On May 17, Roxbury Latin Varsity Tennis won its final regular season match against St. Mark’s School, completing an undefeated ISL season (15-0) for the second year in a row and winning its ninth ISL title since 2011. Eric Zhu ’24, Eric Diop ’24 (Captain), Jiho Lee ’24 (Captain), Lucas Vander Elst ’24, Cole Oberg ’25, Daniel Stepanyan ’25, Tom Pogorelec ’26, Avish Kumar ’26, Tanner Oberg ’27, and Sid Chalamalasetty ’27 had memorable performances. As a team, the boys had a phenomenal 86-4 record in singles in the ISL. “I loved coaching this team because the players had a wonderful chemistry, and they really bought into the concept of team,” says veteran head coach Ousmane Diop. “They not only worked hard for each other, and sacrificed for each other, but they were also resilient, tough, competitive, and fun. Justin Yamaguchi ’24, our longtime team manager, who is often referred to as my assistant coach, was the glue that held it together, and he will be sorely missed.”

Based on the team’s success in the ISL regular season, they were invited to play in the 2024 New England Class B Tournament, along with the best seven other schools in New England in their division. RL has won the New England Championship three times before (2013, 2019, 2022). RL received the #1 seed and was supposed to host the first two rounds of the top half of the draw on May 18. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate, and Milton Academy generously offered to host RL and Belmont Hill in the first round of the tournament. RL won 4-0; one point for the doubles, and wins from Eric Diop, Tanner Oberg, and Daniel Stepanyan gave the team the necessary 4 points to advance. They then played Milton Academy and won 4-0, securing the doubles point and earning wins from Cole Oberg, Eric Diop, and Daniel Stepanyan. The team was excited to play Greens Farms Academy (who beat Westminster and Nobles on the other side of the draw) the next day in the finals at RL, but once again the weather was uncooperative. Thankfully, Laury Hammel (well-known in the world of tennis in New England), allowed RL to use one of his facilities for the finals, and the school is so grateful to him.

The finals started well for RL, as they won the doubles point. In the singles matches, Daniel Stepanyan at #5 singles was the first one to finish his match and gave the team a 2-0 lead. Then Eric Diop at #2 singles won his match, which brought the team up 3-0, needing just one more match to win the championship. Cole Oberg at #1 singles, Jiho Lee at #3 singles, and Sid Chalamalasetty at #6 singles lost close matches, so RL and GFA each had 3 points with one more match to decide it all. Finally, Tanner Oberg at #4 singles won his match in a second set tiebreaker to clinch Roxbury Latin’s fourth New England crown ever.

“It was truly a team effort, and I could not be prouder of every player,” said Coach Diop. “As always, I want to thank Mr. Brennan and Mr. Teixeira for their continuous support. I am also grateful to RL parents, faculty, students past and present, who came to support us during our matches and the New England tournament. As we celebrate our successful 2024 season, all the players and I can’t wait to start it all over again next spring.”

On November 11, the Varsity Cross Country team earned the title of New England Champions for the fourth time in six years, after competing in the New England Division II race at their home course here on campus. The win capped their regular season record of 14-1 and added to the team’s second place finish in the ISL Championship race on November 4. In the New England championship race over the weekend, RL scored 61 points to place first, ahead of Tabor (88) and Nobles (93).

Both James Kerr (IV) and Ezra Klauber (II) finished in the race’s top ten runners, placing second and fourth place respectively. Rounding out the team effort were Eric Diop (I) in 14th place and Richard Federico (III) in 16th place. By placing in the top 20, James, Ezra, Eric and Richard earned All-New England distinction.

Earning league recognition this season are James Kerr (IV), Ezra Klauber (II), and Liam Walsh (IV), who were named All-ISL, and Richie Federico (III) and Eric Diop (I) earning Honorable Mentions.

The Junior Varsity team also completed a strong season with a 13-2 record, offering lots of promise for the future of the program. The team earned perfect scores of 15 in ten out of their 14 races this season. The JV squad also earned a first place finish in the New England Championship meet, with seven of the runners finishing in the top 20. The squad was led by Lincoln Hyatt (III) who won the race and Eric Archerman (IV) who placed second. Eric Zhu (I) and Akhilsai Damera (I) also finished in the top ten placing fifth and seventh, respectively.

Finally, Roxbury Latin’s Junior team had an extraordinary season, finishing 9-2 overall, concluding their season by earning first place in the Larz Anderson Invitational meet on October 18 and second place in the Junior Jamboree hosted on November 1 at Roxbury Latin.

