Spring is in Full Swing
By Andy Pogach, Director of Athletics
We’ve reached the halfway point of the spring athletics season at Durham Academy. With four weeks remaining in our spring regular season, here are updates from all of our DA varsity teams.
SOFTBALL
(5-3, 2nd in Triangle Independent Schools Athletic Conference — TISAC)
What a turnaround it has been for the softball team. Entering this season, the squad had a record of 4–82 dating back to 2017. In the first seven games this season, the Cavaliers have eclipsed that win total. Check out the game-winning hit from eighth grader Claire Lynch in a 20–19 win April 3 over Ravenscroft. Lynch and seventh grader Meera Gupta are both batting an unheard-of .706 this season. Stella Teis ’27 leads the team with 37 strikeouts from the circle. The Cavs won their home matchup vs. Cary Academy, 9–6, on Tuesday, and they take on Carrboro High School on Friday at 5 p.m.
BOYS LACROSSE
(9–1, 4th in HighSchool OT state rankings, 1st in NCISAA Division I)
The 9–1 boys lax squad is rolling: With Friday’s 7-4 win over Charlotte Country Day, the Cavs have moved into the No. 1 spot in the NCISAA rankings and vaulted from No. 11 to No. 4 in the HighSchool OT state-wide rankings. The Cavs’ only loss was to state power Lake Norman High, and they already have NCISAA victories over Charlotte Latin, Providence Day, Ravenscroft, North Raleigh Christian Academy and Friday’s big win over the 13–2 Bucs. Merritt Schulz ’25 (27 goals, 10 assists) and junior Camden Hughes (28 goals, 13 assists) have paced the DA offense, while senior Gage Rogers (66 saves, 48% save percentage) and junior Curry Jennings (30 caused turnovers) have led the DA defense. The Cavs routed Cary Academy, 16–6, on Tuesday and have another huge NCISAA matchup Friday afternoon with Cannon School, the defending state champs.
BOYS TENNIS
(11–3, 1st in NCISAA Division I)
The DA boys tennis team is ranked 18th in the HighSchool OT statewide poll and already has signature wins over perennial power Cardinal Gibbons and two wins over last year’s NCISAA state champ, Cary Academy. The Cavs’ latest defeat of Cary Academy — an 8–1 home victory Tuesday — gave the Cavs first place in their conference. The Cavs used a 3–0 doubles sweep in their 6–3 TISAC win over Ravenscroft on April 3. Jet Bilsborrow ’25 (who earlier this year earned his 100th career win) won in straight sets at first singles and teamed with junior Eli Werness for an 8–2 win at first doubles in the victory over the Ravens. Ten different Cavaliers saw action in Friday’s 9–0 sweep over NRCA. The Cavs’ depth has been impressive this year, as 10 Cavs have two or more wins in the singles lineup — and the team is a combined 26–6 in doubles play. They’ll take on 8–3 East Chapel Hill and a Friday home match with 9–2 Cannon School.
GIRLS SOCCER
(6–2, T-1st in TISAC)
The 6–2 girls soccer team found some late game magic April 3, defeating conference rival Ravenscroft 3–2 in overtime. After senior Beckett Moylan opened the scoring, the Cavs found themselves trailing 2–1 late in the game before junior Lylah Camire scored the equalizer to send the game to golden-goal OT. Just over four minutes into the first overtime, junior Anna Morris scored the game-winner. As of Monday, April 7, Morris had scored 13 of the Cavs’ 23 goals on the season and had hat tricks in the Cavs’ victories over the North Carolina School of Science & Math and Saint Mary’s. A 1–0 home win Tuesday over Cary Academy gave the Cavs a share of the conference lead. They visit Cannon School on Friday night.
