Girls Flag Football Team Proceeds to the Finals
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Ivy Boockvar (10) leaps to evade two would-be tacklers from MahopacScarsdale and Mahopac High battled in the semifinals of the Section 1 Division 1 Girls Flag Football playoffs at Scarsdale High School on May 15, 2024. Mahopac jumped out to an early lead but the top-seeded Raiders eventually got rolling and came away with the win 31-18.
The two-time section champs continued their winning streak and will continue to the finals on May 18, 2024.
Talia Arovas (14) takes the handoff on a sweep and gains 10+ yardsThough the Raiders usually make a strong start, it wasn’t the case in the semi-final game on Wednesday May 15, 2024. Mahopac got the ball first and despite forcing them to third downs, the away team went up first with a touchdown, but a failed extra point. This early dominance by Mahopac continued on their first drive defensively. On the first play, they forced the Raiders to throw an interception and had great field position. As a result, they scored another touchdown but failed to get the extra point again. The score at this point was 12-0 and Mahopac was in control, but the Raiders had other plans.
Naomi Fischer (5) breaks free and goes all the way for a touchdown
The offense was slowly moving up the field where they got around the mid-field right before the momentum of the game shifted. Boockvar threw a screen pass to #5 Naomi Fischer who ran 40 yards to the endzone. They failed to get the extra point making the score 12-6. Back on defense, the Raiders started off strong with some key tackles by #2 Asen, but it wasn’t enough to stop Mahopac from getting another touchdown. However, for the third time Scarsdale contained the extra point making the score 18-6.
Talia Arovas (14) and Brady Silberfein (11), help Naomi Fischer (5) celebrate her touchdown
The next drive for the Raiders was by far their most interesting when Boockvar became a receiver and #4 Lilly Tessler became quarterback. Tessler was able to find Boockvar for a 20 yard pass and a pass interference was called on the defense. After this, Boockvar returned to quarterback and Tessler to receiver. The drive ended with Boockvar finding Asen for a 10 yard touchdown pass, but failing the extra point. The score was 18-12 and the Raiders were coming back.
The rest of the first half consisted of strong defense from both sides as Scarsdale’s Asen, #7 Yuri Sato and #19 Leah Brown tackled almost every play the Mahopac offense ran. The clock wound down and it was halftime. Despite mistakes early on, the Raiders looked like the better team and the second half would prove that.
The Raiders offense started with the ball and got off to a hot start. The team decided to continue their dual strategy where Boockvar would pass to Tessler and vice-versa. Boockvar had two long scrambles that resulted in the team getting to the goal line. To finish the drive, she connected with Asen for a short touchdown pass, but they weren’t able to take the lead due to failing the extra point again. The score was all tied up 18-18 and the cushion Mahopac had was gone.
Emilia Gomez (6) and Yuri Sato (7) make a valiant effort to grab the flag from a Mahopac runner
Mahopac was moving quickly down the field and it looked like they were going to score, but the defense was able to contain every run play at goal line. As a result, it was a turnover on downs and the defense held Mahopac from a touchdown by only a few yards. The offense finally had a chance to take the lead. Due to a few screen passes to Asen, the offense was able to get into the red zone. Boockvar scrambled for ten yards to get the touchdown and finally succeeded in the extra point, due to #11 Brady Silberfein making the score 18-25.
Lilly Tessler (4) evades getting her flagged pulled and makes a jump pass
The defense continued to hold the line where they forced a turnover on downs and it was clear that the game was almost guaranteed to go the Raiders. The Raiders were able to capitalize when Boockvar had a 20 yard touchdown pass to #12 Sekana Slivjanovski, making the score 18-31.
Gianna Asen (2) is all smiles after scoring a touchdown
Brady Silberfein (11) fights for additional yards
The game ended with #18 Reese Newman intercepting the Mahopac quarterback in a good representation of defensive dominance. Time ran out and with a final score of 18-31, Scarsdale is going to the Section 1 Finals for the third consecutive time.
Scarsdale next plays New Rochelle in the finals on Saturday, May 18 at Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak.
(Update) The Raiders proceeded to the section final against New Rochelle at Lakeland High School where they again triumphed 21-8. The Raiders utilized Boockvar and Tessler at quarterback and when one of them wasn’t throwing, they were catching. Scarsdale was up 21-2 for much of the second half. When New Rochelle finally put a touchdown up late in the second half, it was too little too late. The Raiders now move on to the regional finals where they will play at Hendrick Hudson High School against Brewster High School. Game time is at 5 pm on May 23. If Scarsdale wins regionals, they will go on to the state finals and play in Cortland.
Photos by Dave Taber of Shots of the Game
To see more game photos and/or download photos, please click here.
Emilia Gomez (6) and Leah Brown (19) fight to get the flag of a tough Mahopac runner
Chloe Paquin (9) gains additional yards after making a reception
Ivy Boockvar (10) leaps and makes a great catch
Scarsdale Varsity Baseball Defeats Various Tigers
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- Written by Alex Bengera
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It’s no secret that Scarsdale and Mamaroneck are each other’s biggest rivals when it comes to sports. Not only for baseball, but lacrosse, football, soccer and the list goes on. On May 6th the Scarsdale Varsity baseball team traveled to Mamaroneck High School to take on the Tigers.
