Contributors: Bria Irizarry, Isaiah Caldwell ’20 and Colleen Gunning
Twitter: @daathletics
Instagram: @dacavsathletics
There are just over three weeks remaining in the Durham Academy spring sports regular season, and five out of our eight teams have amassed a winning record. However, one team in particular has had a remarkable start to the season: the varsity boys tennis team. DA tennis is now 5–0 on the season, and all five wins have been 9–0 victories over their opponents.
Head Coach Sean Bilsborrow ’94, who is in his 20th year at the helm of the program, is most proud of his players’ work ethic. “We’re happy with the way the season has gone so far,” Bilsborrow said. “The boys have put in a lot of hard work, both physical and mental, and it’s good to see that manifest itself in strong results.”
The team is off to its best start in over six years and is heading into a stretch of five matches in the next nine days, including contests against non-conference opponents Cardinal Gibbons High School, Greensboro Day School and East Chapel Hill High School. Despite the early success, Bilsborrow hopes to keep it all in perspective.
“The team understands that no one remembers how you start the season,” he said. “The most significant challenges lie ahead.”
Baseball
Varsity baseball is now 4–1 on the season after a tight win over the Grace Christian Eagles at home on Tuesday.
The Cavs were first to jump on the board after junior Zeph Hollenbeck sent home junior Ethan Goldstein on an RBI single in their first at-bats. The Eagles struggled to get anything past the DA infield until the top of the fourth, when they added three runs to the board — including a two-run home run over the left field fence. DA immediately battled back with an explosive rally with two outs, making it a 7–3 game, after Goldstein blasted a three-run triple to center field. Grace Christian added two more runs in the top of the sixth, but the Cavs were able to grab the third out, leaving the go-ahead runs stranded, and sealing the 7–5 DA win.
Junior Stephen Lamb started on the mound for DA, striking out six batters through three innings until he was relieved by Hollenbeck to throw for two innings. Goldstein came in for the final inning and was credited with the save after retiring the Eagles in order in just 13 pitches.
Next up, the Cavs will travel to Charlotte for two games on Saturday vs. Charlotte Country Day School and Charlotte Latin School at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Boys Golf
The DA boys golf team had its only match of the week, and just the third match of the season, canceled on Tuesday. The team, which is 0–2–1 on the season, will look ahead to next Tuesday’s matchup vs. Wesleyan Academy on the road at 3 p.m. They will have a quick turnaround, hosting Trinity School at home the next day at 3:30 p.m.
Boys Lacrosse
DA boys lacrosse defeated North Raleigh Christian Academy 15–3 last week with the help of six different scorers. The Cavs netted two quick goals from senior Gavin Schulz and junior Austin Corbett and later in the quarter from junior Nate Alexander. Corbett again snuck one around the goalkeeper on the right crease before the end of the first quarter, and the Cavs had a 4–0 advantage over the Knights.
NRCA got on the board early in the second quarter, but DA responded by extending the lead to 10–1 at the half. DA carried its momentum into the second half with three assisted goals to extend the lead to 13–1. Not only was the offense executing, but the defense was responding to the challenge. After a few saves from senior John Donovan and successful clears from the defense, the Cavs converted another offensive possession into a goal from Alexander. DA had one more goal in the final minutes of the game from junior Aamer Husain, and ultimately the lead was too great for the Knights to recover.
On Wednesday, DA hosted Triangle Independent Schools Athletic Conference opponent Cary Academy on the boys lacrosse field at Durham Academy and came away with a 12–2 win. Again, the Cavs had six different contributors, and the team’s offensive efforts were led by Schulz (four goals, one assist) and Corbett (one goal, four assists).
It was a slow start for DA, but midway through the first quarter the offense was able to settle into a groove and put up four unanswered goals. With just three minutes left in the half, Corbett notched his fourth assist on the evening to sophomore Hugh Wheeler, and the Cavs extended the lead to 6–0. At halftime, the score was 8–1 after two more DA goals and a Chargers goal off a man-up.
During the third quarter, DA had a bit of a scoring drought after taking at least 10 shots. It wasn’t until there were 44 seconds on the clock that Schulz found the back of the net, making the score 9–2. DA was able to capitalize off of two man-up possessions in the fourth quarter. Donovan proved to be a spark when he captured a ground ball in the defensive end, successfully cleared the ball and Corbett found Alexander for the last goal of the game to solidify the 12–2 win.
The Cavs are now 4–1 and will suit up again on Friday at 4:30 p.m., at home vs. Charlotte Country Day.
Girls Lacrosse
The girls lacrosse team lost a tough road contest to Charlotte Latin, 17–11, last Thursday. Latin, which was 5–1 on the season, took control of the game early and held the Cavs to their lowest point total of the season.
The Hawks were on the board first, scoring three unanswered goals, but with the help of ninth-grader Evelyn Guyer, who assisted the Cavs’ first three goals, DA was able to close the gap to 5–3. The Cavs continued to fight, adding three more assisted goals to the board to bring the score to 7–6 before the Hawks countered one last time before the halftime whistle. The Cavs trailed 8–6.
