The Girls Stay Perfect, Boys Remain 3-4

-By Ian Sullivan-

The Darien High School Ski Team competed in its second event at Mount Southington against Litchfield, Amity, and Staples High School on Wednesday. (1/25) After finishing first in Class S division last year, the girls ski team had a strong day, beating all three schools and continuing a 6-0 undefeated record. Junior captain Meg Del Col added to the girls’ remarkable run placing second overall. “I was very happy to stay undefeated and we hope to keep our undefeated run further into the season,” Meg said. The boys’ ski team pulled off a victory against Amity, however ended up in two tough losses to both Litchfield and Staples High School ending with a 3-4 record. Senior captain Andrew Del Col (pictured), who finished first in one of his two runs and placed third overall, said, “I am very happy of our effort and look forward to a strong second half of the season.” The Ski team’s next event will be on Feb. 7 at Mount Southington against Daniel Hand, Farmington, and Southington High School at 4:45pm. Come support the Blue Wave on the ski fields.

Westhill Sinks Boys’ Swim Team

-By Katherine Minion-
Boys’ varsity swim team lost its home meet at the Darien YMCA against Westhill Co-op Swim Team on Wednesday. (1/27) Although the boys suffered a 77-109 loss, there were a few notable performances. Sophomore diver Tim Murphy, and junior swimmer Chris Weihs, swam a 1:51:10 in the 200-yard freestyle. “Experience is not what happens to a man- experience is what a man does with what happens to him. We will grow stronger from this defeat. Our team is like muscles- you tear us up, but we grow back even bigger and better,” Weihs said. The team is now preparing for its next meet against Ridgefield on Feb. 10.

Girls Perfect , Boys Drop to 3-4

-By: Ian Sullivan-

The Darien High School Ski Team competed in its second event at Mount Southington against Litchfield, Amity, and Staples High School on Wednesday. (1/25) After finishing first in Class S division last year, the girls ski team had a strong day, beating all three schools and continuing a 6-0 undefeated record. Junior captain Meg Del Col added to the girls’ remarkable run placing second overall. “I was very happy to stay undefeated and we hope to keep our undefeated run further into the season,” Meg said. The boys’ ski team pulled off a victory against Amity, however ended up in two tough losses to both Litchfield and Staples High School ending with a 3-4 record. Senior captain Andrew Del Col, who finished first in one of his two runs and placed third overall, said, “I am very happy of our effort and look forward to a strong second half of the season.” The Ski team’s next event will be on Feb. 7 at Mount Southington against Daniel Hand, Farmington, and Southington High School at 4:45pm. Come support the Blue Wave on the ski fields.

Basketball Wins One of Two

-By Jack Bushell-

Girls’ varsity basketball split the two away games with a win against Greenwich (1/19) and a loss against Trinity Catholic (1/22). At Greenwich, the Wave showed a lot of heart coming back with two minutes to play to win 40-37. The leadership by the seniors and the captains really powered the team to the win not to mention junior Nicole Buch’s (pictured) shooting from beyond the three-point arch.
In the Trinity Catholic game the Wave lost 59-41. The girls kept the game close but in the second half Trinity went on a run the Wave could not stop. The DHS squad had no help from the referees who many agreed did not call an accurate game to put it mildly. At one point there was a foul on a Darien player under the basket and the referee blew his whistle and called a foul on a player who wasn’t even on the court. As two players were fighting for the ball, the referee called a timeout for the other team when it was supposed to be a jump ball and Trinity didn’t even call the timeout. As a final consensus, many are calling for a reexamination of particular referees.
The Wave will take on Staples on Tuesday (1/26) and at Ridgefield on Friday (1/29) both have 7pm starts at DHS. Ridgefield is tied for the number one spot in the FCIAC while Staples is 6th in the FCIAC. Both will be great games so come watch!

Blue Wave Gymnastics Drown Trumbull and Weston

-By Laura Durham-

Continuing with a great season, Blue Wave Gymnastics beat both Weston and Trumbull on Sunday (1/23) with a team score of 139.9. It was a home meet, so the girls were greatly supported by family and friends, who made for a loud and enthusiastic cheering section.

