FCIAC Scholar-Athletes, September, 2011
Eli Converse, Darien
Stephen Wildish, Darien
Stephen is the starting center and a two-way player for Darien’s varsity football team that is the defending FCIAC champion.
He has excelled academically throughout high school and is carrying three AP classes during this football season. Stephen was inducted into the National Honor Society as a junior and is also a first responding firefighter with the Darien Fire Department.
Victoria Doyle, Danbury
Gabrielle Rudolph, Fairfield Ludlowe
Jack White, Fairfield Ludlowe
Lindsey Lopes, Fairfield Warde
The senior goalie for the field hockey team is a member of the National Honor Society and French Honor Society and she has been on the Headmasters List each semester throughout her high school years.
Lindsey received both the Excellence in Science Award and the Wheelock College book award in 2011 and the Excellence in Family and Consumer Science Award in 2010.
Her volunteer activities include mentoring a child from Bridgeport through the Buddy Mentor program, cooking for Operation Hope and serving at Golden Hill Soup Kitchen, and she has been a Relay for Life participant since 2009.
She is co-president of Warde’s Circle of Friends club which provides social opportunities for students with special needs. In addition to field hockey, Lindsey has been a ballet student at Connecticut Dance School for over 10 years.
Rebecca Stern, Fairfield Warde
This senior captain and four-year member of the girls’ volleyball team is an excellent student who is involved in various clubs and activities.
Rebecca has maintained a 4.28 GPA and won several awards, including Excellence in Math, Scholar Award in French, and Excellence in Family and Consumer Science. She is part of the National Honor Society, French Honor Society and Math Honor Society.
She also won the World Affairs Forum’s Future Global Leader Award in 2011, which singled her out to represent her high school at a Council of Foreign Relations Conference.
Abigail Markowitz, Greenwich
Abby certainly made the first and only cross country season a special one recently. After having played soccer for most of her high school career during the previous fall seasons, Abby excelled as a middle distance runner in outdoor track and field last spring, found her passion for running, joined the cross country team this fall and on Oct. 24 she won the FCIAC championship by five seconds with her time of 14:55 over the 2.4-mile course at Waveny Park.
Last year during the indoor and outdoor track seasons she made All-FCIAC and All-State teams and she was All-New England in the spring. The versatile Markowitz was successful in races with distances ranging from 400 to 1,600 meters. She was a Class LL state champion in the 600 during the indoor season and in the outdoor season she was the 800 champion in the FCIAC and state Class LL championship meets. Abby was also a key member of the 4x400 relay team that won FCIAC and state Class LL championships.
Abby also excels with her schoolwork. She has made High Honor Roll during every marking period, she is a member of the National Honors Society and Spanish Honors Society, a National Merit Commended Scholar, and an AP Scholar with distinction.
Kate Buellesbach, Brien McMahon
Kate is a senior co-captain in her fourth year as a starter for the varsity girls’ soccer team.
She is a 2011 Governor’s Scholar, a National Merit semifinalist, an AP Scholar with Honor, and the president of her McMahon’s chapter of the National Honor Society.
Chris Madaffari, Brien McMahon
Chris has been one of the best distance runners in the FCIAC for the last couple years as a member of McMahon’s boys’ cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field teams.
Now in his fourth year as a varsity runner for the cross country team, this senior has earned All-FCIAC honors during the last three years, culminating with him placing fifth in this year’s FCIAC Championships to make the All-FCIAC first team. He has been a captain for the Senators for the last two years.
Chris has served as class president throughout high school and he has received multiple academic awards, including the Harvard Book Award.
Christine Mace, Norwalk
Christine has excelled on the field hockey field and in the classroom.
The senior captain has been on the high honor/honor roll since her freshman year while taking honors and AP courses.
She has been on Norwalk’s varsity field hockey team all four years and been a starter for three years. Christine was midfielder during a sophomore year and has been a forward for her final two years. Last year she was selected to the All-FCIAC and All-State teams.
Christine, also a starter on the girls’ lacrosse team since her freshman year, is a volunteer for Al’s Angels Organizations.
