The sounds of basketballs bouncing, squeaky shoes on the squash courts, weights clanging in the Stuart Fitness Center, and coaches’ whistles blowing is beginning to grow louder as we approach our winter season of athletics. Here’s a quick look at St. Andrew’s winter programs, and a rundown of what to expect as these teams bring the heat in competition.

Boys basketball kicks off their season in the beginning of December at Christiana High School. “The team is coming back older, wiser, and more experienced this season,” according to head coach Terrell Myers. Part of that is due to a strong off-season, in which Myers says the team was either lifting or getting shots up in the morning. “Year after year, our players have gone up against some of the biggest schools and most challenging opponents, often coming within just a few points of victory,” Myers says, a point made explicitly clear in last year’s game against Salesianum, when the Saints came just five points shy of winning the 41-46 game. Darnell Lloyd ’25, a senior center, captain, and 27th-ranked player in the state by Yahoo Sports, is ready for the rematch. “I am most excited about the game against Sallies,” he says. The team enters the season with high expectations, which Myers made clear. “This season feels different,” he says, and that his team has been “battle-tested … they’ve put in the hard work to turn close games into wins.” 

GAME TO WATCH: Check out Lloyd and the rest of the Saints in action as they tip-off in their first game at the Sipprelle Field House on Dec. 17 against William Penn High School. 

 

Girls basketball opens with five home games in a row. Their first foe? First State Military Academy, a team they missed playing last year due to snow in early February. Coach Paul Clemons says, “There is a foundation that will return, allowing us to build on our growth a bit from last year.” The foundation Clemons mentions is bolstered by the “three experienced seniors … [all of whom the] young players will have to look up to.” Clemons is also “blessed to coach year-round so I feel I bring more wisdom and experience as a coach compared to last year.” His added experiences, the addition of three first-year players that “can contribute,” and the senior leadership should prove to make for an exciting season for the girls basketball team. 

GAME TO WATCH: Look for a strong fight from the girls against rival Wilmington Friends, who only narrowly beat the Saints in their last match up 37-40, on Jan. 9.

 

Boys and girls squash are nearly underway this winter, after going 8-3 and 5-3 respectively last year. These teams are preparing for another successful season after they both went undefeated in the state of Delaware last winter. The girls program graduated five seniors on the varsity ladder, and Head Coach Doug Whitaker, who oversees both programs, acknowledges the loss.“The team will have a different make-up than last year,” he says, although he remains unfazed. “With good additions, the strength of the team is still there.” Additions like Charlotte Green ’27 and Marion Lindsay ’28, who Whitaker says should “make impacts and be contributors.” Both new students, Green and Lindsay will add to the great depth and talent” that Whitaker says his team has. On the boys side, there was a loss of only one player from the varsity ladder. “The whole team is back in a way,” says senior Gray Veague ’25, who notes that the addition of many new students should bolster the boys to another level of talent. For both teams, Whitaker says, “The theme is performing better under pressure [which] was instilled in the players as we moved through [last] season.” Whitaker hopes those principles will come to fruition this season.

GAME TO WATCH: Look for both teams in their first match at home on Dec. 7 against Episcopal High School.  

 

Swimming went on a hot streak last season, boasting an 8-1 record and a Delaware Independent School Conference (DISC) championship. This year, they’ve added a new coach in Caroline Towne, a former NCAA Division III Swimmer of the Year and a 13-time Division III National Champion, to the mix. “It’s been fun to watch all the kids as individuals, getting to know their strengths and their weaknesses,” says Towne, who knows her way around a successful swim program. She highlights the importance of leadership. “We have great leaders,” she says. “I think other teams are jealous of our senior leadership.” These coveted captains and seniors will try to lead the Saints swim program to another successful year, which kicks off Dec. 7 at home against five different DISC teams. 

MEET TO WATCH: St. Andrew’s versus Tower Hill on Dec. 14, a rematch after the Saints convincingly won 103-44 against the Hillers last year.
 

Indoor track was extremely competitive last season, earning the No. 1 spot on the podium at the DISC Championship meet. This season, the team is still in good shape, as they have continued to grow.  “I’m excited about the fact that for the first time ever, our girls crew is larger than the boys crew,” says head coach Jon Tower. “[That means both teams will be] competing in the long jump and the high jump ... for the first time ever.” Tower believes this will add to the team’s success this season. “You score points by competing in all the different events and placing in those events, so when you don’t have people in them, you can’t score,” he says. Now that the Saints have added jumping to their practice routine, Tower hopes it becomes just one more weapon for the indoor track to utilize. 

MEET TO WATCH: Although indoor track has no home meets, you can find the Saints sprinters, jumpers, and throwers three times this year at Tower Hill, on Dec. 14, Jan. 11, and Feb. 13 for the DISC Championship. 

 

Wrestling will continue with themes of cohesion and fierce competition this winter. The team, which finished 3-5 last season, keeps a “family-based atmosphere approach” that head coach Phil Davis emphasizes on and off the mat. But while family is first, technique is only a close second. “We’re emphasizing a more attack-style wrestling, which consists of scoring first and keeping opponents playing catch up,” he says. Keep an especially sharp eye out for the senior wrestlers, whose commitment to the wrestling program Davis recognizes. “I am blessed to have watched the newbie-to-senior transformation several times in my tenure,” he says.

MATCH TO WATCH: Catch these Saints on the mat, especially at home for their tri-meet on Jan. 23, when they face off against Sanford and Wilmington Christian. In the same meet last year, the Saints won 52-18 and 48-30 against each respective team.