Winter 2024-25 Athletic Awards

St. Sebastian's School is proud to recognize its student-athletes for their performance on the Arrows varsity basketball, hockey, wrestling, skiing, and squash teams. Awards and letters were given on March 10, 2025, during the Winter Athletic Awards Assembly. Congratulations to all our athletes on an incredible season!

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BASKETBALL

ISL 1st Team All-League
TJ Allen ’27

ISL Honorable Mention
Solis Blue ’27

Fr. Daniel J. Gilmartin Award
Given by the coaches to the St. Sebastian's Basketball player who possesses the qualities of commitment, teamwork and outstanding attitude.
Robert Walusimbi-Mitchell ’25

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HOCKEY

ISL All-League
Brendan Keaveney ’25 and Tommy Saulnier ’27

Jack Doherty Award
This award is presented to the member of the St. Sebastian's Varsity Hockey team whose commitment to excellence and devotion to the game has repeatedly been evidenced by aggressive and spirited play and selfless contribution to the total team effort.
Brendan Keaveney ’25

ISL Flood Shield Award
The player whose enthusiasm for hockey and true devotion to the game is marked by his playing ability and physical toughness and yet whose competitive spirit is balanced by emotional control and a desire to play within the rules of the game.
Brendan Keaveney ’25

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WRESTLING

ISL All-League
Sawyer Bean ’26, Declan Schwarz ’27, Ray Usechek ’29

ISL Honorable Mention
TK Faria ’29, Ryan Healey ’27, Connor Martin ’29, Carter Rich ’27

O'Malley Family Award
Given by the coaches to the wrestler who most exemplifies commitment, willingness to learn, and enthusiasm for the sport of wrestling.
Declan Schwarz ’27

Captains-elect
Gus Baer ’27 and Sawyer Bean ’26

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SKIING

ISL All League
Bobby Keller ’25

All-NEPSAC
Bobby Keller ’25

St. Sebastian's Alpine Skiing Coach Award
Bobby Keller ’25

Captain-elect
Rowan Koppenheffer ’27

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SQUASH

ISL Honorable Mention
César Hernández ’26

Coaches' Most Improved Player
Oisin Asaad ’28 and César Hernández ’26

Captains-elect
César Hernández ’26 and Michael Rohatgi ’26

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During the Assembly, Director of Athletics Jon Bartlett delivered the following remarks:

Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Nerbonne, Fr. Arens, Faculty and Staff, Students of St. Sebastian’s: Welcome to the 2025 Winter Sports Assembly.

A few Thank You’s to begin our Assembly:

Once again thank you to the Athletic Department: Mr. Duffy, Mr. Fitzgerald, Coach Carr, and Mr. Carpino, for all the behind the scenes work you do.

Thanks to our Facilities Department, and IT Department, especially for the work they did to get this campus ready for the Graves Kelsey Wrestling Meet, and also for the Mutch Hockey Tournament in December.

I would also like to recognize in front of our student body, our outstanding coaching staff from this winter, at all levels, and thank them for their dedication to the school, their passion to teach the game to our student-athletes. As we noted in the Fall, their commitment to the teacher-coach model allows our school to support our students in the classroom and on the courts and rinks. And it is because of their tireless time and effort in the classroom and playing fields that give you, the student-athlete, an opportunity to grow. Make sure you, the students, make them feel appreciated.

And to our winter athletes: Thank you for how you represent the School.

To reflect on our winter sports season, the one constant we will focus on today is one of our models, the compete level, that our Arrows brought each day this past winter season.

I was asked by someone mid-January on how the winter teams were doing. Typically, whenever someone gets asked how a team is doing, the standard response is to recite the overall team record, allowing the inquirer the ability to decide for themselves how the teams are doing. And even though our teams were doing well at that point, reciting our records would not have told the true story of how the winter season was going. Especially knowing how many new and young players were on our teams.

Which takes us to the phrase for this winter, compete level.

My answer to the person was how “I love how these winter teams are playing. Every game, win or lose, they are out there leaving everything they got.” The inquirer was on campus a week later to watch a game and said, “now I know what you mean.”

In that initial conversation there was no mention of records. But there was a deeper understanding of how our Arrows were competing and representing the school, that an overall record would not have reflected.

You will soon hear from our Winter Varsity coaches, recapping their seasons, celebrating the varsity athletes who represented our school. But what everyone should take from this morning, and take from the winter season, especially our spring athletes who are preparing themselves for this upcoming season, is asking yourself: “Are you giving your all every day and leave everything out there.”

The winter athletes did this. As did our coaches, captains and senior leaders who kept our teams focused. All season long, anyone attending a varsity winter game, came away impressed with how our Arrows played the game, no matter what the score.

