Winter Sports Assembly Spotlights Athletes

March 19, 2009

BV Hockey player digging in the corner during NE Finals game vs. Salisbury

With the winter sports season at an end, Exeter gathered to recognize the hard work and team play of the school's athletes. Captains and coaches were seated on stage as Athletic Director Rob Morris thanked the teams for their outstanding performances and congratulated them on their dedication.

Morris began by highlighting the play of the JV athletes. "Let's have all the athletes that participated for our JV teams this winter stand up and receive recognition. Let's give them a round of applause!"

Team captains and Most Valuable Players were then called to the stage to cheers and congratulatory hoots from fellow students. Here's a sample of MVP reactions and what contributed to their athletic success this past season:

BV Basketball MVP Cody Mivshek '09: "Playing against such good competition day in and day out in practice made me much better, and the family atmosphere we had made it easy to achieve good things. Another big part of my success came from the coaching staff. So many of us could have won this award this year, considering how much so many people brought to the team; it was an honor to be voted by my teammates. The positive environment was a big part of our success as a team this year."

GV Basketball MVP Paige Wilson '09: "My success came from physically getting stronger and improving my shot. Many of us spent time after practice doing extra drills and it really helped us develop as players."

Hockey MVPs congratulated by MorrisBV Hockey Co-MVP Dan Weiniger '09: "The best part is being able to share this award with two other deserving teammates. It's also an honor to be voted MVP by my teammates and I'm glad they think I helped the team. It was a great year, but the reason we were successful was because everyone on the team worked as hard as they could every shift."

GV Hockey Co-MVP Lisa Marshall '10: "The dedication and perseverance of the coaches, rink managers, and teammates played a major role in whatever I can claim as a success for this season. We won and lost as a team. Our season was far from perfect but we were successful. Individually, I attribute my successes to my parents as they are always encouraging me to play my heart out, work hard, and to have fun."

BV Swimming MVP Adam Lebovitz '10: "Everybody is always cheering for the other kids on the team, and people take pleasure in the success of their teammates. I think this stems partly from spending 2 hours in the pool with one another every day, but it also comes from Coach Mills. Coach Mills does an amazing job of motivating us to become the best swimmers that we can, while making sure that we develop into the best people we can be."

Winter season highlights include:

  • Boys basketball tied the 2nd most wins by an Exeter team in the modern Class A era, winning at Worcester Academy for the first time in 40 years and extending its winning streak against Andover to 11. Katrina Coogan accepts MVP award for her outstanding
    Indoor Track season
  • The girls basketball team was the highest-scoring girls team in PEA history. It was the 8th seed at the New England Tournament and won its season finale against No. 1-ranked Andover.
  • Boys squash placed 6th out of 54 teams at the National High School Team Championships with wins over Andover, Tabor and Penn Charter.
  • After a 0-4 start, girls squash finished with 7 wins in a row, with outstanding wins against Middlesex, Deerfield and Andover.
  • Boys ice hockey highlights include a quarter-final win over Belmont Hill, semi-final win over the Gunnery, and a trip to the New England Championship final and a 2nd-place finish.
  • Girls ice hockey reached the NEPSAC Playoffs for the first time in 9 years. Also won the inaugural New Year's Invitational by beating Brewster in OT in the championship game.
  • Boys swimming and diving ended the season with a 4th-place finish at the New England Championships. 17 of the 18 swimmers had lifetime best swims. All 3 of the Exeter divers had career best performances.
  • Girls swimming and diving ended the season with an undefeated record and an exciting 2nd-place finish at the New England Championships, just 5 points short of Andover. One of the major highlights of the season was watching Exeter's 200 Medley Relay team break the oldest-standing record on the New England board. The existing record was also set by Exeter girls 15 years ago, in 1994.
  • Indoor Track saw the BV, GV, and BJV winning all 3 meets against Andover. Katrina Coogan '11 broke the school record in the mile 3 times.
  • Exeter placed 8 wrestlers at the Class A Wrestling Championships and 5 wrestlers advanced to the All New England Tournament, where Evan Connors '09 won his weight division.

Morris also extended his and the school's special thanks to Rick Mahoney '61, as Mahoney's 26 years as coach of the GV Basketball team came to an end. "Coach Mahoney has led that program with class, commitment and character. Always the teacher, his teams embodied all that is good about youth sports: sound fundamentals, sportsmanship, passion, and an unwavering competitive spirit." MVP Paige Wilson made it clear that this was on the team's collective mind this season: "We all knew it was Mr. Mahoney's last season coaching and we wanted to make it special. Everyone contributed and worked hard all season long. We had a great season this year!"

 Teams Captains  MVP(s) 
 BV Basketball  Joshua Bartelstein'09, Mitchell Kates'09, Gregory St. Jean '09  Cody Mivshek '09
 GV Basketball   Kelly Comolli '10, Shannon Comolli '10  Paige Wilson '09
 BV Ice Hockey   Nickolas Kondiles '09, Thomas Larkin '09, Jeffrey Reppucci '09   Max Fenkell '10, Thomas Larkin, Daniel Weiniger '09
 GV Ice Hockey   Katharine Cunningham '09, Lauren Greer '09   Lauren Greer, Lisa Marshall '10
 BV Squash   Player Haynes '09   Player Haynes
 GV Squash   Sarah Beresford '09, Elisabeth Pei '09   Sarah Beresford
 BV Swimming and Diving   Nathan Bu '09, Alexander Rafter '09   Adam Lebovitz '10
 GV Swimming and Diving   Molly Hassell '09   Christiana Thew '10
 Indoor Track   Kendrick Campbell '09, Denzil Harris '09, Thomas Leger '09, William Najar '09   Thomas Leger, Katrina Coogan '11
 Wrestling   Evan Connors '09, Paul Nagao '09   Evan Connors


Interested in learning more?

Spring sports aren't far-off. Check the main athletic page to see spring game schedules...

Prospective students can send information to Exeter coaches using the online Prospective Athletes form…

View recent picture galleries from the last season...