The Halo Effect

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The Cannondale Weekly

Cannondale Athletics Update: Blue Wave Lacrosse Programs Remain Undefeated

By Caroline Drake

The Cannondale School is home to two of the state's most elite lacrosse programs. The boys and girls varsity lacrosse teams remain undefeated, both 5-0 in their respective divisions. The Blue Wave hosted two games on Friday, drawing impressive crowds.

Boys Varsity Lacrosse: The Blue Wave outperformed Belmont Country Day School on a wet and overcast night, pulling out an 8-4 victory. Senior captain Trip McKenna was the best player on the field, scoring four goals and assisting on two more while helping the Blue Wave defense. McKenna's co-captain Grayson Kirby scored the first two goals of the second half to assert a 7-2 lead, allowing the Blue Wave to sail to yet another victory.

"Their consistency is unbelievable," said Cannondale Athletic Director Chris Vale when asked about Kirby and McKenna."That comes from playing together practically twelve months a year, never letting down and putting in the extra work. After three top-notch  seasons, no one should be surprised that they are a force to be reckoned with."

Girls Varsity Lacrosse: The Blue Wave blitzed by Nod Hill Academy in a 15-6 win. Juniors Kelsey Jackman (six goals, two assists) and Chandler England (five goals, three assists) led in scoring. The team was also paced offensively by two goals from Gianna Lash and one goal apiece from Macallan Blake and Shay Logan.

England also received her first yellow card of the season, a harrowing reminder of how her aggressive play put the team in a dire man-down situation during the state championship game last season against Silvermine Academy.

"Chandler and Kelsey are tremendous athletes," Coach Mayer said. "They come out and play confident. Chandler coming up with the draws in the beginning got our offensive momentum going, but the girls always play as a team. There are no individuals, it's a group effort. Delaney Xie also had an outstanding game. Her 10 saves made an incredible difference, and she's the anchor who consistently keeps the team fired up."

While it's still early in the season, the Blue Wave lacrosse programs look to be on track for domination. Both teams will face their biggest rival, Silvermine Academy, in April.

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The Cannondale School knew how to throw a party.

Courting the New England elite wasn't for the faint of heart, but Cannondale boasted a long, rich history of success. They knew how to impress them and drafted some of their most impressive students as front-line soldiers - two of those soldiers being Trip and myself.

We'd received our call to serve our school before finalizing our plans to go downtown on Sunday. Unfortunately, there had been no plausible way to evade the party. We had to play the part of true Cannondale patriots.

The first floor of the old colonial manor on campus was Cannondale's chosen battleground for the party. My last time at the manor was on the night of the Winter Formal; I'd torn off my corsage in the front lawn. But tonight, I floated between rooms, armed with a smile as I engaged with too many guests to count.

After a lengthy conversation with a family that looked to have teleported out of a Vineyard Vines store, I was lucky enough to find Trip in the long hallway running between the library and the great room.