Juniors Morgan Whitehead and captain Charlotte Morgan had a great meet, competing in all four events, as did sophomores Katherine Mosher and Katie Southworth. Sophomore Kiriko Masek competed on vault, beam, and floor. Freshman Lauren Medwid performed well on vault, beam, and floor, and freshman Beau Taylor did vault. The girl’s next meet is Feb. 6 at home, so come and add to the girls’ strong support system!

Boys’ Swimming and Diving Routs Fairfield

-By Daniel Campbell-

Darien boys swimming finished first in all but two events against Fairfield Co-op at home. This gave the boys a 129-57 win on Jan 22. “The kids broke out early in the meet and never looked back,” swim team coach Matt Czaplicki said. Junior Chris Weihs and seniors Wes Dean, Sam Jackson, and Rick Terhune (pictured) won the 200-yard medley relay; junior Jake Greene won the 50 freestyle; junior Rahul Datta won the 200 freestyle; and freshman Tim Murphy won the diving event. James Baker, whom Coach Czaplicki called “our star freshman,” won the 500 freestyle after returning earlier than expected from surgery last week. “This meet was important to my kids because it was our last chance to solidify our line-up before our huge meet on Wednesday (1/27) against the Westhill/Stamford High Co-op,” Coach Czaplicki said. The boys enter the Jan 27 meet with a 5-1-1 record. Don’t miss the action at 3pm at home this Wednesday. Photo caption: Sam Jackson and Rick Terhune cheer on 200-freestyle relay to victory.

Girls Basketball Wins in Final Minutes

(Freshman Kate Bushell pictured above)
-By: Jack Bushell-

Darien girls’ basketball beat the Greenwich Cardinals at Greenwich on Tuesday night. (1/19) In the final minutes of the game the girls nailed it 40-37. The Cardinals did not score once in the final two minutes, while Darien went on a seven-point run. Keeping the Wave in the game up to this point was junior guard Nicole Buch who was the sharp-shooter from behind the three-point arch sinking 5 threes and having a game high of 19 points.

The other premier guard, senior Liz Calby, had her only bucket in the final two minutes, but it counted for much more than just three points. That bucket kept the pressure on Greenwich, which they could not overcome. The Cardinals were led by senior captain Erin Laney who had 14 points in a hard loss for the Cardinals. This win secures the Wave's place in the state tournament. This is the team’s second win over Greenwich, the first coming in the La Vista tournament. The next game for the Wave will be away at 5:30pm at Trinity Catholic in Stamford on Friday. (1/22)

The next game for the wave will be away at Trinity Catholic on Friday(1/22) at 5:30pm.

Wave Wins 2 More

-By: Jack Bushell-


The Blue Wave girls basketball team had an upset win over Stamford 53-43 on Jan. 12 and a solid win over Wilton 47-35 on Jan. 15. Both victories coming on BWP home court. As of right now the team is tied with Trinity Catholic in the seventh spot in the FCIAC. However, that is not as good as it sounds – the girls are one of five teams with only two losses. The team is ranked 16th in Class L. If the girls finish in one of the top 16 spots they will get a home game during this tournament.

Next up for the girls is a game against Greenwich at Greenwich at 7pm on Tuesday. (1/19) If the girls win they qualify for States. The team has already beaten Greenwich in the La Vista tournament over the Christmas holiday break. (Unfortunately, that game did not count for an FCIAC win) After the Greenwich game the team faces its toughest opponents yet with games at Trinity Catholic, Staples, Ridgefield and St. Joes.