The regular season is coming to an end and playoffs will begin soon. Success in these next few games is essential for Scarsdale to get a good playoff seed and face less difficult opponents.
The game began with Scarsdale scoring a run quickly in the first inning, but Mamaroneck responded by scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the third making the score 1-2. Despite the efforts of Scarsdale pitcher Gil Krausz who had 5 strikeouts and played all 7 innings, it looked like the game was going to be won by the Tigers. But the Raiders banded together in the top of the sixth inning to score 2 more runs putting them ahead 3-2. Additionally, in the seventh and final inning, Scarsdale added one more to make the final score 4-2. One of the players who made this victory possible was Koji Hirata who was 2-4 and had an RBI. Another player who was vital to this win was Bret Hole who was 2-3 and had an RBI as well.
Two days later, on May 8th Mamaroneck went to Scarsdale’s field for a rematch and the Tigers controlled the game. They allowed Scarsdale to score no runs and by getting hits almost every inning the Tigers scored a total of 4 runs to shutout Scarsdale 4-0.
The Raiders split the series with their rivals, but Mamaroneck wouldn't be the only Tigers that Scarsdale would face. This time, they would face the Tuckahoe Tigers.
The Raiders met Tuckahoe at home on May 11th in a game that went down to the wire. Neither team scored for the first six innings and much of the Raider’s dominance in the field was thanks to starting pitcher Gil Krausz who had an incredible 13 strikeouts. The game looked like it was going to go to extra innings, but in the bottom of the seventh, everything changed. Senior Captain Max Timberger started by hitting a triple-deep center. It traveled all the way to the wall where the entire bench erupted in joy. Right after that, Sophomore Henry Lamberg hit a sacrifice pop fly that was caught, and Timberger ran home and made it before the ball arrived. Scarsdale got the win 1-0.
Scarsdale is 1-0 against Tuckahoe and 1-1 against Mamaroneck. Additionally, they played the White Plains Tigers at the start of the season and won with a final score of 2-0. Their record against all Tigers teams this season is 3-1.
Girls Flag Football Continues to Dominate the Field
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- Written by Alex Bengera
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Brady Silberfein scores a touchdown.Two years ago, the New York NFL teams, Giants, Jets and Bills came together to start funding a league for high school aged girls to play flag football. The impetus was to open the game to girls and address fears about injuries and concussions from contact sports. Flag football is played with seven players wearing flags on their waists. To “tackle” a player, you must pull their flag, rather than pulling them down. Scoring is similar to regular football - however there are no field goals and to score an extra point, a team must convert a two-yard pass after the touchdown. From the sidelines, the game looks far safer than regular tackle football and we only observed one minor injury in the game this week.
When the Section 1 League began in 2022, Scarsdale quickly joined. Despite being a relatively new team for the school, they reached the section finals in 2022 and 2023. This year’s Girls Flag Football team has quickly become one the school’s best with a record of 12-6. The team is led by Head Coach Thomas Newkirck and Captains Ivy Boockvar and Emilia Gomez, both seniors at Scarsdale High School. According to Senior player Katerina Rvacheva, "Everyone on the team is very close with one another, allowing us to be braver and stronger on the field, as trust in teammates allows everyone to exceed their potential. We always keep a positive attitude, not letting any mistakes get to our head and keeping a fresh perspective at every game."
On April 29th, the girls faced North Rockland High School at home where they put on an incredible performance. On both sides of the ball, they outplayed North Rockland with a final score of 28 to 0.
On the first drive, it was clear that this offense was able to move down the field with #10 Ivy Boockvar throwing deep passes to #12 Seka Silvjanovski. Additionally, the two connected for a short touchdown pass to put the Raiders up 7 to 0. The girls were able to quickly stop North Rockland’s first possession and capitalized with a punt return touchdown by #4 Lilly Tessler.
Throughout the first half, #19 Leah Brown was unstoppable on the defensive end where she pulled the flag of almost every running play North Rockland ran, which were the majority of their plays. Due to the strong stops of the defense, which included turnovers on downs, the offense was able to march down the field without any issues. Ivy showed her ability to improvise in the pocket where she would scramble and gain good yardage. Furthermore she connected to #11 Brady Silberfein for some passes on the fourth offensive drive which ended in them connected for a short touchdown pass. 
Ivy Boockvar in the pocket.
By far, the most electric play of the game was a flea flicker from Ivy to a receiver who threw a deep pass to Brady who caught it at the 2 yard line. As a result they drive ended with a touchdown pass to #5 Naomi Fischer, making the score 28 to 0.
The second half began and the defense continued to allow almost no first downs by great tackling from Leah Brown, #13 Drew Frank and #2 Gia Asen. The game was concluded halfway through the second half due to the rain and thunder we’d all see and hear later.
The team played a nearly flawless game where they controlled the pace on both sides of the ball. Girls Flag Football has a bright future ahead with now an overall record of 13-6.