Guyer started the second half where she left off, with a quick assist to junior Brooke Epstein and then an unassisted goal to bring the score within one, 9–8. Again, Guyer found a teammate off the pass, this time sophomore Spencer Jennings, who helped tie the game at 9 with 14 minutes left in the game. The Hawks responded right away to regain the lead and then maintained possession to put four more goals past the Cavs. After a lull in scoring for the Cavs, Epstein eventually found Jennings inside the 8-meter arc for the final DA goal of the game, but the effort was not enough to overcome the deficit. The Cavs’ offensive efforts were led by Guyer (three goals, five assists) along with Epstein and Jennings, who each tallied three goals and one assist.
DA girls lacrosse is now 3–1 and will be on the road again Thursday to face Saint Mary’s School at 4 p.m.
Girls Soccer
The varsity girls soccer team picked up its first win of the season after an exciting matchup with Wake Christian on Tuesday. Junior Kennedy Yon and sophomore Faith Hanson led the offense in the first half, scoring two explosive goals for an early DA lead.
However, the Bulldogs cut the gap to one after a quick goal just 15 seconds into the second half. Four minutes later, Hanson responded by placing another hard shot in the back of the net for her second goal of the night. In the final minutes, Wake Christian was able to use a corner kick to bank one in off the goalpost, making it a 3–2 game. Sophomore goalkeeper Cameron Mackay was key in shutting down last-minute attempts by the Bulldogs, making four huge saves to seal the DA win.
The following day, the Cavs fell 3–1 to Cary Academy. The Chargers scored first, sliding one past Mackay in the first 10 minutes. But DA battled right back, with Yon scoring the equalizer off a penalty kick. The Cavs continued the pressure on offense after senior Brooke Adams connected with ninth- grader Godiya Mangai in front of the net, but the ball was grabbed and cleared by the Cary Academy goalkeeper. The Chargers were able to send two more past the Cavs’ defense late in the second half for a 3–1 win over DA.
The team moves to 1–4 on the season, heading into Tuesday’s road game against Saint Mary’s at 4 p.m.
Boys Tennis
DA varsity boys tennis competed in one match this past week vs. TISAC opponent Wake Christian. The Cavs rolled to another 9–0 victory, their fifth in as many competitions this season.
DA kicked off the match with three strong doubles matches. The Cavs’ No. 1 doubles team — senior Jack Preble and junior Gavin Levinson — defeated their opponents 8–3. The No. 2 doubles team, featuring sophomore Owen Brent-Levenstein and eighth-grader Jet Bilsborrow, swept their opponents 8–0. Junior Aadesh Anchaliya and sophomore Nikolas Larson teamed up at No. 3 doubles and defeated their opponents 8–2. This was Larson’s first action for the Cavs this season, and he put together a strong performance alongside Anchaliya to get the win.
The boys followed up the three doubles wins with six dominating singles victories. Sophomores Pete Crowley and Paul Wang, senior Jackson Zobrist, Levinson, Bilsborrow and Larson filled out the lineup, and they proved to be too much for the Bulldogs. DA won 72 out of 77 singles sets as it cruised to yet another victory.
The team is now 5–0 and looking forward to a match Thursday afternoon at Cardinal Gibbons.
Track and Field
The DA varsity track and field teams split their April 1 meet at Ravenscroft. The girls team earned first place with a score of 71 points, and the boys team placed second with a score of 42 points.
This was the second straight meet in which the girls placed first, and it is the result of strong and consistent performances. Sophomore Amani Diallo continues to produce rapid times in short distance events, and she finished first in the 100-meter race. It was a total team effort, and the Cavs saw first-place contributions from seniors Lucy Steiner and Anna Catherine Wilson, as well as ninth-grader Allison Hall. The DA girls also found success in field events. Sophomore Veronica Quiett won the discus throw and junior Julianna Hallyburton won the pole vault, boosting DA’s overall score.
The varsity boys track team struggled a bit, falling to the Ravens 99–42. Although the final score is not what the team had hoped for, there were still some individual performances to be proud of. The boys team set many personal and season records — including senior Ryan Norris in the 300-meter hurdles race and ninth-grader Evan Pfeil in the 100-meter race.
The boys hope to bounce back while the girls look to keep the momentum rolling in their next meet on April 8 at Cary Academy.
Keeping Up with the Cavs
As always, you can keep up with the Cavs on Durham Academy’s website and the Durham Academy App (available on the Apple App Store).
- For a list of all teams, their schedules and directions to games, visit www.da.org/teams.
- Click on an individual team to subscribe to automatic alerts about athletics results, postponements and cancellations, calendar and athletic event reminders. You can also import team schedules into your electronic calendars.
- All information about the daily athletics schedule is also available on DA’s Athletics Hotline: 919-489-2534 (ext. 5).
The DA App: Schedules and Results
- The DA App allows you to keep up with athletics wherever you are. You can download the app from iTunes at http://bit.ly/DACavaliers. The DA App pulls athletics content directly from the DA website and delivers it to iOS-based devices including iPhone and iPad.
- The Athletics portion of the DA App (after launching, click Menu, then click Athletics to open) features results of recent games, a list of upcoming contests and team records.