As the season hits the midway point it looks like nine teams are fighting for the 8th spot in the FCIAC, also being the last spot in the FCIAC tournament. (the first eight teams make the tourney) This Wave team hopes to turn the basketball program around in Darien after a dismal season last year that ended with a mere three wins. With the boy's team always losing, the girls are the lone bright spot for DHS basketball in 2010.
(Senior captain Liz Calby pictured above. *Picture taken by John Boulton*)

Bulls Sting Hornets

-By Sam Nelson-

The Bulls remained in the top position with a convincing 55-36 win over the Hornets. The score was tied 19-19 at the half, and then the Bulls turned it up a notch to win by 19. Junior Tyler Pruden was the Bulls’ leading scorer with 17 points. Sophomore Jake Weil was the next highest with 11. A rookie to House, junior Peter McDonough put up a solid 10 points in his fourth game in the YMCA league. For the Hornets, junior John Foster lit up the scoreboard in the first half scoring 13 points. Foster then went on to score 10 more in the second for a total of 23 points. Foster also made House history, with the first ever goal tending call. Junior Tommy Farren went up for the lay-up and Foster followed behind him and went up for the thrilling block, but was unfortunately called for the goal tending call. The teams are back on the Middlesex Middle School court on Jan 24. The Bulls take on Celtics at 4pm and the Hornets face the Bobcats at 2pm.

Photo: A Hornet player attempting a foul shot.

Girls Ski Into First Place

-By Andi Cara-

The Blue Wave girls’ ski team has moved into first place with a win over Ridgefield. It was the girls’ first race of the season, which put them into first place on Jan. 6. The team was lead by junior captain Meg Del Col (pictured) who placed second in the conference. Senior Alex Bair and freshman Courtney Kyritz followed placing ninth and 18th respectively out of 81 girls. The team's next big challenge is at the State Shootout on Jan. 25.

Girls Track Cleans Up in Westport

-By Chrissy Wiegand-

Girl’s track took top honors at Staples High School’s Nistico Fieldhouse in Westport for FCIAC Trial Meet #5 on Saturday. (1/16) Starting strong, senior Meg Murphy took third in the girl’s 50-meter dash with at time of 7.4 seconds. Senior Sam Simon took first in the girl’s 300-meter dash with a time of 46.1 seconds. Darien continues to shine as Juniors Megan Keane and Amanda Dobler took first and second in the girl’s 600-meter run with times of 1:48.3 and 1:48.7, respectively. Darien’s senior Kelly Brophy took first in the girls 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:20.8, and senior Christy Gasparino took first in the girls 50-meter hurdles with a time of eight seconds.

Darien made a strong showing in the relays, taking second in the 4x240 meter relay (raced by junior Elizabeth Crafford, freshman Sophie Long, freshman Liz Heaney, and senior Meg Murphy), took first in the girls 4x400 meter relay (raced by junior Megan Keane, sophomore Katie Donovan, senior Cat Thomas, and junior Amanda Dobler), and took first in the girls 1,600 sprint medley (raced by sophomore Caity Lowden, senior Ann Fucigna, senior Meg Murphy, and freshman Katie Farren). Elizabeth Crafford also took first in pole vault, and Christy Gasparino took first in girls long jump. Darien’s underclassmen show promise as sophomore Brooke Connors and freshman Kristy Gilbert took second and third in girls shot put.

Lakers Remain Undefeated

-By Mikel Marku-

The Lakers beat the Spurs 29-24 in YMCA House Basketball on Sunday. (1/17) The win extends the Lakers winning streak to four games and puts them in a tie for first place with the Bulls. (4-0) The Spurs, on the other hand, fell with a third straight loss giving them a 1-3 record. The Lakers had a strong start and kept it halfway through the second half. In the last 10 minutes the Spurs made solid defensive stops and put themselves back into the game. Lakers point guard senior George Benitez (pictured shooting the ball) used his quarterback instincts to take command of the floor and led his team to a decisive victory. DHS students are more than welcome to come to House games which run 2p-6p on Sundays at Middlesex Middle School.

