Dalton Varsity Indoor Track set five school records at the NYSAIS Championship at The Armory on February 27. The girls team placed fifth while the boys took seventh. 

Freshman Isabella Canada won the 1500 meter run in a school-record 4:45. The girls 4x200 and boys 4x800 meter relay teams also captured NYSAIS titles in record times. Seniors Annika Maduraperuma and Margaret Bassey, junior Sabrina Marra and freshman Maya Matsubara clocked 1:47 in the 4x200. Seniors Gabe Ponichter, Holden MacDougall and Sam Shapiro joined junior Christopher Schaaf for the 4x800 championship in 8:28. MacDougall also set Dalton’s 3200 record in 9:33, which resulted in fourth. Maduraperuma touched third in the girls 55 meter hurdles, and the senior’s 8.94 prelim time was another Tiger record. 

Kannon Hunter collected two NYSAIS championships. The senior marked 6-03 in boys high jump and 21-01 in long jump. Bassey landed second in girls triple jump at 35-08.

“We’ll have 10 athletes competing at Federations, which is a huge deal to have qualified,” head coach Dana Smolen said. “I was really proud of how the boys and girls teams performed at NYSAIS. They showed up, competed hard and supported each other while doing it.”

Federation Championship qualifiers are Hunter (high jump and long jump), Bassey (triple jump), Canada (1500 meter run), and the girls 4x200 and boys 4x800 relay teams. The meet is March 6-7 at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex. 

Varsity Wrestling sent four grapplers to the NYSPHSAA Wrestling Individual Championships on February 27-28 at MVP Arena in Albany.

Senior Carlos Rohm delivered the top performance in Dalton history, tying for ninth at 175 lbs. The two-time NYSAIS champion was the No. 16 seed and upset the six and 14 seeds before losing in overtime. 

“Carlos cemented himself as the most decorated Dalton wrestler ever,” head coach Cory Cowles said. “Finishing in the top 12 of the state is a major accomplishment. For me, the best part about Carlos’ career was that he didn’t start wrestling until ninth grade. It’s a testament to how hard he worked for it all.”

Rohm closed the season 22-3 and will wrestle at the University of Pennsylvania. Sophomore Hank Weller was the youngest Dalton wrestler to win a match in Albany. Weller was the No. 21 seed but placed in the top 16 at 165 lbs. Senior Will Safranek battled at 215 lbs while junior Errol Henry entered at 132 lbs.

“The trip to Albany was filled with great wrestling,” Cowles said. “Even though Errol and Will didn’t win a match, they wrestled really well. This is a tournament with the top 22 wrestlers (per weight class) from all of New York, so nobody there is bad. They wrestled good kids, and it was great to see them go out and compete.”

Boys Varsity Basketball lost to Stony Brook 80-66 in the NYSAIS ‘B’ Championship at the Spence Athletic Center on February 25. The Tigers jumped to a 5-2 lead two minutes in, but the top-seeded Bears snatched their first advantage with 2:35 left in the first quarter and never trailed again. Dalton hung around tying the game 24-24 with 3:24 in the second quarter before a Stony Brook dunk sparked an 11-2 Bears run into halftime. The Bears’ defensive pressure and size then proved too much in the second half. 

Dalton senior Noah Khalid scored 25 to close his career with a boys record 2,013 points. Senior Alexander Mash added 18, and junior Kaya Karakaplan contributed 12. 

The Tigers finished 22-4 and 13-1 in the Ivy League, capturing their first conference title since 2019.

Girls Varsity Basketball fell to Poly Prep 34-30 in the NYSAIS semifinals at the Spence Athletic Center on February 21. The contest was tied 10-10 at half, then Dalton freshman Whitney Tse opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer. The Tigers extended their lead to 22-15 with 3:25 left in the third, but the Blue Devils closed the quarter on an 8-3 run to cut their deficit to two. Dalton quickly built the margin back to five, but the Blue Devils outscored the Tigers 11-2 in the last seven minutes. 

Sophomore Joie Christie-Ward paced Dalton with eight points. Tse and seniors Astou Toure and Kellen Calloway all scored six. 

The Tigers ended 18-6 and 11-1 in conference, claiming their fifth consecutive Ivy League title. Dalton won the previous four NYSAIS championships.

Girls Varsity Squash was 7-5 overall and 4-2 in the Ivy League. Senior Natalia Marquez earned First Team All-Ivy at 5-2 overall and 4-2 in league. Junior Julia Hale (7-2, 5-2) and sophomore Rafaela Bigi (7-3, 5-1) received Second Team All-Ivy honors.