June marks the end of the school year, and with it the conclusion of the high school spring sports season. Among local schools only one team is still vying for a State title, while a few others have already been crowned League champions.
Head Coach Steve Lennon’s Rye High Boys’ Lacrosse team met Byram Hills after an opening bye and went to overtime before prevailing, 6-5. Three days later, they met third-seeded Pearl River and steamrolled them by 13-3. In the Class C final, they beat the top seeds, John Jay-Cross River, for the second time, advancing to State play by 7-4, even without their injured All-American, Kian McCarthy. Next, the Garnets took on Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, the Section 2 champs, and advanced to meet the defending State champs from Manhasset post-press time. (For details, see article on page B18.)
Another Section champion this spring was Joan Spedafino’s Varsity Softball team at Rye Neck. The Panthers boasted several all-stars who contributed to a 23-game winning streak that saw them take the Class B title with a 1-0 win over Albertus Magnus before falling to Marlboro by the same 1-0 score May 30.
On May 23, the Rye Country Day Girls’ Golf team won the inaugural 2023 New York State Association of Independent Schools Championship. The Wildcats had a decisive victory, winning by 12 strokes as a team, with sophomore Claire Yu shooting 36, the lowest score of the Championship.
A day later, the Wildcat Boys’ Golf team also won the 2023 NYSAIS Championship — for the fourth consecutive year. Junior Sebastian Huet shot a team-low score of 72 and will advance to represent his school at the New York State Federation Championship June 10-11 at the Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale.
Another victorious group of Wildcats were the sailors. On May 17, Rye Country Day School hosted the Ryan B. Mahoney Memorial Regatta at American Yacht Club. Named after a RCDS alumnus who passed away after a courageous battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, this year’s regatta hosted a record number of 26 boats. The event was especially meaningful for the Mahoney family, as Ryan’s nephew, an eighth grader, was part of the boat that took home first place. Additionally, the Wildcat boats of sophomores Hayden Hart and Josh Greene and senior Adé Larsen and sophomore Connor Rusch tied for second place.
The Rye Country Day Girls’ Varsity Track & Field team won the Fairchester Athletic Association Championship at Hopkins School on May 6. The team finished with 147 points, 28 points ahead of the second-place team.
Mike Bruno’s Rye Garnets had another winning campaign on the diamond. The team ended the regular season with a record of 13-6-1, which earned them the fourth seed in the Class A playoffs against No. 5 Horace Greeley. Junior Tommy Broderick had the game-tying RBI double with two outs in the seventh, followed by senior Tyler Winderman’s RBI walk-off single for the win. Junior Charlie Margiloff pitched two innings in relief, allowing no earned runs for the victory. He also hit a double and triple. Sophomore Jake Kessner went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and senior Tyler Canna had an RBI double. The Garnets’ season came to an end with they fell to Fox Lane two days later by a score of 2 to 1.
Meanwhile in Class B, the two-time defending champs Rye Neck, helmed by first-year Head Coach George Travius, entered the playoffs seeded third, with a 14-5-1 record. Junior George Katsaros pitched 4.1 innings against No. 14 Pleasantville in the opener, leading the Panthers to a 7-3 win. Senior Elias Murphy was 2-for-3 with a double and one RBI. Two days later, their season ended against Croton-Harmon, dropping a 4-1 decision.
Two other Panthers were honored in the post-season. Twin seniors Luke West, the highest scoring lacrosse player in Section 1, and his brother Ronan, a long-stick midfielder for Rye Neck, were both named to the Section 1 Senior All-Star game.
The Rye High Girls’ Lacrosse team also had a strong season. They won their Class C first-round game by crushing Pearl River, 22-03. Sophomore Caroline Doyle had five goals, junior Lilly Whaling scored four times, and senior Mackenzie Chimento had a hat trick. Whaling had 16 face-off wins.
The Garnets hosted No. 11 Pelham next and won that quarterfinal encounter15-12. Whaling, and juniors Mali White and Della Goodman all scored four times. Head Coach Michelle Mason’s team then took on second seed Nyack, who gave the Garnets all they could handle before falling, 14-13.
Rye faced top seeds John Jay-Cross River, a team they lost to by ten goals earlier in the year, on May 26. This time it was a much tighter game, with the Garnets finally succumbing by a score of 10-8.
RCDS Girls’ Lacrosse Head Coach Georgette Summers saw her team’s FAA season end at the hands of Holy Child under an avalanche of goals, 18-4.
Rye High Girls’ Softball put together a seven-game winning streak to close out the regular season before traveling to Nyack and falling in the playoffs, 12-4.
At the Section One Girls’ Golf Tournament held at the Whippoorwill Golf Course in Armonk May 24, Rye High’s lone second-round qualifier, Myla Bisceglia, posted a score of 83. The score moved Bisceglia from 19th to 11th place, guaranteeing her All-Section honors.
Meanwhile, Rye Boys’ Varsity Tennis fell to John Jay-Cross River in the Sectional Tournament, ending a spectacular 13–1 season for the Garnets. After a first-round bye, they shut out Yorktown 7-0 last Friday at Manursing Island Club. After the heavy rain Saturday cancelled play, they met the John Jay Wolves on Sunday at Harrison High.
Rye played John Jay Cross River at 11 a.m. at the Harrison High School courts. The Garnets lost two of the three doubles matches on tiebreakers, super tiebreakers, as well as the fourth singles match, 10-5. Alex Gordon won in a super tiebreaker at third singles, and Nicolas Echlov breezed to a 6-2, 6-3 win at first singles. With the team score at 3-3, Matthew Templeman lost the first set 6-4 in the second singles spot. He won the second set 6-2, setting up the fifth super tiebreaker of the day, which John Jay won 10-7, moving on to play Scarsdale in the finals.
Finally, Rye High’s Rugby Team, under Head Coach Jim O’Hara, traveled to Elkhart, Indiana for the High School Nationals. Rye took on Xavier or New York City in a play-in game, which they won. They next played the top-ranked team in the country, the District of Columbia’s Gonzaga, a four-time winner of the title. Despite losses to Gonzaga, No. 9 Herriman of Utah, and No. 10 Regis Jesuit of Colorado, the Garnets finished the year ranked 14th in the country.
