Boys Lacrosse

Coach Eric Bergofsky is a native of Baltimore, MD, where he attended both high school and then Johns Hopkins University. Coach Bergofsky played both football and lacrosse at Hopkins from 1969-1972 and was a member of the 1970 National Championship Lacrosse team as well as the 1972 NCAA runner-up team that lost in the finals to Virginia 13-12. He had the great opportunity to play for legendary Hall of Fame coach Mr. Robert ("Scotty") Scott for his entire Hopkins career.

After a brief post college career with Brine Lacrosse Club and the Maryland Lacrosse Club, Coach Bergofsky started his teaching and coaching career at The McDonogh School in Baltimore, MD in 1973. In 1977, Coach Bergofsky came to Phillips Exeter Academy as an Instructor in Mathematics and the assistant varsity lacrosse coach. He became the head coach the following year, and at the end of the 2009 season completed his 31st year as the head coach of Exeter lacrosse.

Coach Bergofsky is the longest serving head coach in the long and rich tradition of Exeter lacrosse that started in 1935. There have only been 8 different head coaches in Exeter history. Coach Bergofsky's career record for the 32 years as head coach at Exeter is 315 wins and 168 losses.  Coach Bergofsky has led Exeter to numerous league championships, coached 30 High School All-Americans,  12 College All Americans, has been named Eastern New England Coach of the Year several times, and has coached in both the New England East-West Senior All Star Game and the national North-South All Star Game. Twenty-four Exeter graduates were playing college lacrosse in 2010. Coach Bergofsky is an Instructor in Mathematics and is also the Director of the Exeter Summer Mathematics Institute.

Send email to Coach Eric Bergofsky.

Spring Outdoor Track & Field

"No one said it would be easy. They just said it would be worth it."

Amazing facilities, motivated athletes and coaches who are dedicated to continual growth are the anchors of Exeter's Track & Field program. Successful for decades, Exeter expects to be in the top three teams in New England every year. Dual boys and girls Champions in 2005 and Girls first in 2007 are the most recent team accomplishments. More than our fair share of New England Individual MVP's and Gold medalists fill our hallways with hardware. There is even a National title from 2000 from which to draw pride and respect.

Coach Hilary Coder lists other areas of pride to include the numbers of athletes (12% of the school) who participate in Track at Exeter. She is also proud of the statistic that athletes leave the program motivated to continue their progress at the next level. But, most importantly, is the fact that virtually every athlete continues to improve within the structure of the program. There is always another layer of knowledge to disseminate to find the path toward faster times and longer distances if the athlete is also willing to put in the time and work.

The coaching staff at Exeter is deep and experienced. Our throws coaches are among the best in the business. One staff member is an Olympian! Another was on a team that held a world relay mark. All of us have a deep love for the sport. Coach Coder holds a USA Track and Field Level II certification for all event groups. Only a handful of high school coaches in the country hold that level and breadth of certification. A multi-eventer at Penn State University and a New England Champion High Jumper is a clue that she has been a track enthusiast for decades.

Coach Coder is also the head coach of Winter Indoor Track & Field and Soccer at Exeter.

Send email to Coach Hilary Coder.

Baseball

When Bill Dennehy took over the boys' soccer program 28 years ago, Exeter went undefeated through its first 18 games over one and a half seasons.

"I thought we'd never lose," Dennehy recalled. He revised his thinking, but his teams still win more often than they lose. "I just like to see the kids be successful," he said. "And being successful doesn't mean they have to win every game."

Dennehy has also been successful as Exeter's head baseball coach and assistant boys' ice hockey coach. His baseball team won the 2003 Central New England Prep School Baseball League championship.

The Springfield College graduate is in his 32nd year at Exeter. Send email to Coach Bill Dennehy.

Girls Tennis

In 25 years of coaching tennis at Exeter, Coach Farnum has compiled an impressive 137-67 record, leading the Big Red to back-to-back New England Championships in 1995 and 1996. In the 1980's, when the league offered no New England tournament for girls' tennis teams, Farnum initiated and hosted the first five New England Girls' Invitational Prep School Tennis Championships.  In 1992, Coach Farnum was honored for establishing the New England Tournament for girls that stands to this day.

Coach Farnum, PTR Certified, earned her B.S. and M.Ed. from Springfield College. Farnum had a memorable athletic career at Springfield as a four-year varsity letter winner in tennis, swimming and one and three-meter diving while also achieving academic honors throughout her college career.

Coaching the Girls' Varsity Tennis Team at the University of Rochester before moving to Exeter, Farnum was elected to the Eastern AIAW Division III Tennis Seeding/Selection committee as well as the New York State Tennis Policies/Procedure committee.  She also served on tournament committees for the New York State AIAW Tennis Championships.  Coach Farnum is also the head coach of  Swimming & Diving. 

Send email to Coach Jean Chase Farnum.

 

Boys Tennis

Tony Greene, who has been at Exeter for 17 years, is in his fifth season as boys varsity 'A' coach. He coached the boys JV team in 1991-92. Before coming to Exeter, he had 18 years of tennis coaching experience.

Greene coached squash during his first 13 years here. For seven of those years, he was head coach of the boys team.

A mathematics teacher, Greene earned his bachelor's degree at Principia College, where he played varsity tennis. He also holds a master's degree from Bowdoin College.

Send email to Coach Tony Greene.

Golf

Bob "Beetle" Bailey started his PEA golf career in the spring of 2009.  He lives in Stratham, New Hampshire with his wife Anita, and recently retired from 30 years of teaching at Exeter High/Seacoast School of Technology in Exeter.