The intrepid runners of Classes V and VI took to the hills of Larz Anderson Park on October 19, in the hopes of defending their team title at the Larz Anderson Invitational. Without any ninth graders in the mix, the Junior Cross Country team’s younger team members seized the day, placing first out of 17 teams and earning the title of Larz Anderson Invitational team champions for the second year in a row. (Find individual results here.)

After bolting out of the gates at the start, the team settled into their paces. Ethan Budreau led the team through the halfway mark, with Bruce Ghostlaw close behind. Ben Romano, Julian Vidal, and Everett Bluman followed shortly thereafter in a tight group, demonstrating perfect “pack running” strategy. No other team had such a dense pack of runners at the mile—an intimidating show of dominance by RLXC. Everett epitomized a perfectly-paced race. After coming through the mile around 20th place, he made a big push on the second lap to move up, ultimately finishing in eleventh place, RL’s first runner across the line!

In the second half of the race, many other RL runners—including Nayan Patel, Kolby Sahin, and Jasper Hyatt—also showed the value of patient early running. Putting their “pedal to the metal” on lap #2, they passed a number of runners in the second mile. John Cirasuolo and Alex Archerman both showed the advantage that RL’s own Malley Hill gives RLXC athletes wherever they run; on lap #2, both John and Alex pushed over the top of the major hill to catch and pass runners on other teams. As the finish line drew near, Guled Rashid and Charley Malley unleashed fierce finishing kicks.

At an Invitational meet, points can add up quickly. Runners are scored based on their finishing places (11th place = 11 points), and so any score below 100 points is a score to be proud of. RL scored 70 points in the race. An additional measure of a team’s quality is its “spread”—the amount of time between a team’s #1 and #5 finisher. RL did not have any runners in the top 10, but the team had an astounding spread of 33 seconds, between 11th and 18th places. That teamwork is what helped RL seal its victory.

Recap by Junior Cross Country Head Coach, Erin Dromgoole.

In addition to Varsity Tennis’s ISL Championship and second place finish in New England, RL’s Varsity Baseball, Lacrosse, and Track and Field Teams also had remarkable spring seasons this year, with noteworthy team-wide and individual accomplishments.

Varsity Baseball finished the season with an 11-4 record in Independent School League competition (12-5 overall), winning their last seven games in a row. The team finished a respectable third place in the ISL this year, and is losing five consequential and long-tenured seniors: Owen Butler, Harry Lonergan, Will Matthews, Antonio Morales (who will play ball at Wake Forest), and Patrick Schultz (who will play ball at Brandeis). Baseball had a great team performance in their season finale with a 12-0 win over St. Mark’s—facing a pitcher heading to Notre Dame and tagging him for five runs in the first inning!

Varsity Lacrosse finished the season with a winning record of 11-7. The team concluded its season by winning the ISL Consolation tournament, winning their first game against Brooks (17-3), winning their second game against BB&N (10-7), and finally beating Groton in the consolation championship (9-7). Hayden Cody was named tournament MVP. On the season, Matt Bastardi led the ISL in assists with 48. The team also had five different players with 20 or more goals this season: Taylor Cotton (28), Jake Popeo (25), Johnny Price (23), Tommy Weber (23), and Matt Bastardi (20). The team loses five seniors this year: Thomas Connolly, Aidan Gibbons, Will Anderson (who will play at Tufts), Riley Stanton (who will play at Holy Cross), and David Sullivan (who will play at Dartmouth).

This year’s Track and Field team had an excellent season, with lots of team and individual highlights. The team finished fifth place overall in the ISL, and in three events at the ISL Championship meet (discus, 110m hurdles, and 100m) all RL entrants set lifetime bests! Michael Thomas and Marc Quintanar both sent the discus over 105 feet. Alejandro Rincon and Ryan Lin showed the power of great teamwork in the 110m hurdles, finishing side-by-side in identical times of 16.74. Bruno Kim and Tyler Duarte both blazed to sub-12 performances in the 100m dash, Bruno for the first time at 11.76 and Tyler in a new lifetime PR of 11.78. Although he was RL’s lone entrant in the high jump, Matt Hoover lept to a new PR of 5’4″, making it four events in which all RL entrants set their lifetime bests.

