SHS '16 Athletes: One Year Later

Even the energetic Pitbull song that wakes me up at 5:15 AM does not make it easy to hop out of my warm bed at Georgetown for rowing practice. Eating a banana in the light of my tiny dorm bathroom to avoid waking up my roommate, I pull on three layers of under armor and two pairs of socks, ready to leave the cozy heat on a December morning to practice on the Potomac between ice chunks, pushing my body to the point of nausea during the toughest workouts before biking back to campus to get to my first lecture on time. The luxury of being able to hit snooze on an alarm sounds appealing, but I wouldn't trade my mornings for the world. A sense of family pulls my teammates to the boathouse each morning without fail. No one is forcing us to make this choice, but we are invested. There is no stronger bond than loving the pain and glory of college athletics with the strangers that become your best friends.

The SHS Class of 2016 sent many of its Varsity athletes off to continue their sports careers at the college level. The transition to a strange new world free of structure and supervision can be daunting during the thrilling, unpredictable sweaty days of freshman orientation in August. College athletes even have an additional layer to the academic, social, and emotional transition to college life. The SHS athletes featured in this article have learned to face new expectations and responsibilities as members of collegiate teams. You wake up early, work hard when no one's watching, and make healthy choices because all your teammates are doing the same, so you owe each other the very best you can give. There may not be parents watching over shoulders anymore, but the choices you make, like when to go to sleep, when to party, and what to eat affect the performance of the whole team.

Eliza Brosgol saw a lot of game time, competing as one of the starting midfielders on the lacrosse team at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. 8-8, "I loved my teammates an the energy and intent that we brought every day.

Elliot Graham is also advancing his lacrosse career, at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. After a successful pre-season and strong first game as a freshman, Graham suffered a concussion early in the season and unfortunately was not cleared to play for the rest of the season.

Sarah Weintraub was a three-sport varsity athlete for the Raiders, competing for the field hockey, ski, and softball teams. At the collegiate level, Weintraub decided to try something completely different. She says, "I joined crew in college because I had been an athlete all throughout high school and love competing and being a part of a team. The experience was very rewarding and my team is full of supportive, strong, and independent women." Her novice 8-person boat lost to their rival Middlebury College by just 1.3 seconds this spring. Not one athlete in her boat had touched an oar before coming to Amherst.

Fazl Shaikh continues his soccer career at Middlebury College in Vermont, a member of the Northeast Small College Athletic Conference. The 2016 season was defined by a big win in the NESCAC quarterfinals where Shaikh's team scored in double overtime in the last second of the game. Shaikh shares, "I really think it's worth all the work you put in for results like that."

Scottie Berridge joined a top Division I swim program at Columbia University this fall. She swam breastroke for the Lions, winning 1st place in the 100 breast in the Ivy dual meet against Dartmouth. Berridge is thankful for the team structure of college athletics because it provided a routine with a schedule, helping her grow both as an athlete and a person.

Berridge's former teammate Bebe Thompson became a competitor in the Ivy league. Thompson helped lead her team to a historic season this winter. The Bulldogs went undefeated, 16-0, in the regular season. For the first time since 1978, Yale won the Ivy League Swimming Championships. Thompson placed 7th in the 400 IM and advanced to Finals in the 200m Butterfly at the Ivy League championship meet. She says she is grateful for "an incredible and fun start to [her] collegiate swimming experience." She adds, "I can't wait for next season and to hopefully individually improve and try to replicate the team results of next year."

Scarsdale Swimming also sent Josh Hendell to Dartmouth College this fall. Hendell received the Outstanding Freshman Award for his performance this year setting an example for the spirit of Dartmouth Swimming. He won the 1000 Free against Harvard and Cornell and won the 400 IM at the Ivy League Championship as a freshman.

Like most freshmen football players, Stephen Nicholas did not see competitive action this season at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Nicholas reflects, "Not playing right from the start was definitely a transition from high school." He plans to work hard this summer to train for the fall season, when he hopes to join Scarsdale alum Harrison Wirth and Jeff and Nick Leone on the field.

Michaela Nicholas joined the Franklin and Marshall field hockey team this fall. They went 16-5 overall, reaching the National Elite Eight before losing to Babson by one goal. Nicholas noted, "Being a part of the Franklin and Marshall field hockey team had a tremendous positive impact on my freshman year college experience. It forced me to be disciplined and have good time management skills. My coaches and teammates were outstanding on the field and also very supportive off the field."

Back in the spring, SHS athletes were competing against 14-18 year olds, but when they arrive on a college campus, freshman athletes are expected to hold their own against 22 year old adults. Being thrown into this challenging and mature environment the first time you are living on your own thrusts the bewildered teenager into unknown territory. Athletes face a character test from the first day of pre-season. Many of these SHS athletes were team captains their senior year, with reliable starting spots. Just a few months later, they are freshmen all over again, pushed to prove themselves from scratch. Many have noticed that success, and most importantly happiness, comes with embracing not being the best of the best anymore. Knowing how to be comfortable and committed to improvement from the bottom will make athletes with team experience valuable contributors in the workplace.

Carly Glickenhaus, SHS '16, is a rising sophomore at Georgetown University studying Economics with a minor in Science, Technology, and International Affairs. As the Varsity goalkeeper for the Raiders, she was honored with the Scarsdale Scholar-Athlete Award in 2016. This fall at Georgetown, she walked on to the Division I Varsity Rowing team with no prior rowing experience. She raced in the Varsity Lightweight 4+ boat, winning Second place at the Eastern Sprints Regatta this spring.