This week, the Winter Athletic Awards brought the Western Reserve Academy winter athletes and coaches together in the Chapel to celebrate a hard-won season defined by discipline and resilience.

Director of Athletics Pete Hutchins opened the evening by recognizing the sustained focus that winter sports demand through long practices, holiday breaks, national competition and the daily, quiet work of improvement. He also took time to thank the community that fueled that effort.

“I am particularly proud of how our broader student body showed up this winter,” he said. "The energy in our gyms and our events mattered. The visible support strengthens our culture, and reinforces what it means to compete as a community. I look forward to building on that momentum as we head into the spring season.”

From swimmers competing at Eastern Championships, to wrestlers qualifying for National Preps, to the ongoing success of fencing and riflery, Reserve athletes once again proved that excellence here is built through preparation, perseverance and support for one another.

While a full list of award recipients can be found here, the evening’s highest honor, the Gold Medal, offers a powerful reminder of what can be accomplished when exceptional talent meets hard work and laser focus.

Head Riflery Coach Diccon Ong '81 described senior Andrea Zhang’s career as one of the finest in the program’s long history. Before this season, only four athletes had ever earned the Gold Medal in riflery. Andrea now becomes the fifth, and the only shooter in the program to win MVP twice.

Andrea holds the school record for:

• Highest score ever posted on the Russ Hanson Rifle Range
• Highest overall season average
• Highest match-day average

Yet Coach Ong made it clear that her legacy extends well beyond the range. A student body co-president, founder and co-president of the Arts Club, dorm prefect, peer tutor, first clarinet in our orchestra and editor of The Reserve Record, Andrea embodies what it means to pursue greatness in every arena.

“She frequently bested shooters who had years more experience,” Ong shared. “Yet she never let on that she recognized how special she was.”

This fall, Andrea will matriculate to Stanford University and will carry with her a standard of humility, intellect and relentless focus that will long define Reserve riflery.

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Two years ago, Head Boys Basketball Coach Matt Garvey stood on the same stage awarding a Gold Medal to a program-defining player, Damarius Owens ’24. He admitted privately to himself that he thought it might be a while before such a thing happened again.

He was wrong.

Senior Anthony Thompson’s impact has been historic. In just two years at Reserve, he has scored over 1,200 points — surpassing 2,000 for his high school career — while leading the team in scoring and rebounding both seasons. Currently averaging a double-double (22 points and 10+ rebounds per game), Anthony’s statistical growth reflects an athlete constantly refining his game.

But what sets him apart, Coach Garvey emphasized, is his intellect and hunger to improve. From studying game film religiously (he can always be counted on to log hours on Synergy) to adjusting his gameplay after a passing comment about his rebounds, Anthony approaches every detail with precision.

This winter, he became Western Reserve Academy’s first-ever McDonald’s All-American Game selection — one of just 24 boys nationwide to earn the honor. The game will air on ESPN on March 31. This fall, Anthony committed to The Ohio State University, becoming the school’s highest-ranked basketball commit in over a decade.

“Everything Anthony does, he tries to do at the highest level,” said Garvey. “That speaks to who he is.”

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Award assemblies can often feel formal. Students in Reserve Green sitting side by side in rows, listening to statistics, holding their applause until their peers step up to pick up their plaques. 

But between the numbers listed were deeply human insights that revealed the heart of this season. A full recording is available here, but we grabbed a few favorite highlights from every moment a new coach stepped up to the plate (or rather, Chapel podium) to speak with pride about a storied season.

Fencing Without a League and Without Limits

Head Fencing Coach Neil Mittal reminded the audience that Ohio has no official high school fencing league. That means WRA fencers don’t compete in tidy, evenly matched school brackets. They compete in the United States Fencing Association, often up against athletes who have trained since childhood.

“Our athletes go out there against young adults who have been fencing as long as I have,” he shared, noting that they even face Division I competitors from programs like Ohio State and Denison.

