Girls Basketball 6th in FCIAC

-By: Jack Bushell-

The girls' basketball team is ranked 6th in the FCIAC with a record of 3-1. The three wins have come from beating Harding, Bassick and New Canaan in overtime. The girls need eight wins to make the FCIAC tournament and as of right now this option looks promising. The team is led by seniors Taylor Wells, AnnaRae Anderson and captains Liz Calby and Leanne Stone.

The teams' next game is at home against Wethersfield at 3pm today(12/28). Wethersfield went to the class L state finals last year and started the season ranked 7th in the state. This game is part of the LaVista Tournament, which is a local tournament dedicated to Tony LaVista who was a coach and educator for both Darien High School and New Canaan High, he died suddenly at the age of 39. Come watch the girls take on Wethersfield at home in the Main Gym.
(picture taken by John Boulton)

First Win Eludes Boys' Hockey

-By Ian Sullivan-

The vigorous Darien vs. New Canaan boy’s hockey rivalry left the Blue Wave on the losing end of the post-Christmas match at home on Saturday. (12/26) The New Canaan Rams started off strong, scoring on a power play late in the first period. However, the Blue Wave came roaring back when junior Garren Fritts assisted junior attack man Dylan Torey’s goal. This evened the score at the end of the second quarter. With six minutes to go, New Canaan scored another goal securing the 2-1 victory. The New Canaan Rams out shot the Blue Wave of 35 to 18. “We did suffer a tough loss, but right now we are starting to play like a team and are starting to put it together for a whole game,” junior assistant captain Douglass Miller said. The 2-1 Rams handed Darien its fourth loss of the season. The Blue Wave hopes to seek its first win at 2pm on Wednesday (12/30) at home against Notre Dame-West Haven.

Photo of junior Douglass Miller taken by John MaGuire

Wrestling Gets Forfeit Win

-By: Brian Curry-

Wrestling received an early Christmas gift from Staples when the Westport squad faied to show up in Darien for a match on Tuesday. (12/22) This victory gives Darien added momentum when it returns to Westport on Dec 29 to face Staples, if they show up, along with Norwalk, and Trumbull. Darien has to do it all over again on Dec 30 at Trumbull. Then Darien faces Brien McMahon in Norwalk on Jan 6.

Darien's next home match will be on Jan 9 against Bethel, Seymour, Putnam Valley and Granby Memorial at 10am in the DHS main gym. Be sure to give support for the Wave's wrestling who will show up and bring along their "A" game as well. (junior Lars Remole pictured)

Ridgefield Snaps Wave

-By Jay Alter-

Blue Wave girls’ hockey lost 3-2 to Ridgefield at Darien Ice Rink on Monday. (12/21) Ridgefield snapped Darien’s three-game winning streak to put its current record to 3-1. Sophomore Sara Shaker and senior Aimee Rich both put the puck through the net to register Darien’s only two goals. “Unfortunately, we didn’t play at our best in the beginning but at the end we played our hearts out,” sophomore Sara Shaker said. The girls have a chance to recapture a win after the break when they face Staples at Shelton Ice Rink on Jan. 4.

Gasparino Breaks School Record

-By Meg Murphy-

Girls’ Indoor Track and Field team had a busy weekend. The top runners, jumpers and pole vaulters competed Friday night (12/18) at the New Haven Invitational. The Darien team took sixth place out of the 31 that scored. Senior Christy Gasparino took first in the high jump, jumping 5’4 inches. Junior Elizabeth Crafford placed fourth at the pole vault, with a height of 9 feet. An exciting moment for Gasparino was not only taking second place, but breaking the school’s triple jump record by jumping 33 feet, 9’5 inches. The record was previously held by class of ’08 grad, Nina Palmer, with a jump of 32 feet, 11.25 inches. The following day, the rest of the girls set off for the Reindeer Relays in Wilton. Gasparino took first place in both the long jump and high jump, jumping 16 feet and 5 feet, 4 inches respectively. And that’s not all; she also placed second in the 45 meter hurdles with a time of 7.72 seconds. Freshman Katie Farren took fourth place in the mile with a time of 6 minutes and 9.6 seconds. Also taking fourth, was the 4x750 team run by junior Tricia Vossler, Farren, junior Katie Grozier and sophomore Meredith Ott. With the loss of so many graduated seniors and some injured key runners, the girls’ track team has a tough season ahead of them. Check back for more updates throughout the season.