At the ISL Championships, only the top six athletes or relay teams score in each event. With 13 ISL teams all putting their best athletes on the line, it is extremely difficult to score. All the more congratulations, then, go to RL’s three athletes who improved upon their unseeded times/distances and broke into the scoring: Ryan Miller made the most of his opportunity as RL’s lone “wild card” (third) entrant in an event, setting a lifetime PR of 10’6″ in the pole vault, catapulting into fifth place. Ezra Klauber set a 14-second lifetime PR in the 3000m to nab fifth, while Alejandro Rincon’s 110m hurdle time was good for sixth place.

Each year, the ISL coaches award Outstanding Performer plaques to the best field event athlete, track event athlete, and a combined field/track athlete at the Championships. These awards mark outstanding performances in what are already outstanding competitive fields. Roxbury Latin’s Kofi Fordjour was named the ISL’s 2023 Most Outstanding Track Athlete. Kofi single-handedly scored 28 of RL’s points, winning both the 1500m (4:10) and 3000m (9:24), and taking second in the 800m (1:58). Only a handful of RL distance runners have ever attempted this “iron man triple” at the ISL Championships, and Kofi’s finishing places put him at the top of that list. “The warm round of applause Kofi received from all the ISL athletes at the end of the meet is indicative of the respect he holds across the league,” said Coach Erin Dromgoole.

Track & Field’s final week included individual highlights at the ISL Development meet, as well as a gritty team performance that resulted in a third place finish at the New England Championships.

Although no team scores are kept at the ISL Development meet (with the emphasis instead placed on going for a personal best in one’s main event, or even trying something new), RL emerged with many top performances. Seniors Mathias Why and Michael Allen notably capped off their Track and Field careers with dual PRs in the 400m. In a great sign of the future, Lucas Connors notched his first individual victory on the track (in the 300m hurdles) while distance freshmen Liam Walsh (3000m) and Lincoln Hyatt (1500m) ran personal records in their events. Zach Heaton (1500m) Akhilsai Damera (800m), Drew Anderson (400m), Brendan Reichard (800m), Josh Hua and Austin Reid (200m) continued the PR parade! The race of the day went to Calvin Reid who battled his competition to the wire, leaned at the tape, and was rewarded with a big five-second PR in the 800m. In the field, RL’s top three shot putters, led by Hunter Lane, all ended their season with personal-best throws. This meet is an annual highlight for RL Track and Field “futures,” and this year proved to be more of the same.

Traveling two hours west to Williston Northampton, to compete at the New England Championships, Roxbury Latin Track and Field outscored its seed “on paper” to take home the third place trophy, with 80 points. (Suffield nipped RL for second place by just one point. However, Roxbury Latin’s athletes scored 30.5 more points than they had at the ISL Championships!)

Kofi Fordjour continued his track dominance, winning the 1500m and 3000m for the second week in a row at a Championship meet. Ethan Dhadly concluded his Track and Field career in dramatic fashion by catapulting himself into second place in the triple jump on his final attempt down the runway. Carter Crowley adeptly managed three different events (and multiple shoe changes), scoring in both javelin and 300m hurdles. Michael Thomas had the best meet of his career, launching the shot put 40’8″—a monstrous 2.5 foot PR! Carter, Michael, and Adam Kuechler (400m) all rose out of the unseeded ranks to score in their events—a huge boost to RL’s team score! Adam later had Thomas Savage to thank as a fellow member of the 4x400m team; Thomas’s blazing lead-off leg of that relay positioned RL perfectly to score. Thankfully, pole vault wrapped up before the real downpours began, and it was RL’s highest-scoring event of the day. All three RL vaulters set personal bests: Tommy Reichard (12’1″), Alejandro Rincon (11’6″), and Ryan Miller (11’0″).  

This season marks the 11th year in a row (pandemic years excluded!) that RL Track & Field has enjoyed a winning record—a testament to the boys’ hard work and to their willingness to preserve a team culture that starts not with wins and losses, but with loving each other.

On May 19, Roxbury Latin’s Varsity Tennis team won its final regular season match against St. Mark’s School, to finish undefeated in the Independent School League (15-0), securing its eighth ISL title since 2011. (Accounting for two years without competition due to COVID, RL Tennis has been crowned ISL Champions eight of the last 11 competitive seasons.) Performing memorably this season in their respective positions were Cole Oberg (III) at #1 singles, Eric Diop (II) at #2 singles, Captain Akshay Kumar (I) at #3 singles, Jiho Lee (II) at #4 singles, Daniel Stepanyan (III) at #5 singles, and Tanner Oberg (V) at #6 singles. Each athlete lost only one ISL match out of 15. The final three members of this championship team, instrumental to the collective success, were Eric Zhu (III), Captain Tait Oberg (I), and team manager Justin Yamaguchi (II). With six players returning next year—including five in the starting singles line up—the future of RL tennis looks bright.

