Whitman athletes proved themselves to be some of the best in the county as they earned a number of positions in the All-Gazette and All-Met teams for the 2010 winter season.

            Swim coach Geoff Schaefer, who led the girls team to an undefeated season in dual meets and first place in Metros, was awarded both All-Gazette and All-Met Coach of the Year. He attributes the team’s success to its year-round dedication to the sport.

            “They trained for 12 months, not three,” he says. “This was our year to win. We had never won Metros before, and the only thing to make it happen was to train. The awards we received are a measure of what we did in the offseason. Everyone stepped up.”

            Harvard-bound Dani Schulkin was named All-Gazette Swimmer of the Year and received first team All-Met. In the 100 butterfly race at Metros, Schulkin broke a 13-year-old record by 00.11 seconds with a time of 55.07.

In addition to Schulkin, senior Lauren Poore, sophomores Victoria Kuhn and Reia Tong and freshman Charlotte Meyer were all honored in the All-Met.

            Meyer, Poore, Tong and Kuhn proved themselves to be invaluable members to the team due to their individual success and participation in several of the three Whitman relay teams that were first team All-Gazette. These teams also included Schulkin, senior Jenna Mahaffie and freshman Audrey Gould.

            Though the boys swim team was not as successful as the girls in the regular season, it placed seventh at Metros and contributed to the school’s overall win. Senior Serge Gould made

the All-Met second team and received honorable mention in the All-Gazette.

            Ice hockey also had an extremely successful winter season. After going 10-1 in the regular season and making it to the state finals, the team was awarded numerous accolades to parallel its success.

            Coach Tom Sneddon was named All-Gazette Coach of the Year, while defender Zach Wolfe and forward Aidan Neustadtl were first team and goalie Matt Bruns received an honorable mention. In the All-Met, Wolfe made second team and junior Jon Domingos received an honorable mention.

            Sneddon attributes the number of awards the team received not only to talent, but also to team members’ individual commitment to improvement.

            “You have to have some natural talent to be that good,” he says, “but those guys worked hard to improve different aspects of their game.”

Sneddon says that the team’s success came from its dedication, chemistry and depth, and plans on working with the whole of the team to keep next year’s playoff chances alive.

            “From a coaching perspective our big advantage this year was depth of roster,” Sneddon

says. “We had no weak players on our team; everyone was capable of performing their role. We

have a great core of players returning next season and what appears to be a good number of quality players coming into the program as freshman.”

            Numerous basketball players were also honored. After  girls basketball’s 19-6 record and

advancement to the regional finals, seniors Caroline Kahlenberg and Susan Russell were named first and second team All-Gazette, respectively. Russell also received an honorable mention in the All-Met, and both girls were named first team All-League by the Post. Coach Peter Kenah says that Kahlenberg was a solid team player and was crucial to the team’s success.

            “She was the straw that stirred our drink,” he says. “She led the county in assists and was the ideal teammate.”

            Kenah commends Russell for steadily improving over the years and for stepping up her intensity for important games.

            “She was one of the most improved players in recent Whitman memory,” he says. “Her scoring average went up every season and she was her best in the big games.”

After a 16-7 regular season, boys basketball made it to the regional semifinals before falling to Richard Montgomery. Senior Charlie Waugh was named second team All-Gazette and received an honorable mention in the All-Met. Coach Chris Lun says that Waugh had a stellar senior year and played his best every game.

“Charlie was our best athlete,” he says. “He led the team in scoring, and we always knew he would give us a good game. He played a really good senior year, and was a good leader on the court. We’re all really happy for him.”

In wrestling, senior Danny Lee was named first team All-Gazette and juniors Mike Harder and Ned Daryoush and senior Taylor Leighton were named second team.

With 21 athletes and coaches honored in the All-Gazette and All-Met, Whitman teams were definitely recognized for their hard work this winter season.