Alumni Honored by Yale Club of Hartford

Two Westminster alumni, Torrey Leroy ’09 and Kirby Zdrill ’09, were named recipients of the C. Gilbert Shepard Award given by the Yale Club and Scholarship Foundation of Hartford at its annual meeting May 10, at the Hartford Golf Club. The award is presented to the outstanding Yale freshmen from the club’s area who excel in scholarship and especially excel in athletics in their first year at Yale. Westminster is the first school to have a clean sweep of Shepard Awards.

Kirby, a member of Yale’s varsity lacrosse team, is only the second lacrosse player and the first Canadian to receive the award. At Westminster, he was a three-year letter winner for lacrosse and team captain his Sixth Form year. In only 14 games, he scored 40 goals with 14 assists. He was not only named first-team All-League, but also was an Academic All-American. He received the Squibb Bowl for his hard work and inspiring performance.

Kirby continued his success at Yale, playing on Yale’s varsity lacrosse team, which is a nationally ranked Division I team. As a freshman, he not only made the team but also played in half the games. This year, he played all but a couple of games for a team that was again nationally ranked and lost in the Ivy Tournament to Cornell, the nation’s No. 2 ranked team.

“Half the shots Kirby took this year were goals, and the Yale Club of Hartford wishes Kirby the best in hitting all of his future goals,” said Thomas A. Kokoskha, in presenting the Shepard Award to Kirby.

Torrey also had an amazing athletic career while at Westminster. As a soccer player, she was a four-time All-League selection, was named to four All-State teams and was a three-time most valuable player. She also made major contributions to First Girls’ Soccer appearing in the New England Class A tournament two years in a row. The Boston Globe named her a Prep All-Star. She also captained a Connecticut Football Club that won two state cups, was a United States Soccer Club national finalist and was selected as a Super Y-League National Olympic Development Player. She played in the USL Super 20 league and is a five-year member of the Connecticut Olympic Development Program team.

Torrey carried her rising star to the Yale women’s soccer program. As a freshman defender, she played 13 games, making significant contributions. This year, playing against such teams as Duke, Syracuse, Penn State and Illinois, she started in all but one of the 17 games in the season, anchoring a defense that had four shutouts.