During an assembly on Wednesday, December 4, the Athletics Department at Williston Northampton honored fall teams and athletes for their success and growth. Led by Director of Athletics Jade Morris, the program featured captains from each of Williston’s teams—from varsity on down through our Junior soccer teams—discussing the seasons they had and the memories they created.
Below are the remarks that were given during the assembly.
Ms. Morris: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our Fall Athletics Assembly. Today, we come together to honor all of our incredible fall sports participants. In my very first fall here at Williston, I’ve been truly blown away by the energy, dedication, and talent across our athletic community. With 360 students participating on 16 teams this season, your commitment to representing Williston has been remarkable.
Just over two weeks ago, on November 16, I found myself sitting at my desk, replaying the highlights of an unforgettable day: our field hockey team dominating Dexter, our boys soccer team battling into dusk and clinching a victory in penalty kicks, and our football team defeating Cheshire again. I was fielding calls about logistics for championship games the next day, thinking, It doesn’t get better than this.
Throughout the season, I’ve had so many “pinch-me” moments, witnessing our students and coaches in action tirelessly every day, and I feel deeply grateful to lead this department. But today isn’t about me—it’s about you. It’s about celebrating the moments, memories, and achievements you’ve created this season.
We’ll hear briefly from each of our teams, and at the end of every speech, I’ll ask each team to stand so we can collectively recognize your hard work and dedication. So, without further ado—let’s get started!
Ms. Morris: I’d like to welcome one of the leaders of Boy’s Cross-Country team.
Boys Cross Country
Hey everyone, my name is Jackson I’m one of the cross-country captains. Starring off with our JV team. The JV boys were undefeated for the third year in a row led by seniors Jason Park and Will Keegan and freshman Izzie Smith. They shut out every opponent other than NMH who we beat 20-37. On the varsity side we were 9 and 1 only losing to NMH early in the season. Some of our highlights were placing 3rd at the Shaler Invitational held right here at Williston, and beating the class A Taft school 26-29. We also had some very strong individual performances this season. Both Brody Richardson and James Courtney earn All NEPSAC recognition. We also had some changes on the honor role, which is the top 15 times run on our course by Williston Runners. James Courtney and Olin Rose-Bardwil both joined the honor role, while junior Brody Richardson set the school record twice. Overall both teams have had very strong seasons and we are proud of the work we’ve put in.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the boys cross-country team please stand to be recognized. (Clap). In addition, I would like to congratulate Brody Richardson for setting the course record of 16 minutes and 46 seconds.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of Girls Cross-Country.
Girls Cross Country
Hi everyone, we are the captains of the cross-country team. Cross-country is all about grit, as many say it is only 10% physical and 90% mental, in order to succeed you need to be surrounded by a team that uplifts you and in our season, we were able to foster an incredibly strong, caring, uplifting team. Some of our highlights included our annual Apple Orchard run in which we shared apple cider donuts and apple cider slushies, our scavenger hunt around the campus, our hike up mount tom, secret sneakers, and many of our hard but rewarding workouts. The team showed up and worked hard every day, and our hard work led to achievements like PRs, and first 5ks. Our coaches where always there for us weather they were cheering or doing the workouts with us there constant support led to our success. As captains we want to thank our teammates and coaches for everything that they did, you made our season incredibly special
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the girls cross-country team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome up one of the leaders of Boy’s Junior Soccer team.
Boys Junior Soccer
Hello everyone, my name is Haical and this fall I was part of the junior boys’ soccer team. We started off the season with enthusiasm making it easy for us to create a community and bond.
Highlights of our season were a 7-1 win over Bement, a 3-0 win over Rectory and a tie against Wilbraham & Monson. While we ended the season with a 2-6-1 record, we grew as a team and as soccer players.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the Boy’s Junior Soccer team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome one of the leaders of Boy’s JV-B Soccer team.
Boys JVB Soccer
Hello, my name is Luke Grabowski and I’m excited to be up here today to tell you all a little bit about our JV-B soccer season. I have been on the team most of my Williston career and I will miss it a lot next year when I graduate from Williston. Throughout the season we made great improvements while still being able to have fun a laugh a lot during practice. Led by our coaches Borges and Garcia, we were able to get wins over Eagle Hill, Deerfield, and many other schools. We had an amazing game towards the end of the season with a comeback against Cushing which really got the boys hype and was a good way to end the season. I have had a great time participating in this soccer team playing alongside fellow senior Toby Peterson, and it was a great experience that I can look back on. Thank you and have a nice day.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the Boy’s JV-B Soccer team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of Boys JV-A Soccer Team.
Boys JVA Soccer
Hi everyone, we’re Jackson and Alex, the captains of JV-A soccer. This fall, we had a fantastic season, finishing with a record of 9-5. One of the highlights was our huge upset against NMH, where we won 3-0. Ryan Hu, Siyu Tran, and Nam Vu each scored a goal, and Henry Sanders had a stellar performance in his first game as goalkeeper due to senior goalkeeper Jack Berrien being out. We also had some other great victories, including a 9-0 win against Millbrook, a 7-0 win against KO, and a 5-0 win vs WMA.
