WINTERSPORTS

BasketballVarsity

e Vikings defeated Montclair Kimberly Academy inthe1stroundofthePrep BTournament(44-29)at home. e victory was led by Sheridan Caughey’23 with 10 points and 6 rebounds, Francesa Kearns’23 netted 3 three-pointers for 9 points, and 3 rebounds, Mary Bowers’23 and eresa Bowers’26 combined for 13 points, and 14 rebounds and Siobhan Bracken’23chippedinwith5pointsand3assists.Nextstop was a road trip to cross-town rival Academy of St. Elizabeth,wheretheVikingsengagedin atightbattle defeatingthePanthers(48-47).SheridanCaughey’23 hadagame-high16points,12rebounds,3steals,and 2blocks,ChiaraFajardo’23netted13points,includinga deep three-pointer in the 4th quarter to put the Vikings ahead, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, Mary Bowers’23 chipped in 9 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals and Isabella Pizzo’25 hit two clutch free throws in the 4th quarter nishingwith5points,3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. A down to the wire contest with Mountain Lakes on the road showcased some tight defense by the Vikings but not enough to pull off a conference win (26-29). Sheridan Caughey’23 led all scorers with 11 points and 8 rebounds while Chiara Farjardo’23 netted 9 points and 3 steals in the loss.Wecelebratedour“Seniors”on 2/13/23 athome vs. Boonton. A turbulent start by both teams in the rst half led to halime score of (7-7). Foul trouble in the second half for the Vikings gave the Bombers an advantage. ey were outscored 13-6 in the 4th quarter and were subdued (20-32) by the Bombers. All scorers included eresa Bowers 23’ 6 points, 5 rebounds, Chiara Fajardo’23, 5 points, 3 steals and Sheridan Caughey’23 4 points, 13 rebounds. e nal regular season game at home against Wallkill Valley was a thriller game to the end but the Vikings fell short (44–51) and the Rangers escaped with a win. Chiara Fajardo’23 and Cara Fitzpatrick’26 were impressive for the Vikings. Chiara Fajardo’23 nished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals and Cara Fitzpatrick’26 with 12 points, ve rebounds and two assist, while Mary Bowers’23 had 10 points (8 free throws) four rebounds, three assists andablock. IsabellaPizzo’25and Francesca

Kearns’23contributed with 5pointsapiece.

On 2/14/23, the 2023 NJSIAA Girls Basketball Tournament, North Jersey, Non-Public B teams were announced and the Vikings were seeded 9th overall.e team took a road trip to 8th seeded Eastern Christian on 2/22/23. e Vikings used an 18-4 run in the rst quarter to defeat Eastern Christian (50-29) in the opening round. Sheridan Caughey’23 scored a gamehigh 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 steals, Chiara Fajardo’23 netted 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists,andIsabellaPizzo’25had6points,5steals,and 2assistsinthewin.

BasketballJV

e Villa Walsh JV Vikings had a very productive and successful basketball season. e team nished with a regular season record of 11-1. ey placed as the #5 seed in the Morris County JV Tournament and went on an exciting County Championship run, defeating Mendham (#12) and Hanover Park (#4), but eventually losing a hard-fought battle in the Semi-Finals to #1 seed Morris Knolls. e Vikings nished the year with an overall record of 13-2, but more importantly, theteamseemed toimproveat eachgame.

e JV Vikings’ 2022-2023 season was lled with many lessons, learning, laughing, and winning. Leading the team in points this season were freshman Michela Vaccaro’26 (15 ppg) and Cara Fitzpatrick’26(16ppg).GemmaCafasso’26(6apg)andNora Dam’25 (5 apg) led the team in assists this season. So a Jordao’25 (6 rpg), eresa Bowers’26 (5 rpg), and Margaret Boler’25 (4 rpg) led the lady Vikings in rebounding this season. Angelina Santorelli’26, Martha Smart’25, Avery Poruczynski’25, Nora Kra’25, Charlotte Stager’26, So a Kearns’26, and Gisele Longo’26 also chipped in this season, having a signi cant impact on the team’s defensive culture & overallsuccessthisyear. Wecan’twaittoseewhatisin storefornextseason.Greatjobladies!GoVilla!

BasketballFreshman

e freshman basketball team nished their season 4-10. e record does not show how far they came this season. e last few losses against Randolph and Pompton Lakes were less than 10 points losses. e girlshaveworkedhardallseasonand nishedthe season beating Mountain Lakes 32-24. Coach Foley wouldliketothankthegirlsfor theirhardwork!!!