Celtics Blow by Knicks

-By Brian Curry-

The Celtics nearly doubled up on the Knicks beating them 60-31 on Sunday. (1/17) The win moves the Celtics to a now .500 record at 2-2 while the Knicks fall to 2-2. The Celtics led by star junior Graham Maybell used a high scoring attack that proved too much for the Knicks. The Knicks won two in a row after a first game blowout by the Bulls, but unfortunately, the Knicks took it a step in the wrong direction. Both teams face the two lone undefeated teams next weekend. The Knicks square off against the Lakers at 5pm and the Celtics play the Bulls at 4pm Sunday (1/24) at Middlesex Middle School.

Ski Team Set to Tear Up Slopes

-By: Christian Panier-

Senior captains Andrew Del Col and Rob Goeler say the boys ski team plans to shred its way to post-season competition. “The boys have a good shot at making states this year,” Del Col said. Not many students have seen the team’s other captain around school. That’s because he’s not actually a DHS student. Rob Goeler attends the Academy of Informational Technology and Engineering (AITE) in Stamford but lives in Darien, which makes Goeler team eligible. The Girls’ team is also building up to a potentially great season. Junior captain Meg Del Col (pictured) and senior captains Alex Bair and Lauren Duwan along with the other girls are in good position to go far in States and potentially finish first in the S Division. Both the boys’ and girls’ captains are competing in a GS Shootout to try to make Team Connecticut and get ready for the next team race on Jan. 27.

Team Connecticut page: http://www.cislracing.org/team_ct.html

Boy's Track Goes to Yale

-By:Jake McCauley-

The Blue Wave boy's track team sent its top runners to participate in the Yale High School Track and Field Classic on Friday and Saturday. (1/15-16) The meet takes place both days at Coxe Cage on the Yale campus in New Haven. The team will be sending a contingent of sprinters to participate in the 300-meter race on Friday. Some athletes to watch are junior Kevin Keller, junior captain Stockton McMullin (pictured), senior captain Brent Eppley, as well as seniors Jack Bushell and Stevenson Bone.

Keller has a legitimate shot to take down the school record. Going in, Keller is the fourth seed. Also on Friday, a squad of 800 runners will compete in the 4x800 meter relay. This team will consist of seniors Sean Gill (pictured), Alex Reynoso, and captain Brandon Tripodi (pictured). Sophomore Matt Pik rounds out the crew.

On Saturday morning, the team is sending an onslaught of distance runners to compete in the 3,000- meter race. These runners include members of the state champion cross country team. Senior captain Jake McCauley (pictured) and junior John Conley (pictured) both look to make some noise in the event, shooting for under the tough 9:00 benchmark which is roughly 9:40 over two miles. Other stand outs will be junior David Watson (pictured) and sophomore Charlie Baird. The team will also be represented well by senior Alex Reynoso (pictured) in the mile.

After the meet on Friday, the team will have one more developmental meet at Staples at 9am on Jan. 23, the last qualifier meet before divisionals, FCIACs, States, and State Opens. Stay tuned for the results from this weekend at the Yale High School Classic Invitational.

Knights Slay Wave Basketball

-By: Kevin Cassidy-

Blue Wave Varsity Basketball team traveled to Stamford to rack up yet another loss against the Black Knights on Tuesday. (1/12) The boys did not have have much success going down 78-51. Stamford quickly jumped out to a 20-8 lead after the first quarter. The Blue Wave was able to stay with the Black Knights in the second quarter but were still down 37-22 at the half.

"Stamford was a good team, however the score doesn't indicate how well we played," junior Ian Sullivan said. The Blue Wave lost its momentum in the second half. Senior Captain Phil Stueber had one of his best games leading the Wave with more than 20 points. The next game for boys varsity is away at Wilton at 7pm on Friday. (1/15)

