Blue Devil Athlete Spotlight: Christ Arielle Kouadio (Girls' Tennis)

Junior Christ Arielle Kouadio has been making a major impact on the girls' tennis team since the moment she arrived on campus.

 

"Arielle began her career as a Blue Devil with one of the most polished, all-around games I have seen since taking over the program in 2005,” LHS girls’ tennis coach Daryl Robichaud said.  

 

Robichaud said Arielle’s effectiveness derives from a number of factors.

 

"She has a great sense for the court,” Robichaud said.  “She is able to hit powerful groundstrokes from the baseline as well as work the net with equal confidence and success."

 

Robichaud also said Arielle’s role with the team has evolved into more of a leader this year.  

 

"Arielle has taken on a much greater role in teaching the younger, inexperienced players this year not only with the rules of the game but also taking a lead role in shot selection, placement and grip changes,” Robichaud explained.  

 

Arielle has been playing tennis since the age of ten after her father introduced her to the sport.  

 

“It is fun, and competitive plus you get to meet amazing people,” Arielle said of the sport of tennis.  

 

Arielle has really enjoyed being a part of the LHS girls’ tennis family.

 

“The team chemistry, the amazing friendships formed, and having such an amazing team to play with (are what I like the most about playing here at LHS),” Arielle said.  

 

Arielle also said she has learned a lot from coach Robichaud.

“Responsibility, and read the fine prints on everything,” Arielle said were the biggest takeaways from her coach.  

 

Arielle hopes to one day play college tennis.

 

In the meantime, Arielle is a member of STUMP here at LHS.  Her favorite class PE with Ms. Nicholson.  

Blue Devil Athlete Spotlight: Nick Garcia (Baseball)

Northwest and Samoset graduate Nick Garcia started playing baseball when he was four-years old, starting in tee-ball, where he first learned to love the game. 

“I love everything about baseball,” Nick said.  “I love the fielding, the hitting, and studying the little things of the sport.  My father introduced me to baseball, he loves it and passed down that love to me.”

Now a senior for coach Rich Barnaby’s Blue Devils, Barnaby calls Garcia the ultimate team player, a teammate who is selfless, hard working and positive.  

“He is the hardest worker at practice and the first one to reach out to the younger players to help them learn more about how the varsity baseball game is played,” Barnaby said.  “Nick Garcia is  the model student-athlete that all father's hope their son can be.”

Nick said he truly enjoys being a part of the LHS baseball program.    

“What I like best about being a part of a team at LHS is all my teammates,” Nick said.  “They are some of the best dudes baseball-wise and as people.”

Nick said he and his teammates have also learned a lot from Barnaby.

“Coach Barnaby has taught me and the rest of the team how to be relentless and compete in everything we do.”

Next year, Nick will look to bring those learned lessons south where he will be attending Barry University in Florida where he will join the baseball team which already features his older brother Danny.  Nick plans to study Business Administration at Barry.

Here at LHS, Nick said his favorite class has been math with his favorite teacher, Mr. Mooney.  

Outside of school, Nick enjoys playing video games and hanging out with his friends.  

  

Blue Devil Athlete Spotlight: Mason Brassard (Boys' Lacrosse)

Boys’ lacrosse standout Mason Brassard knows his current coach at LHS, Colin Davis, very well.  Mason got his start in lacrosse back when he was 10-years-old when he attended Davis’ youth summer lacrosse camp.  

Now in his senior season, Mason said being a part of the LHS lacrosse team is more than just about sports.

“The team is my favorite group of guys out here,” Mason said.  “The Leominster lacrosse team is more of a family than any team I’ve ever played for.  We all got each other’s backs and it really shows in our on-field chemistry.”

Davis said he has big expectations for Brassard from his attack position, pointing out a number of games a year ago when Brassard played a key role offensively.  

“He returns off of a strong junior season with 21 goals and 11 assists in 14 games last year helping lead us to a 9-5 record and a trip to the CMADA semifinals,” Davis said.  “He had a hat trick and an assist in a CMADA quaterfinal win against Tantasqua, and scored two with two assists in our loss to Shrewsbury in the MIAA tournament.  He also scored the game winner with 8 seconds left in a 7-6 comeback win over Lunenburg.  He dropped a career-high 6 goals with 2 assists in a 17-5 win over Marlboro.”

Mason said he has learned to refine his offensive game thanks in large part to coach Davis.

“I learned how to recognize good offensive opportunities and have gotten much better at my dodges and shooting,” Mason said.  

At LHS, Mason recently started helping with the theatre company, and his favorite teacher at LHS was a teacher who no longer works in Leominster, but works and coaches lacrosse at Nashoba Regional.

“My favorite class was freshman year bio with rival lacrosse coach Mr. Biggs,” Mason said. 

Outside of school, Mason likes to golf, play club soccer, disc golf, and snowboard.

Next year, Mason is planning on attending Wentworth and studying Biomedical Engineering.