Mike Romeo, Athletic Director, announced the final fall season Middle School Athletes of the Week at the division meeting on Wednesday. Congratulations to cross country runners Carly Jones ’27 and Rishi Nihalani ’29, and soccer players Andrew Andrews ’29 and Lexi Strauss ’29.
Carly has been a runner for the girls’ team since fifth grade. She has been struggling all year to beat last year's personal best and the stagger race was her last chance. Carly crossed the finish line in fifth place and sliced off a solid 13 seconds for a final home PB of 16:23.
Rishi is another runner who has been running since our summer cross country camp. Last week the team ran hard home course (1.8 miles) workouts on consecutive days. That alone is quite a tough task. To record personal bests in both days is an incredible achievement. Rishi lowered his PB by 35 seconds on Day 1 and then another 36 seconds on Day 2. He finished his year with a sub-17 PB of 16:58.
Andrew was our anchor in net this year, taking on the most difficult position you can play with joy and enthusiasm. Andrew takes instruction exceedingly well, asks questions when he needs support, and he came up with plenty of big saves over the course of the season. His approach and dedication were exemplary.
Lexi has overcome many obstacles this season. Stepping up to the Green team level was a big decision and helped challenge her confidence by bringing her out of the comfort zone. In the beginning of the season adapting to the physicality of bigger opponents was tough and concentrating on basic play proved difficult. With persistence, Lexi began to outplay and outsmart older players, shoot the ball harder and more accurately, beat the offside and score game-winning goals under high pressure situations. Lexi has proved that pushing our own boundaries of self-confidence and self-belief can lead to success.