Jim Cherry '91 is a theater historian and chair of the Department of Theater at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. He also serves as the college's Faculty Marshal. His wife, Crystal Benedicks, is a professor in the college's Department of English, and they have three children, all under the age of four: George, seen here rocking an LL Bean backpack on his first day of preschool, and twin daughters, Rebecca and Katherine.

Chip Filiault '83 has received the 2014 Commissioner's Award for Trade and Facilitation from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) for his work following the tracking, inspection and eventual destruction of a vehicle composed of stolen vehicle parts. The ongoing criminal investigation, known as "Operation Atlantic," has made a decided impact on the illegal importation of stolen vehicles inbound to the U.S from Great Britain. One of the biggest concerns with this type of crime is the concept of a "FrankenCar" – a car that is dressed up with a false VIN, looks great, but is composed of stolen vehicle parts. Chip's award is one of the highest awards CBP gives out and stated "It is your distinguished service and your dedication to our important mission that enable CBP to protect our Nation from acts of terrorism while also fostering economic security by facilitating lawful international trade and travel." Here's the YouTube story about Operation Atlantic that Chip put together:

Don Crawford '82 has been living in Dallas for eight years with his fiancé Sarah. He operates a broadcasting company with stations in Albany, Rochester, New York, Denver and Dallas.

Paul Heller '70W wrote, "Since graduating from Wilbraham, I've become a physician and have been an anesthesiologist for more than 30 years. I was on the faculty at Yale for a while then entered the private sector 11 years ago. Life has presented some challenges (it would be very boring if it didn't) but mostly has been pretty good – two great kids, two great dogs, interesting work and hobbies...no complaints. The photo is of me (middle) with my kids Jessica and Daniel in Hawaii. Some years ago when my son was playing little league, there was a familiar looking parent on the field. It turns out the parent was J.R. Stone, also a 1970 Wilbraham grad. Our kids were on the same team. What a random occurrence!In any case, if anyone is in the Connecticutarea feel free to call or email me at pjheller45@gmail.com."

David Brown '64M wrote, "The Connecticut legislature decided to give medals to Connecticut veterans who served during wartime. I was among 150 or so Veterans from our area who were given the medal at a ceremony at the Manchester, Conn., Army and Navy Club. These medals are given to anyone who lives now or lived in Connecticut at the time of enlistment, served during wartime, and was honorably discharged. My home of record was Palmer, Mass., but I was at the University of Connecticut when I was drafted and I have lived in Connecticutever since going back to UConn and since graduating again after serving. I actually have two honorable discharges, one as a Staff Sergeant when I graduated from Officer's Training School ending my enlisted service, and the other as a First Lieutenant when I finally relinquished my commission after several years in the inactive reserves following my service as an officer."

Richard Taylor '62W finally sold his home in Big Sur and can be found at his Texas Ranch when not traveling (www.bluemountainpeakranch.com). Richard writes that he keeps in touch with a few of his classmates and always visits the school when in he's in New England.

Roger Adams '58M shared, "This past June I completed my 40th year at Saint Andrew's as a fitness teacher, adviser and mentor of middle school students and a coach of cross country and track. I also coach distance runners with the Los Gatos Athletic Association and am honored to be able to work with so many Junior Olympians. Our club team runners have established some very lofty accomplishments including Youth Junior Olympic National Cross Country Champions 2015."

Joe Furgal '57M has retired as head of the Field Training & Special Events department of Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America. He's now a Real Estate Associate with Wheeler & Taylor Realty in Great Barrington, Mass.

It might be a little late, but the Wilbraham & Monson Academy Boys' Soccer team continued its late run for the tournament, beating Deerfield 2-1 Nov. 4 at home.

"The goal is to finish as strong as we can," WMA Coach Gary Cook said. "We've won five of our last six. Our opponents down the stretch are all good opponents. We need to play well. We want to keep getting better. We want to have our young guys develop, but at the same time have our seniors go out successfully. Three to go and we'll see what happens."

WMA (6-8-1) has games against Kingswood Oxford, The Gunnery and Avon Old Farms School remaining.

Against Deerfield, the Titans withstood a strong opening push by the visitor and felt fortunate to go into halftime scoreless. The second half, though, after some adjustments, turned in WMA's favor.

"On paper the teams were even – same opponents and same records. We weathered an early storm. Deerfield controlled play for most of the first half. They didn't finish their chances so it was 0-0 at halftime.

