every week is really exciting.”
The basketball season’s most anticipated tradition is also making a return after a one-year hiatus that was surely missed by players and spectators alike: The KIT’s, or The Kingswood Invitational Tournament. New England’s longest running prep school basketball tournament will consist of an eight-team field, each playing three games, and will take place from Friday, Dec. 17, until Sunday, Dec. 19.
Senior forward Lindsay Bailey relishes the thrilling energy among the KO community surrounding the event and looks forward to playing in front of a packed Hewett Gym crowd.“I have never been so excited for the KITs before this year,” Bailey said.” “There is definitely more pressure than in the past as a senior and leader on the team, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s gonna be a great time and it is going to be awesome to have all of the fans’ support.”
The Wyverns take the court for a Friday night primetime game against the Wild Boars of Choate Rosemary Hall on Friday, Dec. 10, and hit the road to play crosstown rival Westminster School the following day on Saturday Dec. 11. Their opening round KIT matchup on Friday, Dec. 17, will be against The Frederick Gunn School at 7:00 with potentially hundreds in attendance.
Boys basketball has high expectations
The trees are now bare of any leaves as the fall sports season has now concluded. The football team has moved out of the varsity locker room, and the boys basketball team has moved in.
With a very talented roster this year, the boys varsity basketball team is looking to make a strong run in the NEPSAC Class B Basketball tournaments.
Assistant Coach Ronald Garcia is particularly looking forward to just having a full basketball season again. “We haven’t been able to play games in front of crowds in two years, so just being able to have such a good team and to play in front of crowds with a full season and have the tournaments at the end is so exciting,” he said. Coach Garcia highlighted a specific matchup that he’s focusing on. “Our games against Loomis are very important for me,” he said. “Because we play a lot of strong schools, it’s really important to see how we play against them.”
Coach Garcia shared that the captains for the upcoming season will be junior guard Chase Fountain and junior forward Gavin Griffiths, explaining why Head Coach Brad Seaman, chose these two to be the captains of the team. “[Fountain] is a great team-first player,” Coach Garcia said. “He does a lot of hard work in the background like playing defense, rebounding, passing, things that don’t get a lot of attention.” Coach Garcia then gave immense praise to Griffiths, highlighting his work ethic and talent. “Gavin is the hardest worker I’ve seen in 25 years at KO,” Coach Garica said. “Nobody works harder on their game.”
Coach Garcia highlighted how the team looks up to Griffiths, not only in terms of height but also in terms of basketball. “With everything he puts into basketball, he’s someone who everyone looks up to so he’ll be a good leader as well,” he added.
As the team improves year after year, so does the schedule. The Wyverns’ schedule this season includes all of the teams in the competitive Founders League, a Class AA team St. Andrews, and Phillips Academy Andover. In the Wyverns opening game, they fell to St. Andrews 48-62, a hard-fought matchup. Even with a tougher schedule, Coach Garcia believes that the team has the work ethic and talent to overcome any opponent.
A talented roster and a great coaching staff should lead the boys varsity basketball team to great success in the upcoming winter season.
Ice Hockey looks to settle into their new home
The KO varsity ice hockey team is looking forward to getting to know their new home rink, South Windsor Arena, improving on last season’s successes and passing on the team culture to the new and younger players.
Led by Head Coach John Hissick, Assistant Coach Michael Wolf, and five returning seniors, the team cannot wait to return to the ice for their first full season since the COVID-19 pandemic heavily modified last year’s season. “I’m excited to finally be on the ice after a shortened season last year,” senior defenseman Teddy Crowther said, “especially because we have so many games this year.”
With 19 highly competitive games lined up on the schedule, including the return of Hockey Night versus King School, and other matchups against Wooster School, St. Luke’s School, and Greenwich Country Day School, the team is set for a fast-paced and action-packed season.
Crowther says that he is most excited for the Hockey Night matchup against King, who is traditionally one of the team’s tougher opponents. “We haven’t played them in two years, so we really have no clue what they’re going to be like,” Crowther said. The past two years, King’s roster has been heavy with upperclassmen, a trend that Crowther and the Wyverns hope has not continued. Nonetheless, the team aims to play every game with the same high intensity.
The team has yet to name captains, and with five extremely qualified seniors, the decision won’t be an easy one. Crowther has been a member of the team for four years along with senior forwards Will Berckemeyer and Sean Gilland. Senior defenseman Seve Concepcion and senior forward Aiden Aube joined the team in their sophomore and junior years, respectively, and have earned their spots as leaders and mentors. In net, junior Matt Cote will return for his second year as goaltender, while junior defenseman Cody Brew and junior forward Ben Margolis hope to add some depth to the squad.
The team is set to be a perfect example of the balance between skill and camaraderie. “I think we have a well-rounded team this year,” said Crowther. “I think we have really good team chemistry, as well as a strong offense.”