TRACK AND FIELD
The DA track and field teams survived a long meet hosted by Ravenscroft on April 3, with the girls taking first out of seven schools and the boys placing second out of six. Emery Anderson ’25 set two school records (10.93 in the 100m and 21.97 in the 200m) and now holds four DA records. Other individual race winners for the Cavs included: Selena Burrus ’27 (100m), Savannah Gunsch ’25 (400m), Audrey Crowder ’26 (3200m), John David Spatola ’28 (3200m), James Saunders ’25 (300m hurdles), Anya Brander ’28 (high jump), Charlotte Gunsch ’27 (long jump), and PJ Jeffries (long jump and triple jump). DA’s relay teams also excelled, with the following placing first: boys 4x100 (Anderson, PJ Jeffries ’25, Parker Jeffries ’27 and Joe Ruth ’25), girls 4x400 (Helen Barritt ’28, Livvy Christian ’28, Savannah Gunsch ’25 and Catherine Hall ’26) and boys 4x400 (Tate Duensing ’26, Luke Houser ’27, Matthew Farnworth ’25 and Joel Ryan ’28. In Wednesday’s home meet with Forsyth Country Day and Saint Mary’s, both the boys and girls teams placed first, and PJ Jeffries notched a school record of 22’4” in the long jump.
BOYS GOLF
The DA boys golf team currently sits third in the NCISAA team rankings and have both Milan Rampersaud ’28 (3rd) and junior Hall Chapman ’26 in the top 15 of the state individual rankings. Chapman was the medalist with a 32 in the Cavs’ nine-stroke win over NRCA on April 1 and took home the individual championship honors in the Keith Hills Tournament earlier this season. The boys fell by a stroke to Ravenscroft in an 18-hole match April 1 and will head to Pawleys Island for their annual Palmetto High School Golf Tournament on Wednesday.
GIRLS LACROSSE
(2–7, 2–2 in TISAC play)
The girls lacrosse team’s 2–7 record doesn’t tell the full story of the growth of this team. Their second win of the season came Tuesday, when they defeated Cary Academy, 17–3, on Alumni Field. And their first win — an 18–3 victory over Jordan High School — clinched the inaugural Garrett Road Rivalry title for DA. Brooke Hackman ’28 and Stella Brown ’28 have been leading the DA offense. The Cavs will host Cannon School on Friday night.
BASEBALL
(3–9)
The DA baseball team has won two of its last three games thanks to a 7–0 victory over the Raleigh Hawks and Friday’s 3–2 win over Cary Christian. On Friday, Michael Goodmon ’27 pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up just two runs while striking out three to earn the win. Brady Pollard ’26 captured the final four outs on the mound for the save as the Cavs scored all three runs in the third inning, highlighted by singles from Amare Burrus ’25 and Will Dardani ’27. In an April 2 win over the Hawks, Maxwell Niedel ’25 pitched a three-hit shutout and Ben Kuo ’28 had two hits and two RBI in the win. The Cavs’ other win this year came in exciting fashion as Collin Hernandez ’29 hit this single to walk-off East Chapel Hill. After falling to NRCA on Tuesday, the Cavs will return to DA on Friday to take on the Knights in the second half of the teams’ home-and-home series.
GARRETT ROAD RIVALRY
CHAMPIONS
Thanks to spring victories from boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse and boys golf, the Cavaliers Athletics program has clinched the inaugural Garrett Road Rivalry over Jordan High School by a score of 10.5-7.5. (Girls soccer and boys tennis were both rained out.) A huge congratulations to all of our student-athletes for embracing this new challenge and claiming victory in the first year. We are hoping for continued success in this friendly challenge with our neighbors down Garrett Road.
JV/MIDDLE SCHOOL
Take a look at the records and accomplishments of our younger teams (as of Monday, April 7):
MS Boys Lacrosse: 6-0
MS Boys Lacrosse: 4-0
MS Girls Soccer: 3-0
MS Girls Track: three first-place finishes in three meets
MS Boys Track: two first-place finishes and one second-place finish in three meets
JV Girls Lacrosse: 3-2
JV Baseball: won their first game of the year, 15-1, on April 3 against Burlington School