Nairn Neilson, Reporter
Featured Image contributed by Jess Huetter
This fall, New Canaan High School hosted its first Media Day with CJ Media on Dunning field. Athletes gathered together to celebrate the start of the season and see faces they haven’t seen since the end of school. Teams consisted of girls swim and dive, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls soccer, football, girls volleyball, and boys golf. The Athletic Department now has photos that can be used to highlight varsity athletes and teams throughout the season.
Media Day has become an increasingly popular event across schools locally and nationally. Jess Huetter, assistant to NCHS athletic director Jay Egan, believes that Media Day was a great experience for everyone involved. “It is a great way to start the season, do some team bonding and provide the school, teams and families with pictures to be used throughout the year,” Ms. Huetter said
According to Ms. Huetter, this year’s Media Day was successful. “I think that Media Day went extremely well,” she said, “We received the pictures back within 48 hours, and our teams are already using them in their game day posts. I was onsite for most of the day, and it was great to see the teams come together right after preseason and tryouts to start building their team chemistry.”
Image contributed by Jess Huetter
Lola Gonzalez is a senior at NCHS. She’s the captain of the girls cross country team, after four years running with them. At the FCIAC Cross Country Championships 2025, she earned a 5th place finish in the JV division in the 5K. Lola believes Media Day was a nice way to start her final season on the NCHS cross country team,“I think it helped remind me how much I enjoy being a part of my team and how fun the last three years have been. It motivated me to continue feeling that way and to put in the same effort through my final year,” Lola said.
Sophomore Sofia Lorenz is on the Girls Varsity Soccer team. Sofia has been playing for the Girls Varsity Soccer team since her freshman year. Her performance earned her a spot on the 2025-26 ECNL RL Girls All-Regional League – Northeast All-Conference Team. She has been a key component of their defensive backline while contributing offensively with assists in critical matchups, such as games against St. Joseph and Morgan High School. “It was a very spirit building opportunity because when we were there, everyone was having fun. A lot of time was allocated for each team to take pictures, so we could have photos with a lot of different players,” Sofia said
Looking ahead, Ms. Huetter hopes to turn Media Day into a recurring seasonal tradition, with winter and spring dates already in development. “We will work to tighten the schedule, but overall, we think it was a very successful day,” she said.
