A Final Practice to Remember

-By Richard Stile-

On Sunday, February 22nd, the boy’s varsity basketball team here at DHS had their last practice. After a tough season, Coach O’Donnell came up with an idea to celebrate the last practice and to show the seniors how much their teammates appreciated them. One by one, the seniors would take a lap around the gymnasium while shooting baskets. The JV members were in the center of the court clapping for their senior teammates to root them on. At the end of the lap, the seniors came into the circle and the JV boys congratulated them for their hard work that season. This “ceremony” really brought the team together for the final practice, and will be remembered forever by the senior class, because they got to bring home a tape of the special event.

DHS Tennis Preview

-By Alex McGuire-

Spring is almost here, and with it comes the start of a new DHS tennis season. Last spring, the team won the class M championships when Mike Taylor defeated fellow DHS team member, Dane Gebauer. The team finished with a record of 13-1 with their only loss coming to Fairfield Ludlow. However, despite the success of the team last year, the new group will have a lot of work to do. The team has lost 8 seniors who, together, made up the #1, #4, #5 singles seeds and the #1 doubles team. This year’s captains, Dane Gebauer and Chris Martin are sure to give life to the young team and will hopefully carry the DHS tennis team to another successful season.

On the Ice With Gorski, Hockey Captain

-By: Clemmy Little-

Winter sports are slowly winding down and before spring sports come into play I thought I would sit down with senior, Matthew Gorski, captain of the Boys Varsity Blue Wave Hockey team. They have had quite a solid season with a record of 11-6-3 and are hoping to win on Saturday against Staples in the FCIAC Quarterfinals.
I sat down with Matt and got the insight on the team this year as well some history on where it all started for him. "Well I started skating when I was 5 with Mini Mites DYH and ever since then I have had such a passion for hockey. I’ve played center the majority of my career but once I got to high school I started to play defense, which I’ve loved. Well, all around a lot has changed from last year to this year, we don’t have a go to scorer, which means we haven’t really blown many teams out but I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing. We have a very young team this year, not as much depth as last year. Case Matheis, Nick Bruno, Cam Murry, Doug Miller, and John Baker are all freshman that play a lot. As far as the post season is looking..it will be tough to win FCIAC’s or States but if we play our game for the next few weeks we will be a very hard team to beat and I think we can do it. So far this year has been awesome; our senior group I think has really brought the team together and it’s been a lot of fun for everyone. We’ve put in a lot of work and really deserve to do well. Oh, and I can’t forget our managers, they are the best things that’s ever happen to the 2008-09 Hockey team, it wouldn’t be the same without them!"
Matt will continue on next year to Ohio State and join the Division 1 Lacrosse team and be a great contribution there and would love to try and join their club hockey team!

Girls Lacrosse Talking a Good Season

-By: Allie Townsend-

Since the last spring season, the girls’ lacrosse team has been working hard. They have been training all summer on the Chargers Club team where they attend tournaments to play teams in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. And with three sessions a week at Bluestreak Sports Training Center, it seems as though the season has already begun.
With a strong force in the senior grade, Captain Amy Marchesi is very confident that her team will succeed even farther than last years. “Yeah! This year should rock! I’ve never played with such awesome teammates. The attack is speedy, and the defensive end is beastly. And our goalies…don’t even get me started. They’re going to rock. The froshies look pretty solid too,” Marchesi said. The 2009 DHS girls’ lacrosse team is going to be a stalwart force this season. Be sure to attend their first scrimmage against Chatam, NJ on March 28th at the DHS stadium

Madness Begins In March

-By Reece Pelley-

With a crazy up and down regular season in college basketball the whole sports world has turned to see what theatrics will come out of this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Six teams during the regular season have been ranked number one in the nation, which means seeding should play a smaller role in this year’s tournament. Big conference leaders such as North Carolina, Wake Forest and Duke out of the ACC as well as Pittsburgh and the University of Connecticut in the Big East should get the nod to be placed as top seeds but after Pitt’s lose to unranked Providence and North Carolina’s midseason loss to Boston College these rankings shouldn’t mean much come the sweet 16. Also not to be discounted are some dangerous sleeper teams such as Butler out of the Horizon Conference that demolished last year’s Cinderella team, Davidson. Wake Forest and Duke out of the ACC are two other sleeper teams, who held the number one ranking for a week, that show signs of inflicting serious damage to the elite eight if they use their speed of play.

