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GIRLS HOCKEY SEES POSTSEASON ACTION
The girls 1st hockey team bucked its youth to reach the quarterfinal round of the NEPSAC tournament, and it’s poised to rake in even greater success next year. “We had a strong core of returning players, and we were still a young team,” says head coach Lori Charpentier. “This team was determined to have a great season, and it started early with our team leadership — captain Millie Brady ’18 and assistant captains Emma English ’18, Teagan Canning ’18 and Caroline Kukas ’19 — focusing on bringing the girls together.” Charpentier says that, regardless of the outcome of the scoreboard, the team found value in every game. “They got important takeaways from every game,” she says, “lessons they learned about how they could improve for the next game. That helped build their confidence, and when we got into the heart of our season and some of the really challenging games, they played hard for each other, which led to a lot of success.” Brooks loses three players to graduation, but Charpentier is optimistic about the future. Kukas, the team’s goalie, will return as the reigning NEPSAC Division 2 Player of the Year, but Charpentier has her eyes on a larger group of returners: “The core of our team is returning, and we’re excited about that,” she says. “We’ll miss the sixth-formers, for sure, but we’re returning a strong, strong core.”
McVeigh lauds the play of Brown, who captained the team and also picked up co-ISL Defensive Player of the Year honors. “Terrell had the kind of sixth-form year that I dreamed about for him,” McVeigh says. “He’s a terrific leader, he’s very talented, but he happened to play behind some of our best players. That made it hard for him to get playing time until this year, which is why it was so gratifying to watch him come in and start every game for us this year.” Next year, McVeigh’s team will take the court having lost seven sixth-formers to graduation. “These things are always cyclical,” McVeigh says. “We’ve hit a stretch where we’ve had a perfect storm of a bunch of guys that can play. But, culture doesn’t graduate. Our culture has helped us lay the groundwork for the next group. I look at our fifth-formers who are our rising sixth-formers, who know what it takes and who will speak to that.” Beyond basketball, McVeigh strives to teach his team larger lessons — about humility; service
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to others; enthusiasm; ownership; finding joy in competition; and focusing on the next play. “I think, and I hope, that they get that there’s a bigger picture,” he says. “As good as we are at basketball, basketball’s not going to be the endgame for any of them. This should be a nice moment in their lives that they can look back on. This should not be the highlight of their lives. It’s more about what kind of men they’re going to be. That’s the part I hope lasts.”
GIRLS SQUASH TAKES HOME THE HARDWARE
The girls 1st squash team made its mark this winter, taking home the Class B New England Championship in an effort that coach Kihak Nam ’99 said was balanced and featured contributions from across the lineup. “This team is fairly unique because, with the exception of two players, they all started playing squash at Brooks,” Nam says. “They started on the 3rd team and made their way up, which is a
credit to the entire program. And, all of our players finished in the top five of their ranking. Everyone worked hard to pull their weight, and it was cool to see that.” The team’s no. 1, Christy Lau, is a third-former, which bodes well for the future. “We expected Christy to do very well, and she did, finishing in second place in a close match,” Nam says. Co-captain Vicki Haghighi ’19 played at no. 2, where she took home first place. Classmate Sabrina Gribbel took on the no. 3 spot this year after spending last year at no. 1 on the 2nd team, and received the team’s most improved player award. Sixth-former Jackie Desautels played at no. 4, where she gritted out a fifth-place finish despite injury. Abby Zerbey ’19 landed in first at no. 5 after playing on the 2nd team last year, and Emily Roush ’18 followed up with a thirdplace finish of her own at no. 6. Co-captain Cindy Liu ’18 capped off the Brooks win with a fourthplace finish in the no. 7 spot. “We’re losing half our team to graduation,” Nam says, “but that happened last year, also.” He says the loss of Liu, Desautels and Roush will, he hopes, be tempered by the promotion of Brooke Robinson ’19. “Brooke played no. 1 for the 2nd team most of the season, and she played a few matches for us at no. 7, so I’m hoping she’ll make the jump,” he says. “Our team’s very close to each other, and they all really pushed hard to help the team win.”
W MORE ONLINE: Please visit the Brooks athletics website at brooksschool.org/athletics for more information on your favorite Brooks team, including schedules, game recaps and upto-date news.
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