The senior captains for SCH field hockey are (from left) Savannah Sweitzer, Sarah Edelson, Kianah Watson and Delaney Sweitzer. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

One of the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy teams that began pre-season training two Mondays ago was the field hockey squad, which will be led by head coach Katie Mersky (also an SCH administrator) for the sixth season. New to the staff this fall is former St. Joseph’s University stickster Annie Harkins.

The four captains are seniors Sarah Edelson, Kianah Watson and sisters Delaney and Savannah Sweitzer. Edelson is primarily a field hockey player with a lot of club experience, while the main focus for the other three is lacrosse. The Sweitzer sisters committed to the University of Southern California for lacrosse some time ago.

The other returning seniors, Catie Brook and Riley Redpath, are also varsity lacrosse players as well as hockey players. The team’s large 12th-grade class is rounded out by Caroline Clark (a mainstay on the basketball team since her freshmen year), Lindsey Schwartz, Nahla Turner and Destiny Weal.

The previous senior class in field hockey was a small one, with just two players graduating off the 2017 roster. Following this year’s pack of 10 seniors are just two 11th-graders, varsity veterans Shannon McNally and Maggie Pearson. McNally plays the vital position of goalie and is a longtime club field hockey player, while Pearson is a three-sport athlete who plays squash and lacrosse.

Sophomores Ashley Lynch (a Norwood Fontbonne Academy alum), Brooke Prochniak and Ainsley Rexford already appeared on the varsity roster as freshmen in 2017, and this fall they’re joined by classmates Iris Alex, Noa Haims, and Caroline Reitmeyer. One freshman, Hannah Pierce, has been named to the varsity team for the start of the 2018 season.