Our success this season was truly a team effort. Everyone worked hard, and our excellent coaching from Coaches Johnson and Lopez Diaz made a huge difference. They pushed us to be our best and helped us grow as players and as a team.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the Boy’s JV-A Soccer team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome one of the leaders of Boys Varsity Soccer Team.
Boys Varsity Soccer
Hi, my name is Sokichi Sullivan and I am one of the captains of the Boys Varsity Soccer team. I promise you, that these boys that made it to the NEPSAC finals, will be back. I’m calling the shot and it’s not even mine to take. These boys, who became men on that Sunday. These boys, who vanquished the defending champs, Kimball Union Academy, 4-1 at a hostile field. These boys, who took down: the up and coming Mount St Charles in a hard-fought defensive masterpiece, winning decisive penalty shootout that came down to Nico’s final penalty. These boys, who fought through 5 injuries in finals from key offensive players. These boys, next year, will be back in the finals where we left them. And next year, I’m calling the shot that I have no right to take. They won’t miss.
At this time, we’d like to present our NEPSAC Class B Finalist trophy to Mr. Hill.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the Boy’s Varsity Soccer team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of Girls JV Soccer Team.
Girls JV Soccer
Rinka: Hi everyone, my name is Rinka
Madi: And my name is Madi. We are the captains of girls JV soccer.
Rinka: Our season was nothing short of fun. A moment that stands out above all others is when we beat KO 2-0 for our first home game which set the tone for the rest of season
Madi: As a result, our team felt more confident and united. We worked hard during our practices, which enhanced our physical fitness and endurance, and we believe this is one of our strongest qualities.
Rinka: Furthermore, we’d like to recognize our team’s mental toughness and resilience on the field. The ability to stay focused and push while playing tough teams is an important skill that our team excelled at.
Madi: We’d like to thank our couches, coach Madrid and coach Adrain as they have supported and motivated our team throughout this year’s season. As well as our teammates who showed up to practice every day, physically and mentally.
Rinka: Finally, congratulations to our award winners for this year. Thank you.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the Girls JV Soccer team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of Girls Varsity Soccer Team.
Girls Varsity Soccer
Hi, my name is Alyssa Frazier, and I’m Liv Farabee, and we are the captains of the Girls Varsity Soccer team. This season, Girls Varsity Soccer demonstrated incredible growth and resilience, balancing hard work with fun.
Despite being a young team, we proved ourselves against tough Class A competition, adapting to various challenges, including adjusting our positions to fill gaps left by injuries and competing with a challenging schedule. One of the standout moments came when Viktoria scored a dramatic game-winning goal against KO under the lights with just 2 minutes and 30 seconds remaining, a moment that will be remembered by all. We also celebrated a significant 5-0 victory over Hopkins in our Pink Out game and raised funds for Rays of Hope through our Crumbl Cookie sale, contributing to an important cause. Younger players stepped into key roles and showed their maturity, playing crucial parts in our success. Some of our favorite memories included our preseason camp, where we bonded as a team and prepared for the season ahead, and our annual team dinner at Riley’s house. We are deeply grateful to our coaches for their dedication, guidance, and support throughout the season, and we are excited to see how this program will continue to grow and build in the future.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the Girls Varsity Soccer team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of Thirds Volleyball Team.
3rds Volleyball
Hello Everyone!
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Alia, a sophomore and member of the 2024 thirds volleyball team. I had never played volleyball before joining this team and I am so happy that I was able to learn the sport with such a fun team and coaches. My favorite moment of the season is learning the sport all together!!
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the Thirds Volleyball team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of JV Volleyball Team.
JV Volleyball
Livia: Our JV volleyball season started off a little rough, but we are so incredibly proud of the way our teammates were able to turn it around. Through hard work we achieved a strong, united, and talented team that has shown that perseverance and acceptance truly pay off in team sports.
Kat: This season our volleyball team excelled because we embraced a mindset of continuous self improvement, always strive to get better both individually and as a group. We also balanced humor and intensity perfectly, managing to both give it our all while cracking jokes in between plays.
Charlotte: Elise was a key member of our team in the 2023 season. After she passed away, we played our next game at Cushing Academy. We had lost our two previous games, and we knew the importance of this game in particular, we came together as a team and truly showed everyone how well we were able to work as a whole, the teamwork and hard, well fought effort was worth it when we won 3 to 0. This was a pivotal moment in our season and we rode the momentum to go on and won our next three games. This showed us in the entire team that push pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, whether that was playing a new position, or playing with people you might not know well was important to the success of the team.
Overall this was a season filled with passion and good energy and we are all so grateful to have been a part of this team. Thank you.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the JV Volleyball team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of Varsity Volleyball Team.
Varsity Volleyball
Hi everyone, my name is Annika and my name is Hazel. We are the captains of the varsity volleyball team.
A standout moment for the varsity volleyball program was being able to adjust to the new team dynamic and the various changes that all of us had to experience throughout the seasons. I feel as if we were very flexible and welcoming to whatever was infront of us which made this season very successful.
