Lakes Region Comes Together for Successful Season

SPS boys hockey coach Danny Murphy went into the 2021 winter athletic season with no expectations. He was well aware of the hurdles the schools of the Lakes Region had to overcome to make the season a reality during the COVID-19 pandemic, which made the abbreviated schedule that did happen all that more impressive.

“It was remarkable that we were able to have interscholastic competition this winter with other Lakes Region schools,” says Murphy. “It’s a real statement about St. Paul’s School and our commitment to the student experience.”

In a six-week stretch that began the first week of February, varsity and junior varsity athletes on the basketball, hockey, Nordic ski, and alpine ski teams were able to face opponents from opposing schools. Overall, those SPS teams combined for a 47-34 record this winter. Unfortunately, the wrestling and squash teams were not able to partake in interscholastic contests, but both programs found creative ways to keep athletes engaged, improving, and competing.

The fall of 2020 saw a handful of interscholastic competitions successfully played, as schools routinely tested their community members for COVID-19, and took comfort in competing outside. But, as contests moved into hockey rinks and basketball courts, it became clear that, for confidence in safety of competition to remain high, testing had to be more rigorous across the board.

“We were fortunate with the schools we were working with and the number of things everyone was willing to do,” says Director of Athletics Dick Muther. “It wasn’t magic, it was a group of schools committed to specific protocols.”

Those protocols involved producing negative tests for every player and coach ahead of each weekend of competition, and staying as nimble as possible in case start times needed to shift. In many cases, it was only a matter of hours before coaches knew if a game would happen or not. Murphy led his team through the uncertain pre-game approval process by making the experience on the ice similar to the academic experience at the School.

“It is skills and content-based, just like in the classroom,” says Murphy. “The game is just the test and, if the test got moved, we had more time to prepare for it. And I think we had outstanding results on the ice because of that approach.”

Jen Fithian, head coach for girls basketball, ran a productive “virtual basketball camp” over Winter Break and the subsequent distance-learning period, enabling her team to make the most of the limited in-person practice time ahead of its first game.

“It gave us something to look forward to,” says Fithian. “These kids didn’t have to do this, but they pushed themselves and pushed each other – and truly became a team.”

Both Fithian and Murphy were impressed by the resilience their players showed throughout the season, as any initial disappointment or frustration quickly shifted to a place of gratitude. While many peer schools’ athletic schedules consisted entirely of inter-squad scrimmages, nearly 200 SPS athletes were able to participate in interscholastic competition this winter. Even without trophies, tournaments, or in-person fans for added support, the student-athletes stayed motivated and continued to improve.

In the pandemic-shortened season, the girls varsity hockey team posted a perfect 7-0 record, with boys hockey also going undefeated at 6-0. The boys and girls varsity and JV basketball teams combined for six total wins on the season. The Nordic ski team paced all Big Red squads with four Lakes Region All-Star selections (Margot Champigneulle ’22, Caroline Light ’22, Garrison Famiglio ’21, Cub Scott ’22), while alpine was close behind with three (Anne Bermingham ’23, Skylar Christofferson ’24, Romeo Giudici ’22). Boys (Cooper Flinton ’22, Cal Welch ’22) and girls (Kristina Allard ’22, Jade Arnone ’22) hockey boasted two league All-Stars apiece, while boys (Jack Anderson ’21) and girls basketball (Sofia Mancino ’23) each had one. The momentum from the winter season has Muther enthused about what the spring campaign could look like.

“These are the athletes who didn’t get to play at all last spring,” he says, “and we are acutely aware of that. We’ll do everything we can to make sure the season happens safely and intelligently.”