On Saturday, January 11, students traveled to St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, for a day of athletic competitions. Hotchkiss emerged victorious, winning five out of six games.

The idea for a winter day of competition similar to Taft Day in the fall came from Head of School Mr. Craig Bradley and Associate Head of School Dr. Amber Douglas.

“We wanted to foster a new rivalry with a school that is similar to us,” said Mr. Dempsey Quinn, director of athletics. St. Paul’s School was chosen because of its similar size and winter sports offerings.

Ella Johnson ’25, co-head of Blue and White, said “St. Paul’s Day is very similar to Taft Day. We are trying to expand our fun rivalries to reach out to more schools. We really hope St. Paul’s Day becomes annual. Hopefully we can do something similar even in the spring.”

Mr. Quinn agreed, saying, “I hope St. Paul’s Day will become an annual tradition that inspires more fun competition and school spirit throughout the winter athletic season.”

Still, the distance between the two schools has raised concerns. Ophelia Cham ’25 said, “The school must look for effective ways to motivate the student body to get on the bus ride—3.5 hours both ways is a long time.”

Due to an untimely outbreak of norovirus, fans were unable to travel to St. Paul’s to cheer on the teams. Val Castro ’27, a member of Girls Varsity Squash, said, “Playing against St. Paul’s was a great experience because we’ve never played them before, and I love new competition. I hope next year Hotchkiss fans are able to come and cheer us on.”