Team huddle
National Merit Announces Six Local Scholarship Winners
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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On May 8, 2024 National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) announced this year’s National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners. The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program.
National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.
These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®); contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.
Here are the names of the winners from Scarsdale:
Henry Brinberg – Edgemont High School
Ronald Feng – Rye Country Day School
Evan D. Merzon – Edgemont High School
Natasha Rose Pereira – Scarsdale High School
Yejin Sung – Scarsdale High School
Nathaniel J. Yellin – The Leffell School
National Merit $2500 Scholarship Winners
NMSC finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees. Donations made to NMSC’s President’s Fund also provide funding for National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
2024 National Merit Scholarship Competition
This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2022 when high school juniors took the PSAT/NMSQT, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named Semifinalists on a state-representational basis. More than 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.
From the Semifinalist group, over 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2024 program, more than 6,870 Finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of nearly $26 million in college scholarships.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 320 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and encouraging academic excellence at all levels of education.
STA Asks the Board to Protect the Heart of Programs That Serve the Children of Scarsdale
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- Written by Joe Vaughn
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What is the Scarsdale Teacher’s Association’s view of the proposed school budget? In short, they support it. Here are comments made by STA President Joe Vaughn at a recent meeting of the Board of Education.
My name in Joe Vaughan and I am speaking on behalf of the Scarsdale Teachers Association as the President of the Association.
I would like to begin by applauding the Board on its transparent and thorough process in constructing this budget. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the potential outcomes of the process, for those that have been paying attention to the process, the steps, progressions, guiding philosophies and principles of this process have been clear from the start. Balancing the fiscal stewardship of the Scarsdale Schools with the educational stewardship of the Scarsdale Schools is no mean feat. The Board has the unenviable responsibility of balancing the interests of the taxpayers with the interests of our students and hopefully find alignment between these interests.
A school budget is as much a fiscal document as it is a statement about a community’s values. The community of Scarsdale has always been rightly known to value education. A YES vote for the school budget has always been seen as an investment in the future, a recognition in the centrality of supporting the students of the Scarsdale Schools as a shared community value.
Dr. Drew Patrick and his team have presented three budgets for consideration to this Board. We view the original budget presented by Dr. Patrick on February 5th as a forward-looking budget that seeks to advance the educational objective of the District. Based on feedback from the Board and community input, the budget presented by his team on March 4th pares back the ambition of the Central Office team and is more a status quo measure with targeted attempts to push the educational mission forward. This budget was their attempt to balance the educational needs of the District with what they heard from the members of the Board and some of the community as the potential fiscal difficulty of a budget above the misguided regressive, political construct that is the tax cap law. The budget presented on March 11th further pares this budget, and in the STA’s view it is clear that the March 11th proposal allows a budget to maintain the excellence of our schools but will have direct impact on the experience of our students. As one clear example of many in this budget was evident on slide 15 from Budget Study Session 3 that lists cut after cut that would need to occur in Arts Enrichment programs. Our schools have always prided ourselves in bringing the broader world into our schools and classrooms and to see this cut in arts funding made me not recognize our shared values in this proposal even as I understood the rationale fiscally for why this cut over other cuts.
During Budget Study Session 2, the Board of Education tasked Dr. Patrick and his team to look for those cuts and withdrawals. I think that this was a prudent thing to do, to rightfully know the consequences of making those additional changes. The STA would argue that those cuts and withdrawals go too far as these changes impact the opportunities of young people of Scarsdale. Also, during Budget Study Session 2, the Board tasked Dr. Patrick with showing what would be needed to get under the cap. Once again, this was prudent for the Board to want to know this information to make good, transparent decisions. Hopefully, this Board agrees though that the cuts listed as necessary to get under the cap in slides 31 – 34 of the Budget Study Session 3 presentation are not ones that best support the needs of children.
In response to this presentation, it was suggested that the budget proposal in Budget Study Session 3 did not cut enough because it didn’t yet ‘cut into the muscle.’ I would disagree and say that the cuts and withdrawals presented in the March 11 budget while supporting the core programming absolutely do begin to affect children negatively. But more importantly, I question the basic presumption of the argument that cutting into the muscle is a worthy goal of this process. If we think physically, our muscles allow the human body to propel itself forward, to laugh, to dance, to run, to see, to live a life that is filled with joy and meaning. Why would we want to cut into that which allows us to achieve our potential? The heart is also a muscle, and the heart must be protected just as the STA asks the Board of Education to protect the heart of the programs that serve the interests of children with excellence here in Scarsdale.
The STA supports the Superintendent’s original budget proposal on February 5th as best reflecting the values of the schools. We are not myopic though to fiscal pressures that we all presently face, so, if such a budget is not practically possible, we would join with our partners in the Scarsdale PTC in supporting the budget presented as a more modest step forward than originally presented, and we support the requests of our PTA partners asking for restoration of specific elements to the budget. The STA believes that supporting any other budget that is more restrictive will have negative consequences for students.
Thank you for your time and service to the community. Know that the STA values our partnership with the Board in meeting the needs of our students.
