Author: Milton Magazine

On a quintessential spring afternoon, the ultimate disc team warms up on Headmaster’s Field. White discs shoot back and forth as the players practice passing and wait for the return discs from their opponents. In the second year of an official intramural co-ed team, the majority of team members are new players. Coaches Martin McDermott and John Lee say Milton’s program is young compared with some of the more established school programs, but the students are having fun learning the game and improving with each practice and competition. Alexander Shih ’19 is the captain and one of two seasoned returning players. “I like playing ultimate Frisbee because the whole sport is based around good sportsmanship and honesty, something called the ‘spirit of the game.’ It is the only sport I know of that is self-refereed. This is a testament to the honest and friendly people who play the game.” Developed in the late 1960s, ultimate disc is similar to soccer in having the goal of moving the disc down the field in the air, and then into the end zone to score a point. The opponent can intercept or knock it down to stop the progression. The first team to reach 15 points wins. At practices, teams work on their offensive and defensive strategies; this is the area that Milton is focused on improving. Milton competes against a couple...

Capping a year filled with resounding successes—including three high placements in a national tournament—Milton’s robotics team traveled to the VEX Robotics World Championship in the spring. Tony Tao ’20, Christy Zheng ’19, Avery Miller ’20, Alexander Shih ’19, and Dima Zayaruzny ’21 competed in the world championship in Louisville, Kentucky, and finished the season in 32nd place (out of 20,000 that started the year). The hectic and collaborative atmosphere at VEX tournaments—entrants have to compete in intense matches and also scout their opponents and the teams they pair with—has been easier to navigate because Milton’s team members work so well together, says Christy. “I’m super proud of what Milton Robotics has accomplished over the last four years,” she says. “Every year, we’ve made significant improvement, but I never thought we would get the opportunity to compete at worlds. I can’t wait to see how big the robotics program will become in the future.” Christy gives credit for the team’s success this year to hard work, a renovated and expanded work space that was completed last summer, and the guidance of faculty members Chris Hales and Khizar Hussain. “They’ve also sacrificed much of their free time for Robotics, because they genuinely believe in us,” she...

Mert Bayturk ’19 (center) won an astounding three heavyweight wrestling championships over three weekends last spring—the Northern New England Championship, the ISL Championships, and the New England Championship. After competing in the 220-pound weight class over the past few years, Mert found his groove this year by competing against other heavyweights (285-pound weight class). Mert started wrestling the summer before his freshman year at Yaşar Dogu Spor Salonu, a wrestling club in Ankara, Turkey, where he spends the summers with his family. He says what he loves about the sport is that it’s “like a chess game, involving strength and technique.” Before his junior year, he sought outside opportunities to wrestle, establishing a connection with the Dungeon Training Center, a well-known wrestling club in Hanover, Massachusetts. Mert says he focused on gaining weight by increasing what he ate and lifting weights to move up to the higher weight class. “My mentality about wrestling shifted,” he says. “I have a lot more willpower and desire to push myself. I’m really happy competing at this...