Wave Hopeful for First Home Game

-By: Connor McCarthy-

This week Blue Wave varsity hockey will be have its first home game, which surprisingly is taking place at night. (12/23) The 8:30pm game will be against Trinity Catholic at Darien Ice Rink. After the team’s first loss and a registered bollocking from Hamden, the varsity team will be looking for a good win to kick off the season, and to recover many student fans that may not have been thinking of attending games this season. A team lacking in seniors, the Wave is looking to upset Trinity. Juniors Richard Gregory and Garren Fritts, sophomores Nick Bruno, and Cam Murray, and freshmen Domenick Luongo and Brendan Hathaway all look strong on the ice and will hopefully be able to beat this Trinity side. As always, Senior Willy Love with be manning the goal. Junior Christian Nielsen, who plays JV, said that the coach (Larry Vierra) is looking for “less penalties, and a faster pace of the game.” Hopefully the Blue Wave can pull off a win, and students are encouraged to go to the game – in fact, to all future home games.

Bone Leads Bulls to Victory

-By Charles Spivey-

The Bulls topped the Spurs 30-24 at YMCA House Basketball on Sunday. (12/20) The Bulls now move to 2-0 while the Spurs fall to 1-1. Senior Stevenson Bone provided the Bulls with some outside shooting range while junior Jake Weil stole the show pulling down rebounds and putting up points in the paint. The next big match-ups take place on Jan. 10. The Spurs face the Knicks at 4pm and the Bulls face-off against the Bobcats at 3pm at Middlesex Middle School.

Celtics Pre-Christmas House Win

-By Mikel Marku-

The Celtics got an early Christmas present with a big win over the Timberwolves at Middlesex Middle School on Sunday. (12/20) In just the second week of the 11/12th grade YMCA house basketball season, the Celtics played well enough to beat the T-Wolves 45-31. Senior Travis Fitzpatick commanded the floor dropping 15 points and had many assists. The injury prone T-Wolves didn't have top senior player Reilly Harmer due to a knee injury. Junior Parker Lange jumped in to help. Senior and power forward for the Celtics Christian Holmes said, "I thought the team played well, we had a lot of chemistry. Travis a great floor manager and (junior) Graham Maybell looked like Kobe by hitting shots with a hand in his face." The 11/12th grade YMCA House season will resume after winter break on Jan. 10. Games start at 2pm and continue till 5pm at Middlesex Middle School. (pictured senior Charlie Taylor)

Wave Boys' Track off to Fast Start

-By Jake McCauley-

The Darien Boys' Indoor Track team competed at two separate events over this weekend. On Friday (12/18), the Wave sent athletes to the New Haven Invitational. At the event, junior Kevin Keller (pictured) broke the school record in the triple jump, recording a jump of a whopping 43' 3.5". Keller placed 3rd in the event. Also performing well at the meet were senior Jake McCauley and junior John Conley. Both athletes competed in the mile, finishing 3rd and 5th respectively. Both currently have the fastest qualifying time for the 1600m in the FCIAC division.

The Wave also sent athletes to the annual Reindeer Relays at Wilton High School on Saturday (12/19). Junior Kevin Keller broke another school record, however, this time in the long jump. Keller jumped 21' 4"' and broke the record. He should be a significant competitor for the Wave at the FCIAC and State meets in the jumps. However, Wave throwers felt a bit bitter about their performances. "Yeah man, I had high expectations going into the meet. But, messed up. It was my first indoor meet, I didn't really know what to expect," senior Mikel Marku said.

Darien's next meet is at Wilton High School at 9:30am on Jan. 2. The Wave will face competition from various FCIAC schools, including arch-rival New Canaan. The team hopes to continue meeting qualifying standards for both the State and FCIAC meets, as well as to send as many athletes as possible to the post-season events.

Wave Skates Hard as They Fall to Hamden

-By: Christian Nielsen-

Boy's Varsity Ice Hockey went down in its season opener against the defending D1 state champions the Hamden Dragons on Wednesday. (12/16) The first period was filled with fast-paced play on the Hamden ice, with the majority of time spent in Darien's end. No goals were scored in the first period, even with power plays for both sides. The second period started off much like the first and junior Richard Gregory finally found the back of the net with a go-ahead one timer from the high slot, with 8:19 left in the period. The 2nd period ended in favor of the Wave, leading on the scoreboard 1-0. Hamden came out flying in the 3rd period and managed to score off of a wrist shot from the high slot at 13:19 period. With only 1:41 left in the third period and the score tied, Darien drew a penalty shot off of a thrown stick that enabled Hamden to finish off the game on top, with the final score 2-1. Darien will face off against West Haven on Saturday. (12/19)

Wave Beats Harding With Fast Break

-By: Kevin Cassidy-

Darien Girls' varsity basketball slammed Harding at home on Friday (12/18) night 61-15. The Blue Wave jumped out to a 12-0 lead and never looked back. The Wave took a 36-10 lead going into the half against the Bridgeport squad. The Blue Wave showed off its powerful fast break offense, Harding was unable to match. Senior captains, Liz Calby and Leanne Stone lead the way with 12 points each. Junior star Julia Boulton said, "it was a good team effort." Assistant coach Raquel Welsh went on to say, "that even the sealed the deal early, they never stopped playing hard." The girls will face off at 3pm at home against Wethersfield on Dec 28.