Along with the ACC and Big East, both the Big 12 and Big 10 will contribute serious clubs this year that have the ability to run deep into March. Teams such as Oklahoma out of the Big 12 South - led by one of the beast players of this year Blake Griffin -- can both shoot and run a solid defensive scheme that has already led them to a 25-3 record along with a number two ranking. Teams to watch out of the Big 10 include both Michigan State and Purdue that have played a solid season so far and are now playing game-to-game in a competition for the Big 10 title.

Ski Season Races to Finish

-By Marcus D’Iorio-

With the end of the season soon approaching, the ski team is looking forward to the state competition. Both teams have qualified for states two years in a row. This accomplishment is very rare for the ski team. Even with icy conditions on February 24, the team was able to race its way to a third place finish for the boys team and a fourth place finish for the girls. The ski team is now 12-5 for the boy’s team, with girl’s record being 9-2. “So far it’s been a good season. We are above .500. It has been one of our best seasons in the past couple years,” team member Scott Bora said. With the regular season race today (February 26), the team is looking forward to finishing out the season with the best record ever. With a cloudy over cast sky, the team will need to run on all cylinders, in order to find its peak this afternoon.

Inside Hockey Practice

-By Will Wygal-

The Darien Boy's Ice Hockey Team is one of the most prestigious and successful teams in our fine learning establishment with a record of 11-6-3. When taking an inside look with hockey stick wielding seniors Teddy Malley and Peter Walker, I managed to find out how the typical practice goes. First, the team starts off with a stretch. In the stretching circle, the captains sit in the middle. The captains are Matthew Gorski, John Douglas Juterbock, Ryan MacDonald and the assistant captains are JT Cook and Jake Maguire. After stretching the team warms up the goalies (starting goalie is Willy Love) with shooting drills and then moves on to do other drills like power plays and penalty kills. After those drills the team goes over their plays. Then to end practice, Teddy Malley claims the team does checking drills, in order to brutalize some of the younger players on the team and teach them respect. Then, the team gets together for a team huddle and practice ends. Peter says that his favorite part of practice is "Taking slap shots at Garren Fritz" while Teddy's favorite part is "drinking chocolate milk (primarily Nesquick)."

Bone Vaults Over Competition

-By Claire Dickson-

Freshman Robin Bone is placed to become a key part of Darien's success. She is tearing apart the track and field front at DHS. As a pole vaulter, she went to FCIACs and the Class L meet, in which the girls took first place. Robin's pole vaulting abilities contributed to these victories. In FCIACs and States, Darien's six pole vaulters finished in the top six places. Robin tied a school record in pole vaulting with a vault of 10 feet. The team bases its success on the desire to win not for themselves but for the team. Robin Bone's outstanding performances throughout the winter season helped her teammates triumph. 

8th Graders Trounce DHS Girls JV

-By: Christian Panier-

Present and future collided as the DHS Girls JV Basketball team
and the visiting eighth graders took to the court for an exhibition game on Tuesday. Seconds into the first quarter, Middlesex’s first foul shot foreshadowed an exciting match-up when the ball got stuck between the rim and the backboard. Spectators froze in anticipation. But the referee said the shot didn’t count. DHS was kept to zero points through the first quarter while the visiting team gained ground with a lead of eight points. The first high school point was scored 30 seconds into the second quarter and the score continued to climb through halftime to overtake the opposition with a score of 14 -11. Both teams pressed throughout the game and each had runs for the lead but the visiting eighth graders pulled through in the end to win 42-34.

Eagles Soar in Rugby

-By: Connor McCarthy-

The Rugby Sevens World Cup was held recently in San Diego. Sixteen teams played, and eventually, the final came down between England and Argentina. After a very close and riveting game, the Argentines scored with about a minute left putting them up 19 – 14. The USA Eagles did quite well this year, making it to the semi-finals at PETCO Park, located in downtown San Diego. Next up is the Hong Kong Sevens, the last series of this World Cup.

Boy's Basketball Falls to Trumbull

-By: Jake McCauley-

The Boy's varsity basketball team lost to Trumbull High School (8-8) at DHS today, with a final score of 40-59. The team was celebrating senior night, and honored the senior class by starting all of the seniors. The Wave fell behind quickly at the start of the game, only scoring 8 points in the first half to Trumbull's 24. Darien came out strong in the second half, working the lead down to only 13 points at one time. The crowd got very into the game, and some jeered at the ref for poor calls. An alley-oop dunk from Junior Michael Lee to Senior Brian Kosnik fired up the crowd and brought some life back into the game. Yet, it was not enough for the Wave as Trumbull pulled away more in the fourth quarter. With the loss, Darien falls to 3-14. The Wave will play their final game of the season against New Canaan on Monday. Should Darien win the game against New Canaan, they will have a better record this year than last year. The game will be in New Canaan at 7PM.