The lessons they gave us, and again a great message for our upcoming spring athletes, is that you will have tough games and setbacks – even if you are expected to win. Don’t let any setback in the season eliminate your goals or cause friction in the locker room. Don’t put all your focus on the end result. Focus on the compete level. Focus on your effort.

A few quotes on this:

From Tony Robbins, a successful life coach: “Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear.”

What does this mean? After a setback, or a loss, which every team experiences, don’t let that fear, that negative energy, creep into the locker room. The fear that we are not living up to expectations. The fear that the season might not go as expected. The fear of failure…. Focus on where you want to go, the end result, and use setbacks as fuel and learning experiences over the course of the season. At the end of any season, you and your teammates will have created positive lifelong memories and friendships knowing how you competed, no matter what the final record is.

Another quote pertaining to compete level, this one from Anonymous, “Fail seven times, stand up eight.”

Will you be a team that gets back up time after time, setback after setback. Winners keep getting back up. Listen to the stories from successful professionals, whether in athletics or business, law or medicine – failure and setbacks were part of their journey.

And so this winter we witnessed, which emphasizes the word Mr. Sullivan gave at the start of the school year, we witnessed, our winter athletes did not succumb to fear. We witnessed them getting up seven times after they were knocked down.

The teams who are resilient and bounce back after setbacks, who don’t let adversity break up their locker room culture, they discover a recipe for success. The same is true for a student in the classroom. The pressure to get A’s removes your focus on the journey, on learning the subject matter. There will be setbacks in your academic journey as well. Get up 8 times. All we ask is to do your best. Compete level.

So let’s celebrate our Winter athletes. We had 6 Teams this winter that represented the school amazingly every time they wore the Sebs uniform, teams and athletes who made the school proud through the last week of their season.

1 - Skiing: At the ISL championships in New Hampshire, our racers, many competing on the varsity for the first time, skied their best day on the mountain.

2 - Wrestling: In our home gym at the Graves Kelsey ISL Championships, Sebs wrestlers, with a smaller line-up than years past, upset higher ranked wrestlers, and the team took 3^rd overall in the ISL.

3 - Squash: Out of nowhere, advancing to the Finals of their Division at Nationals in Philadelphia. Truly a program changing event that can only help the sport grow at the school.

4 – Basketball: Upsetting Milton on a buzzer beater in the final week of the season. Coming back from down 6 with 2 minutes to go, against an opponent that needed the game for a playoff berth.

5 – Hockey: Last game of the year, a thrilling 2-1 overtime win at Thayer. Both goals scored by an unselfish senior who led the locker room by example. The team had 2 celebrations during the season, winning the Travis Roy Game and the Valicenti Cup.

And the 6^th winter team we want to celebrate. Wait, does anyone know?

Henry’s Corner. Even though most of our teams did not have any playoff chances at the end of the season, You, Henry’s Corner, delivered and supported the Red and Black.

During the 3^rd period of the hockey game at Thayer, I had to hop on a call and had to exit the arena because of the noise and poor reception inside. Standing outside, I could hear some loud cheering coming from within the rink. It was an excited chant, that reverberated through the outer rink walls. The sound grew louder, and I could distinctly hear the chant: “Sebo, Sebo, Sebo…”. To hear that school pride, from outside the rink, was truly inspiring. This was a great example of what it means to be a St. Sebastian’s student.

To conclude, I want to share one more characteristic that our winter athletes exemplified to all of us, and how it can lead to overall success.

Becoming a great teammate.

During the NHL Hockey 4-Nations Pre-game show, one of the hockey analysts was talking about the talent at that level, and how difficult it is to make a country’s all-star team. He said to get to that level, the players clearly need talent and skill, they need countless hours of training to develop their game. But he also mentioned an overlooked component that athletes need to learn and develop, even at the highest level – they need to learn how to be a great teammate.

In the 4-Nations Finals post-game press conference, USA Head Coach Mike Sullivan talked about how amazing an experience it was. He credited his players, some of the best hockey players in the world, for accepting their role on the team, even though it might not have mirrored their role on their NHL team. He cited the US success was due to a healthy locker room, that his players genuinely liked each other and got along with one another. And that each player gave up their personal expectations for the greater goal of the team.

Remember, being a good teammate does not mean just on the field, court or rink. Good teammates treat others with respect in the classrooms, in the hallways, at the lunch tables, and even Salsa Dancing (very impressive yesterday). Our mission at this Catholic institution, and what we want you to take away from your experience at St. Sebastian’s, is to strive towards individual goals and success, Yes, BUT also you are called to care for the overall health and success of your classmates.

Let us enjoy this morning, as we recognize the young men who proudly represented our school during the winter season. With that, let us call up our Winter Varsity Coaches, to celebrate their season, and recognize our winter varsity lettermen.