Wave is Spiking Down the Competition One Hit at a Time

Lexi Dansker

Tyler Herget spiking the ball. Courtesy of Dave Stewart. 

Darien High School Boys Volleyball team beat New Canaan on Wednesday April 24th. At the start of the Game, the wave sided out quickly with a missed serve from New Canaan and an ace from senior Tyler Herget. Throughout the game, players made an effort to get to every ball. Junior setter Jackson Leone caught the Rams by surprise by giving them a setter dump and a lead over them. The teams energy, communication, and effort led them to victory on the first set with Darien scoring 25 points and New Canaan scoring 15.

During the second set, New Canaan started to have a comeback and was leading by 4 points. However, Darien cough up quickly and eventually the score was 25 all. The wave kept on fighting and came through with another win of 28 to 26.

In the final set, the Wave had some killer spikes which gave them a strong lead. The final score was 25 to 18.

In the JV game, the Wave started out on the right foot with multiple spikes and aces. Sophomore middle Frank Pirone had a killer block and JV boys crushed New Canaan 25 to 6. In the second set, they started out behind but they quickly got up to the Rams and the score was 25-23. "It is going to be a pretty good season and we are going to do great things" sophomore Zarek Swetye said.

The wave have won 9 out of 10 games and are unbeaten in the FCIAC. Their next home game is against Ridgefield on Monday April 29th in the main gym. 

Darien Varsity Girls Lacrosse Team Fights for the Win

Sofia Bender

Nicole Humphrey playing against Staples' defense. Photo Credit: Dave Stewart

The day finally arrived for the Darien varsity girls lacrosse team to play against the infamous Bishop Ireton, coming all the way from Alexandria, Virginia. For weeks, Darien had been preparing for April 25th to arrive. With high expectations to be fulfilled, Darien was ready to dominate.

Nicole Humphrey, #1, begins the draw passing it to her teammates. Adrenaline running through each athlete, pressure to maintain the ball begins to build rapidly in the first few minutes of the game. Humphrey scores flawlessly in the first two minutes of the period. Turning the tides around, Aubrey Williams from Bishop Ireton scores on goal keeper, Shea Dolce, in less then three seconds after the last goal, making the score 1-1.

Sarah Jaques, #17, scores second point at 20:26 in the first period. But, six minutes after scoring, accidental hit performed by Jaques and Darien receives a yellow card with 14 minutes and 24 seconds remaining in the period. Darien didn’t let a yellow card prevent them from performing well.

With three minutes left in the period, Shea van den Broek, #16, scores assisted by Humphrey, making the score 3-2. The intensity between Bishop and Darien increases rapidly. Bishop takes the opportunity to score once again, score tied 3-3 at the end of the first period.

After halftime, Darien gets back into action, determined to beat Bishop. With multiple goals made one after another, by the end of the second half, Darien and Bishop continued tied with a score of 10-10 leading to overtime. With five minutes left, Darien needed to score one last point. Final goal was scored by Humphrey once again making Darien victorious.

The girls definitely stepped up to win this game. Playing with determination granted the win for Darien. Brianna Lyons, #15, said " We were really strong in the first half, and we played incredible the second since we came back from a three point deficient. And we won in sudden death, thanks to Nicole Humphrey”. Throughout the whole game, supporting fans can clearly see the amount of dedication and practice Darien places into their sports. Stop by and watch the girls play another incredible game on April 29th on Darien High School stadium field at 4 pm.

Wave Girls Lax Have High Hopes for the New Season

Amelia Fordyce 

On April 18, the Darien High School Varsity Girls Lacrosse team played Radnor (PA)  High School. The game took place here at Stadium field. Darien won 10-6. They wave have had a great start to their season, let’s hope that they continue their success.

Track is Back!!

Sophomore Charlotte Sulger sails in the 300 meter hurdles. (Photo credit, Darien Times.)

Girls Spring Track has kicked off its season with a bang as this past weekend a select number of runners attended the 39th O'Grady Relays at Bethel High School. 

