Sports Standouts

Ryan Doherty ’23 has displayed similar commitment to athletics at SPS, earning a reputation as a team-first player who makes those around him better. During his SPS tenure, the hockey-lacrosse standout was the one his coaches could count on to play where his teams needed him most, including skating both as a forward and on defense in hockey.

“His athletic intelligence, understanding of time and space and overall skill set enabled Ryan to make the transition from offense to defense look seamless,” says Danny Murphy, head coach for the SPS boys varsity hockey team.

Those anecdotes only begin to tell the story of the athletic excellence Bell and Doherty have exhibited during their time at the School. Both athletes were honored at the year-end awards ceremony during Graduation Weekend; Bell with the Loomis Medal and Doherty with the Gordon Medal. The awards are the highest athletic honors bestowed each year by the School.

In earning the Loomis as a Fifth Former, Bell became one of a select number of girls in SPS history to receive the top athlete award as an underformer.

“I was shocked when they read my name,” Bell says. “I look up to all the girls who were ahead of me and they’re amazing athletes. I just feel so honored to be part of the history of the Loomis Medal and all those who came before me.”

Already committed to Yale to continue her education and play ice hockey beginning in the fall of 2024, the Barre, Vermont, native has excelled in her three (primary) sports. In field hockey, the lefty has used her ambidextrous ability to make herself a force with a right-handed stick, and in lacrosse Bell often draws the toughest defensive assignment: shutting down opponents’ top scoring threats.

But it’s on the ice where Bell is perhaps the most formidable. In the winter of 2023, she helped SPS win the Lakes Region and NEPSAC Large School Tournament championships. As a Fifth Former, she led the team in scoring (28 goals, 13 assists), was a Lakes Region and All-NEPSAC selection, and was named to the New Hampshire All-State team. She will captain the field hockey and ice hockey teams as a Sixth Former.

“Cami is a dream to coach,” says Heather Crutchfield, who coaches Bell in field hockey and lacrosse. “She loves her teammates, loves to work hard, thrives on a challenge and loves to win. She is full of grit and determination and is the ultimate sportsperson.”

As the Gordon Medal recipient, Doherty “epitomizes leadership, athleticism and sportsmanship,” Davies Cabot, the SPS boys lacrosse coach, says of his 2023 co-captain. In addition to setting single-season and career scoring records in lacrosse in only three seasons with the Big Red (and being limited by injury to only nine games as a Fifth Former), Doherty completed his SPS career without having a single penalty called on him. He was named a Lakes Region All-Star in both ice hockey and lacrosse as a Sixth Former and a New Hampshire All-State player in ice hockey. In addition, his 2023 season scoring totals of 48 goals and 37 assists — in 15 games — boosted Doherty’s career numbers to 105 goals and 55 assists, setting a new career standard for SPS boys lacrosse and helping him earn All-NEPSAC and USA Lacrosse All-American recognition.

Doherty will play Division I lacrosse for the University at Albany, where he plans to double major in business economics and finance with a minor in political science. Having grown up in Concord and developed his skills in the city’s youth athletic programs, Doherty got to know Cabot and SPS lacrosse assistant coach Scott Bohan ’94 through those sports clubs. It was his familiarity with their coaching styles, along with the rigorous academics, that brought him to SPS.

“I felt I had a team and coaches who really supported me, wanted me to be the best I could, and allowed me to try new things as an athlete,” says Doherty, who also credits his younger brother, Carter, with helping him develop his skills. “Without that, I don’t think I would be where I am in my lacrosse career.”