Good Evening Cavaliers!
We have reached the end of the 2022–2023 school year with much to celebrate! DA Athletics is proud to announce that for the second straight year, our program captured both the girls and boys TISAC Prestige Cups (this is an all-sports competition in which schools earn points from final conference finishes). This is the second-straight win for the girls and the fifth consecutive year the boys have captured this cup.
In addition, we finished with the most Wells Fargo Cup points (an N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association all-sports competition in which schools earn points from final state finishes) in school history. This is the fourth-straight year that we have set a school record in this competition! While the final statewide standings have not been officially tallied, it is most likely we will finish in fourth place.
Here are the final updates from our teams competing last week:
Golf
DA boys golf team finished second in the NCISAA championships last Monday at Bryan Park in Greensboro. The Cavs were six strokes behind state champion Charlotte Latin and topped third-place Christ School by just one stroke. The DA scorers in the championship were: William Chapman ’23 (+1), Miles Moore ’25 (+1), Hall Chapman ’26 (+2) and Nicholas Hogan ’23 (+6).
Track & Field
DA’s track & field teams had strong performances at the NCISAA state meet at Cannon School in Concord. The girls finished fourth in the state, while the boys placed sixth. Two student-athletes won individual state titles: Ali Laros ’25 won the pole vault competition, and Ama Mensah-Boone ’24 was state champion in the 300-meter hurdles. Amazingly, without a pole vault pit on campus, DA has won the last three state pole vault titles!
Here are DA’s other individual top-three finishes:
Amani Diallo ’23: third place in the 100-meter, third place in the 200-meter
Allison Hall ’24: third place in the 1,600-meter
Ali Laros ’25, Amani Diallo ’23, Kate Parker ’24 and Jordin Brown ’23: third place in the Girls 4x100-meter relay
Aaron Caveney ’23: second place in the 400-meter, third place in the 800-meter
Additional NCISAA Updates
Three DA teams headed to Charlotte last week for state semifinal match-ups. Unfortunately, all came up a bit short in their quest to advance to championship contests.
The boys tennis team lost 5–1 at Providence Day on Wednesday as the undefeated Chargers took a 2–1 lead after doubles. The lone point for the Cavs came from the second doubles team of Paul Wang ’23 and Nik Larson ’23, although Larson and Jet Bilsborrow ’25 had leads in their matches when the Chargers clinched. The Cavs finished the year 18–5.
The girls lacrosse team’s season came to an end on Tuesday as top-seeded and eventual state champion Charlotte Latin beat the Cavs 18–3. Spencer Jennings ’23 and Fleming Burkert ’24 and Maggie Smith ’24 scored goals for the Cavs, who finished their season 10–7.
The boys lacrosse team faced a similar fate, as top-seeded and eventual state champ Cannon School defeated the Cavs 17–3 in Concord on Tuesday. Jude Ng Cashin ’24 had two goals, while Hugh Wheeler ’23 added the third as the Cavs faced not only the high-powered Cannon offense, but an hour-long lightning delay, which caused the game to finish at around 10 p.m. The boys finished the year 10–8.
Cavalier Honors
Dozens of spring DA athletes earned accolades, including 50 All-Conference / individual TISAC track and field champions. Additional honors include the following:
Five TISAC Players of the Year:
Aaron Caveney '23, Boys Track and Field
Amani Diallo '23, Girls Track and Field
Evelyn Guyer '24, Girls Lacrosse
Brodie Mason '23, Boys Lacrosse
Paul Wang '23, Boys Tennis
Nine All-State / Individual State Track and Field Champions
Evelyn Guyer '24, Girls Lacrosse
Spencer Jennings '23, Girls Lacrosse
Ali Laros '25, Track & Field (pole vault)
Cameron Mackay '23, Girls Soccer
Brodie Mason '23, Boys Lacrosse
Ama Mensah-Boone '24, Track & Field (300-meter hurdles)
Kyla Newkirk '24, Girls Lacrosse
Sam Schaeffer '23, Baseball
Paul Wang '23, Boys Tennis
Finally, DA athletics hosted our spring varsity athletics assembly Sunday night in Horton Hall. Congratulations to our award recipients (as voted on by our varsity head coaches):
Kurt Meyer Senior Athlete Awards:
Aaron Caveney '23, Spencer Jennings '23, and Sanju Patel '23
TISAC Sportsmanship Awards:
William Chapman '23 and Holly Wilcox '23
Durham Sports Club Scholarship Nominees:
JP Dilweg '23 and Sarah Lipsitch '23
Steve Engebretsen Underclass Leadership Awards:
Jason Hugh ’24, Jude Ng Cashin ’24 and Maggie Smith ’24
Thank you all for your support of our student-athletes and our athletics program during this historic year!
2023–2024 Fall Sport Registration is Now Open
Registration for fall 2023 sports is now open! Information was shared with returning and incoming families on Wednesday afternoon. Students must register with their DA emails through the link provided to them. Registration closes on Friday, June 9.
For more information on fall start dates, please visit da.org/athletics/startdates