Women’s varsity basketball
By Chloe Newkirk
Heading into the winter season, the women’s varsity basketball team aims to improve their record from last year, and head coach Pam Stanfield said she thought the team was ready to do just that. In the 2024-2025 season, the GDS women’s varsity basketball team had two wins and 19 losses. The team began practicing over the summer and also participated in a fall league, which Stanfield said allowed the team to “establish some chemistry and kind of see where we were with the new group that we have.”
The team’s main goal for the season is to finish in the middle of the Independent School League (ISL) standings, and Stanfield, who has been coaching GDS basketball for 12 years, said she wants her team to focus on developing team skills, such as “harping on their individual goals, taking accountability, putting the work in and being a good teammate.”
Stanfield also said the team is young, and with new additions junior Eden Samuel and freshman Lucille Hletko Wood, she is excited for the team to grow together. (Hletko Wood is on the Bit’s staff.)
Sophomore Elayna Lewis, who is recovering from an injury, said she wants to further connect with her team. “I’m looking forward to winning and doing great things like making a strong connection, building a family,” she said.
“It’s a great group of girls. We’re all friends, and that also makes our on-court chemistry the best,” sophomore Liya Fairfax said.
The team prides itself on its chemistry: Players and coaches alike agreed that the energy and humor the team brings to both practices and games is infectious.
“They make me laugh every day,” Stanfield said.
The team’s next scrimmage is home against Washington Latin on Thursday, Nov. 20.
Men’s varsity basketball
By Ryan Granowitter
After finishing last season with an overall record of 4–19, including an 0–12 record in the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAC), the men’s varsity basketball team is looking to bounce back under an entirely new coaching staff led by head coach Alpha Bangura. With a roster made up largely of new players, the team will enter the season focusing on team chemistry and effort.
Junior co-captain Arjun Bhargava said the team’s main goal is to “have a competitive season this year and win some games. We have a majority new team, so I’m looking forward to playing with those guys and being a competitive team.” Of the fifteen players on the roster, only five are returning upperclassmen.
Senior co-captain Khalin Patel said he is trying to set the tone every day. “As a senior, I try to lead by example, showing up early, working hard and always having a positive attitude to help create positive energy,” Patel said. “A lot of guys are new, so I make sure they feel comfortable understanding the plays and know they can ask me anything.”
Patel said that past seasons taught him how quickly things can unravel if players get frustrated or lose trust. “I tell the younger guys to stay positive, move on from mistakes and keep the team first,” he said. “We know we aren’t going to beat the best teams, but as long as we stay positive and don’t give up, then we are good.” The team environment this season, he said, already feels different: “We’re more connected, we communicate better, and we have more structure in everything we do.”
Both Patel and Bhargava pointed to the team’s lack of physical size as the biggest challenge. “We are not the biggest or the strongest team,” Bhargava said, “but we have the biggest heart; we want it more than anyone.”
Junior co-captain Peter McManus echoed their sentiment: “We are a little undersized and can’t recruit as much, but it’s about playing fast, smart and with heart.”
With Bangura, players spent the summer and fall in daily workouts. “I can’t wait to see how it’ll translate to the court,” Bhargava said.
McManus credited Bangura for setting the tone early. “We were in the gym every day over the summer with Coach Alpha, who has pushed us and been a great coach thus far,” he said.
Patel said his goal for the team is “to win at least one MAC conference game and for our team to succeed and play with chemistry,” he said. “Individually, I want to make All-MAC First Team.”
Their opening home game is on Dec. 3 against School Without Walls at 4:15 p.m.
Indoor Track
By Alex Hughes
The winter track season serves as both preparation for the spring track season and a way for out-of-season athletes to stay in shape. Head coach Anthony Belber emphasized its role in building fitness. “We’ll have a few competitions, but generally speaking it’s a preparation season to lay a foundation of fitness,” Belber said. The team attends fewer meets than in the spring track season.
Senior Alexandra Solomon echoed Belber’s mindset. “We’re really looking toward spring track to be at our peak,” she said.
For junior Paloma Evans, the winter season carries its own competitive weight. “The indoor season is just as important as the outdoor season,” Evans said. “The numbers just aren’t going to be as high as spring because we’ve had the winter season to prepare.”
In the winter season, the team competes in events ranging from sprints to shotput. Unlike cross country, winter track features several team relays, including the 4×200 meters, the 4×400 meters and the 4×800 meters.
“Track is often seen as an individual sport; usually you run and get one time that’s your own,” senior Oliver Wolin said. “But really it’s a team sport; at championship meets, it’s a team score that’s added up from the races, and that’s especially the case in relays.”
One of the most technical events the team practices is hurdles. “It’s one of the weirder events because it’s one of two events that work on both technique and speed,” sophomore Heath Holley said.
As a senior, Leo Johnson-Goldfrank said he feels a greater sense of responsibility heading into the season. “There’s a recognition of how fleeting our time in this program is,” Johnson-Goldfrank said. “It can be saddening but also motivating”
The team will start official practices on Dec. 1.
Swimming
By Tristan Souchaud
The varsity swimming and diving team is led by a new head coach, Chelsea Hubble.
“While I’m feeling a little unsure about having a third coach in three years, that is not the new coach’s fault,” junior Sean Keeley said. “From the experience I have had with her so far, she seems well prepared and is doing a good job.” Keeley has been on the team since his freshman year.
In the 2023–2024 season, the team was coached by Rick Bosland, and last year the team was led by coach Ceallach Gibbons.
Keeley spoke highly of Hubble’s leadership from the experiences he’s had with her in offseason practices. “I think Chelsea has done a good job making sure people have individual goals,” he said. Keeley also said that, as an upperclassman, he wants to be a leader for his team.
Senior captain Madeleine Genia also said she has strong hopes for the season. “I think we have a really solid team this year,” she said. “I know the girls [team] can probably put together two relays, which is good because in the past we just haven’t had the numbers for that. The only thing that I’m a little bit worried about would just be the transition with having a different coach each year.” There are 11 swimmers on the women’s team.
Genia has been swimming since her freshman year and said Hubble wants her and the other captains—seniors Bobby Bulman, Poppy Davies and Dylan Li—to have a more active role in practices. “She [Hubble] encourages us to write workouts for the team and just run it by her,” Genia said.
Keeley said he believed the team will continue to build chemistry as the season progresses. “Once the meets start going, the team will get to know each other better than now,” he said.
The team’s first meet is against Bullis on Wednesday, Nov. 19.
Jacob Blane contributed reporting.