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 Tfreshman Chrissie Murphy, who ran undefeatedall year in the 400m, 800m, and1500m, and placed first in the 800m andsecond in the 400m at the New Englands.The 4x400m team of Karla Timmons’00, Heather Lindenman ’00, FalguniMehta ’99, and Murphy also set a schoolrecord in placing second with a time of4:12. With most of the team returning,including captain-elect NicoleRobertson, the girls’ track team shouldbe a leading contender next year.Boys’ TrackAfter losing seven of the top ten scorersfrom last year’s squad, the boys’ trackteam looked to fill some holes and did sowith steadily improving performancesthrough the season. Though the teamwon only one of their last three meets,they put together their best team effortsin nearly every event versus league leadersLoomis and Choate. The highlightof the season came in between those twolosses, a convincing 91-54 victory overrival Hotchkiss—a meet that looked tobe close before the start. The team finishedwith a 5-5 record and a seventhplace at the New England Meet. At thatmeet, senior sprinters Michael Jordan andErnest Kwarteng placed third and secondin the 100m and 200m respectively. Andthe season ended on an exciting notewhen the 4x400m team of ChuckCrimmins ’99, Mark Deschenes ’99,Kwarteng ’98 and Nick Kyme ’99 set aschool record of 3:28 to place fourth inthe final event. Captain-elect Crimminsset the one other school record of the seasonin the 300m low hurdles and willlook to improve on that mark next year.Girls’ LacrosseBefore the season began, coach JeanMaher knew that she had a talentedgroup, but she did not imagine that thisyear’s girls’ lacrosse team would live upto and beyond all expectations. In theend, this tough, spirited team left all othersin their wake on the way to anundefeated season (13-0), the Founders’League Championship, and the WesternNew England Championship. Most ofthe opponents were no match for the allaroundtalent of this team, which scored205 goals while giving up only 84 goals.Senior All-American goalie Liz McCarthyanchored the defense with a .680 savepercentage, and captain-elect EmilyTownsend and senior All-American SarahOtto led at the other end of the fieldwith 45 goals and 40 goals respectively.There were a few close games, however,and the highlights of the season were ahard-fought 12-10 overtime win overAndover and an impressive come-frombehindvictory over arch-rival GreenwichAcademy—always one of the top teamsin New England. The Big Red got off to aslow start in that game, falling behind 2-8late in the first half before storming backfor a convincing 17-11 victory. This perfectseason was a fitting close to aphenomenal run by a team that has notlost a game in three years; some of the seniorson this team have a combined recordof 42 wins, 0 losses, and 2 ties over thosethree years—a record that resembles theundefeated streaks of the girls’ soccer teamsof the late ’80s and the girls’ ice hockeyteams of the early ’90s.Boys’ LacrosseWith some key injuries and a couple oftough losses early on, the boys’ lacrosseteam seemed to be fighting an uphillbattle all season. The team dropped an11-9 heartbreaker to eventual leaguechampion Westminster, yet coach JolEverett saw his squad come together underadversity. They closed out the seasonwith two solid wins, 8-4 over Trinity -Pawling and 10-7 over Kingswood.According to Everett, “This was a teamthat played with a lot of heart, especiallywhen things could have fallen apart.” Theoffensive attack was led by senior ClayMoorhead, who finished his career with70 goals, sixth on the all-time Taft list.Taft’s defense, again the strength of theteam, was anchored by two-year standoutChris Hills in goal and captain-elect BradD’Arco ’99, who was a Western NewEngland All-Star selection.Taft Bulletin 41