From an 85-yard kick-off return to beat St Albans and a big Water Polo win over Georgetown Prep, to a promising young Cross Country team, a growing Volleyball program, and an IAC Soccer tournament championship, the fall 2024 sports season was packed with exciting highlights. Here’s the season wrap-up:
Cross Country
Head Coach Tom DiChiara and captains Gavin Chung ’25, Jack Fucci ’25, and Joe Papalia ’26 led a young and talented team whose performance portends league prowess ahead. At the IAC Championships, the Freshman-Sophomore and JV squads both finished second, the JV runners would go on to take third in the Montgomery County Private School Championships and fifth at the Maryland State Private School Championships. Overall, the Bears improved upon last year’s performance at the IAC championship, finishing fourth. Coach DiChiara concluded that the future is looking bright, noting that 12 Bears ran faster than 20 minutes for 5K, the most under that mark since 2016.
Football
Led by Head Coach Paul Padalino and team captains Riley Lugar ’25, Sean Murray ’25, DP Pope ’25, Tiller Smith ’25, and Caden Southworth ’25, the 2024 football team cultivated a tightknit team culture that bolstered the players through difficult challenges. The team battled through season-ending injuries to key players, requiring many players to learn new positions and fill bigger roles. Notable games include a homecoming win over Episcopal and a victory over Maret, a team that went on to win the MAC championship. The resiliency of this year’s team was evident in the last game of the season as they overcome a 22-point halftime deficit at St. Albans to win 36-29. The Bears finished the season with a strong 7-3 record. All-IAC honorees include Logan Cassidy ’25, Charlie Fields ’25, Lugar, Murray, Matthew Rosner ’27, Smith, Southworth, Kaisen Wohlgemuth ’26, and Ubie Zaid ’26. Zaid earned two accolades from the Military Bowl DC Touchdown Club: Player of the Week, for his performance against St. Albans, and Private School Player of the Week for his performance against Bishop O’Connell. After the Bishop O’Connell game, Murray was named Player of the Week by 7News DC.
Soccer
Led by Head Coach Bill Reed and captains Henry Appleton ’26, Zak Niang ’26, and Jonathan Willis ’25, the Bears engaged a tough IAC schedule, going 4-3-3 in the regular season. In the IAC championship tournament, the Bears drew the four seed before defeating all three opponents: St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes in the quarterfinal; St. Albans in a shootout after playing to a 0-0 tie in two overtimes; and Episcopal, who went on to win the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association (VISAA) championship. The win is especially rewarding having gone into the season with the goal of building team chemistry and a strong sense of camaraderie. In out-of-conference play, the team went 5-1-2, facing opponents from the MIAA’s A division and the WCAC, as well as the Hill School (PA). The team ended the season ranked sixth in the Washington Post and had four players named All-IAC: H. Appleton, Nick Appleton ’26, Mac Marshall ’25, and Niang.
Volleyball
Head Coach Beverly Sivaslian made her return to coaching the Bears this fall, leading the club team along with captains Peter Grandison ’25 and Ryan Kramer ’25. Season highlights include matches with Stone Ridge and Holton-Arms that doubled as fundraisers for breast cancer research as well as the annual faculty-student game, which was filled with “great competition and hilarious fun." Thirty student-athletes joined this year’s team, making it the largest in program history. The size of the team encouraged intrasquad matchups, culminating in the Homecoming tournament that featured an array of team lineups, including an upperclassman vs. underclassman game.
Water Polo
Led by Head Coach Chris Ros and captains Luke Finnell ’25, Matthew Guo ’25, and Gunnar Small ’25, the Bears worked together and improved in many aspects of the game as the season progressed, culminating in an exciting victory against Georgetown Prep. The Bears’ first game against Gonzaga “was one of the best played games of the season” and was an effective jumping-off point from which to build. The Beast of the East tournament was an opportunity to build camaraderie and confidence, concluding with the team’s first win of the season against St. Benedict’s. From there, the team continued improving, beating Georgetown Prep – notably, the only other team in the IAC with a water polo program – and closing the season with a successful Sunday of competition at Eastern Championships, in which they held multiple teams scoreless in the second half of their games.