Seniors from the swim, basketball, and wrestling teams were recognized in the Van Es Arena prior to the boys’ varsity basketball game on January 28 against the Pepperell dragons as part of the winter sports senior night. The seniors were escorted out onto the court by either their parents or their head of house if they were dorm students. The seniors recognized from the basketball team were Will Land, Trustin Mercer, Eddie Ye, Mia Curlee, Emma Hunt, Caroline Jordan and Emi Grace Wood. The swim team seniors were Jiahao Luo, Rayan Maqbool, Agatha Blocker, Taura Matherne and Emily Richie. Seniors from the wrestling team were Stephen Moore and Sam Twente. Senior Will Land shares his role on the basketball team.
“My role is that I have to be a leader to all the younger kids,” Land said. “I am more of a defensive player, so I have to talk on defense, get my team to communicate, and get the other players to be in the right positions.”
Senior Rayan Maqbool, an international student from Pakistan who has been swimming competitively since he was seven, shares what the hardest part about being a senior is on the swim team.
“The hardest part of being a senior, to me, was managing the college essays and interviews along with the training,” Maqbool said. “Also, I have to show up to practice every day and try my best to show the younger swimmers that they need to work hard.”
Maqbool was one of four swimmers who qualified for state in the first swim meet. He will not be going to college for swimming but he “hopes to pursue swimming at some capacity on a club team.”
“A lot of my life is shaped around swim, it is a major part of my life and it means everything to me,” Maqbool said. “Swimming is the reason I have a lot of my friends, and I have a lot of good memories associated with swim.”
Land says that his most memorable experience playing basketball was “getting to play with Trustin Mercer and Brent Bell my whole life since recreational basketball.” He plans to play on a club team after he graduates.
“It means the world to me, whenever I shoot a basketball, I do not think about anything but basketball,” Land said. “It gets everything off my mind, and it gives me a way to get away from stress and other things.”