Five members of the AB sports community were honored in the Boston Globe’s Winter Sports All-Scholastics page: Shaylin Bernard, nordic skiing; Andrew Lu, swimming; Hanne Ridley, gymnastics; Olivia Baytarian, girls’ basketball, honorable mention; and Coach Sarah Shamel, girls’ nordic.
Athletic Director Jim Scanlon summed up the success of the honorees, saying, “We absolutely pride ourselves on the excellence of our students and staff, both inside the classroom and out. This amount of recognition is not unusual for our athletic department, but it does highlight much of the success we experienced this past winter season, including highly competitive gymnastics, basketball, swim, and ski teams, and a first year coach in Sarah Shamel, who joined our staff shortly before the start of the season to quickly become one of our most valued assets dedicated to elevating the experience of our student-athletes.
“I had the pleasure of attending gymnastics meets to witness Hanne’s incredible contributions to the team, as well as her individual successes. Shay Bernard led an impressive group of nordic skiers this past season, competing at the Weston Ski Track and setting the pace for what would prove to be an exceptional season for a perennially strong team. We saw record numbers come out for our boys’ swim team, captained by Andrew Lu, who, with his other captains and teammates, demonstrated the ever-growing strengths of our AB Swim program. Olivia Baytarian, a Globe honorable mention, hit the 1000 point mark this past season as the lone senior on our team, and provided a veteran presence for a young, talented program!”
James Conboy played in the Acton Adult Softball League for seventeen years, and now plays in the EMASS Senior Softball League. He covers many sports games for the Acton Exchange.