Loh Breaks DHS record at New Englands and is faster than a speeding van

On March 2^nd, the girls New England Indoor Track Championship was held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. To qualify, athletes must rank within the top six at State Opens.  However, if one who qualifies does not wish to attend the New England meet, then the one in 7^th place gets the spot. DHS junior Grace Loh, who was sick at the time of State Opens, got 7^th place but earned a spot for New Englands when another girl decided against attending the meet. Loh, who was voted captain for next year’s girls team at DHS, proceeded to break a school record in the 1000 m event. She took 6^th place with a time of 2:59:08. When asked how she felt before the race, she said: “I wasn't really that nervous because after New England there isn't anything to qualify for, and I wasn't really expecting a good race after having to train on my own for two weeks.” However, she ran much faster than she expected. "I was really surprised with my place and time, but the girl who won was actually in my heat, so she picked up the pace and made getting a faster time easier,” Loh said. One of the many reasons Loh enjoys running is because the speed is beneficial on and off the track. "A few nights ago my friends and I saw the band One Direction perform at Radio City. After the concert, I was able to successfully run after their van and climb on the back of it while they were stopped at a red light. It was kind of a big deal." Loh said. Congrats to Loh for her fantastic race and concert adventure!

New Girls Indoor Track Captains

by Annabel Schneider

The weather is getting warmer, spring sports are starting, and with that another winter season comes to the end. As with the end of all seasons captains are being announced. One winter team in particular that had a great season was the girls Indoor Track and Field team. Last week at the banquet four juniors were announced to be the 2013 Indoor Track and Field captains and hopefully they will lead the team through another successful season next year. Here are the girls:

Lizzie Heaney:

Length of time in track: started running freshman year
Event: the 300 400 and the 200! (Maybe the 100)

"I am super pumped for next year we have so much talent and I know we are going to do really well as both a team and individually!"-

Eleanor Smith:

Length of time in track: started running freshman year, but took last year off due to a concussion
Event: pole vault, long jump, and high jump

"We lost a lot of really great seniors last year, but this past season we were really able to pull through. The team gained a ton of talented freshman, and we got second in both FCIACs and States. If everyone keeps working hard, I think we'll be able to hopefully get the 2013 State title!"

Sophie Long:

Event(s): the 200m, 400m and 600m (and will be running the 800m)

"I think next year is going to go extremely well because we have so many strong athletes returning. Plus, we'll super motivated after what happened to us this year (getting the state title taken away from us after two days)!!"

Grace Loh:

Length of time in track: started running freshman year
Event(s): the 1000m, the 1600m and sometimes the 4x800m

"I think we are going to have a great season next year! We have so many great athletes coming back who are really motivated and exited to have another wonderful seasons an get that state title back!"

The girls have a lot of talent and enthusiasm so make sure to look out for them next year. For now follow the boys and girls outdoor track and field team which will start competing in April and keep checking the sports blogs for updates.

Caption: The current and future track captains. Top Left to Right (new captains):Lizzie Heaney, Eleanor Smith, Sophie Long, Grace Loh, Bottom Left to Right (current captains): Victoria Kominek, Claire Gaffney, Katie Donovan, Sherry Gilronan

DHS Cheer Season Wrap Up

by Jenn O’Neill

This past Saturday March 11, 2012, Darien High School’s varsity cheer squad traveled up to New Haven to compete in the CIAC State competition. This season has been quite the struggle for the girls. They have suffered many injuries and other setbacks that have caused their routine to be changed around several more times than it needed to be. “In the end it made our team realize how strong we were,” said Senior Captain Jordan Irizarry. “We were able to come together and work as a team.”

After taking home first place at last Saturday’s (March 3^rd) BEST novice competition in Danbury, the girls were ready to take on the rest of the state in the class LL division (arguably the most difficult division in Connecticut). They wound up placing 14^th out of 19 beating Fairfield Warde, Norwalk, and Trumbull, three teams that have come out victorious in the past.  “It’s been a rough season,” said Irizarry. “But it has been the best four years of my life and I am so glad that I have been a part of the team for all four years.” DHS wishes it’s two seniors (Irizarry and Claire Linegar) the best of luck cheering in college.

Photo Above: The girls execute a perfect pyramid during warmup.

One Step Closer to the State Title: Wave Beats the Rams

by Courtney Kyritz

The Blue Wave Boys Hockey Team brang home a memorable victory last night against close rivals, the New Canaan Rams. A game that had the potential to end the season ended with the Blue Wave winning 2-1 in a nerve-wracking overtime period.

Senior Captain Max Rothston (pictured above) started out in goal, and was a key player for the boys' success. With a major save in the first period Rothston led the team on to a good start.