Girls Basketball Trashes Bassick

-By: Jack Bushell-

The Darien girls varsity basketball team played the Lady Lions of Bassick on Monday February 16th. The Wave crushed the Lady Lions 21-65. The Bassick program, did not have enough players to field a freshman or Junior Varsity team. Bassick could not stop the quickness of Junior Captain Liz Calby, scoring many of her points off of fastbreaks. Darien pressed for most of the game, once the team stopped the full court press, the Darien fans started to clap. It was a great win to end the home games for the season.
The team goes into their final game of the season on the road at Trumbull High School with a record of 3-16. The team will close the season with a below average record, but being very young and only graduating a couple seniors, there is much room for improvement in years to come. Next year's freshman class has a record of 15-5 going into a Boston Tournament this friday. This incoming talent should help give the team a needed boost next year.

Boys Swimming Makes a Splash in Ridgefield

-By: Daniel Campbell-

Darien Wave swimming left their opposition high and dry last Friday when they upset Ridgefield, one of the best teams in the FCIAC. Senior Sam Archibald had his best time of the season, getting 5:14 in the 500 yard Freestyle. Junior Will Plunkett swam the 100 yard backstroke in 58 seconds to win his race. The meet came down to the 400 yard relay swum by Archibald, freshman Tyler Gould, sophomore Chris Weihs, and senior Phil Treesh. The Blue Wave made a comeback on Weihs’ spot in the relay, before Treesh finished off the victory at 3:30. “[Darien] floored us; once [they] swept the 50 freestyle there was no way to recover.” Said Ridgefield’s coach after the meet. The win improves the Wave’s record to 6-3 on the season, and they are hoping to win their last meet against Wilton on Thursday. “We hope to finish off strong before championship season,” said sophomore Jake Greene.

Gymnastics Jump Over Rivals

-By: Jorden Cappiello-

The gymnastics team had its last home meet and celebrated senior day on Saturday. A big victory over Pomperaug, Nonnewaug, and Fairfield Ludlowe gave cause for celebration. Individual stars include freshmen Katie Southworth and sophomore Charlotte Morgan who performed really well on beam, bars, and floor. Freshmen Kiriko Masek and Katherine Mosher also turned up good performances on bars & floor.Captain, Kaylyn Van Sciver scored 9’s on vault, beam, and floor. Kelly Randall had a career high on beam and Clare Baldwin had a career high on vault. As a whole, the team had an impressive performance.The team advances to FCIACS in Westport on Thursday.

DHS Cleans Up Trinity

-By: John Walsh-

The Darien boys hockey team defeated the number #1 ranked Trinity Catholic 3-2 this weekend. An impressive feat since Darien is ranked #17 in the state. With help from the rest of the team, Matt Gorski, Peter Walker, and Teddy Mally aided the team to victory and hold down the home turf at Darien Ice Rink. The upset was Trinity's only loss, pushing them down to second place, trailing close behind Fairfield Prep. Despite the weekend win, Darien has had a rough season with a record of 7-5-3, compared to last season's record of 10-2-0 and their FCIAC championship. "This was a big win, especially after our previous losses. I really think this is a turn-around in the season," senior left-wing, Chris Shaker said. Hopefully this will be enough to bring the team back in the game and hold onto their FCIAC championship.

Weekend Results

-By: Jack Bushell-

Weekend Results:

• Boy's Basketball: beats Fairfield Warde 63-46
• Girl's Basketball: lost to Fairfield Warde 53-77
• Boy's Hockey: beat Trinity Catholic 3-2
• Wrestling: beat Foran, Enfield and Weston, they lost to Stratford and tied Shelton
• Squash: won first match 5-2, and lost the second round. Lost the first and won the last match 4-3 in the consolation matches.
• Boy's Indoor Track: placed 6th in the FCIAC meet
• Girl's Indoor Track: won the FCIAC meet

DHS Sprinters Break Records

-By: Jack Bushell-

After winning FCIAC East last week, the boys track team will look back on a season where three new records were set on the track. The three records that were broken were the 4 by 200 relay and the 4 by 225 relay. There was only one individual record that was broken this year in the 400 meter. The 4 by 200 relay was broken this year by Kevin Knapp, Nick Joosten, John Bolton and Alexi Bello with a time of 1:34.57. The relay beat the previous record set by Rob McDonald, Andrew Negri, Chris Bogie and Clark Coots with a time of 1:34.62. “They were some of the fastest kids to run at DHS, it felt good to beat that record,” said senior Alexi Bello. The other relay that was broken was the 4 by 225. The record was set by the same group of seniors – Knapp, Joosten, Bolton and Bello – with a time of 1:53.6, shattering the previous record of 1:55.2 set by Matt Maley, Yarish, Todd Harrington, and Waters back in 1977. The only individual record to be broken this year was the 400 set by Kevin Knapp with a time of 52.97, beating the previous time of 53.19 set by David Joosten in 2007. Both the 4 by 200 and the 400 records were broken on the Yale track. Good luck to the boys track team, who is now in the middle of its Championship season.

