While most of Dana Hall’s student body enjoyed the beach, finished up on reading, or relaxed with friends, the varsity athletes and hopeful tryouts gathered at Dana on August 20 to begin preseason.
This year’s preseason consisted of only one session a day for four days and then two days of varsity practice. In previous years, preseason consisted of multiple sessions a day, and Mr. Suby, Dana’s athletic director, thought the switch would decrease early season injuries. “Last year’s preseason, we ran just too much at the beginning and preseason became more detrimental than beneficial,” Suby commented. “For a lot of girls, they would come out of shape and hit the wall with doubles.” He hopes the switch in preseason strategy will be helpful for all the fall teams, who are eagerly waiting for their seasons of competition.
Field hockey, led by captains Bailey Rayment ’14 and Jenny Barack ’14, has already begun, with a scrimmages against Wellesley, Dover Sherborn, and Lincoln. Despite all the games ending in losses, the captains are optimistic about the season. “We lost a lot of great girls last year, but in a lot of ways we are making up for it,” Rayment notes. “I think we have a lot in store for this season.”
Cross country officially began their completion schedule with a fun run against Noble and Greenough on September 7. “We’ve been working really hard already this season, and I see big improvements already. The more gradual preseason has helped a ton,” captain Milan Ceppi reports. And captains Maddie Chisholm ’14 and Kate Glass ’14 agree.
Lucy Maloney ’14 and Emily Dumont ’14, captains of varsity soccer, share the others’ excitement for the upcoming season. “I think the preseason change was extremely helpful because it allowed us to ease into the fitness level we want to be at by the start of our season, yet prevented a ton of early injuries,” Maloney explains. Soccer has already had a scrimmage against Medfield, but the team lost. “That scrimmage was more to just see the tryouts and get a feel for the team,” Maloney adds. “I think we’re going to have a much more successful season.”
Lastly, volleyball is also eagerly anticipating a successful season. “We did really well last year with an undefeated EIL [Eastern Independent League] record and tournament win. We are hopeful that with hard work and enthusiasm, we can continue the success,” captain Margot Palandjian ’14 says confidently.
“So far, so good!” Graham Masiiwa, fitness director and coach of varsity volleyball, exclaimed about the preseason training. “We will reevaluate at the end of the season to see if this is a better way to do it in the future!”
Photo: Last year’s field hockey team huddles during a game. Photo credit: Estelle Palandjian ’13.