"The boys responded very well in the second half. We got a great goal from Jahkeem (Hunt '16) – Chris Kalil '17 sent him through and he beat the keeper nicely. And eight minutes later, Jahkeem assisted Jazario Brimmer '17. Deerfield answered and scored on a penalty kick, but give credit to the boys, they hung on."

After a brief hiatus, the return of Wilbraham & Monson Academy's "Rubicon" was a triumphant one as the 2015 publication earned a Gold Medal Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in late October.

The "Rubicon" received honors in all three categories (essentials, visual and verbal), and earned 991 points out of the 1,000-point scoring system.

"The staff, for their first time working on a literary magazine, put out a special magazine," said Heidi Ostendarp, who served as the publication's faculty advisor.

"Considering this is the first "Rubicon" in recent years, we're really pleased with the high quality of the publication we were able to put out. What a great starting place to be for "Rubicon" 2016. The students will just be building on the strengths of last year's issue."

And last year's issue had many strengths, ranging from the cover to the writing to the art to the editing.

"Your staff's exemplary skills included application of (Associated Press) rules, mastery of layout design, and publication of various art and literary selections," the Columbia Scholastic Press Association said in its summary.

The 76-page art magazine included 24 writing pieces and more than 30 images. The "Rubicon" staff included: Yutong Zou '15 (editor), Ye Lim Kim '18, Junwoo "Lucas" Kang '17, Jisang Kim '17 and Hays Maynard '18.

It took much longer than expected to get going, but once the Wilbraham & Monson Academy Football team found its rhythm, there was no stopping the Titans.

The Academy scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter en route to beating the Pomfret School 33-20 Oct. 31 in Connecticut.

"It was a tough, hard-fought game all the way through," Coach Jeff Vartabedian said. "Things never got comfortable. They have a strong run game and ate up a lot of clock and moved the ball pretty well at times.

"We made some adjustments and (quarterback) Jack (Faulstick '16) made some great adjustments in the second half in terms of targeting some different guys, and we got some big plays out of that."

Jack struck for five touchdown passes, including three in the fourth quarter to turn a 14-12 deficit into a 33-14 lead in the closing minutes. He completed 13 of 23 passes for 176 yards.

Steve Puzzo '16 (20 yards, 43), Jaelon Blandburg '16 (nine, six) and Tony Barbieri '17 (14) all caught touchdown passes. Steve made five catches for 76 yards, and Jaelon caught six passes for 60 yards. WMA also rushed for more than 100 yards, with Caelan Etti '17 leading the way with 38 yards on six carries.

While the offense sputtered for three quarters, the defense got the job done all game, holding Pomfret to just two touchdown drives before the hosts scored late against WMA's second string. In the fourth quarter, Dylan Dupont '16 forced a fumble and the defense got the ball back on downs to help turn the game in the Titans' favor.

Jaelon and Amir Zeisler '16 both recorded 11 tackles. Tony and Dylan were in on seven stops, and Nate Towle '18 had six.

The victory against Pomfret lifted WMA's record to 3-3, with games remaining against St. Thomas More and The Gunnery. The St. Thomas More contest will be played Nov. 7, starting at 6:30 p.m. under the portable lights at the WMA turf.

The Wilbraham & Monson Academy Field Hockey team rolled to a win on Senior Day, topping visiting Vermont Academy 4-0 Oct. 31 at the turf.

"The team played well on Saturday," Coach Liz Fontaine said. "They were implementing the skills we worked on in practice, and everyone played, including our middle schoolers and girls who have never played before. They're understanding the concepts."

Seniors Sydney Liptak '16 and Megan Wells '16 were honored after the game during a banquet in the Athletic Center.

"Everyone was conscious it was Senior Day," Coach Fontaine explained. "Our seniors were the focal point, for sure, but everyone was working together as a unit. It was not a showcase for the seniors. In order to win in field hockey you need everyone and our team showed that against Vermont Academy."

Syd Reilly '17 scored her first goal of the season 10 minutes into the game before WMA put the game away in the second half with two goals from Emma Kindblom '17 and another from Marissa Fabbo '17.

Even though the Wilbraham & Monson Academy Girls' Soccer team isn't as strong as it was a year ago, the 2015 team is equal to the 2014 New England runner-up when it comes to work ethic.

