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PHS Tennis Star Shatashvili, Hun Lacrosse's Kirnan Get Nod as Town Topics' Top Spring Performers
By Bill Alden
When Ilia Shatashvili won the second singles title at the 2001 Mercer County Tournament as a freshman, it was clear that he had enormous potential.
Shatashvili proved that his freshmen heroics were no fluke as he moved up to first singles and won the title at that flight as a sophomore and a junior.
This spring, Shatashvili entered the MCT as the marked man, with opponents aiming to upend him and fans at Mercer County Park openly rooting against him.
Showing that he has composure to go along with his crackling strokes, Shatashvili waltzed to the title, winning the championship match in straight sets as he easily dispatched Steinert's Jon Yu, 6-1, 6-2. The triumph made Shatashvili just one of five players to win four straight MCT individual titles since 1989 when the competition's current format was adopted.
In the view of PHS coach Stuart Woody, it is Shatashvili's imperturbable nature as much as his booming shots that make him such a force.
"He's so confident, he's so calm," said Woody, reflecting on his star who is headed to Columbia University where he plans to play on the tennis team. "He's got a very thick skin, he doesn't get rattled."
Shatashvili's unflappable manner and booming strokes led him to go undefeated in regular season and state tourney match play as he helped to lead PHS to a second place finish in the team standings at the MCT and the Group III Central Jersey sectional title.
He capped his career by finishing in the top eight in the NJSIAA singles competition after having finished eighth in a national event in Texas earlier in the spring.
Shatashvili's consistency and dominance earns him the nod as the Town Topics' top male performer of spring high school season.
Top Female Performer
Tarah Kirnan was not the flashiest player on the Hun School girls' lacrosse team nor did she pile up the gaudiest statistics.
But with the Raiders coming off a disappointing 2-10 record in 2003, Kirnan provided the tenacity which sparked a remarkable reversal of fortune for Hun.
Providing offense from the midfield and helping to spearhead the defense in the transition game, Kirnan was the heart and soul of a team that went 12-3 and made it to the semifinals of the state Prep A tournament.
In assessing her team's remarkable turnaround, Hun head coach Lauren Provenzano pointed to Kirnan's mindset as a key factor.
"Tarah is very aggressive," said Provenzano, in assessing the impact of Kirnan, who scored 63 points on 52 goals and 11 assists and passed the 100-goal mark in her career. "I'm going to miss her spirit and heart."
For being the linchpin of the local team that made the greatest strides this spring, Tarah Kirnan is the choice as the Town Topic's top female performer of the spring season.
Top Newcomers
The Princeton Day School tennis team underwent a second phase of an ongoing youth movement as its lineup this spring was dominated by sophomores and freshmen.
One of the Panthers' young guns, Bo Marshall, served notice early on that he was first among equals as he started to pile up win after win.
In early May, Marshall showed how far he had come as he advanced to the finals of the third singles flight at the Prep B tournament. Although Marshall ended up dropping a tough three-setter to Bobby Reiss of Rutgers Prep, PDS coach Rome Campbell believed his young star would benefit in the long run from the setback.
"Bo showed patience in the point, looking for openings, usually with his strong forehand," explained Campbell, reflecting on the Prep B tournament. "His first two matches were relatively easy; the final tested all of his skills. We look forward to him adding to his game in the future."
Marshall showed plenty of skills throughout the spring as he posted a final match record of 13-3. Marshall's precocious play makes him the choice as the Town Topics' top male newcomer of the spring season.
It didn't take long for Kelly Bruvik to show that she was going to be something special this spring for the Stuart Country Day School lacrosse team.
The slender freshman, who has seen significant playing time earlier in the school year for Stuart's field hockey and basketball teams scored 10 goals in the Tartans' first three games.
Displaying a combination of maturity and stick skills, Bruvik never let up as the season went on. In the view of Stuart head coach Sara Wagner, Bruvik's tenacity made her a force.
"Kelly goes hard all of the time," said Wagner. "She has an outstanding shot. It's very natural, very hard. She plays heads up and she gets in the right space."
Bruvik got in the right space often this spring as she scored 56 points on 39 goals and 17 assists to help lead Stuart to a 9-6 record and a spot in the state Prep B semifinals.
Bruvik's sudden impact earns her the nod as the Town Topics' top female newcomer of the spring season.
Top Coaches
With the Princeton High boys' golf team going with a line-up dominated by sophomores this spring and coming off an 11-7 record, many thought the squad was a year away from being a force.
PHS head coach Sheryl Severance, however, had a feeling that her squad's time had come. "I could see at the try-outs and at the beginning of the year that we were more consistent," said Severance, whose sophomore standouts included Greg Heisen, Kyle Rasavage, Casey Huckel, Jordan Gibbs, and Mike DiMeglio. "My number six player is as good as my number one."
The Little Tigers showed their mettle as they brought an undefeated record into the Mercer County Tournament in early May and left with the crown as they fought WW/P-N to a draw and then edged the Pirates in a sudden-death playoff.
Severance had to work on her players' mental approach to help the team win the title. "We talked about concentrating on each shot," explained Severance, who is in her 10th year at the helm of the PHS golf program. "I told them not to think about the previous shot, whether it was good or bad."
The Little Tigers utilized that live-in-the-moment approach to run the table in dual match play, ending up with a 17-0 record, the program's first undefeated campaign in recent memory.
Severance's cool-headed approach in guiding her young charges to the MCT crown and an undefeated campaign makes her the choice as the top coach among male teams this spring.
Hun School softball coach Kathy Quirk didn't come into the spring with the expectation that her club was going to be in the hunt for a state title.
Having lost several key seniors from a 2003 team that went 8-9, Quirk thought she may be facing a transition year. But with junior pitcher Emily Rosenthal showing early in the spring that she had blossomed into one of the best pitchers in the area, Quirk realized that that there was something special about her 2004 team.
That feeling was cemented by the team's work ethic and a balanced line-up that saw the Raiders get valuable contributions from catcher Christina Zimmerman, third baseman Kait Kirby, outfielder Jill Fonseca, first baseman Becky Radnor, and outfielder Sam Druker.
Hun saved its best for last as it rode the pitching of Rosenthal to edge longtime nemesis Lawrenceville in the state Prep A semifinals and then top Blair 4-2 in the championship game to take the state title for the first time since 2000.
Quirk is hoping this spring's magical ride is the beginning of something big. "I would never have expected this," said Quirk after the title game. "I'm thrilled. I've got a good group of kids with a lot of desire. We are young so I have a lot more years with this team."
For molding her group of young charges into a championship team, Quirk earns the nod as the top coach among female teams this spring.