Girls' Basketball Wins Thriller in OT

-By: Jack Bushell-

Girls’ basketball delivered what the boy varsity could not: a win over New Canaan on Wednesday night. (12/17) The girls' won in an overtime thriller 69-71. Upperclassmen and the younger members started to mesh in this third game of the season. Senior captain Liz Calby was a force joined by freshman Meg Marren who started strong in her first high school game. Junior Nicole Buch caught fire from beyond the arch hitting four from beyond the three-point line. This marks the teams' second win on the road. A scary moment was when freshman Kate Bushell collided with a girl in the open court and hit the floor hard. The trainer on site went over and Bushell did not play for the rest of the game. The team is also without junior Susan Biggart who has been sidelined the rest of the season with an ACL injury that happened during a game at Bassick on Dec 9. The girls’ next game will be at home against Harding on Friday. (12/18)

Rams Run Over Wave

-By Jack Bushell-

The boys' basketball was not strong enough to stop the New Canaan Rams at home on Wednesday. (12/16) New Canaan's "Bomb Squad" showed up in full force winning 55-79. Although the Bomb Squad was there, they did not have a great deal of good cheers. The Wave had just about 10 turnovers, which was sure one of the main reasons they went down. The one shining star was senior captain Phil Stueber who had seven blocks along with a good deal of points. The Waves' next game will be held at Harding High in Bridgeport on Friday. (12/18)

House Kicks Off with Four Sunday Games

-By Sam Nelson-

The long anticipation is over. 11th and 12th grade YMCA House Basketball is under way. Eight teams were in action at Middlesex on Sunday. (12/13) The first game was won by the Bulls against the Knicks. Following this game the Hornets beat the Celtics. The third game of the day saw the Spurs best the Bobcats. Rounding out this week of games is the Lakers beating the Timberwolves.
The match-up between the Celtics and the Hornets could be a reoccurring one deep in the playoffs. The Celtics, coached by Bruce Rogers, have a solid senior core, consisting of Travis Fitzpatrick, Justin Miller, and Charlie Taylor. The Hornets, coached by Richard Miller, have senior Mike Wohlberg to lead the way, and former junior member of the varsity team junior John Foster. But don’t count out the Bulls, who have a strong core of big men, with juniors Jake Weil and Tyler Pruden. This past game between the Hornets and Celtics could be a championship preview of the championship.
House Basketball has been the talk of the school over the past week. It has become popular, and people not playing are really missing out. Junior Zack Sherwood, an avid lover of House is unable to participate due to an injury. Some compare Zack to Greg Oden, lots of potential, but often injured. “House is a lifestyle, and when it’s brutally taken away from you, you don’t know what to do with yourself” Zack said.
House Basketball is serious business, and it’s finally here.

Girls Swim and Dive Team Elect Captains

-By Katherine Minion-

The Darien Girls’ Varsity Swim Team has picked its captains for the next season. The team voted junior swimmers Lindsay Tyler, Amy Sanborn, Catherine Treesh, and diver Adrianna Baker to be the new captains. “I’m very excited to lead the team next year and welcome all the new freshmen,” Tyler said. Baker says, “I know we’re losing a lot of seniors, but from what I’ve heard we have a considerable number of freshmen coming in so that should be really fun.” The team anticipates a successful season with these four girls as their leaders!

Pictured are upcoming captains Lindsay Tyler (left) and Catherine Treesh (right) and one of this season’s captains, Andrea Smelser (center).

Golden Eagles Swoop in for Win

-By: Christian Panier-

Girls’ varsity basketball caved to the power of Trumbull in a Friday night showdown. (12/11) Coming off of a strong win over Bassick on Wednesday, the girls’ faced the Golden Eagles in the main gym. Led by senior captains Liz Calby and Leanne Stone, the girls hoped to carry the momentum over from the season’s first winning game over Bridgeport. Although the game started off with DHS trailing by 11 at the close of the first quarter, the Wave rallied back with an 8 to 0 run to kick-off in the second quarter. With the Eagles only up by seven at the half, the Blue Wave was still in contention. Turnovers and fouls gave Trumbull the upper hand during the third quarter as a physical match-up ensued. The Wave was only able to put up three points during the entire fourth quarter, making the final score 52-34. The Wave is hoping to regain its momentum heading into Wednesday’s away game against the New Canaan Rams at 7 pm.