The quality that we valued a lot from the team was the consistent attitude of wanting to get better. This really allowed us to improve as a team and seeing everyone wanting to be better and working their butts off, it really showed that everyone cared a lot.
I think the favorite memory that we would like to share is when everyone found out we made it to playoffs after our senior game. It made us so happy because it was something we were really working for and we got it at the end.
Thank you for supporting us with our pink game and all our games and for a great season!
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the Varsity Volleyball team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of Water Polo Team.
Water polo
Hi, my name is Herrick Stevenson and I am one of the captains of the water polo team. Last season we did not graduate anybody from our team, so this season we were optimistic to make a NEPSAC tournament appearance. We were able to accomplish this goal with a highlight 1 goal win over Greenwich Country Day. That close win combined with growth as individuals and as a team helped us to complete our goal of a NEPSAC appearance. Unfortunately, we were against the second seed and after a hard-fought game we left after the first round. Overall, the season was a success, and the team is a lot of potential moving forward into next season.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the Water Polo team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of the JV Football Team.
JV Football
Hi, my name is Dylan and I am one of the team leaders on JV football. The entire season we all were friends, everyone on that team supported one another, no matter the circumstance. Our coaches had great senses of humor making practices something to look forward to.
Hi, my name is Ze Kai. Being on the JV football team was a great experience. We helped each other to improve throughout the season. The games weren’t always easy, but those challenges helped us grow as players and as a team. Thanks you to the coaches and my teammates for making it a season worth remembering.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the JV Football team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome one of the leaders of the Varsity Football Team.
Varsity Football
First off, I want to thank my coaches for this incredible season. Without their sacrifice nothing would have been possible. Its truly been an honor to play for and learn from such an incredible group of guys.
That said, if I had one word to describe this season, it would be resilient.
We responded to adversity better than any team I have ever been a part of . In fact, in 4 of our 8 wins we were down at halftime- One of which was against Exeter where we were down at half and scored 28 points in a row to start the second half
My second favorite win was when we dominated the team down south in our 6th game to secure a bowl game appearance.
Our success is because my teammates and I built an unbreakable trust in each other
For that reason, we finished the season with an 8-1 record winning the league for the first time since we joined class A and won a Bowl Game for the first time in over 30 years.
At this time, we’d like to present our NEPSAC Danny Smith Bowl Game trophy to Mr. Hill.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the Varsity Football team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of JV Field Hockey Team.
JV Field Hockey
Hello, I am Maggie, and I was a member of the JV field hockey team this year. The JV field hockey team is probably one of the most fun teams on campus. We have a blast together, especially during our post game Starbucks runs. But what really sets us apart is how we encourage and celebrate each other. Whether it’s a great play or a personal achievement, we make sure to uplift and cheer for one another. The sideline is always going crazy during games and it never fails to hype up the players on the field. My favorite memories from this season were the bus rides to and from games, the trips to Mt. Tom’s, and our competition practices. Thank you for a great season!
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the JV Field Hockey team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: At this time, I’d like to welcome the leaders of Varsity Field Hockey Team.
Varsity Field Hockey
This year, the field hockey team had an unforgettable season, marked by incredible achievements and memorable experiences. One of the standout moments was our victory over Berkshire in the annual Pink Game, where we triumphed 4-2 at home. We dedicated this game and our fundraising efforts to Ms. Klumpp, and it became a symbol of our team’s spirit and unity. Another significant achievement was beating the reigning NEPSAC Class A Champions Taft, 3-2 in overtime. To honor Elise, we wore pink socks for that game, creating an emotional and powerful atmosphere. It was a historic moment for the team, we claimed our first-ever victory over Taft, marking a milestone in the school’s history—a true testament to our growth and determination.
This year’s success came from the perfect balance of hard work on the field and the joy of spending time together. Our hikes on Mt. Tom, our tradition of collecting random items during runs, and our annual trip to the apple orchard all strengthened the bonds that fueled our success.
Our playoff run was nothing short of remarkable, we started with a dominant 5-0 win over Suffield and a decisive 4-0 win over Dexter. We then traveled to Ethel Walker to face the two-time reigning champions, Middlesex. As the underdogs, we showed heart, grit, and resilience. It was a battle back and forth, and it took two overtimes for Nora Curtis to secure the game-winning goal. These shared experiences, combined with our relentless tenacity, led us to win the NEPSAC Championship and break the record for the most wins in a single season in Williston Field Hockey history with 15 victories. It was a season filled with heart, teamwork, and unforgettable memories that will be cherished for years to come.
At this time, we’d like to present our NEPSAC Class B Championship trophy to Mr. Hill.
Ms. Morris: Will the members of the JV Volleyball team please stand to be recognized.
Ms. Morris: I would also like to recognize Zola Piekarski for surpassing the 100-point milestone this year and earning NEPSAC Field Hockey player of the year. Congratulations, Zola.
Closing: One more big round of applause for all of our fall teams and our NEPSAC award winners. Congratulations and have a great day!