Weekly Scores and Upcoming Games

-By: Jake McCauley-

Weekly Scores:

• Boy's Basketball lost 44-71 to Bridgeport Central on Wednesday.
• Girl's Basketball beat Bridgeport Central 63-60 on Wednesday.
• The Boy's Hockey team lost 4-5 to Wilton on Wednesday.
• Boy's Swimming lost to West Hill High School but beat Stamford in a meet on Wednesday.
• The Wrestling team beat Oxford in a 59-12 blowout.
• Girl's Hockey beat Staples 9-0 on Monday and they also beat Notre-Dame Fairfield 4-2 on Wednesday.

Weekend Games:

• The Boy's Basketball team takes on Fairfield Warde in a battle of the two last place teams in the FCIAC on Friday in the Main Gym at 7:00 PM.
• The Girl's Basketball team will also play Warde as well, except in Fairfield at 7:00PM
• The Boy's Hockey team plays Trinity Catholic in the Darien Ice Rink on Saturday at 6:30PM
• Boy's Swimming has a meet against Ridgefield at the Darien YMCA pool on Friday at 3:00PM
• The Blue Wave Wrestling team has a match against Enfield, Foran, Stratford, and Weston at 10AM on Saturday at Stratford High School
• The Squash team is going to nationals this weekend.
• Boy's and Girl's Indoor Track has FCIACs on Saturday in Staples.

Boy's Basketball Falls to 1-12

-By: Jake McCauley-

The Boy's basketball team lost to Brien McMahon High School by 2 points last Friday in a close, low scoring game of 40-42. In the team's next game, on Wednesday, February 4th, they will play the Bridgeport Central Hilltoppers. Bridgeport has a very dominant team, and will be a tough opponent for the Blue Wave. The Hilltoppers have an amazing record of 11-1, losing only to Hyde Leadership. They will be led by Jerome Perkins, a Junior Forward averaging 18 points per game, and also the second leading scorer in points per game in the FCIAC trailing only Joe Sindelar from New Canaan with 19.5 ppg. The Wave will need to shut down Perkins, if they want to have a chance of winning. The game will be at home in the main gym today at 7 PM.

Girls Track Wins FCIAC East

-By: Jack Bushell-

After having won the FCIAC East last year, this year should be no different. The relays of the team will be a standout part of the meet. The four by 200 relay will try and break the school record. A school record has been tied this year by high jumper Christy Gasparino. She jumped 5 feet 6 inches at the Hillhouse Invitational last week. She will look to surpass that in the upcoming meets. “There are hard teams in the Eastern Division, but our main competitors are in the Western Division” senior captain Meg Gilbert said. When asked who needs to stand out, captain Grace Doering said, “I personally believe that we have a lot of incredibly talented athletes on our team and everyone stands out in their own individual events and ways. I hear every meet about someone who got their personal record or many people qualifying for FCIACs and States.” It is obvious the leaders on the team think very highly of the girls on the team and with that attitude they will succeed during this championship season. Congratulations to the team for winning FCIAC East on Saturday, they will look to win the overall FCIAC title this coming Saturday.

DHS Squash Smashes St. Lukes

-By: Britt Gordon-

Varsity Squash team smashed St. Luke’s JV team. It was a clean sweep on Thursday, with Darien winning all of the 10 matches and letting up only four games. Leslie Gill, the team’s #1 player, beat her opponent 3-1 in sets with relative ease. Maddy Gill, who played #2, Alex Hauer, who played #6, and Andrew Maubousson, #7, all won their matches without dropping a set. Tim Westcott, who played #3 for Darien, dropped a set early but was able to maintain the focus and stamina to win the match. Geoff Dailey, #4, got off to a promising start with an easy first set when his opponent unexpectedly

forfeited.

After a disappointing season as a first-year varsity team last year, the Varsity Squash team is a new and improved group this year and on its way to success. The team is currently #32 in the nation, and as Nationals are coming up, the team is looking forward to an excellent performance.