In that context, every national rating earned, every elimination round reached and every varsity letter won carries an even greater weight. His message was clear and his pride was palpable: Reserve fencers aren’t just participating passively, they’re stepping boldly into elite arenas, ready for the challenges ahead.

Riflery: An Individual Sport that Isn’t

Coach Ong reflected on the paradox of riflery. 

“Riflery may appear at first glance to be an intensely individual sport,” he said.

After all, each athlete stands along — kneeling, prone, standing — responsible for every shot.

“But anyone who has spent time on our range knows that improvement rarely occurs in isolation.”

Behind every pellet placed in a circle the size of a pencil eraser from 10 meters away is a teammate offering encouragement, technical feedback or quiet solidarity after a frustrating round. The awards may bear individual names, but the season, Ong reminded us, was built collectively on what he called one of the finest groups he’s coached in 28 years.

The Dual Threat — and Enthusiastic Teammate

Head Swimming & Diving Coach Michael Bonomo described MVP Roxi Rubiano ’28 as a “dual-threat competitor.” She’s an athlete who can step onto the diving board, complete six dives, then immediately turn around and race the 50 freestyle or 100 butterfly.

But beyond the rare athletic versatility was something even more character defining.

“She cheers the loudest,” said Bonomo. “She communicates effectively and approaches every practice with tremendous focus.”

In a sport where events can feel solitary (one lane, one clock), Roxi embodied the connective tissue of the team, blending grace in the water with amplified presence on the deck. 

A Pause That Said Everything

When Coach Garvey announced that Coach’s Award recipient Dominick Sprague ’26 would continue his career in the U.S. Naval Academy, he had to stop mid-sentence.

“Oh man,” he laughed, blinking back tears. “I should have saved that one for last. You got me, Dom!”

The room softened at that moment. Behind the stats and the championships that every coach is proud to share is something much deeper: trust, mentorship, growth and pride in the young men and women who persevere when faced with setbacks and emerge stronger, poised for a future full of possibilities. 

It was a reminder that coaching is never just about the wins.

The “Glue Girl”

Head Girls Basketball Coach Thomas Adams-Wall introduced a phrase familiar in basketball circles: the “glue guy.” Then he adjusted it.

“In this case,” he said, “glue girl.”

Describing Spirit Award winner Olivia Stribling ’28, he painted a picture of the athlete who does the often unsung work. The “glue guy” prioritizes team success over personal accolades. They may not always dominate the box score, but they hold everything together with energy, positivity, accountability and culture. Always ready when called. Always loud on the bench. Always selfless.

“For her, it’s not about minutes or points,” he said. “It’s about being part of something bigger than yourself.”

In a season shaped by injuries, role shifts and growth, that kind of presence made all the difference.

Raising the Standard

Head Wrestling Coach Ian Miller spoke about impact, not just in wins, but in presence.

When describing Blaise Bennett ’26, who joined the team for only one season, Coach Miller emphasized something coaches don’t often say out loud: how much easier great athletes make the job.

“You never have to question his effort,” he said. “He shows up every day eager to learn, improve and push himself and those around him.

In a sport built on discipline and individual accountability, Blaise’s steady leadership helped shape the culture of the wrestling room. Even in a single year, he “raised the standard,” Miller noted — proof that influence isn’t measured in seasons, but in example.

Numbers That Tell a Bigger Story

Throughout the night, we heard statistics like shooting averages, point totals, tournament finishes. But what emerged between them was something even more meaningful:

The athlete who defined consistency. A competitor who can be counted on to watch gamefilm as intently as his coach. A player who embraced a bench role before earning her way into the starting lineup. A sophomore who raised her rifle average by more than 20 points through steadiness alone.

As Hutchins noted at the start, winter demands sustained focus and an iron-strong team culture to power through disrupted routines and long stretches of darkness. This season, Reserve athletes met that benchmark and barreled past it, together.