Basketball Mid- Season Record

-By: Jack Bushell-

The girls basketball team split its games this week, losing @ Norwalk 57-39, then winning a bruising game @ Fairfield Ludlowe 32-24 on Friday (1/8). The Wave were led against Ludlowe by senior captain Leanne Stone, who kicked three field goals for 9 points, and junior Nicole Buch, who scored 7 points, her clutch free throwing down the stretch were key. Scorekeeper Julie Buch pointed out the refs called 5 fouls in total the first half, and 17 the second half. As Coach Gary said afterwards, that wasn’t a game, that was a fight. A tasty win, for sure!
The girls currently sit in an 8th place tie with Trinity Catholic, both holding a 4-2 record.
The Waves faces the Stamford Knights on Tuesday (1/11) at home at 7pm. Stamford currently sits in second place in the FCIAC with a record of 6-1 in FCIAC play. Stamford had its first loss of the season on Jan 5 at the hands of the New Canaan Rams by 14 points. The Wave beat New Canaan at their place in overtime by a single point. The top eight teams make the FCIAC tournament while the team needs three more wins for states.
(senior captain Liz Calby pictured front/ freshman Kate Bushell pictured back)
Standings:
1) Ridgefield
2) Stamford
3) Staples
4) Danbury
5) St. Joes
6) New Canaan
7) Trumbull
8) Darien
9) Trinity Catholic
10) Central

Picture and information compiled by John Boulton

House Hoops Bounces Back After Winter Break

-By: Darius Majd-

It’s been three weeks since the YMCA basketball league went on a hiatus over winter break. But that hasn’t cooled down the stars of the 11th/12th grade division. All eight teams were back in action on Sunday (1/10), providing four more of the exciting basketball games that fans have come to expect. The Hornets started things off with a big over Timberwolves. The Hornets, led by junior John Foster, improved to 2-1 in a close but decisive game over the 0-3 Timberwolves. “They played with a lot of effort and intensity on defense, and they just kept hitting their shots,” junior Timberwolf Justin Pryor said.
Next came a showdown with the Bulls beating the Bobcats. The Bulls showed why they are considered by many to be the best team, easily improving to 3-0 and putting up 60 points to beat the 0-3 Bobcats.
Then came a game between two .500 teams: the Spurs and the Knicks. The Knicks got strong efforts from junior Ben Preston and senior Brandon Tripodi, and held off a late rally to lead the Knicks to a two-point win in a defensive struggle.
Finally, there was a high-scoring yet competitive game between the 1-1 Celtics and the 2-0 Lakers. In the end, the Lakers combo of senior Brent Eppley (who put up 24 points) and senior George Benitez prevailed. “Brent was simply on fire,” junior Evan Rogers said.
For those who have yet to experience the intensity of a house basketball game, and want to witness the athletic prowess consistently on display, the 11th/12th grade teams play from 2p to 6p at Middlesex Middle School each Sunday.

Pictured: Junior house superstar Jake Weil watches a shot.

Girls Hockey Guts Guilford

-By: Kevin Cassidy-

Girls varsity hockey team landed a 4-0 win against Guilford High School on Thursday night (1/7). “It was a good team effort; we really showed up to play today,” senior captain and goalie Katharine Macomber said. The Wave got on the board first in the first period with a goal by junior Emma Tuz. The second period was scoreless but it was clear Blue Wave was dominating on the power play. The third period was all Darien; they were able to score three goals. Two goals came in the first five minutes - the first from junior Lacey Perticone and a second from Emma Tuz. The last goal put the game away. It was scored on an empty net by senior captain Madeline Coburn. The girls’ next game is away against Ridgefield next Wednesday. (1/13)

A Late Prayer Secures Wave Victory

-By Ian Sullivan-

After coming off a strong win against a competitive Norwalk team, the boys freshmen basketball team beat Fairfield Ludlowe at home on Friday (1/5). The 1-2 Blue Wave came firing out of the gate with early scores by freshmen Kyle Green and freshmen Patrick Henry. However, the Ludlowe Falcons came roaring back with a handful of tough drives to end the half at a comfortable 20-11 lead. The third quarter wasn’t much better for the Wave, with Ludlowe securing a lead with a couple costly fouls. Once the fourth quarter started, Liam Naughton and company turned it on by a couple clutch threes closing in on the Falcons 38-37. With nine seconds to go, freshmen Andrew Malley took the ball up court and hit a fade away jumper to take a 39-38 lead and the game. Malley had given the Blue Wave its second win under substitute coach Jared Cross. When asked about the game, Malley said, “It was a tough Fairfield team and I’m really proud of all our players’ effort.“ Check out the Wave try to make it three in a row against Wilton at the Warrior’s home court next Friday (1/15) at 3:45 pm.

