Day Schools Ready to Kick Off Fall Sports
David R. Cohen is the former Associate Editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times. He is originally from Marietta, GA and studied Journalism at the University of Tennessee.
By David R. Cohen | david@atljewishtimes.com
Student athletes at Davis Academy, Atlanta Jewish Academy, the Weber School and the Epstein School are anticipating the opportunity to get out on the field, court and track for the 2015 fall season. Below are some highlights of what to watch for at some of Atlanta’s Jewish day schools.
Weber School
Rising Weber junior Becky Arbiv has captured top finishes in national and state track and field events all summer. On June 13, she finished first in the Southeast Regional Pole Vault Championships at Emory with a jump of 13 feet 1.5 inches (4 meters). On July 18, Arbiv made her highest leap to date at the Georgia Games at 13 feet 3.5 inches (4.08 meters). She heads to nationals July 29 to 31 as the No. 1 seed.
Becky’s sister, incoming Weber freshman Ariel Arbiv, has cleared 9 feet 2 inches in the pole vault and is also seeded in the top 10.
Varsity volleyball at Weber is gearing up for a big season as the defending 1-AAA region champions.
The cross country team is anticipating a strong fall season — Coach Kristan Moses expects another top four finish and a trip to the Georgia Independent School Association state meet. The team will be led by Zoe Bagel and Kyle Rabinowitz, who aim to finish in the top 15 in the state. The first meet will be Aug. 27 at Garrard Landing Park in Roswell.
Weber is fielding its first girls fast-pitch softball team this fall under Coach Scott Seagraves.
Davis Academy
The boys and girls tennis teams at Davis won the Metro Atlanta Athletic Conference championships last year and look to repeat in 2015-16. The 2015 Davis athletes of the year were Jake Rubin (soccer, basketball, track) and Abby Goldberg (cross country, basketball, soccer).
The boys track team hopes to build off last year’s second-place finish in the MAAC. Rubin won the pole vault with a jump of 10 feet 8 inches, the second-highest in conference history, which ranked him in the top 30 nationally for middle school boys. Teammate Sam Mahle placed second in the shotput with a throw of 33 feet 10 inches and took third place in the mile.
The girls team was led by Katy Sullivan, who won the high jump at 5 feet even and the 300-meter hurdles in 55.24 seconds. Sullivan also placed second in the 400 meters and joined Olivia Sidman, Hailey Rubin and Emma Tessler to finish third on the 4-by-400-meter relay team.
Epstein School
The fall sports season at Epstein starts Aug. 10 and continues through October. Competing in the MAAC, Epstein will field boys soccer A and B teams, a girls fast-pitch softball team, girls volleyball A and B team, boys and girls cross country teams, and, new this year, ultimate Frisbee.
Last fall the boys soccer team finished second in the MAAC to Ridgeview Charter School.
Atlanta Jewish Academy
AJA approaches the fall volleyball season having lost six seniors from last year’s Upper School squad, but the Lady Jaguars look to field a competitive team under the direction of Coach Lesley Thompson and returning athletes Abby Stein, Danielle Sokol and Brooke Ratner. The season starts Aug. 11 against Elite Scholars Academy.
The AJA Middle School volleyball team also has high hopes for the season. Coach Penny Eisenstein said the player turnout at tryouts has been so high that she is excited to see what the A and B squads can do. Under Eisenstein, the AJA Middle School volleyball team has an overall record of 264-51, and the A team finished second in its division last season.
The AJA Middle School soccer and basketball teams both look to repeat last year’s first-place division finishes.
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