BasketballMiddleSchool

Middle School Basketball nished another fun, successful season with a record of 9 & 6. e team had a close loss in the GMJSCA Tournament vs. Riverdale with ascoreof 22-25.eyhadanexcitingwinvs. St. Vincent Martyr in the last game of the season with a score of 25-24. Lexi Stappas’27 was the high scorer with 9 points followed by Azariah Andrews'27 with 7points,EveLoughran'27with5points, OliviaBarsemian'27 and Rebekah Saxon'27 had 2 points each. e team celebrated with an end-of-season pizza party on Feb. 6th. Congrats to Lexi Stappas'27, who earned the team Most Valuable Player award, averaging11pointspergame.Congratsonagreatseasonto allplayers!!

SwimmingVarsity

Another wonderful swim season has come to an end. Villa Walsh nished off their last regular season on a high note. e meet came down to the last relay and Vwimming came out on top! e victory over Morristown-Beardsnappedan8meetlosingstreakto nish the season 1-8. e team then traveled down to Lawrenceville for the 2023 Prep championships capping off their season. Notable performances at Lawrenceville: Madison Molinaro’23 100 y and Victoria Wong’23 100 breast. End of season awards wereasfollows:MostImproved-NevinMahoney’23; Green and White Award - Kelly Keyes’23; Coaches Award - Madison Molinaro’23; and MVP - Victoria Wong’23. Congratulations to all on a great season of VWASwimming!

WinterTrack

Forthe 17VillaWinter Trackathletes,theseason nished with 3 big meets in February. To get ready for thetwo nalStateMeets(NJSIAAandPrep),theVilla teamtraveledtotheOceanBreezefacilityinStatenIslandforahighlycompetitiveinvitationalmeetonFebruary 8, 2023. Personal records were achieved across the board: Abigail Freshwater’23 in the 400m, Jesse Kramer’24 in the high jump, Kayla Castellano’25 in the 400m, Cora Reardon’25 in the shot put, Ava Brancatella’24 in thehighjump andthe400m, Sadie

Smith’25 in the 800m, Natalia Tole’24 in the 400m, BlytheDudley’26 in the 800m, InesLemee’25 in the 1600m, Erin Lyons’25 in the 800m and the 1600m, EmilyPoruczynski’24inthe800m,DelaneyYosh’25 in the 800m, and Clodagh Bateson’26 in the 55 hurdlesandthe 400m.

On February 17, 2023, at the NJSIAA State Group Meet in Toms River, Villa placed 5th out of 14 small non-public teams. Anyone scoring in the top 3 in an event earned a spot in the Meet of Champions. Abigail Freshwater’23 scored 2nd in the pole vault, and Blythe Dudley’26 came in 3rd in the 1600m. Four unlucky4thplaceswereachievedbyJesseKramer’24 inthehighjump,InesLemee’25inthe3200m,Blythe Dudley’26 in the 800m, and our 4x400 relay consisting of Abigail Freshwater’23, Natalia Tole’24, Kayla Castellano’25,andBlytheDudley’26

Afew dayslater, the team wasback attheTomsRiver “Bubble” to battle it out with the teams who are part of the Prep-League, small school (“B”) division. Two Villa athletes achieved 1st places: Ines Lemee’25 in the 1600m and Blythe Dudley’26 in the 800m and 3200m (large and small school combined!). Two girls earned 2nd place: Abigail Freshwater’24 in the pole vault and Jesse Kramer’24 in the shot put. Emily Poruczynski’24 earned a 3rd place in the high jump, as well as the 4x400 team consisting of Kayla Castellano’25, Emily Poruczynski’24, Abigail Freshwater’23, and Blythe Dudley’26. It came down to the last few events, and Montclair Kimberley nished off strongtoclinchthetitleby8points,withVillaplacing 2ndoverall.

Blythe Dudley’26 and Abigail Freshwater’23 will compete one more time on Sunday, March 5, 2023, at the Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze. Good luck toourtwoquali ers,andcongratulationsonaterri c seasontotheentireWinterTrackTeam!

A pep rally was held on February 16 and the student bodycelebratedtheVWAsportsteamsandtheirwonderfulVWAspirit!AspecialthankstoDelaneyMcKee'23,MaeveKenny'23,andAveryWalsh'23fortheir energy and enthusiasm in MCing the event! Way to goVWA!