Fairfield Ludlowe Downs Blue Wave

-By Justin Pryor-

Boys varsity basketball team lost 71-51 to Fairfield Ludlowe on Friday. (1/8) This leaves the boys with a 1-5 record. The team played hard, but was unable to crawl back even with their best performance coming in the second half. The Wave was led by seniors Mike Lee and Phil Stueber who had 13 and 12 points respectively. “We could have won if we played like we had in the beginning of the fourth quarter,” junior Christian Papic said. The team’s next game is Tuesday (1/12) at 7pm against Stamford at Stamford High School as they look for their first league win of the season.

Strong Start for the Gymnastics Team

-By: Laura Durham-

The girls’ gymnastics team is off to a great beginning, winning their first two competitions. They beat Trumbull with a score of 134.2 on Tuesday. (1/5) Juniors Charlotte Morgan, Elsa Imbimbo, and Morgan Whitehead, and sophomores Katie Southworth and Katherine Mosher, all competed in four events, vault, bars, beam, and floor. Freshman Marya Von Schmidt competed in the vault and bars events, while sophomore Kiriko Masek competed in beam and floor.
Come and support the gymnasts at their first home meet next Saturday (1/16) at the Darien YMCA Gymnastics Center in Goodwives Shopping Center.

Hockey Nets First Win

-By: Christian Nielsen-

Darien hockey finally got its first win on Monday (1/4) against Greenwich at Dorothy Hamel Ice rink in Greenwich. Although it seemed Darien would fall to 0-6 at the beginning as Greenwich made two quick goals at 11:23 and 10:09, Darien was brought back into the game by freshman Dominick Luongo at 9:50, assisted by team captain, junior Richard Gregory. Unfortunately, Greenwich was given a controversial goal after a player scored while clearly in the crease, but the goal was not called off, giving Greenwich a 3-1 lead with only 1:34 left in the period. With the first period coming to an end, the Wave called a time-out to regain their composure going into the second period. As if someone had ignited a spark in the Wave’s offense, Darien went on a five-goal streak during the second period, dominating the ice throughout. The streak was started by freshman Brandon Hathaway at 14:15, and continued through junior Richard Gregory shortly after at 11:28. Up next was sophomore John Baker, followed by Luongo once again at 8:37. To end the period, junior Sean Fahey scored with 6:14 remaining, and as both teams walked back to their locker rooms, the Greenwich fans were silent. New life was seen in the Greenwich offense during the third period, taking advantage of a seemingly early celebration from the Wave. Greenwich brought the score to 6-4 at 11:11, and then to 6-5 at 1:47. With the crowd going wild, Greenwich pulled out all the stops to tie up the game, but even a pull of the goalie couldn’t win the game. Darien now stands 1-5 and hopes to continue winning on Saturday (1/9) at home against Immaculate of Danbury.

Wave Falls Hard to Norwalk

-By: Jay Alter-

Blue Wave varsity basketball was dominated by Norwalk senior Evan Kelly who led NHS to an away victory at Darien High School on Tuesday. (1/5) Darien was up 27-17 in the 1st half controlling the tempo, however, the tides quickly turned for the Wave as they fell 80-50. Senior Captain Mike Lee was in foul trouble all night and fellow senior captain, Wes Blummer, a three-year varsity starter, was sidelined with a knee injury. The Wave was forced to start and play two freshmen, Henry Baldwin and Matt Forelli (pictured), for the majority of the game. Head Coach Tom O’Donnell said, “There’s about as much negative as there is positive that came out of this game.” The Wave’s next game is this Friday at home versus Fairfield Ludlowe. Darien is still searching for its first FCIAC win as Tom O’Donnell’s seat may be getting a little hot, having only one a single game this whole year.