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Athlete of the Week winners for October 24, 2022

Fall 2022 Athletes of the Week

November 14, 2022

Soccer

This athlete has been one of the most impactful players on the JV soccer team. She is an extremely hard worker and a joyous presence both on and off the field. As the true brain of the team and playing nearly every minute of our season, she has been a force in the midfield, winning and distributing the ball. In a recent game, the Hotchkiss coach begged his team to double and triple-team her to ensure that #14 would not get the ball again. Unfortunately, it did not work. While her effort might not always show up on the stat sheet, we can attribute many of our successes to her patrolling the midfield. Our athlete of the week is Maddie Bolno.

Cross Country

Porter’s had an outstanding final race on Saturday with many runners achieving a PR or a season best time. Our nominee this week goes to one of the many phenomenal athletes we have on our team. This runner was new to cross country this year, and also missed two weeks of the season due to traveling for the Costa Rica class. Still, she made a major impact on the team, particularly in the last three weeks in our biggest three races of the season. She was one of several runners who PRed on Saturday, with an incredible finish in the last 400 meters of the race. From our first meet in mid September to our last race on Saturday, this runner improved her 5k time by 4 minutes and 25 seconds this season! We would like to give the AOTW award to Leeah Han.

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Leeah Han (cross country) and Maddie Bolno (soccer)

November 7, 2022

Soccer

This athlete had an outstanding week, starting off with a hattrick against Hotchkiss, away, last wednesday. On her day she is a match winner but more importantly she puts her teammates’ success before her own.  This AOTW is constantly looking for ways to improve which is why she is now starting to frighten opposing teams defenses which is a good sign as we approach Class A postseason. This week’s athlete of the week is Emory Menefee.

Field Hockey

This player has been steadily improving since she first switched from soccer to field hockey three years ago. She works extremely hard in practices and games and she puts her best effort into every drill. She is a true team player and role model for everyone on the team and her positive attitude gets her through every challenge on and off the field. In our most recent games, this player has been more aggressive offensively, and she has been playing with well-earned confidence and strength. She sees the field well and has contributed to beautiful passing sequences. She has hustled all over the field defensively and she is relentless in her attempts to get the ball away from her opponents. We have greatly enjoyed watching this player come into her own this season and we are grateful to have her on the field-congrats to Lilly Provost

Emory Menefee (soccer) and Lilly Provost (field hockey)
Emory Menefee (soccer) and Lilly Provost (field hockey)

October 31, 2022

Cross Country

This runner has been steadily improving throughout the season. New to Porter’s and to running, this runner came to our cross country team determined to work hard and contribute. On Saturday, we had our biggest meet of the year so far. This athlete’s goal was to PR even if it was just by a few seconds. They obliterated their record, and set a new PR by nearly two minutes. Determination, motivation, and commitment are the hallmarks of this runner’s success. Congratulations Elizabeth Zee!

JV Volleyball

Growth Mindset: In her first year on JV volleyball, this athlete has worked hard to improve her foundational skills while cheering her teammates on as they do the same. Over the last few weeks, she has been especially focused on improving her overhand serve. She carefully listens to explanations on each step of serving, puts them into practice, and asks for feedback from both coaches and her teammates. With that and her determination, she has gotten serves over using overhand techniques! She is also one of the biggest cheerleaders for her peers, always motivating them and providing constructive feedback. After their game at Hopkins in particular, she was highlighted as one who was always cheering on her teammates while she was on the court and off. It is for these reasons that we nominate Claire Cortland for athlete of the week.

MPS AOTW
Elizabeth Zee (cross country) and Claire Cortland (volleyball)

October 24, 2022

Crew

This athlete is brand new to the sport of crew and is proving to be a tremendous asset to the team. Her enthusiasm and eagerness to learn is infectious and she shows leadership both on and off of the water. As a novice coxie, she is learning the nuances of the sport and appreciates the challenges that are ever present. She is quickly adapting to her role as a coxie, with impeccable steering skills and learning to help her teammates by giving them checks and commands. The Hayley Petit Cup Regatta gave her the opportunity to put her skills into practice and she rose to the occasion by calling and steering a great race. I look forward to working with her the rest of the season and into the spring to continue her growth as an athlete! Congratulations to Sofi Guemez on being chosen for Athlete of the week!

Cross Country

This nominee has been one of our strongest runners on the team since she joined two years ago. A hardworking and devoted runner, she placed first overall in our race against Westy on Saturday and third overall in our meet against Williston last weekend— and that is after two and a half weeks of not running because she was on a class trip to Costa Rica! We nominate Lauren Wallace!

Field Hockey

This athlete plays with heart and intensity for every second of every game and we are so grateful to have her on our team this season. She has scored goals, stolen the ball from opponents, and enhanced ball movement on the field through her strong passing and dribbling skills. She always gives 100% effort, in every drill and every game, and she helps to push her teammates to improve each day. She has contributed in so many different ways all over the field and she has served as a great role model for others on the team. Congratulations to Lauren Baker!

