Editor’s Note: As players who participated in athletics at Hill this spring begin to wind their seasons down, they have highlighted the top moments that helped define their season. Read below to see the takeaways players had from each spring sport.

Softball

“The highlight of my softball season this year was probably the team environment and watching everybody grow as a player because we had a lot of people who haven’t played before. So just watching them improve every game and every day was enjoyable,” Kelly Dempsey ’23 said.

Baseball 

Captain Gilbert Saunders ’22 said, “The highlight of our season was the win at Peddie. I would say this year has been a learning experience for me as a player and my team as a whole. I think the win at Peddie was the turning point in our season and the win we really needed to get us going.” 

Girls track and field 

Sarah Kenvin ’23 said, “A highlight from the spring track season was watching girls who have never run track before experimenting with new events and finding ones they enjoy. Everyone always finds a way to contribute to the team no matter their experience level. The environment during meets is also always supportive, as people push themselves throughout their race.”

Boys track and field

Track captain Quintin Craig ’23 said, “The highlight had to have been competing at Penn Relays. A few of us got to compete there and the overall experience was great, especially beating Lawrenceville. It was an upset considering they beat us in a meet earlier this season.” 

Boys lacrosse 

“The highlight of the season was definitely beating Avon Old Farms. They are a really good lacrosse team and we were able to come out and beat them. The team put together 4 quarters of great lacrosse and it was a lot of fun,” Eric Kolar ’22 said.

Girls lacrosse 

On April 27, Hill girls lacrosse took down Lawrenceville 8-5 for the first time in 11 years. Hill clinched the MAPL League title for the first time since 2006 with the win. Multiple players mentioned that their hard-fought previous win against IMG Academy gave them momentum leading into the game. The game was close until the last second and finished with Hill winning 7-6. The team gained confidence going into the game at Lawrenceville. “It was a great win for our team, but also for the alumni of the program to watch as well,” said 6th former Mandy McCarrick. Fifth form goalie and captain Sam Cifra had 15 saves in the game and passed 100 saves on the year and 200 saves in her career.

Boys crew

Owen Manganiello ’22 said one of the major highlights for boys varsity crew this year was “winning all the Manny Flick races for our top two varsity boats so far this year.” Manganiello talked about his team and how he believes that it’s “a good group of guys. Everyone gets along well. We have had some struggles with injury in the finishing part of the season, but the team has done well with adapting and staying focused.” Two boys fours will compete at the Stotesbury Cup on May 20 and 21 and one boys eight will also compete.

Girls crew 

The girls varsity crew is a close-knit group. Avery Reigner, ’22 said that a major “highlight of her season was getting Three Brothers with the team at Coach Salatas’ house, laughing, and making lifelong memories with my friends.” Two girls fours will compete at the Stotesbury Cup on May 20 and 21 and two girls pairs will compete at the City Championship on May 22.

Boys tennis

Dev Sharma ’22 said, “We have had a lot of injuries this season but it has been a fun ride.” The tennis team has had some obstacles to overcome this season but they made the most of what they had.

Boys golf 

Beaudoin ’22 said, “The best moment of our season so far is definitely our ultimate frisbee match against the disc team. We have been performing on the course this year at a high level, but this moment spoke about the chemistry of this special group as we almost won against a well-prepared disc team.” Beaudoin went on to mention the importance of their victory over the Hill’s biggest rival. “Also, we can’t skip beating Lawrenceville at their course for the season opener. Lawrenceville matches are always the most important events in our schedule, and every player stepped up. In the end, we came out on top despite the few amount of practices we had at that time.” Beaudoin said.

Girls golf

“The 18-hole Swing Against Cancer Tournament, hosted at Peddie, was a highlight of our season because we brought four girls to play. We had to use all four scores, but we ended up getting third in the whole tournament. Each girl showed up for the team that day and played a successful round of golf and everyone had fun for a good cause,” Mckay Allain ’23 said.

Staff Writers Joey Asterino ’23, Cole Bilotta ’23, Jesse Corser-James ’23, Kade Davidheiser ’23, Peter Galindez ’23, Augustus Gerhart ’23, Emilie Kirschner ’23, Katie Newkirk ’22, Caden Olenczak ’23, Luke Rasmussen ’23 contributed to this post.