Go Big Red: Summer 2026

Onetime softball star Karen Prihoda ’15 returned to Lawrenceville this spring as the team’s head coach.

After captaining her Lawrenceville team to the 2015 Prep A state championship finals and later dominating the field at Wagner College, former Big Red softball star Karen Prihoda ’15 returned this spring to her old program as its head coach.

During her time at Lawrenceville, Prihoda made history as the first player to reach 100 hits, as well as the first to pitch a perfect game. She was also was a four-time All-Mid-Atlantic Prep League selection, a four-time All-New Jersey Prep selection, and twice earned the Coaches’ Award. In between softball seasons, the versatile Prihoda excelled in track and field, with an All-Prep recognition in the sprint events.

Prihoda’s skill and resilience continued to differentiate her as a key player for Wagner College, earning her multiple All-Northeastern Conference selections, two National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region accolades, and the title of 2018 New England College batting champion. She led her teams in runs and hits and graduated from Wagner second in program history in stolen bases.

Tracing the growth of the softball program from her Second Form season in 2012, Prihoda says the program grew by her Fifth Form year to become “a little family” that “you can’t find anywhere else.” Together, the close-knit team reached the finals of the New Jersey Prep A championship
in 2015.

Now as a head coach, Prihoda hopes to foster this same sense of community among the girls, both on and off the field. She explains that she looks to teach her athletes “where [they] fit in,” their role, and how they “can best help the people [they’re] working with.”

Gerise Kelly ’27 praises Prihoda for building team spirit, noting that her coach is eager to draw the team closer and is “doing a lot more team bonding,” ranging from disposable camera scavenger hunts to assigning “Secret Sisters,” who write letters to each other before every home game.

As head coach, Prihoda trains her players in essential softball skills, develops their mental fortitude, and builds a productive yet interconnected space for growth. Improvement, she insists, is a matter of “being gritty … down to the end.” Prihoda commends her players for their willingness to work quickly, and she credits several wins this past season to swift decision-making during high-pressure moments.

“Against Blair, we were down 5-1,” Prihoda recalled, “but just teaching that fight and grit, we ended up winning 6-5 on a walk from [co-captain] Sienna Kulynych ’26.”

Prihoda also applauded the team for encouraging each other in the dugout after hard plays. “We’ve seen it throughout our lineup, one through nine, and even on the bench, everyone supports each other,” she said.

Co-captain Bella Devine ’26 credits Prihoda’s prior involvement in Big Red’s program with the seamless changeover from longtime head coach John Schiel H’78 P’97 ’08 ’10.

“Because she knew his coaching methods,” Devine noted, “it allowed our team to have a smoother transition.” Moreover, catcher Phoebe Rayner ’27 explained that Prihoda “has the energy,” “understands the way the program has been run,” and “is exactly what our team needed.”

Returning to campus showed Prihoda that you can go home again. At Lawrenceville, she explained, you may “leave for 11 years, but you come [back], and it’s like you never skipped a beat.” Now, she looks to grow Big Red softball and facilitate a team environment where each player — batting superstar or junior varsity underdog — feels at home.

— Melina Kyriakopoulos ’27

Lacrosse means joy for Allegra Alexander ’27, but she doesn’t want anyone to think it comes easily.

Ask Allegra Alexander ’27 what it feels like to stay after practice and shoot on her own, and she doesn’t hesitate.

“There’s nothing better than hearing the sound of a ball ping the back of the net,” said Alexander, an offensive player for girls’ lacrosse. “I can just turn my mind off, let go, and do whatever feels right in the moment. It’s freeing.”

Alexander, who has verbally committed to play lacrosse at Brown University, is a very driven person. Beyond her achievements or awards, the way she talks about the game is a defining element. She’ll describe playing out on the field, and you’ll hear in her voice that there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.

Alexander fell in love with lacrosse immediately, not because it came easy to her, but because of the way it made her feel. The friendships, the team, and the sense of working toward something with other people was something she was drawn to.

“The friendships you make through sports — there’s a sisterly bond about it,” she said. “You know each other so well. It’s something really special that I feel like a lot of other things in life just can’t give you.”

Alexander often brings a speaker out to the field to play her favorite songs and shoots until she feels like stopping. Sometimes she’s joined by her teammates; other times, she’s on her own. Either way, she loves it.

Her love of the sport didn’t come without struggle. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Alexander stepped away from lacrosse for a bit, yet felt the absence enough that she asked her dad to put her back in the local rec league. She came to Lawrenceville as a Third Former who had real moments of self-doubt on the field. Hard games stuck with her longer than they might have. Balancing high-level athletics and academics was a challenge. She talked about all of it openly and
still does. That’s something varsity lacrosse coach Aly Dowey noticed early from her: Alexander never pretends that it’s easy, and never lets anyone think that success just happened to her.

“Sports doesn’t have to be a linear path,” Dowey said. “It doesn’t have to be all sunshine and rainbows. That’s kind of the whole point — you have hard moments, and you learn how to navigate them.”

Now, as someone who younger players look up to, Alexander carries that honesty intentionally. She knows what it’s like to watch an older player and feel like the gap is impossible to close. She doesn’t want that; she wants people to see the work. Even with everything her player has built — the commitment, the leadership, the hard-won confidence — Dowey keeps seeing joy.

“She’s so excited to be excited,” Dowey said. “She’s just a joyful person, and that’s really infectious.”

Alexander would probably agree. Even on her worst days, she said, the ability to bounce back is what makes the good moments so great. And for her, the good moments — a ball pinging the net, a close game won, a season shared with people she loves — are very, very good.

“Being surrounded by a team, having great wins, learning from losses together,” she said, “you don’t really get that anywhere else. It’s really amazing.”

— Christopher Pearman ’27

Boys’ crew captured the Brown Cup and the M.A.P.L. championship; girls’ crew also won the Brown Cup.

Boys’ tennis claimed the M.A.P.L. Championship, with Bryan Kim Short ’29, Darshan Chidambaram ’28, and Matthew Fu ’27 named All-M.A.P.L.

Girls’ lacrosse were champions of the M.A.P.L. and the Wooden Stick and Evie Hester ’26, Mira Trappe ’26, Ava Moses ’26, and Dani Caldwell ’27 earned All-M.A.P.L. honors. Caldwell, Maureen Healy ’27, and Avery Merse ’28 were named All-Prep A.

Michael Zampardi ’26 and Zach Shueh ’29 earned first-team All-Prep A for baseball.

In softball, Bella Devine ’26 was named First-Team All-N.J.I.S.A.A.

Boys’ lacrosse won the M.A.P.L. title, with Jake Burch ’27, Thomas Okupski ’27, Mac Rawson ’27, and Gavin Hamilton ’27 receiving First-Team All-M.A.P.L. nods.

Girls’ track and field won the M.A.P.L. and N.J.I.S.A.A. titles; boys’ track and field were champions of the M.A.P.L.

Boys’ golf claimed the Leibovitz Cup and the Crooked Stick. Aidan Li ’26 secured a spot on the All-M.A.P.L. team. Girls’ golf also won the Crooked Stick, with Ainsley Walters ’27 and Rebecca Chen ’27 named All-M.A.P.L.