How does this season stand out from others?

Tolu Johnson: “This is my first year where I’m one of the older guys so I have to be more of a leader on and off the court. It also stands out because the bond between all of us, especially off the court, is really strong and it’s just a group of guys that like to hang out with each other and have a lot of fun.” 

Eve Grobman: “What’s been interesting about this season for me is that there’s been a lot of change between this year and last year. This year we have a new coach and it’s a very freshman-heavy team, so it’s certainly required an adjustment period for everyone. But I think what’s been just as interesting and quite impressive is that we adjusted quite quickly.”

Ben Cifu: “The distribution in terms of age changed a lot. We went from having a lot of seniors to having a lot of ninth graders. I’ve had more of a leadership role this year. I think being a senior makes it very special because I now have people to actually race at all my events, which I’m enjoying.”

Gaurav Shekhawat: “People are taking it more seriously because only the top seven go to nationals so people have gotten a lot more competitive.”

Eli Ginsburg: “Running with everybody for one last time, one last season before I head off to college, hopefully improving what we did last year. Last year, we got sixth in the four by eight, but that’s it. Hopefully more people go all-state this year.”

Tom Ben-Shahar: “We had about 30 fencers on the team, a new room to practice in, and an extra coach, which was amazing. Unfortunately, this wasn’t as much of an improvement as it might seem, as the number of people who showed up to tournaments didn’t increase, and our new room was quickly filled with gymnastics equipment. However, I’m happy that we were able to reach so many new people this year, even if it didn’t go as well as we had hoped.”