Pictured: junior Julia Boulton #14 & freshman Meg Marren #21

Girls' Ice Hockey Shuts Down Fairfield

-By: Daniel Campbell-

The girls’ hockey team got off to a good start on the way to defending its state title with a 2-0 home win over a combined team of Fairfield Ludlowe and Warde on Wednesday. (Dec. 9) Junior Emma Tuz scored the team’s first goal of the season several minutes into the second after a pass from fellow junior Lauren Perkins. The final period produced another goal, this time by senior Aimee Rich on a rebound. “Winning the first game of a season is never a bad thing. It was definitely not as solid of a victory as we’d had against Fairfield in years past, but it’s still early in the season,” junior Taylor Holcomb said. The team’s next game is at home Saturday (Dec. 12) against Notre Dame of Fairfield at 6:40pm.

JV and Varsity Maul Bassick Lions

-By: Jack Bushell-

In the first game of the season, both the girls' varsity and the junior varsity beat the Bassick Lions in Bridgeport on Wednesday. (12/9) The varsity final score was 74-29 and the junior varsity game was 52-11. In a game where Bassick certainly did not get home court advantage, the Wave won handily with dominating defense. Seniors Leanne Stone, Liz Calby, Taylor Wells and AnnaRae Anderson led the varsity team to a great win. Varsity Coach Gary Peterson has two new coaches that will coach the JV and Freshman teams. Brian Byrne(pictured right along with Amy Bigart #11) is the coach of the JV team and Pete Perillo is the coach of the freshman team. The men have a longtime professional partnership. They worked together at Notre Dame High School.
Pete's freshman squad took the night off tonight as Bassick could not field a freshman team. Assisting Peterson on the varsity bench will be second-year coach Raquel Welsh, who ran the New York Marathon this past month and qualified for the Boston Marathon. The Girls' basketball team looks strong this year with both of these convincing wins. The girls hope to make it two in a row with a win over Trumbull at home in the main gym at 7pm on Friday. (12/11)

(Kate Bushell pictured with the ball)

*Follow this link to read more about Raquel's Marathon run: www.darienps.org/neirad/0912raquelwelsh.php

Girls Join Wrestling Squad

-By Lisa Randall-

The DHS wrestling team is starting its season with some unexpected new members: six girls have joined the team. Juniors Cindy Gaete, Lili Balian, sophomores Stephanie Gaete and Meg Ritcher and freshmen Natasha Green and Hayley Rissalo are going to the mats. The girls will wrestle from weight classes ranging from 103 to 145. “We haven’t had a 103 since Joey Testa who graduated in 2007. Now we’ll have four, maybe five,” junior wrestler Connor Beaumont said. Beaumont also said, “Considering we have a lot of new kids as well as experienced veterans”, he expects that the team will have a successful season. “From weight classes 119 to 145 we are a power house,” he added. Beaumont’s sister and team manager junior Abby Beaumont said that the loss of Class of ’09 grads Matt Liguori, Tom Bassford, and James Geddes will impact the season but not enough to cause a dramatic setback. Captains this season are seniors Justin Marks (pictured above), Jon Lewis and juniors Dimitri Chagares and Lars Remole.

Berizzi Joins D-1 Loyola Swimming

-By Kathryn Saulitis-

The season may be over for the Darien girls swim team, but it is far from over for senior Sam Berizzi. Sam was one of the captains of the powerhouse girls swim team, and will continue swimming on the division 1 level at Loyola University in Maryland. It is clear that talent in the water runs in family, as Sam’s aunt made it to the U.S. Olympic swim team. Inspired by her aunt, Sam started swimming at the age of six for the Darien Piranhas and the Club Innis Arden in Greenwich. Sam has stuck with it for so many years because she says, “I really love the sport just because of the racing and the friends I have made throughout the years.” Sam’s years in training showed this season, as the team had a record of 8-1. The one loss was to rival, Greenwich, which Sam says, “was a tough meet” Sam only lost one event throughout the duel meet season, but she credits her success to her team by saying, “I could not have done any of it without the support of my team and the large senior class that brought us to victory in both the FCIAC and State meets.” The FCIAC win was especially impressive, because Darien girls swimming has never taken home the title.
Sam was a part of more than just those two titles, she, along with seniors Cali Ceglarski, Katie Rohn, and Katie Orem, was also a member of the freestyle relay that broke the Class M record at States. Along with crediting her team for her success, Sam also credits her coach, Marj Trifone. Sam says, “Marj was very compassionate to everyone throughout the entire season which made us achieve our goals. We couldn’t have made it this far without our coach pushing us every day.” As for her future, swimming at the collegiate level, Sam knows it will be tough and time consuming but to her it is worth it because she says, “I enjoy the sport because of what I get back and achieve from it.” With Sam’s determination to win and passion for swimming, it is clear that she will find success in Maryland.