The participants left Darien High School at 7am, and arrived just in time to start the meet at 9:30am. 

To start it off freshman Mairead Clas finished 3rd in the 3000 meters, with a outstanding time of 10:45.59. Just a little way behind her was senior Daphne Cutler, finishing 12th with a time of 11:18.36. 

Junior Kaitlyn Popson impressed the coaches in the triple jump with a 31’ 04”, as she finished 12th of 41 participants. Lastly, Lana Schmidt tied for 6th at 8’00” in the pole vault.

While the team’s results were impressive, it was said to have been a poor representation of how the Blue Wave typically performed. Varsity runner Colleen Cassidy described her experience, as “competitive and exilerting. It was a bit windy for my liking (which threw her and her teammates off a bit), but it was a fun way to spend our weekend, celebrating the 39th O'Grady Relays!” 

The team hopes to impress the crowds with its upcoming meets! Be sure to come support Girls Track at Trumbull High School on May 1st at 4:00pm, before you miss your chance!

Freshmen Best Stamford 15-11

By Neirad staff

On Thursday, April 25 at 4:00, the Darien High School Freshman Baseball team played the Stamford High School Freshman Baseball team at home. Pitcher Brady Campbell let up 8 runs in the first inning, all of them being earned. The Blue Wave took this setback in stride and ended up putting a couple runs back up by the end of the second inning. 

Campbell said: “I just went out there and threw strikes and let them hit. My coach didn’t have a problem with this and put me back out there in the second inning, where I let up zero runs. Just one inning where a team hits happens once in a while.” 

Darien ended up bouncing back with 3 runs in both the second and third innings, assisted by a triple by Brady Campbell in the second inning, followed by a single by Adam MacDonald and a double by Jack Grayeb. 

On defense after that first inning, Darien only let up three more runs, with Stamford scoring 11 runs in total. Darien finished the game with 15 runs. 

Darien Freshman’s next game is Monday, April 29th at Fairfield.

Darien Rugby falls to Ridgefield 26-19

By Hugh Hearns

On Wednesday, April 24, the Darien Rugby team lost by a score of 26-19 to Ridgefield High School. The game was back and forth, and featured lots of offense from both sides. Ridgefield struck first minutes into the game as their Forwards crashed their way over the line. Darien fired back quickly once it’s backs got their hands on the ball after a turbulent first ten minutes. Griffin Martens touched down for Darien’s first try of the game, with Andrew Donovan slotting the conversion for a 7-5 Darien lead. The first half came to a close with a score of 14-12, as both teams scored once again with a brilliant try for Darien being scored by Dougie Brown after a long run.

    As the game entered the second half, once again Ridgefield shot out to a quick start, scoring two tries in a row, the only occasion in the game that happened. Late in the game Darien snatched one score back and pushed for another one, but a penalty allowed Ridgefield to kick the ball out of play and end the game. The final score was a 26-19 loss for Darien, who have shown massive improvement as one year ago they lost to Ridgefield by 50 points. It was anyone's game, as both teams looked threatening with ball in hand. Darien's next game is away at Staples on Monday at 5:30 p.m., and they play a Stadium game on Friday the 3rd against Southington at 6:30 p.m.

DHS Varsity Sailing Starts Season

Libby Markham

This Wednesday, March 27th, the Darien High School Varsity Sailing team competed against Rye Country Day School and Staples in their first regatta of the season. The boats that competed were Addie Spain and Lauren Miller, another with Lane Anderson and Anna Seymour, and another with Isabel Infurna and Anna Corney. The team won against Rye Country Day School and lost to Staples. 

“We sailed well for our first regatta of the season,” senior Addie Spain said. “We have a lot of slack to pick up in the next few weeks but the team has been working together well.”

            The team will be competing next at Pequot Yacht Club against Fairfield Prep and Greens Farms Academy on April 3rd.

Seniors Addie Spain and Lauren Miller sailing out of Noroton Yacht Club