9/25

The Fall sports season has gotten off to a great start, with all of our teams performing exceptionally well. With a friendlier summer of weather, the falcons returned to beautifully conditioned fields and a great gym surface on which to practice and compete.

Volleyball entered the season with more than half the team being new to IMS Volleyball as well as a new coach, Ms. McAfee. Despite the difficult transition, many of the new faces combined with returners to quickly start making progress. The girls have competed twice against Hotchkiss and once against Taft. Despite not winning any of these matches, the girls played very well against much larger and more athletic foes. Returners Maria-Victoria Liberati and Kayla Cui are great leaders and provided many good serves and receptions in the early matches. As the team grows and develops, many favorable outcomes are on the horizon.

Girls Soccer returned almost every starter from a year ago and added a few very talented girls. With starting goalie Ore Tejuoso still out due to injury, 8th grader Ava Marti has stepped into net and been impressive, giving up only a couple of goals total in her three starts. In the first match against Hotchkiss, the girls came away with a 2-1 victory thanks to great defense and some key goals in the second half. The falcons followed that up with two more victories against Renbrook and Berkshire, 2-0 and 6-2 respectively. 9th graders Ellie Traggio and Jin Chey lead a potent offense while Sarah Swendsen anchors a stellar defense. The girls end a successful September campaign on Wednesday against Millbrook.

Boys Varsity Soccer came into the season with very high expectations after adding many new, dynamic players. Building on the young core of the team, many new faces have slid into positions vacated by students who departed last spring. Tyrese Caines makes his presence felt all over the field and Aidan Williams-McKracken brings a level of explosiveness and power for which opposing teams cannot account. The boys started off strong against Gunnery, winning 5-0 behind a great performance in net by Kayo Wiggins. They followed up that victory with another win, 6-0, over Salisbury. Finally, the boys continued the winning streak with an 8-2 victory over rival Rumsey Hall.

JV Boys Soccer looks to build on a successful year last year with even more success this Fall. The team is a combination or 7th graders who played Middle School soccer last year, varsity hopefuls, and new students. In the first game against Salisbury Central School, the boys struggled to find cohesiveness offensively, despite controlling the middle of the field. 7th grader Andrew Rainville netted the Falcon’s only goal as they lost 3-1. In the next match against Berkshire Country Day School, the boys found their stride. Lead by 9th grader Mason Popowitz’s two goals, they won a hard fought battle, 3-0. The boys kept rolling on Monday with a 4-1 win over Renbrook.

Middle School Soccer hit the ground running this Fall and picked right where they left off last year. Despite losing many of last years team, the remaining students and new arrivals have proven a tough out in any match. Against Mizzentop, they won a back and forth battle, 5-4. Last Friday, they played a good Rumsey Blue squad and led by Aidan Kokoszka’s three goals, took care of the Blue Dogs 8-2. With many more tough games to come, the team will need to keep improving in all aspects of the game.

The Cross Country welcomed a team of very inexperienced runners to the course this year. Top runners Mason Zhao and Niko Huber left a hole when they departed last spring. Hansi Zhu leads a girls team that also is looking for new faces to emerge. 9th grader Dominic Sessa has already proved in the first two races that he is ready to take the lead for the team. In the most recent race, Dominic started off with a sub 6 minute mile, a killer pace. Moving forward, the team hopes to become better conditioned and primed for faster times.

The Mountain Biking and Rock Climbing team has been able to fully utilize the great IMS facilities. Between our miles of trails, climbing wall, and ropes course, the team has had a diverse start to the year. Last week, they were able to make the short trip to Salisbury School to ride with their team as well. The beautiful fall weather has thus far made for a great season!

The Golf team has enjoyed perfect golf conditions so far. Despite not having any matches this Fall, the members of the team get daily coaching from Coach Miles who is a fantastic golfer. This season will be a great opportunity for the team to work on their skills and prepare for the Spring.

More to come!