Sidwell Friends Sends 14 Athletes to the Next Level

Sidwell Friends Sends 14 Athletes to the Next Level

5/22/2009

In 2008-09, Sidwell Friends athletics has had its share of ups and downs. Highlights included having the 36th highest ranked soccer team by ESPN Rise, winning the MAC wrestling title for the fifth year in a row and the DC Wrestling Classic championship for their third straight time, while sending five wrestlers to National Preps. The cross country and tennis teams also earned their share of league championships.

As the year comes to a close, the senior competitors and leaders of these teams, as well as many of their members, are moving on to graduation. But, for a select number of these student-athletes, their sports careers are not yet over. Starting next fall, there will be 14 former Quakers from the Class of 2009 who will be playing college sports at the D-I and D-III levels. As they get ready to go on to college, this group of top athletes took a few moments to reflect on their time at Sidwell, and the effect that going to the school has had on their ability to play sports at the next level.

The Sidwell Experience
Many attribute their successes to their coaches; “Coach [John] Simon does a great job of contacting college coaches and addressing all of his players on an individual level,” said Alec Regulinski, who will be playing football at D-III Franklin and Marshall College. This sentiment was echoed by Josh Tobin (Columbia). “[Coach Simon] has done a lot to help guys who are looking to play in college…whether it’s learning schemes and terminology, or acting as a liaison between me and college coaches,” adding, “he’s always working and making phone calls to help [his players] out. It really shows how much he cares about each kid individually, and how hard he works towards each one.” Said Christian Bors, who will be playing basketball for the Gettysburg Bullets next year, “As a first year coach, Coach [Eric] Singletary worked hard to put my name out there for colleges. He suggested places for me to play that had both good academic records as well as solid athletics so that it would be a good overall fit for me.”

Other athletes recollected on the level of competition that playing at Sidwell offers. Brennan Shanks (Drew) was motivated in lacrosse by “[pushing] through the nonsense of the stigma that exists with playing sports at Sidwell, that you can’t be an athlete.” This attitude was echoed by Chris Williams (Brown) that “There is another golfer in the MAC that I am going to be playing against next year in the Ivy League. Competing alongside him has been a good barometer for me to see how I progressed for the past four years. The strong competition that the MAC offers pushed me to be a better golfer and a better athlete.”

Bumps in the Road
Though these athletes have achieved their collective goal of playing sports in college, their journey was not without its own surprises and challenges. Sidwell’s Sam Kernan-Schloss (Brown), who was named ESPN Rise All-American Honorable Mention goalkeeper; recollected, “When coaches are recruiting you, you never really know what they’re thinking. They run you along saying how much they want you at your school, but you never can tell if they care as much as they say that they do. It was a challenge for me to weed out which coaches really want you at their school, and who sees you as a backup plan.” Others agreed, adding that sometimes it was hard to build a good reputation while gaining recognition with colleges. “It’s hard to make an impression at an individual school with such brief opportunities to show coaches what you have,” said Frank Shaw (Yale) “The coaches will move on if they see one bad half of soccer. You really only have a small window to make your mark.”

Nick Plebani (Franklin and Marshall) was surprised at “how much of a popularity contest recruiting was. You really have to sell yourself to a coach rather than simply letting your play speak for itself.” DC Lacrosse Classic Team-MVP Ian Johnson (Wesleyan) commented at how difficult it was to seek out coaches from schools that he wanted to get attention from, saying “Some of the schools I was trying to get recruited by don’t recruit very hard. I would be at tournaments and there would be lots of D-I and D-III coaches there for schools that I wasn’t all that interested in going to. One of my biggest challenges was getting myself out there to the places that I cared about going to.”

Taylor Hilton (William & Mary), the 2009 ESPN Gatorade Player of the Year for Washington D.C., summed it up by adding, “It was a surprise how much time and commitment it took communicating with coaches while trying to balance everything else that’s going on. I really had to focus on how I presented myself, and had to pay a lot of attention to the types of things that I said in conversations so that I could get the most out of them.”

Excitement Ahead
Despite the challenges that they have faced, these members of Sidwell’s graduating class have a lot to look forward to about playing sports in college. “I’m looking forward to getting to know the guys on the team” said Robby Carpenter-Israel (Middlebury), who will be playing golf next year. He added, “I’m so used to playing sports with my best friends in high school, but I look forward to the team atmosphere in college.” The “team atmosphere” is something about which many athletes are excited Josh Tobin reiterated, “The team nature of the game of football is something that I’ve always loved. I know that as a team we’re going to have to go through a lot, and through that I know we’re going to be closer.” Said Ian Johnson, “It’s nice to have a group that you know right off the bat, to have a community within the college.”

