News Detail
RE athletes recognized, departing Grubair honored
Michael Colonna '17 and Sofia Carrera-Justiz '16 claimed male and female Athlete of the Year honors and valedictorian Erica Scott '16 and Andrew Geraghty '16 were named Scholar Athletes of the Year during the 2015-2016 varsity athletic awards ceremony May 16, which also honored departing athletic director Claude Grubair for his 17 years at Ransom Everglades.
Michael Colonna '17 and Sofia Carrera-Justiz '16 claimed male and female Athlete of the Year during the 2015-2016 varsity athletic awards ceremony May 16, which also honored departing athletic director Claude Grubair for his 17 years at Ransom Everglades as well as dozens of student-athletes and coaches.
The night featured the awarding of 11 individual and team awards; recognition of the 17 seniors who plan to continue their athletic careers in college (see below for a complete list); the unveiling of a season-highlight video; and additional recognition at private events for each individual sport.
Head of School Penny Townsend opened the event by lauding the student-athletes.
"You have brought honor to Ransom Everglades," she said. "You have created memories that will remain with you for a lifetime. Your teammates will always be your teammates, and you will relive those special moments time and time again."
Grubair noted that of the 147 seniors in the Class of 2016, 81 played at least one of 18 different sports.The night concluded with a video tribute to Grubair that played as Doc Crabtree introduced him for the final time. "I'm the only one that can get through introducing you without choking up." Crabtree said.
"The first and last thing on your mind was always the kids," Crabtree said to Grubair. "You've been innovating, renovating, sometimes aggravating and always motivating."
Grubair, who received two standing ovations from the crowd, invited all of RE's coaches to the stage before making his final remarks.
"This is why this has been such an honor for me," said Grubair, who will be replaced by interim director Andy De Angulo. "We have the most talented, gifted, passionate, loving coaching staff you will find anywhere ... This has been my family for 17 years, this community.
"I'm never going to forget it. I get to take the most special mission statement I've ever seen at any school in the United States, and I get to take that with me. It's now part of who I am.... I'm going to miss all of you. I'm going to miss everything. I thank you for every second I've been here."
Here are the award recipients, in the order they were announced:
Team of the Year
Girls' Water Polo
Boys' Soccer
Coach of the Year
Kenny Perez, Baseball
Dave Villano '79, Boys' Soccer
REACH Service Award
Annie Elkin '16, Girls' Volleyball and Tennis
Mike Stokes Award
Owen Zighelboim '16, Boys' Lacrosse
Penny Matthews Award
Olivia Burke '16, Girls' Soccer
Lauren Archer '16, Girls' Track and Cross Country
Sportsmanship Award
Jenny Leight '16, Girls' Basketball, Cross Country and Lacrosse
Sophia Angel '16, Girls' Water Polo, Swimming
Claire McDowell '16, Girls' Water Polo, Basketball
Alex Sidi '17, Boys' Sailing
O'Jhonte Armstrong '17, Boys' Football and Lacrosse
Jackson Mihm '16, Boys' Soccer and Track and Field
Comeback Athlete of the Year
Ryan Moralejo '16, Boys' Baseball
Performance Award
Debbie Ajagbe '17, Girls' Track and Field and Volleyball
Kyla Valls '17, Girls' Swimming
Nick Cobb '16, Boys' Basketball, Volleyball and Football
Steven Vinson '16, Boys' Baseball
RE Spirit Award
Ben Rosenthal '18, Manager of multiple sports
Scholar Athlete of the Year
Erica Scott '16, Girls' Cross Country and Track
Andrew Geraghty '16, Boys' Soccer
Athlete of the Year
Michael Colonna '17 Boys' Soccer, Football, Volleyball
Sofia Carrera-Justiz '17, Girls' Water Polo, Soccer, Volleyball
NCAA Bound Student-Athletes
Back
The night featured the awarding of 11 individual and team awards; recognition of the 17 seniors who plan to continue their athletic careers in college (see below for a complete list); the unveiling of a season-highlight video; and additional recognition at private events for each individual sport.
Head of School Penny Townsend opened the event by lauding the student-athletes.
"You have brought honor to Ransom Everglades," she said. "You have created memories that will remain with you for a lifetime. Your teammates will always be your teammates, and you will relive those special moments time and time again."
Grubair noted that of the 147 seniors in the Class of 2016, 81 played at least one of 18 different sports.The night concluded with a video tribute to Grubair that played as Doc Crabtree introduced him for the final time. "I'm the only one that can get through introducing you without choking up." Crabtree said.
"The first and last thing on your mind was always the kids," Crabtree said to Grubair. "You've been innovating, renovating, sometimes aggravating and always motivating."
Grubair, who received two standing ovations from the crowd, invited all of RE's coaches to the stage before making his final remarks.
"This is why this has been such an honor for me," said Grubair, who will be replaced by interim director Andy De Angulo. "We have the most talented, gifted, passionate, loving coaching staff you will find anywhere ... This has been my family for 17 years, this community.
"I'm never going to forget it. I get to take the most special mission statement I've ever seen at any school in the United States, and I get to take that with me. It's now part of who I am.... I'm going to miss all of you. I'm going to miss everything. I thank you for every second I've been here."
Here are the award recipients, in the order they were announced:
Team of the Year
Girls' Water Polo
Boys' Soccer
Coach of the Year
Kenny Perez, Baseball
Dave Villano '79, Boys' Soccer
REACH Service Award
Annie Elkin '16, Girls' Volleyball and Tennis
Mike Stokes Award
Owen Zighelboim '16, Boys' Lacrosse
Penny Matthews Award
Olivia Burke '16, Girls' Soccer
Lauren Archer '16, Girls' Track and Cross Country
Sportsmanship Award
Jenny Leight '16, Girls' Basketball, Cross Country and Lacrosse
Sophia Angel '16, Girls' Water Polo, Swimming
Claire McDowell '16, Girls' Water Polo, Basketball
Alex Sidi '17, Boys' Sailing
O'Jhonte Armstrong '17, Boys' Football and Lacrosse
Jackson Mihm '16, Boys' Soccer and Track and Field
Comeback Athlete of the Year
Ryan Moralejo '16, Boys' Baseball
Performance Award
Debbie Ajagbe '17, Girls' Track and Field and Volleyball
Kyla Valls '17, Girls' Swimming
Nick Cobb '16, Boys' Basketball, Volleyball and Football
Steven Vinson '16, Boys' Baseball
RE Spirit Award
Ben Rosenthal '18, Manager of multiple sports
Scholar Athlete of the Year
Erica Scott '16, Girls' Cross Country and Track
Andrew Geraghty '16, Boys' Soccer
Athlete of the Year
Michael Colonna '17 Boys' Soccer, Football, Volleyball
Sofia Carrera-Justiz '17, Girls' Water Polo, Soccer, Volleyball
NCAA Bound Student-Athletes
Lauren Archer, Cross Country, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Heather Boehm, Tennis, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
Sophie Bullard, Volleyball, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
Sofia Carrera-Justiz, Water Polo, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Alain Carles, Crew, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Vivien Fernandez-Ravelo, Tennis, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
Michael Gerrard, Football, Pomona College, Claremont, CA
Adrianne Han, Sailing, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Caroline Kolski, Soccer, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Vera Mariani, Sailing, St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s City, MD
Alejandro Martinez, Crew, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Claire McDowell, Water Polo, University of California, Berkeley, CA
Jackson Mihm, Track & Field, Tufts University, Medford, MA
Ryan Moralejo, Baseball, Bates College, Lewiston, ME
Elias Ramos, Lacrosse, Hendrix College, Conway, AR
Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.