Based on the team’s league success during the regular season, they were invited to play in the 2023 New England Class B Tournament, which took place over the weekend. (Since 2011, Roxbury Latin has won this tournament three times—in 2013, 2019, and 2022—and was a finalist four other times.) Only the best eight schools in New England in their division are invited to compete. RL, seeded #1 going into the tournament, was supposed to host the first two rounds of the top half of the draw on Saturday, May 20. However, due to weather, RL was only able to play its first round match at home, against Milton Academy in the morning, which RL won 4-0 just before the heavy rain began. Winning one point for the doubles, and victories from Cole Oberg, Eric Diop, and Tanner Oberg, provided the team the necessary four points to advance. Milton Academy graciously hosted the semifinal that afternoon in their indoor facility. (RL is grateful for their hospitality!) Roxbury Latin met a familiar ISL foe in the semifinal of the tournament: a Belmont Hill squad who beat Westminster in the first round. Once again, RL won the doubles point, and wins from Cole Oberg, Eric Diop, and Jiho Lee pushed the team over the top. The final was played at Groton on May 21 against Hoosac, who won its first round against Nobles and its semifinal against Green Farms Academy. The final started well for RL, as the team was able to win the doubles point. Unfortunately, RL’s boys were not able to maintain that momentum and ultimately lost four close matches in singles (#2, #3, #5, #6), despite a valiant effort.

“I want to thank two seniors who will be greatly missed next year,” said Head Coach Ousmane Diop. “Akshay Kumar and Tait Oberg, who were captains, epitomize for me why I love teaching and coaching at RL. These two wonderful young men truly believe in our generalist philosophy, and they gave their all to their RL experience, in and out of the classroom. As a result, they have truly enriched our lives in so many ways. We say in our school literature that ‘We care, most of all, what kind of person a boy is,’ and that we want our boys to become men of character. Akshay and Tait embody all that we value and cherish most at RL.”

On February 11, Roxbury Latin’s wrestlers headed to BB&N in Cambridge to compete in this winter’s Graves-Kelsey Tournament—the Independent School League wrestling championships, named for long-time and legendary coaches Bert Kelsey of Roxbury Latin, and Gibby Graves of Buckingham Browne & Nichols.

Earning an impressive second finish overall in a field of 13 teams (falling only to nationally-ranked Belmont Hill School), Roxbury Latin’s wrestlers exhibited dedication and toughness in a collective effort, with the following wrestlers placing in their respective weight classes:

1st place: Justin Lim (III)

2nd place: Charlie Holt (V), Dovany Estimphile (II), Aydin Hodjat (II), Declan Bligh (IV)

3rd place: Benji Macharia (III), Navid Hodjat (IV), Justin Shaw (I), Nick Consigli (II)

4th place: Noah Abdur Rahim (III), Isaac Frehywot (III)

6th place: Arjun Bose (I)

Also contributing to the day’s success were Thomas Savage (I) and Auden Duda (IV).

格雷夫-凯尔西锦标赛是为了纪念吉比-格雷夫和伯特-凯尔西而于1966年命名的。伯特在1937年至1966年期间担任罗克斯伯里拉丁学校的摔跤教练，赢得了24个胜利的赛季和许多个人冠军。他是英语和辩论的大师，他的精力和善良的天性使他受到数百名学生的喜爱。吉比-格雷夫是白金汉-布朗和尼科尔斯的长期教练，也是发展联盟锦标赛的先驱。自1966年以来，罗克斯伯里拉丁语学校已经20次获得了格拉夫-凯尔西冠军的称号。

Twelve members of RL’s wrestling team are competing at the New England Championships on February 17 at Phillips Andover, including Charlie Holt, Benji Macharia, Navid Hodjat, Noah Abdur Rahim, Isaac Frehywot, Dovany Estimphile, Justin Shaw, Aydin Hodjat, Justin Lim, Declan Bligh, Nick Consigli, Thomas Savage, Aidan Gibbons, Will Hutter, Arjun Bose, and Auden Duda. You can watch a livestream of the New England Championships at this link.