All those practices of working hard finally got a positive result as the Titans beat Class A Northfield Mount Hermon 4-0 on the road Oct. 21.

"Overall we played a very good team game, from our goaltending, defense, midfield to our forwards," Coach Don Nicholson '79 said. "A couple of our goals were on balls played through the Northfield defense to our feet – good combination plays. And, obviously, Katie Cronin '17 had a great game with three goals. She worked well with Annika Bruce '17.

"The girls worked hard. They've been working hard in practice. I always tell them if you can work really hard all the time, you will play great when the opportunity comes."

WMA snapped a five-game losing streak, climbing to 3-6 overall and 3-5 in New England play.

"I was proud of the team," Katie said. "We've been working hard. The last few games we've tried to turn the season around, and against Northfield we got it done."

The Titans' defense of Val MacEachern '17, Julia Sparago '17, Maria Baltazar '19 and Julia Pelletier '21 got it done all game, helping goalie Payton Grande '16 and the team post the shutout.

"Two juniors, a freshman and a seventh grader stymied a physically strong and tall Northfield team," Coach Nicholson explained. "Our girls didn't back down. We bent at times, but when they had opportunities we made sure they weren't quality opportunities. The defense was outstanding."

Katie scored twice in the first half, including once on a penalty kick after being taken down in the box, and once in the second half. Annika scored in the second half and assisted on two of Katie's scores.

Click here to read a story on Mick Rouette '14 being named to the All-Conference team for men's soccer at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Click here to read a story on Brielle Robinson '13 of the University of New England being selected to the Commonwealth Coast Conference All-Conference team for women's soccer.

The Wilbraham & Monson Academy Football team went out on top at home last week, and now the Titans are looking to go out on top for the season.

On Senior Night, WMA beat St. Thomas More 26-20 Nov. 7, putting the Titans in position to have a winning season headed into its finale Nov. 14 at The Gunnery. WMA is 4-3.

"We have guys who have been here four years, three, two, one," Coach Jeff Vartabedian explained. "There's nothing like winning that last game on the turf. The atmosphere of having the lights and a good crowd ... Now we have an opportunity to go 5-3 and have a winning season. That would be satisfying."

The start of the game wasn't satisfying for WMA, with St. Thomas more scoring on its first possession. But the Titans answered in a big way, with Steve Puzzo '16 scoring on a 27-yard interception and Jaelon Blandburg '16 scoring on a 20-yard pass from Jack Faulstick '16 after Eric Chou '16 forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. The Titans never trailed the rest of the game.

"It was a great way to wrap up our last home game of the year," Coach Vartabedian said. "The atmosphere was great, as it always is under the lights. The kids were super excited. Although we had a slow start to the game, the guys responded, and in the blink of an eye we were up 12-7.

Craig Green made the most exciting play of the game, making an interception and returning it up the sideline 99 yards for a touchdown. WMA added a touchdown in the third quarter when Jaelon and Jack connected for another touchdown, this time from 15 yards.

As it has done all season, the Academy's linemen did yeoman's work against a much larger opponent.

"We were giving up a lot of size on the line," Coach Vartabedian said. "Our offensive and defensive linemen, they battled hard all game long. Size-wise, it was a mismatch. We've been the smaller team all year long, so we're used to it. But it was even more so on Saturday, but our kids didn't back down."

Caelan Etti '17 (58 yards) and Alex Claudio '17 (42) led WMA's ground game. Alex again played exceptionally on defense, with five tackles, a sack, five quarterback pressures and one tipped punt. Amir Zeisler '16 had another outstanding game at linebacker, with seven tackles, a fumble recovery and tipped punt. Tony Barbieri '17 was in on eight tackles, and Craig and James Halloran '16 both made six.

Three Wilbraham & Monson Academy students were among the best high school volleyball players in the region when the New England Prep School Girls' Volleyball Association held its All-Star Game Nov. 8 in Windsor, Conn.

Carly Venditti '16, Ally Faulstick '16 and Gabby Leary '17 were selected to compete on the West Division team with players from Hotchkiss School, Berkshire School, Choate Rosemary Hall, Miss Porter's School, Suffield Academy, Northfield Mount Hermon, Ethel Walker School, Kingswood Oxford School, MacDuffie School, Hopkins School and Forman School.