The camaraderie is not the only thing that they are looking forward to; Christian Bors is most excited about “The college rivalries. I love having people going crazy showing up at games, chanting and making noise, putting on the pressure.” When asked, Rory O’Neill (Lafayette) said that the thing he looks forward to is “The girls.”

Looking Back
As these student athletes reflect on their experiences with recruiting and look forward to playing college sports, they know that there are things that they could have done differently. As Rory O’Neill puts it; “If I could go back and give myself a piece of advice about the whole process, I would say to start early. It’s never too early to connect with coaches, but at the same time if you play your game coaches will notice you.” His teammate Frank Shaw added, “I would try to enjoy it more if I could do it over again. I play best when I’m having fun.” Josh Tobin remarked, “I would tell myself to remember that it’s okay to advocate for yourself in the recruiting process. There isn’t anyone on your side other than you, your coach and your family. It’s important to be proactive; coaches can’t recruit players they don’t know about.”

Other players would work to change their attitudes towards the process. “If I could have given myself advice a year ago, it would be to stay humble,” said Sam Kernan-Schloss, “Don’t go around telling people that coaches are sending you letters and recruiting you. All of that puts more pressure on yourself to go to those schools. You have to keep it to your, family, close friends and coaches.” Taylor Hilton agreed; “I would say to stay relaxed. With the influx of phone calls, questions and research that you need to do on the various programs that are interested in you, all of the time and effort you have to put in can be overwhelming. I really didn’t know what to expect.”

Brennan Shanks knows that if he could do things over again, he would focus on setting his goals, “No goal is too high to reach. Looking big picture is one thing, but if I know that in the short term if I do the little things then there’s a lot to be gained. It’s important to remember that the sky is the limit. Coming from the MAC it’s harder for us to get attention because of other great area teams like Prep and Landon. It’s important to not allow the stigma of playing in the MAC get down. We’re the same kids as they are.” Chris Williams perhaps summed it up best: “In order to get noticed it’s important to be proactive knowing that coming from a school like Sidwell, where the coaches aren’t coming to all the practices like some other schools. You have to be the one sending the emails and making the phone calls.”

Gentlemen, Scholars and Athletes
Behind this group of players is a highly motivated and proud set of coaches who have pushed and nurtured them to where they are today. As coach of the football and baseball programs, John Simon is extremely happy for his players. “I’ve had Josh Tobin and Alec Regulinski on my team for four years. Josh has improved each year that he’s been on the football field, and shown a lot of maturity and work ethic. Both he and Alec are always out there for at least 90 percent of the snaps during the game; offense, defense and special teams. They have become two of the top players in the city as they both started in the All-City Bowl. That was a great feat for the two of them, starting on a team with players from the WCAC and IAC.”

Coach Simon, who has been a coach at Sidwell since 1989, also commented on his pitcher and baseball team captain Nick Plebani, “He was our number one guy on the hill, but, unfortunately, he suffered a leg injury early on that held him back for three-fourths of the season. He showed a lot of toughness and came back at the end of the year to pitch for us down the stretch. He’ll be representing us in the DC Baseball All-Star game, and I hope to see him have a good outing.”

The lacrosse program, which is sending two athletes to play at the college level, is headed by Jeff Ransom whose teams have won three conference tournaments in the last six years. “Ian Johnson is one our most versatile attackmen, and he has the ability to take the ball and score the ball when the team needs it most. He learned how to ride his senior year, and is one of the best riding attackmen I’ve ever had. He has unlimited potential and he will excel at the next level.” As for Brennan Shanks, “He’s one of the hardest working kids I know and he follows directions extremely well. He transitions from offense to defense fast, and transitions from gentleman to athlete faster.” Assistant Coach Lou Heberer added, “Brennan is still a work in progress; he’s still growing and moving in the right direction. He’s one of the best athletes in the school, and as he grows up as a person, he'll grow up as an athlete. [Shanks] has an ever-improving work ethic.”

As this group of select athletes move on to play college athletics, there is no doubt that the hard work they put in has made them both mentally and physically stronger and smarter. They appreciate the support and coaching that they received at Sidwell and will look back on it fondly for years to come.

Baseball: 
Nick Plebani (Franklin and Marshall)

Basketball
Christian Bors (Gettysburg)

Women’s Basketball
Taylor Hilton (William and Mary)

Women’s Crew
Hillary Caldwell (UCLA)

Football
Alec Regulinski (Franklin and Marshall) 
Josh Tobin (Columbia)

Golf
Robby Carpenter-Israel (Middlebury) 
Chris Williams (Brown)

Lacrosse
Ian Johnson (Wesleyan) 
Brennan Shanks (Drew)

Soccer
Sam Kernan-Schloss (Brown) 
Rory O’Neill (Lafayette) 
Frank Shaw (Yale)

Women’s Track and Field
Lauren Lewis (Princeton)