The Birth of Team 2234 The Birth of Team 2234 - Episcopal Academy

Athletics
Girls’ Squash Takes
National Championship
Modeling Leadership at
Episcopal and Beyond
Lauren Bobzin ’04
Audrey Ziomek ’03
Team lands the school’s first known
national title
Five Episcopal graduates serve as captains
of their Ivy League squads
The Girls’ Squash team took home the school’s first
known national title this winter, claiming the U.S.
High School Team Championships at Yale University
in February.
Led by co-captains Ann Madeira ’07 and Logan Greer ’07, the team’s success came
not only from its depth of individual talent, but from a cohesive approach. With
the national championship their preseason goal, the girls also set individual growth
goals, including maintaining top physical shape through conditioning, honing their
squash skills through team and extra-curricular play, and developing mental toughness
through grueling weekends of play.
Competing against top-flight competition was critical
to their success and the team started the season
in New England to play in the Groton Invitational.
Greer led the way by winning the main draw as
Lexi van Arkel ’08 won her division over Sarah Mumanachit
’09, both having decisively eliminated all
other competitors. Newcomer and freshman Elizabeth
Eyre ’10 captured the title of her draw while
Monica Stone ’10 took second in the finals.
Gaining confidence from the win in New England,
the team moved on to Inter-Ac competition, where
they quickly wrapped up an undefeated season,
assisted by Liza Walling’s ’07 win over Shipley. Additionally,
Lawrenceville fell as Emily Halpern ’08
and Kim Kirkpatrick ’08 pounded out wins coming
from behind in New Jersey. The finals of the MASA
tournament consisted of match play between
Co-captain Logan Greer ’08 during a Episcopal girls in each draw except one.
match against Agnes Irwin.
Despite playing at Springside, the team
sustained the highest level of play.
That brought the team to the national tournament. After winning
their first match on Friday afternoon and two other matches on Saturday,
the team secured the title on Sunday with a 5-2 victory over
Greenwich Academy.
“I am extremely proud of this team and coaching staff,” said athletic
director Gina Buggy. “It is a perfect combination of talented athletes
who were as committed to the concept of team as they were to individual
success. The combination of teamwork and dedication made this National
Championship a reality.”
Greer, Harrity Take National Singles Titles
To cap off what has been a fantastic year for the squash program, Logan Greer
and Episcopal boys’ squash member Todd Harrity ’09 both won their respective
Squash Under 19 Junior National Singles Titles this spring.
National Champions (front row, left to right):
Lexi Van Arkel ’08, Monica Stone ’10, and Sarah
Mumanachit ’09; (back row, left to right) Libby Eyre
’10, Logan Greer ’07 (co-captain), Annie Madeira ’07
(co-captain), Kim Kirkpatrick ’08, and Emily Halpern
’08. Missing from the photo is Liza Walling ’07 and
coaches Dawn Gray and Erika LaCerda.
Perfetti Hits
1,000 Points;
Gallagher Gets
100th Win
Girls’ basketball guard Brittany
Perfetti ’08 earned her 1,000th
career point this season and
wrestler Glenn Gallagher ’07
notched his 100th win.
Perfetti reached 1,000 point
mark in a 57-48 win over
Baldwin on January 30th.
She is only the second
Episcopal girls’ basketball
player to reach the
1,000 point mark. Alison
Hadden ’98 is the other.
A senior, Gallagher
earned his 100th career
victory against
Westtown on Jaunary
27th. His
6-4 decision at
the 135 lb. weight
class helped clinch
a 36-33 Episcopal
victory.
Brittany Perfetti and
Glenn Gallagher
In a perfect illustration of Episcopal’s athletics program
providing the proper balance of athletic prowess, strong
leadership, and academic responsibility, five recent graduates
recently served or are currently serving as captains
of five Ivy League athletic teams. They are: Margaux Viola ’03
(Cornell, women’s lacrosse 2006 and 2007 seasons), Ashley
Heist ’04 (Dartmouth, field hockey 2007), Audrey Ziomek ’03
(Harvard, field hockey 2006 season), Lauren Bobzin ’04 (Harvard,
women’s lacrosse 2007 season), and Matt McMonagle
’03 (Cornell, men’s lacrosse 2007 season).
“To be selected captain of any of these impressive college programs
is a tremendous honor,” said Episcopal athletic director
Gina Buggy. “As much as we emphasize the importance of developing
student athletes of strong character, it is not always
easy to measure this valuable quality. We are as proud of these
five athletes for their leadership ability as we are of their athletic
and academic accomplishments. Clearly these gifted high school
athletes have made the most of their college experience.”
Margaux Viola Viola’s versatility and all-around skills make
her one of the nation’s top midfielders. The two-year captain
has skills and solid fundamentals on both ends of the field. She
is enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at
Cornell and earned IWLCA third-team All-America honors as a
junior co-captain in 2006. She was a first-team All-Ivy and All-
Northeast selection in 2006.
Ashley Heist Heist will captain the field hockey team this
fall, and in 14 games last year, she made 92 total saves in 851
minutes for Dartmouth. An outstanding student, she has been
named to the NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad
twice.
Audrey Ziomek Majoring in anthropology, Ziomek helped
Harvard hold opponents to 1.45 goals per game for the 15th
best scoring defense in the country as a junior. She was also selected
to the NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad in
both 2005 and 2006.
Lauren Bobzin Bobzin served as a junior captain this year
and was named Ivy League defensive player of the week for
April 30th after totaling 10 ground balls in games against New
Hampshire and Cornell. Last year as a sophomore, Bobzin
started 15 of 16 games and tied for second on the Crimson with
16 caused turnovers and ranked fourth with 14 draw controls.
Matt McMonagle McMonagle was named Ivy League player
of the year for the 2007 season. He is the winningest goalie in
Cornell history and is also the winningest active goalie in Division
I lacrosse with 43 career victories to date. At press time, he
ranked fourth in the nation in both goals against average (6.45)
and save percentage (.634). He is a two-time All-American and
McMonagle is also a nominee for the Tewaaraton Trophy, given
to the top lacrosse player in the country each year (at press
time the winner had not yet been announced).
Matt McMonagle ’03
Ashley Heist ’04
Margaux Viola ’03
14 Connections spring 2007 15