Soccer

This student athlete has been a big reason why the team has only conceded 4 goals this season (over 11 games), in the last two weeks she has contributed to 3 shutouts and added an assist (vs. Taft)…even more impressive when you are a Goalkeeper. One of the hardest working athletes, relentless and tough as they come. This week’s athlete of the week always has a huge smile and is constantly motivating and communicating with her peers. Congratulations to our No.1, Caroline Cohen.

Athletes of the week for Oct 24, 2022
Lauren Wallace (cross country), Lauren Baker (field hockey), Caroline Cohen (soccer), and Sofi Guemez (crew)

October 10, 2022

Volleyball

Jenn Lin left everything on the court this week with 2 back to back 5 set matches against Wilbraham & Monson and Pomfret School. As the Varsity team starting Libero she got the tough hits and received nearly perfect serve receive passes. Covered in bruises she is the star passer for her second season in a row with Miss Porters and deserves all the credit for starting every play by putting our team in the best possible position to get the kill. Effortlessly receiving tough hits and grabbing the spot attacks in the deep corners of the corner she gets a touch on every ball!

Cross Country

This week our nomination is for a talented and passionate runner who has had an incredible season so far. She has worked hard to stay strong and healthy all season (which for her actually means holding back on the workouts). At the Gordy Glover Invitational on Saturday she finished third overall with a time 40 seconds faster than her time at this same race last year! This week we nominate Kathryn Dowling.

AOTW Oct 10
Kathryn Dowling (cross country) and Jenn Lin (volleyball)

October 3, 2022

Cross Country

This cross country runner has steadily improved over her past season and a half with the cross country team to become one of our strongest runners. This past Saturday she played a crucial part in our win at Miss Hall’s. The course was incredibly challenging, and yet she was the overall winner in the race, beating the second place runner (a Miss Hall’s runner on their home course) by over 30 seconds. We nominate Milla Perlman!

Field Hockey

In her first year playing field hockey, this player has been working hard to learn the game and develop her individual skills. When both the varsity and JV goalie were out with Covid in the same week, this player volunteered to help and she ended up filling in as the goalie for two varsity games and three JV games in the past two weeks. Not only did she do a great job in a completely new position, she did so with positive energy and enthusiasm. Most significantly, she was very willing to put the needs of the team above her own, and she is the type of player every coach wants to have on their team. Congrats to this week’s athlete of the week, Helen Shearon!

Soccer

This athlete has contributed to one of the best defensive records in NEPSAC, with 5 games played and only 2 goals conceded this defender is a part of a team that remains unbeaten. Aside from throwing herself at every shot, putting her head where it often hurts and going toe to toe with Division 1 committed forwards this senior has to be this week’s AOTW. This past Wednesday, in the first half, when our keeper got injured, she didn’t hesitate in putting on the gloves and going in goal. This week’s athlete of the week is energetic, happy, and at times loud….but so far this season she has quietly gone about her business with consistently high levels of performance. Most importantly, she has been an outstanding leader. This week’s AOTW is our HOA, Ellen Jacobson!

Ellen Jacobson (soccer), Milla Perlman (cross country), and Helen Shearon (field hockey)


September 26, 2022

Volleyball

This athlete is one of the first to practice and one of the last to leave. It is evident that she is dedicated to enhancing her volleyball skills by the way she is always asking for feedback, thinking about the reasons why certain movements and motions work, planning practices on off days, and attending any additional opportunities to learn more about the sport. During our game on Saturday, this athlete helped the team with rotations, in-play communication, and hustled the whole time she was on the court. This is why we nominate Yaya Familusi for athlete of the week!

Volleyball

This athlete constantly has a growth mindset and her energy encourages her peers to do the same. During practice this week, she focused on improving her serves and passes. She noted the motions needed to serve and pass efficiently and then worked on applying them. She was so dedicated to applying those tips from coaches and peers that she opted to continue practicing those skills even when coaches asked her if she wanted to give her arms a rest before continuing. This athlete has already demonstrated growth in volleyball and we know she will continue to throughout the season. This week’s athlete of the week is Melissa Ma!

two MPS athletes being recognized as AOTW
Yaya Familusi (volleyball) and Melissa Ma (volleyball)

September 16, 2022

Volleyball

This volleyball player has brought high energy to every practice and definitely to our first game last Friday. She channels that energy into developing her skills and supporting her teammates to develop theirs. This week, she was particularly dialed into learning rotations which is foundational in volleyball and stepped up when the team needed someone for a play. Our athlete of the week is Ariana Lopez!

Field Hockey

This Field Hockey player deserves AOTW for her stellar performance in our first two games, helping us to our first 2 victories! Against KO this player scored 3 goals and assisted 2 goals. This was a sweet victory as it was this player’s first time winning a Porter’s 1st game of the season, in all her years at MPS. On Saturday this player really outdid herself when she scored FIVE goals against Wilbraham & Monson, FOUR of which were in the 1st quarter!! She did great playing both sides of the field as well, as she is usually strictly a forward. Tyler Gaston, senior Captain, for AOTW!

Two MPS athletes receiving recognition
Ariana Lopez (volleyball) and Tyler Gaston (field hockey)

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