D E P A R T M E N T S S P O T L I G H T - The Taft School

S P O R TsportBoys’ TennisThe boys’ tennis team finished the seasonwith a 7-8 record and a fourth placefinish at the New England Tournament.After some disappointing losses, thestrong finish at New Englands—one ofTaft’s highest in the past 15 years—wasan encouraging sign. Throughout theseason the team was led by the powerfulstrokes of Tyne Brownlow ’99 at #1 andthe relentless drive of senior captain KrisFitzPatrick at #2. This was perhaps thestrongest 1-2 punch Taft has enjoyed inmany years: their combined singlesrecord for the season was 23-3, and bothwon their respective Founders’ Leaguetitles—the second year in a row forFitzPatrick. At the big New Englandtournament, Tyne finished fourth in the#1 draw, and Kris closed out his remarkabletennis career at Taft with a stirringcome-from-behind 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victoryin the #2 draw. In addition, Kris alsoearned the Founders’ League sportsmanshiptrophy, and there could be noworthier recipient. According to coachPeter Frew, “Kris has an extraordinarydedication to the game. He is the mostcommitted player I have seen, and he isan impeccably honest competitor.”Girls’ TennisAn early 4-3 win over a powerful MissPorter’s team set the stage for a spectacularseason for the girls’ tennis team. Inthe end, their 12-2 record was goodenough for second place in the league.For the past four years, the team has beenled by standout Elizabeth Merck ’98 inthe #1 spot. Merck is the first to play fourstraight years in the top spot for Taft, andthis year, finally, she was selected as anAll-League player. The team should continuetheir winning ways as they returnnearly all of their top players, includinga number of talented middlers. At thecore of next year’s squad will be the duoof Jessup Sheen ’00 and captain-electLindsay Tarasuk ’99, who were undefeatedall season as the #1 doubles team.SoftballThe softball team had a rollercoaster season,ending at the peak with stirring winsover league leader Hopkins and rivalHotchkiss. After a slow start—3 wins intheir first 8 games—the team went 5-1over the final six games to finish with 8wins and 6 losses. Among those 5 victorieswas one of the most exciting gamesin recent memory against a very strongHopkins team. At 12-1, Hopkins cameinto the game as the leader in WesternNew England, but the game was aclosely-fought battle from the first inning.Hopkins evened the score in thetop of the seventh, but Taft came backfor the 12-11 win when senior captainJenny Ferrara singled in the winning runwith one out. The Big Red then went onto crush Hotchkiss in their final game,20-13, to end the season on a high note.Girls’ TrackThe girls’ track team enjoyed anotherstrong season with a 6-2 record and a fifthplace finish at the Division 1 New EnglandMeet. Senior captain KristenKawecki led the team all year and placedin both hurdle races at the New Englands,fifth in the 100m hurdles and second inthe 300m hurdles. However, this was ateam loaded with young talent, notably40Summer 1998