Of Note
ZACH KIMMEL ‘17 AND OLIVIA WHITMER ‘18, STARS OF PIPPIN, COMPETED IN THE ROGER REES AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN MUSICAL THEATER PERFORMANCE
Poly’s Girls Who Code Club, led by advisor Jean Belford, was featured in an article, “7 Amazing Women in Tech You Need to Know,” in the May 2017 issue of Popular Mechanics. The article describes how the 11 girls work on a yearlong project of their choice.
Stephen Chin ’18, Mike Fu ‘17, and Hal Rockwell ’17 were the top scorers on Poly Prep’s New York State Math League team, which finished second in Brooklyn and 24th in New York State. Fu scored a perfect 6 on several of the monthly contests.
ranked fourth nationally and first in the state. Nick’s season of record-breaking tournaments for Poly included coming in first in Interleave (a regional tournament), second in the Villager Invitational, second in the Apple Valley MinneApple Debate Tournament, and third in the New York Invitational. In Middle School Debate, Maxwell Feigelson ‘22 and James Urquhart ‘22 finished as quarterfinalists at the Middle School New York State Championship held at Tech Academy in the Bronx. There were over 60 teams in the event. Max and James finished in the top eight overall.
Nick DeVito ‘18 finished second in the country at the Catholic 2017 Forensic League National Championship. He finished the season
Olivia Whitmer ‘18 and Zach Kimmel ‘17 competed in the 2017 Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Musical Theater Performance,
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which are given annually to one high school actor and actress from the Greater New York Area. They were nominated to compete for the awards by Ms. Baehr for their roles in Pippin. Olivia Knutsen ‘18 was accepted into the Tanglewood Institute Young Artist Vocal Program and, along with sister Charlotte Knutsen ‘21, appeared in the Brooklyn Youth Chorus production of Aging Magician in March. Olivia Knutson was selected for the NY State School Music Association All-State Chorus in Rochester and was a featured soloist in their December performance. Annabelle Wachtel ‘24 took on the role of Marcy in the Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock— The Musical.
Julien Hinz ‘18 broke the 1600-meter Poly Prep school record on June 5 at a track meet at Island Trees High School. He ran 4:21.44. The previous record was held by Hugh Kenny ‘14 at 4:22.23.
James Decker ‘18 and Nick Stratigakis ‘18 won first place in an Upper School Science Olympiad event held in Syracuse. They received their medals at Upper School Chapel.
Lauren Kauppila ‘20 made the 2017 USA Volleyball High Performance Select Continental Team. She was also included as an Honorable Mention in the Frosh 59 list of the best varsity-playing freshmen in America.
Esme Graham ‘18 and Julia Withers ‘17 each won a 2017 Gold Key Award for writing in the New York City Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Tommy Bennett ‘20 received an Honorable Mention award for his photography in the New York City Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
James Decker ‘18 worked as Sound and Lighting Operator in the professional production of Adorno featuring flamenco dancer and Poly teacher Ryan Rockmore at the Teatro Circulo, which was founded by another Poly teacher, Jose Oliveras, in NYC. Poly’s Internship Program facilitated the position for Decker, who can often be found running the light board at Poly’s theater productions.
Isaiah Wilson ‘17, offensive tackle for Poly’s Varsity Football team, was named Mr. Football, New York City, by the New York City Chapter of the National Football Foundation, and QB Robert Deleon-Kollmer ‘17 was selected to the NYC NFF 2017 Elite Eleven Team.
Jennifer Babick ’18, Mia Cerami ’19, Elena Diaz ’19, Alexandra Nava-Baltimore ’20,
STEPHEN CHIN ’18, MIKE FU ‘17, AND HAL ROCKWELL ’17, TOP SCORERS ON POLY PREP’S NEW YORK STATE MATH LEAGUE TEAM
OFFENSIVE TACKLE ISAIAH WILSON ‘17 SIGNED TO PLAY FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
Jenna Denaver ’20, Alexis Peetz-Alio ’20, Seamus McNulty ’20, and Lane Wilson ‘20, led by Middle School science teacher Linda Aponte P’13 and history teacher Tyler Miller, participated in the Ecology Project International sea turtle ecology program in Costa Rica over Spring Break 2017. They traveled to the Pacuare Reserve on the Caribbean Coast near Tortuguero National Park, the oldest research and conservation project in the world and the first in Costa Rica. Students studied the rainforest and spent a day conducting authentic field research on butterflies they caught so they could be cataloged and placed into the national museum. But their primary goal was to take a census of the leatherback turtles who came on shore to lay their eggs.
During his work for UN Women, Zach Kimmel ‘17 researched and wrote two documents, one of which, on The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, was published by the United Nations.
Wrestler John Luke DeStefano ‘17 won the NYSAIS State Championship and the Ivy League Tournament five consecutive years and the Mayor’s Cup the for three seasons. He was also named the 2017 Ivy League Tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. Poly’s Varsity Wrestling team won the 2017 NYSAIS Wrestling Championship. Luke Reich ‘20, David Berkovich ‘19, John Luke DeStefano ‘17, Charles Barry ‘19, Liam Harvey ‘18, and Joshua Khoshayev ‘21 all won first place in their respective weight classes.
Swimmer Gabriel Mathews ’17 tied an Ivy League record in the Boys’ 50 Free at 21.25, a new Poly record, at the Ivy League Championships. Michael Tirone ‘17 placed first in the Boys’ 100 Breaststroke at 59.71, another school record.
Jenna Denaver ‘20 won the 2.5-mile event at the 2017 Ivy League Prep League Cross Country Championships.
Rebecca Reich ‘18 was named a “Distinguished Finalist” among New York State’s Top Volunteers of 2017; she was selected by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards for her work with the Greater Chinatown Community Association.
Poly’s Special Olympics Club took part in a “Polar Plunge” last December. About 15 kids jumped into the ocean water off Staten Island. Their team raised over $2,000.
Four student athletes signed letters of intent on National Signing Day: Chris Cannizzaro ‘18 (Bucknell); Oliver McCarthy ‘18 (Duke); Shanniah Wright ‘18 (Georgetown); Angelo D’Acunto ‘18 (Holy Cross).
VARSITY VOLLEYBALL PLAYER LAUREN KAUPPILA ‘20
Poly girls were the 2016 NYSAIS Cross Country Champions.
VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY 2016: TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: COACH ADRIEN RICCI, ALICE CUTTER ‘20, KATHERINE KENNY ‘19, ADELINE KIM ‘17, ELLA KETCHUM ‘17, AVA O’MARA ‘17, JORDAN DENAVER ‘20, JENNA DENAVER ‘20, SHANIA SMITH ‘19, ASSISTANT COACH RICH NOLAN P’08, ‘11; BOTTOM: NOAH KAYE ‘19, IAN WEINMAN ‘19, GABE CANNAVO ‘19, JETT WILLIAMS, JULIAN HINZ, HAL ROCKWELL ‘17, ERIC MUOIO ‘17.
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