2022级的马克-亨森本周在芬威公园举行的仪式上受到表彰，庆祝他被选为波士顿全球基金会/理查德-J-菲尔普斯学者-运动员。在其第36年，这个选择性的奖学金计划表彰了一些马萨诸塞州最好的高中学者运动员和学生领袖。

在环球基金会和理查德-菲尔普斯先生的支持下，18名高中生获得了价值3000美元的奖学金，这些奖学金是根据他们在学业、体育和课外活动方面的优秀表现颁发的。正如奖学金材料所描述的那样，理想的候选人参加三项运动，最好是担任这些运动的队长。他或她赢得了联盟的荣誉；被队友和教练尊重为领导者；保持着良好的学术地位；高度参与校内和校外的课外活动，致力于为学校和外部社区服务。

除了获得Globe/Phelps奖学金外，马克还在今年春天获得了联盟的荣誉--被评为ISL全联盟棒球选手，并获得了ISL的银弹头奖，该奖每年授予联盟的最佳击球手。马克还获得了几个罗克斯伯里拉丁学校的奖项，以表彰他的运动承诺和技能，他对学业的奉献，以及他作为同学、队友、学生和朋友的性格。

在6月3日的学校颁奖日仪式上，马克被评为15个赛季的运动员（从八年级开始在RL），他还获得了学校颁发给毕业班成员的最佳运动员奖。在6月4日的RL毕业典礼上，马克被授予著名的1913年班级奖，这是闭幕式上授予的三个奖项之一，每年授予对学校生活做出重大贡献的班级成员。

校长凯里-布伦南（Kerry Brennan）在授予这些荣誉时对马克说。

"作为一名优秀的学者，马克将纯粹的决心与相当的天赋结合在一起，在学校期间获得了很高的荣誉成绩，并获得了令人羡慕的Cum Laude协会的席位之一。 作为三个赛季的主导力量，他不仅表现出色，而且由于他的榜样和领导力，他被选为每项运动的队长。他的早熟为他赢得了15个赛季的校队表现的荣誉（获得了校越野队、校篮球队和校棒球队的席位--所有这些都是在八年级的时候）。马克是ISL越野赛个人冠军的获得者；新英格兰个人冠军的获得者；带领球队在赛季中保持不败；并在两个不同的赛季中获得了ISL和新英格兰团体冠军。马克在篮球比赛中保持着平均每场19分，每场9个篮板和6次助攻，以及48%的场均得分。在棒球方面，他的平均打击率为0.479（并列联盟第一）；即使在首发位置上也取得了11个RBI的非凡成就；并执行了无可挑剔的防守，包括策动了现代RL历史上的第一次三连击。他在所有三项运动中都被选入了全英超和新英格兰队，体现了老式的运动员，在赛季中提供了自己最好的努力，只是偶尔会超越。他喜欢打球，他在比赛中的承诺和快乐证明是有感染力的。马克是一个特殊的人--关心、善良、紧张、有纪律、诚实、友好、负责任和有催化作用。他赢得了所有认识他的人的尊重和爱戴。对我来说，这个年轻人最出色的资质是个人的，是关于态度和决心的。他的队友们知道，他们可以依靠他，因为他有胆识，有恒心，有领导力。他对别人的要求从来不比对自己的要求多。他所做的一切，都是以低调的品位和慷慨的态度进行的。"

马克的许多同学和队友--以及几位有才华的低年级学生--在今年春天的所有运动项目中获得了独立学校联盟（以及田径队的科菲-福特朱尔，全新英格兰）的荣誉。

棒球。
詹姆斯-伯奇--ISL全联盟冠军
马克-亨森--ISL全联盟；ISL银色猛男奖（联盟最佳击球手）。
安东尼奥-莫拉莱斯--ISL全联盟奖
詹姆斯-亨森、帕特里克-舒尔茨和托马斯-彭德--全联盟荣誉奖

长曲棍球。
海登-科迪--ISL全联盟冠军
David Sullivan, Chris Weitzel, Nolan Walsh, Will Anderson, 和Johnny Price --全联盟荣誉奖。

网球。
约翰-法兹利--ISL全联盟冠军
科尔-奥伯格--ISL全联盟冠军

田径场。
Kofi Fordjour - 全新英格兰
Zak Bashir, Carter Crowley, Kofi Fordjour, Jedidiah Nelson - 全联盟荣誉奖