Erick Romero, Norwalk
Alecka Sabalburo, Norwalk
Sean Avellini, Ridgefield
Ellie Gravitte, Ridgefield
This junior is a member of the varsity girls’ soccer, girls’ basketball and girls’ outdoor track and field teams.
Ellie’s top sport is track and field, where she excels in the field events. Last spring she won the FCIAC, State Class LL and State Open championships in the javelin and she placed 10th in her specialty at the 2011 Outdoor Nationals.
She was elevated to the varsity soccer team during her freshman year when the Tigers were FCIAC co-champions.
Of utmost importance to Ellie is excelling in the classroom, which she does. She has achieved High Honor Roll during every quarter of her high school career and has a goal of maintaining that successful trend.
EJ Sheehan, St. Joseph
EJ plays safety on defense, he is a punter and a returner on special teams as a senior captain and he was a member of the St. Joseph teams that won a Class SS state championship in 2009 and a Class S state title in 2010. He is also a member of the baseball team.
EJ, who is interested in studying medicine, has a cumulative GPA of 3.6 in the Honors Program.
He is a member of Campus Ministry, a Student Ambassador and a volunteer for Special Olympics.
Katie Gillick, St. Joseph
Katie has played for the girls’ volleyball and softball teams every year during her high school career and was a member of the 2010 softball team that won the Class M state championship with a 3-2 victory over Lauralton Hall. She also played on the junior varsity girls’ basketball team as a freshman and sophomore.
This excellent student has made Honor Roll all three years from as a freshman, sophomore and junior, she is a National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society Member and a recipient of the St. Anselm Book Award for exceptional leadership qualities and demonstrated academic success.
This year Katie is an editor at Amaranth, the school literary magazine and president of Writing Centers. She has also a member of the Campus Ministry and been a lector at St. Lawrence parish throughout her high school career. Kate has been a volunteer for St. Vincent’s SWIM Across the Sound for the last two years.
Diane Yang, Stamford
Colleen Walker, Stamford
Colleen is a swimmer for the Westhill/Stamford cooperative team who has taken all honors classes throughout a freshman and sophomore years and is currently in three AP classes along with her other honors classes.
She participated in the Interact program that raised money for Haiti relief funds and for the past three years she has been a religion teacher.
Colleen is a member of the Chemistry Club and has been part of the Dale Carnegie Course for the previous two summers. She received an honorable mention in the school’s art show.
Colleen swims for the Sharks during her offseasons from high school swimming and she has also worked as a lifeguard at the city’s beaches in Stamford.
Misha Strage, Staples
Jenna Gunsolley, Trumbull
Jenna is a returning starting forward for the varsity field hockey team who tied for the team lead for most goals last year when she was a junior.
This National Honors Society member has a cumulative GPA of 3.8 and has made Honor Roll every year in high school.
Jenna is a section leader for the school yearbook and she participates in Model UN and choir.
Stephanie Ego, Westhill
This junior has maintained a 4.0 GPA and been a member of the Westhill/Stamford co-operative girls’ swimming and diving team since 2009. She was also a 2010-2011 Connecticut Swimming Scholar Athlete.
Last year Stephanie was a finalist in her respective events at the FCIAC and CIAC Class LL championship meets. She is a member of USA Swimming since 2001 and a member on the Sharks swimming team since 2005, and she is a volunteer lessons instructor for the Sharks.
Stephanie has been vice president of Environment Heroes since 2009 and she also has an interest in photography.
Caroline Ike, Westhill
This senior, previously a Scholar Athlete of the Month in November of 2009, is currently a tri-captain during this fourth year for her on the Westhill girls’ swimming and diving team and she has been a member of the girls’ varsity tennis team for the previous three spring seasons.
Caroline has a 4.19 GPA while taking honors and AP classes and is a member of the National Honors Society.
She is also a member of the Westhill Environment Heroes, which does significant cleaning up in the City of Stamford and also helps make Westhill more of an environmentally-friendly school. Caroline plans on going into a career of environmental engineering.