Along with Rothston's great game, junior Brendan Hathaway led the Wave to its first goal, making the score 1-0.  New Canaan then came back to score a sneaky goal with 0 seconds left in the second period tying up the game.

With no goals scored in the second and third periods the game went into overtime, a 15 minute period and fight for the first goal. Rothston made a critical pad save which started the rush for the game-winning goal.  Senior Captain Nick Bruno scored with a scant 1:37 left in that overtime period, saving them from another period of overtime.

The boys' next game will be Saturday, March 10^{th at} at 2  p.m. at Yale's Ingalls Rink; they will be taking on the Glastonbury Tomahawks.  Tickets are available in the Welcome Center from 8a.m. - 11a.m. tomorrow, Friday, March 9th and cost from $5 to $8.

Girls' Basketball Season Wrap Up

By Isy Perticone

This year’s DHS Girls Varsity Basketball Team came out strong at the beginning of the year and maintained its momentum throughout the regular season.  The team had a lot of strong returning upperclassmen such as juniors Meg Marren and Kate Bushell. Both started in the FCIAC and State games.  The team also relied on starting seniors and captains Amy Biggart and Leslie Yuen. Also on the starting lineup was  sophomore Emily Stein.  “I think we had the same season last year as we did this year. We played well during the season and we beat teams that were very good,” Stein said.  Although she was pleased with the outcome of the regular season the team seemed to fall flat once it came time for States. “We lost to some teams that we shouldn’t have in states,” Stein added.

                All the positive momentum the girls had shown throughout the improving season seemed to go out the window during Wednesday night’s state game against Farmington.

                Farmington started off the game with a few quick shots, ending the first period 5 to 11, Farmington in the lead. The girls picked it up in the second period and brought themselves back into the game ending with a tie 14 to 14. It remained close in the third period and ended at 21 to 25 with Farmington only a few points ahead. Unfortunately the girls lost their momentum in the last period and increased the gap between them and Farmington and ended the game 29 to 42. That marked the end of the season as Farmington knocked the girls out of states and Danbury had knocked them out of FCIAC the week before; ranking them as 8^th for the year. But the girls look forward to the next season with a positive attitude and with new goals set.

 “We really want to improve our standing in the FCIAC and state games, so we really hope to improve for next year.”  - Emily Stein (pictured above).

Boys Varsity Ice Hockey Loses to Ridgefield in FCIAC Finals

By Brendan Ferguson

            Blue Wave Boys Varsity Ice Hockey lost to Ridgefield in the FCIAC finals with a score of 3-2 at Terry Connors Rink at 6:00pm this past Saturday.

            Ridgefield struck first when they fired a shot past senior Co-captain Max Rothston. Darien fired back when senior Co-captain Nick Bruno sniped a shot past Ridgefield’s goalie to even the score 1-1. The remainder of the first period was kept quiet thanks to brick wall defense by senior Griffin Cook, junior Dana Wensberg, sophomore Nick Allam, sophomore Jack Massie, sophomore Kevin Love, and freshman Nic Tuz.

            The second period still had the same intensity as the first, and again it was Ridgefield who struck first to make the score 2-1. Sophomore Owen Koorbusch popped a goal in from his knees in a scramble in front of the net to tie the score at 2 apiece.

            The third period was much of the same as the rest of the game until Ridgefield scored with 10:38 minutes left on the clock. Though the team dominated for the rest of the game, they were not able to tie the game in the end.

            Senior Max Rothston kept the score from going any higher with an impressive 22 saves.

            Though the FCIAC tournament is over, there is still the state tournament. Come cheer on the team at Darien Ice Rink at 6:00pm on Wednesday, March 7^th to face off against New Canaan in the first round of the state tournament.

Girls Varsity Ski Team State and Conference Results

by Will Steinthal

            The Girls Varsity Ski Team faced disappointing results in the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League (CISL) state open finals on Tuesday, February 28th. The team ended with a combined time of 327.90, which put them in last place out of the nine teams competing. The winner of that night’s race was Staples, however the Blue Wave girls were the conference champions in Class S during the regular season.

            The individual results from Tuesday afternoon’s races were Fay Rizzuto 50.05 (the third fastest time posted on the hill that day out of all racers), Katherine Graham 54.36, Taylor Hart 54.53, Kailin Edgar 54.85, Allison Graham 55.67, Abby Howe 58.44, Hannah Nilsson 62.81, and Isabel Selhausen 64.43.

            The Boys Varsity Ski Team did not qualify for the state race this season, but hope to come back strong next year.

Pictured above: Allison Graham. (Photo credit: Darien Times)