Wave Over Rams in a Nail-Biter

The Darien girls stunned arch-rival New Canaan in Sunday's CIAC lacrosse finals, rallying from a  4-goal deficit, deep in the 3rd period, to win the State championship 5-4. New Canaan, defending state champs, were shut-out in the 4th quarter.  Coach Lindley called it an "ugly win" but was happy.  "We had graduated a ton of people," she said. 

Maybe, but this team managed to win both the FCIAC and now the CIAC finals. Darien was ranked No. 1 all season in CT public high schools and achieved national rankings in various polls anywhere from 3 to 12. 

This was Darien's 21 state championship, and over the last four years has met New Canaan in the finals - losing in 2022 and 2024 and winning in 2023 and now 2025. Darien finished this year with a 20-2 record.

State Games Recap

Girls Golf - New Canaan defended their state title, winning this year's Division I golf tourney at Timberlin CC. After an 18 hole tie with Trumbull, a 3-hole playoff gave the Rams a 9 stroke win. New Canaan has won 6 championships since 2017. Darien (7-2) was third.  Julia Paek from Cheshire HS won the State Open, played at Mohegan Lake CC with a 68.

Outdoor Track - State Class L boys track was won by Xavier. New Canaan finished 12th and Darien 16th. Girls LL tournament was won by Greenwich. The Wave were 16th. East Lyme won the Boys State Open with Darien finishing 64th. 

Baseball - South Windsor won the LL State Champs, beating Glastonbury 1-0. Darien (9=6) lost in the 2nd round.

Softball -  Cheshire HS beat the Ridgefield Tigers 2-0 to win the Class LL Softball title. Darien (12-3) lost in the quarterfinals.

Boys Volleyball - Maloney HS beat Conrad 3-2 to win Class LL Boys Volleyball. Darien (10-4) lost in the quarterfinals.

Wave Boys Drop LAX Finals to Staples

Darien lost to Staples in Saturday's LAX final, 7-6. For Staples, the FCIAC champs, it was their third championship in four years. For Darien it was a third straight loss in a CIAC Final game. Darien scored first,  but Staples had a 4-2 lead at half-time. In the 3rd quarter, the Wave scored three consecutive goals to go up 5-4 but Staples scored 3 and Darien added one to finish the quarter 7-6. And that's where it stood as neither time scored in the 4th.  Darien finishes up their season with a record of 13-8. 

Darien Boys Tennis CIAC Class L State Champs

Darien boys tennis team are state champs, defeating the Rams of New Canaan 4-3. The Wave team had shown a lot of potential this year. They were 12-3 in the regular season, a season that included playing Class LL Champs Greenwich twice (Darien lost twice).  Then Greenwich beat Darien in the FCIAC semi-finals. With Team Greenwich playing in Class LL, Darien had a good tournament. As a 3-seed, Darien beat No. 2 Farmington 7-0 in the semis, and then No. 1 ranked New Canaan in the finals 4-3. 

Good Grades for Darien Schools

Darien Public Schools has recently received top grades from a school-ranking outfit named Niche. Niche assembles data compiled from reviews, other public information and data from the Dept of Education. The company ranked the Darien district as the fourth-best in the state (and behind New Canaan, at No. 1).

Darien's 4,700 kids in all grades have a student-teacher ratio of only 11 to 1. Rankings in specific categories give Darien an A+ in most, including Food served. Two areas which need improvement are Administration at  B+ and the area of Diversity with a C-. 

Some folks remembering  Jordy Perry Kay (right) at her Memorial at the  Weed Beach Hut. 

Left - Josie and Lauren with Jordy's son Andrew

Eddy, Eric Joosten, Lauren Fair and Tom Tyler

Kathy Micha Frate, Paul Hendrickson, Jeff Frate

Paul Hepp 1950-2024

Classmate Paul Frederick Hepp passed away on Saturday, June 22, 2024. 

See full obiturary in the Memorials Sections. 

Love to Hear From You!

Please, leave your remarks in the 'Comment' Section

Classmate Gary Swartz (far right) and wife Sally send greetings from Oman. The couple have their daughter's family staying there for the US State Department. The UN considers Oman the most improved country in terms of development in the last 40 years and is the oldest independent Arab state.

Do A 55th Reunion?

Lots of classmates are talking about holding a 55th reunion of the DHS Class of 1969. Probably something on the lighter-side, a casual Friday get-together and then a restaurant dinner Saturday night.

If this sounds good, you can contact classmate Jeff Myers, someone brave enough to put his name out-there.

Jeff can be reached at myerspercussion@gmail.com . Could be fun!

On 7 acres within the heart of Darien, Baywater Properties is re-imagining downtown Darien — at The Corbin District — resetting the landscape of shopping, dining, lifestyle and entertainment. Baywater began this exciting transformation in 2019 with extreme attention to detail and a sharp focus on creating one of the most enjoyable and walkable downtown environments in the region

Tim and Jamila Potts
 

Mark Paddock, Dennis Sullivan, Sue Venardi Mahoney, Janet Martin Fisher, Martyn Goossen, Kathy DelleFontane Goossen, Steve Craig

 

Rick Weber, Chris Weber, Eric Joosten, Paul Hendrickson

Choir

Vandy Van Wagener and Family

Anne Marie McGarry

Greetings Anahid!

Steve and Patti Craig squishing apples from their apple trees. One year they report harvesting over 20 bushels of apples. (Note: 1 bushel = 48 pounds). The Craigbo Cider Co. made 16 gallons of unadulterated apple cider, while also donating apples to a local farmer and food pantry.
 

 Terry Cummings, Tim Maul, Cliff Powell

 Shot of trip out west during summer of '69 when we hitchhiked to California. Mark Tinker's dad bought us the car to roam around California and back to CT. Thought I lost this. Great memories from that trip. Those were the days!  -George Wehmann