The Photography of Jed Kirschbaum '67 - The Taft School

5th, Ben Johnston ’09 in 8th, and HarryWeyher ’07 in 13th (43 skiers). At theN.E. Class B Championships, the girlsplaced 7th as a team and the boys 9thof the 13 schools competing. CaptainsWill Roe and Maggie Seay ’07 had greatdays in both the slalom and G.S. Roe was17th (G.S.) and 3rd (slalom) out of 65total skiers, while Seay was 13th (G.S.)and 4th (slalom) out of 50 skiers.Wrestling 12–4Huge victories over Canterbury (47–28),Avon (42–30), and Hotchkiss (45–33)were the core moments in this fineseason. The matches versus Avon andHotchkiss came down to the final fewweight classes, and the Taft wrestlerspulled out thrilling wins each time.Taft’s string of middle-weight wrestlerswas formidable and made them an especiallystrong dual-meet team: DantePaolino ’07 (119), Will Ide ’09 (135),Afolabi Saliu ’07 (140), TJ Story ’09(145), Isaiah Capel (152), Ben Canary’07 (160) and Sam Shiverick ’08(171). Saliu was the team’s top medalistat the large New Englands (4th),and placed 2nd at the Western N.E.Championships. Also at the Westerns,Ide took 3rd, Canary 5th, Capel 5th,and Shiverick 6th to push Taft to a 9thplacefinish out of 19 teams. CaptainPaolino has put together one of the finestwrestling careers ever for Taft, withj Taft #2 McKay Claghorn ’07 strikes aforehand vs Travis Judson of Brunswick.Peter Frew ’75a New England individual title in ’04and placing four consecutive years atthe competitive Westerns.Girls’ Squash 3–11The team finished 11th out of the 32schools at the N.E. Championships,tying rivals Hotchkiss and finishingin front of Loomis and Deerfield. TheRhinos also won the SportsmanshipAward—a real honor—and captainAlisha Mashruwala ’07 came agonizinglyclose to her third straight individualN.E. title. She earned 16 outof a possible 17 total points for theteam at the N.E. Championships andis certainly one of Taft’s all-time greatson the court. Kelly Barnes ’10 playedsolidly at #2 for Taft all season, but theloss of seniors Elizabeth Pompea ’07(#3), Simone Foxman ’07 (#4), and KitThayer ’07 (#5) will leave some gaps fornext year’s team to fill.Boys’ Squash 13–4Founders League ChampionsThe team’s overall record would havebeen even more impressive had theRhinos not come up against N.E.champion Brunswick three times thiswinter. Still, Taft won the league titleonce again and blanked rivals Choate,Andover and Hotchkiss 7–0. Headinginto the N.E. Championships the teamwas in rough shape physically, andeven the top performances of McKayClaghorn ’07 (3rd at #2), Sam Beatt’07 (4th at #3), and Oat Naviroj ’07(4th at #4) did not lift the team out oftheir 6th-place finish. Far more appropriatewas their 5th-place finish at theNational High School Squash TeamChampionships, including exciting winsover Philadelphia powers Haverford andEpiscopal. Alex Dodge ’07 played wellat #1 for Taft all season, as did seniorBobby Campbell at #5, and all these seniorswill be sorely missed.For more information visitwww.TaftSports.comGood SportsThe Connecticut Ice Hockey OfficialsAssociation presented Danny Murphythe 2007 Vincent J. Reilly Coach ofthe Year, Sportsmanship Award.Taft players clearly model theschool’s emphasis on character aswell, as both the girls’ varsity squashand girls’ varsity basketball teamswere recognized for their superiorsportsmanship this season.Taft Bulletin Spring 2007 17