Athletics
Athletics and Physical Education
Coach Robin Adair accepts the Championship trophy.

Hillers return to the top

Losing three field hockey games in one season isn't that bad. It just doesn't happen too often at Tower Hill School. In going 14-3-1 in 2004, the Hillers completed their first season with that many losses since 1990, when Tower Hill still won the state title. Entering 2005, there were even questions about Tower Hill winning its conference. The race for the state title was considered to be wide open, and seven teams entered the state tournament with no more than two losses.
PRINTED WITH PERMISSON OF THE NEWS-JOURNAL

By BUDDY HURLOCKT, The News Journal 11/20/2005

NEWARK -- Losing three field hockey games in one season isn't that bad. It just doesn't happen too often at Tower Hill School. In going 14-3-1 in 2004, the Hillers completed their first season with that many losses since 1990, when Tower Hill still won the state title. Entering 2005, there were even questions about Tower Hill winning its conference. The race for the state title was considered to be wide open, and seven teams entered the state tournament with no more than two losses. Advertisement This wasn't supposed to be one of those years when the trophy was to be handed over to Tower Hill.

But after a 2-1 win Saturday afternoon over St. Mark's in the championship of the Delaware High School Field Hockey Tournament, the trophy left Rullo Stadium firmly in the Hillers' grasp. "I am so surprised," Tower Hill senior defender Chandler Clay said. "I never would have guessed that we would have made it this far. "I always hoped that we would, but we actually thought that this was going to be more of a building season. But our team just has this chemistry that allowed us to get as far as we did." Clay was one cog in the defensive unit that played a large part in Tower Hill's championship. The Hillers' other starters on defense were senior Lizzie Lewis, sophomore Anna Teruya and senior goalkeeper Stefanie Rutkowski. "All year long, the defense has come up strong," coach Robin Adair said of a unit that allowed five goals all year. "It was comforting to have them back there."

Adair, who improved to 212-13-11 (.922) with seven state titles in 12 seasons, said that heading into any season, she determines a team's strengths and takes things from there. "Coming into a season, you just need to see what you have and then try and get them positionally correct so that they'll work well together," Adair said. "You never really know how good they're going to be by the end. This group just jelled together so beautifully. They get along on and off the field. They were just happy and fun, and they loved it." As for those three losses from a year ago, that's completely wiped away now. Tower Hill went 18-0-2 this year to add a 15th trophy to its collection. "When I started out this season," Lewis said, "I didn't know how it was going to end. But I just had faith in my teammates." Contact Buddy Hurlock at 324-2807 or bhurlock@delawareonline.com.
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