A host of Roos recorded impressive individual and team accomplishments over the past few weeks of AFS Athletics action. Read on for a few quick highlights from recent middle and upper school student-athletes and their teams.
AFS Middle School Track sent a squad of four 7th graders to the 129th running of the Penn Relays at the end of April. The Roos put forth a historic effort in their 4x100m race, capturing 2nd place in their heat with a new AFS middle school record of 52.80. Olivia I. ’30, Azaleyah W. ’30, Autumn G. ’30 and Auria B. ’30 comprised the AFS relay team on the day. Head Coach Lisa Treadway-Kurtz reflected on their efforts, “The group built on the joy that was experienced last year at Franklin Field with a second silver medal for the AFS Middle School Track and Field Girls 4×100 Roo Squad at Penn Relays. What a magical place for track and field athletes!” Way to go, Roos! You can watch a replay of the race Here.
AFS Varsity Track & Field also made some history of their own at the Friends Schools League Track & Field Championship Meet on Wednesday as the Roos claimed six combined gold and silver medals and established at least five new school records at the event. Lucy Byrd ’28 picked up two 1st place finishes and one 2nd place on the afternoon with her new school record in the 200m (1st in 24.66), as part of a record-setting 4x100m relay team with Rihanna Williams ’25, Lena White ’25 and Addison Avant ’28 (1st in 49.55) and in the 400m (2nd in 58.41). Ayden Austin ’26 earned the other gold medal for the Roos with his 1st place shot put of 48’0.75”. AFS’s Boys 4x400m squad of Ethan Hodnett-Bell ’25, Casey Smothers ’25, James Soergel ’25 and Gio D’Amico ’27 finished a close 2nd in their race in a blazing school best time of 3:27.60. Ava Ruff ’27 placed 2nd in the shot put with a school record 36’8.75” toss. Finally, Gio D’Amico moved the Boys 400m school standard under 50 seconds for the first time with his 49.75, good for 3rd place. Full results for FSL Champs are HERE. The Roos finish up their strong season next weekend at the PAISAA State Championship Meet.
AFS Varsity Softball prevailed 22-12 over GFS on Monday to advance to the Friends Schools League playoffs for the first time since 2013. Six different Roos collected multiple hits on the afternoon, led by Tori Cepregi ’27 and Serafina Kubersky ’26 with 4 apiece to knock in a combined 9 runs. Gabriela Puntel ’25 (3 hits), Lorelai Stirling ’28 (2 hits), Gen Mueller ’28 (2 hits) and Calysta Salas ’27 (2 hits) also contributed to the offensive explosion. The Roos fell 11-1 at Shipley on Wednesday in the FSL playoffs to wrap up their season with an 11-5 overall won-loss record, the program’s most victories in a season in over a decade. With just two graduating seniors, the future looks bright for AFS Varsity Softball.
Varsity Baseball played Barrack Academy on Tuesday in the first round of the Friends Schools League Quaker Cup tournament. The Roos broke open a taut extra-inning affair with 9 runs in the top of the 9th inning to top the Cougars 16-8 and advance to the Quaker Cup championship game against George School on Monday, May 12 at 4 p.m. at AFS. Jackson McWilliams ’25, Sam Lopata ’26 and Will Hale ’26 led a 15-hit barrage for the Roos with three knocks each. Jason Holloway ’29, Max Cassano ’29 and Loren Koenig ’27 all contributed run-scoring extra base hits in the victory. Sam Calandra-Jayne ’26 provided 3.2 innings of sparkling relief pitching, striking out 6 batters to earn the win on the mound.