Coach Bailey has been the golf coach at the Exeter High School since 1995 and has had a very successful career with the Blue Hawks, where he still coaches during the fall season. His high school JV team won three state titles in a row and his varsity team finished in the top 5 in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Sportsmanship, Integrity and Competition is the team's motto. "Watching the players develop and compete in matches and in practice is just amazing," says Bailey. "They always want to do their best and as a coach isn't that all you can ask?" Players from all over the world make up the squad and their attitudes, abilities and love for the greatest game ever played is outstanding.

Send email to Coach Bob Bailey

Cycling

Don Mills started with the water polo program in 2002 as an assistant under legendary coach and program founder Roger Nekton.  Mills assumed the head job in 2005 of both the water polo and swimming  teams and his teams have gone on to win three New England titles and earn eight all-American honors.
Mills is a member of the physical education department since '02 and serves as the Director of the Ninth Grade Physical Education Program.  The Plymouth State University grad is also the head coach of the varsity cycling team which has earned seven New England titles.
Coach Mills heads Wentworth Hall where he resides with his wife Susan, daughter Audrey and son Charlie.    The three time all-American tri-athlete is a proponent of physical fitness for the entire Exeter community.  Mills' philosophy; "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". 

Send email to Coach Don Mills.

Girls Crew

Sally Morris has coached crew for nearly thirty years. Since she arrived at Exeter in 2006, the girls have had tremendous success under her guidance, with Exeter's first eight winning gold at the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) Championship Regatta every year but one, and the second eight taking gold for the last four and silver for the previous two years. Exeter's top two eights went undefeated in the 2011 season. The girls first eight has been moving towards top in the Youth Nationals, with finishes between fifth and second thus far. Her rowers nominated her to win USRowing's 1^st Annual Fan's Choice Award for Best Junior Coach 2011.

A native of Northborough, Massachusetts, Morris was a four year varsity letter-winner with the crew program at Trinity College in Connecticut where she graduated in 1985. As a teaching intern coming directly out of college, Morris joined the crew coaching staff at Brooks, in addition to coaching field hockey and basketball, where she would find her calling as a teacher and a coach for the next twenty years. Under her guidance, Brooks' four enjoyed exceptional success capturing four NEIRA Regatta Championships in 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2005 as well as two USRowing Youth National Championships in 2004 and 2005. Along the way, Morris has seen numerous rowers move on to successful college programs as well as to compete at the world class and Olympic levels. Department Chair and instructor in Classical Languages, Morris earned a Masters in Classics from Tufts University in 1990. In addition to co-leading the biannual Rome Study Tour for classics students, she is an active member of numerous classical societies.

Send email to Coach Sally Morris.

Girls Lacrosse

Girls varsity lax, led by Christina Doykos Breen and Shane Lapointe, is all about team. Win/loss records fluctuate, but the team ethics of determination, fitness, sportsmanship and skill-building remain paramount from year to year. Each season, between 5 and 10 players go on to play college lacrosse, where girls can continue to foster a love for the game that began at Exeter.

The program emphasizes speed, stick dexterity and disciplined strategy, making it fairly easy for new players to get on board and learn both our offense and defense. We study the development of the game at the college level and apply best practices to our approach to strength, conditioning, play-making, and team dynamics.

Christina Doykos Breen began working at Exeter in 2008, and was named head coach of the girls varsity team for the 2013 season. She has coached lacrosse since 1994, when she graduated as a four-year varsity athlete and record holder from Tufts. While at the St. Mark's School, she lead the program to two undefeated seasons and a top ten national ranking, and played key roles in All-American and All-New England select teams. She teaches English at Exeter, is dorm head, and lives with her husband and three lacrosse-playing sons.

Send email to Coach Breen

Softball

Nancy Thompson came to Exeter in 2006 as Director of Nursing at Lamont Health and Wellness Center.  She joined the Exeter Softball program in the Spring of 2007 as an assistant coach and became Co-head coach in Spring of 2008.

Thompson received her Bachelors degree from Boston College where she played both softball and field hockey, and did her graduate work at Simmons College.

Send email to Coach Thompson

Boys Crew

Albert Leger joined Phillips Exeter Academy's Science Department in 2006 and became Head Coach of the boys' varsity crew program in 2011 after five years serving as Assistant Coach.

As Assistant Coach responsible for the second boat, Leger guided the B2 to a second place at the NEIRA regatta championships in May 2011.  Leger was a member of the Harvard crew team from 1980-1984 and can still be seen rowing his single scull on the Squamscott River when not coaching.  Leger was also a nationally-ranked cross-country skier in his native Canada.

Leger is a member of the Science Department and teaches Chemistry and Earth Sciences.  He received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1984 and his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1991.  He has been teaching for 16 years and has coached ice hockey, cross country, track and crew. 

Send email to Coach Albert Leger

 

Girls Water Polo

Melissa Pacific took over the head coaching position in 2009-2010 after being assistant coach for three seasons.   The Big Red had a successful 2010 spring season going 9-4, losing only two games in the regular season.   Coach Pacific reflects on her first year as a head coach: "The 2009-2010 season was an absolute blast.  The girls had many laughs along the way and played each game as if it were their last.  Their determination and great attitude will forever leave a special mark on my first year as the head coach."  In addition Coach Pacific has also coached the JV Boys' Water Polo team for three seasons as well as being head coach for the Girls Varsity Hockey team since 2006.  

Send email to Coach Melissa Pacific.