Sidwell’s six varsity teams begin competing this March, including boys tennis, baseball, softball, crew and boys and girls lacrosse.
Sidwell’s varsity boys lacrosse team returns in 2025 with a new head coach, Jeremy Phelps. The team is led by senior captain Alex Sapir along with other seniors like Andrew Rosenthal, who is a member of the team’s leadership council.
Reflecting on past seasons, Sapir said, “If we were winning games, it would be great, but if we were on a losing streak, the team would be a mess. I hope that Coach Phelps can bring some consistency to the team’s culture and success.”
Sapir also emphasized that “last season turned out fine. Our goal was to win the MAC, just as it is this year, but sadly, we came short.”
Sapir and the seniors have higher expectations for the 2025 season with Phelps at the helm. Sapir added that Phelps set the tone over the offseason, hosting sessions of “box lacrosse” inside the Wannan Gym and practices on Saturdays.
Phelps said that “the men in our program have done an exceptional job of adapting to the standards put in place by the leaders and new coaching staff,” whether over the off-season or in the first few weeks of practice.
Phelps clarified that his “expectation for the season is to compete for a MAC championship.” With strong, skilled and experienced upperclassmen, Phelps says that the team has high “expectations of many of our juniors and seniors to elevate their game in an increased role,” not just in leadership but in play on the field. The team’s raised expectations, along with its players’ skills across the board, should result in a successful season while the team seeks to improve and hunts for a MAC championship.
Sidwell’s baseball program, which includes a varsity and junior varsity team, returns to the newly renovated field led by Head Coach Jon Mormino.
In his 24 years coaching Sidwell baseball, Mormino remembers “winning the city championship in 2011 at Nats Park [being a] highlight, but there are moments every year, with every team.”
Three Sidwell alumni have also joined the coaching staff. The team has stayed prepared under Mormino’s watchful eye, as he said, “the team put in a collective 1000+ hours training over the fall and winter, so we are ready to go.”
Mormino also stated that “We came within inches of winning a banner last year,” and with many returning players, such as senior Kevin Carpenter-Holmes, a University of Rochester commit, Mormino believes that “[the team] can get over the hump in 2025”
Head Coach Logan West will lead the varsity boys tennis team this spring. This year’s team is supported by “a strong core of players who were leaders and key contributors on last year’s MAC Championship team,” West said.
When asked about the team’s winning and energetic culture, West said, “our student athletes have bought into a team first culture in an otherwise individual sport. This has contributed to the success of the program in recent years.”
The culture and energy of the team is important to West, and these student athletes have gotten to prove their commitment to the culture when this year’s returning players competed in the Sidwell-Potomac rivalry, a highlight of each tennis season.
West has made clear that the team’s goals “also include winning the MAC Banner and winning the DCSAA Championship. St. Albans has won the DCSAA Championship the last three seasons,” as their goal is to not only repeat as MAC champions, but to “restore the DCSAA Tennis Banner to where it belongs in the rafters of the Pearson Athletic Center.”
The girls’ lacrosse team comes back this year under head coach Aubrey Whittier and a culture that thrives in teamwork. Whittier said“every player [in girls lacrosse], regardless of experience, is committed to closing the gap in skills and raising the competitive bar, knowing that success is a journey — one we take together.”
“Some of my most memorable coaching moments come from seeing individuals step up — whether it’s a senior guiding a younger player, an underclassman fearlessly rising to the challenge, or a team rallying together to overcome adversity,” Whittier said. The team has some dedicated student leaders, like senior Avery Coleman, who will continue her lacrosse career at Dartmouth College. The teamwork and leadership fostered in girls lacrosse can be directly associated with their success, according to Whittier.
Whittier’s commitment to camaraderie and teamwork has fostered a winning culture on the girls lacrosse team. The team aims “to compete at the highest level, contend for ISL league title and DCSAA championship and continue shaping a culture of excellence”, according to Whittier.
There is a culture of accountability and responsibility with the coaching staff expecting “to see players take even greater ownership of our collective success, leading in new ways and embracing the challenge of becoming a championship-caliber team.”
Whittier’s goals are not only to have success through winning in the sport but for players to develop and hone their skills while emphasizing the culture the team has built.
Sidwell girls crew returns to Sidwell under head coach Ted Bristol and assistant coaches Cecilia Laguarda, Maggie Taylor and Colette Nortman. Crew is the only Spring program primarily off campus on the Potomac River. Like many other programs, the Sidwell crew team is led by six seniors, including senior Stanford commit Lia Nathan.
As Laguarda says, “[the seniors] set a strong culture for the team as a whole.” The crew program presents a different style of challenge for its athletes, as non-seniors must wake up around 4:45 a.m. during the spring season.
Seniors are tasked with driving anyone without a car to the river. According to co-captain and senior Alma Bielenberg,“there’s no sugar coating it; our early morning practices are pretty brutal. Being on the team means extreme dedication and grit.”
Bielenberg also believes the early mornings are rewarding, as she said some of her favorite memories come in the early morning: “watching the sunrises on the Potomac from our boats after a tough practice, [and] runs to the Lincoln Memorial.”
Although the balance and care it takes for these student athletes to balance crew with their lifestyles is complex, the constant leadership and rewarding sights and feelings of early morning DC make up for it. Bielenberg hopes “to continue developing our 1V8 so we can place in VASRA (Virginia Scholastic Rowing Association) and be competitive at [the Stotesbury Regatta].”
Bielenberg and her teammates are hopeful for a strong showing at the Charlie Butt Regatta, the “senior night” race for the team. Last year, the 1V8 placed first, the 2V8 placed third and the novice 8 placed second.
Bielenberg also believes that the varsity level rowers can improve this season, while the younger freshman and novices develop for the step up to varsity last year.
The softball program returns to Sidwell in 2025 under the leadership of head coach James Gould, or Coach G and is helped by the upperclassmen dedicated to the program. “The team culture is great, and it feels like we are our own little family,” said junior Zara Lakhanpal.
The culture that has been built in the program is thanks to Gould’s technique. Lakhanpal said that she and the other girls “have really appreciated his focus on our team’s core values.”
The culture is student-created, with the team committing to common goals through various team-building exercises. The team committed to “uphold [these values] throughout the season, in both our practices and games. The three core values we chose as a team were communication, drive and support. Throughout the season, we as a team will ensure that we hold true to these values.”
Lakhanpal and several other players believe Gould understands their ideas and values and are excited to see them reflected as it strengthens the softball community. In the past, the program has not only been successful mentally but physically in competition.
During Lakhanpal’s freshman and sophomore years, the team won two back-to-back Independent School League (ISL) Division A Championships.
United by the values of communication, drive and support, Lakhanpal believes that this season the girls softball program is ready for the step up to the ISL Division AA.