Here's what the players had to say regarding the all-star game:

Carly – "Playing at this high level ... it was amazing to see all these players from different prep schools around the region come together after such a long season. Being in that environment was a good time. Being in it for the first time, I'd say it was a big success for everyone and our own team."

Ally – "I was surprised to be chosen. I don't picture myself as a volleyball player, more as a softball player who is playing volleyball. But I was honored to represent the team and I was really happy to go out there and be with my teammates and represent WMA. I'm thankful for the opportunity."

Gabby – "It was a great opportunity to play in the all-star game. It was really fun to play with the high competition, and overall it was a good experience."

In one of the greatest days in the history of Wilbraham & Monson Academy Boys' Basketball, Wenyen Gabriel '16 made his college decision officially – he's a Wildcat.

With a large contingent in attendance, the honor roll student signed his National Letter of Intent to play basketball at the University of Kentucky for Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach John Calipari.

"It was like sealing the deal," said Wenyen, a 6-foot, 10-inch forward. "Even when I first committed, I knew it was what I wanted. But today, signing the papers was exciting. It's a happy day."

Wenyen's stock skyrocketed during the summer, earning him the #23 ranking in the ESPN polls for members of the Class of 2016. Nearly every major program in the country sought the native of South Sudan before he chose to wear Kentucky blue.

"Today was one of the most significant days in WMA basketball history," Coach Mike Mannix said. "To have a player like Wenyen go to a place like Kentucky and play for a Hall of Fame coach like Coach Cal, it's a great day, more so for Wenyen and his family. All his hard work all came together. The cherry on top is signing the letter of intent. I know Coach Calipari is really excited. It's an exciting and positive day for the program."

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Click here to view video.

The go-to guy for Wilbraham & Monson Academy's Baseball team is going to Merrimack College.

Steve Fleury '16 signed his National Letter of Intent to attend and play baseball at Merrimack, a Division II program that plays in the highly-competitive Northeast-10 Conference.

"I liked the environment and the coach there – he made me feel right at home," Steve said. "He said he'd give me the opportunity to play freshman year, which is rare for most Division II and Division I schools."

Steve has been a rare pitcher, not only for the WMA but also for the league, winning the Cleary Division Pitcher of the Year Award as a sophomore and junior.

"Steve has been our go-to guy the last two years as a pitcher," Coach Jim Irzyk said. "The fact that he won the pitcher of the year award two seasons in a row is outstanding, not only for him and our school, but I would venture to guess that would be some sort of record in the league. I'm sure his goal for this year is to make it a three-peat.

"On the mound, Steve is a competitor; he's tenacious. He wants the ball in big games. He comes through in the clutch. Last year he demonstrated that not only in wins as a starter, but also with two saves for us. He's a great fielder, too. And this year he'll get to play some infield, along with pitch, and I know he's looking forward to that."

Steve is a 6-feet, 1-inch right-hander who throws four pitches. He went 6-1 last year, with 57 strikeouts in 37.3 innings. He's considering majoring in accounting at Merrimack.

"My two seasons at WMA have been great," Steve said. "Our team has been successful. I've won pitcher of the year twice and we've been to playoffs twice – you can't ask for anything more than that. I couldn't ask for better teammates. It's been the best two years I could ask for."

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One of the greatest compliments an athlete can receive is praise from an opponent. Throughout his career, Jahkeem Hunt '16 has received plenty of compliments.

Jahkeem has been selected to compete in the Western New England Prep School Boys' Soccer Association All-Star Game Nov. 15 at Loomis Chaffee at 10 a.m.

"He's had some dramatic goals, including two game-winners this year," Coach Gary Cook said. "He's scored on three bicycle kicks in his career. I think I've gone decades without seeing one. He's a dangerous guy. Even games where Coach (Sean) McGrath '07 and I didn't think he was most effective, other coaches have said he's a handful. When teams played us this year, he was the guy they had to stop, so in that context he's had a great season and a great career. I wish he was finishing with a third-consecutive tournament trip, and I know he would trade all of his honors for it as well."

Going into the final regular season match of his four-year impressive career, Jahkeem has 11 goals and six assists in 17 contests. This is the first year he's been selected to the league all-star game. The 5-foot, 11-inch forward was picked to compete in the New England Junior All-Star Game in 2014.

"I'm very happy," Jahkeem said. "I feel it's an achievement because last year I didn't make the league all-star game. I feel like I'm progressing and accomplishing more this year. I'm very honored to do so."