Nina Silver, a Greenwich High School senior, received exciting news when she was called into Athletic Director Peter Georgiou’s office, recently.

Georgiou informed Silver that she earned the Scholar-Athlete Award for having the highest GPA out of all varsity female student-athletes at Greenwich High School – she has a 5.03 GPA – and that she will be honored at the 2026 CAS-CIAC Scholar Athlete Banquet at the Aqua Turf Club in Plainville, Conn., tomorrow (May 3).

The CAS-CIAC Scholar Athlete Banquet Program annually recognizes two high school seniors from each member school in Connecticut whose academic and athletic careers have been exemplary, whose personal standards and achievements are a model to others, and who possess high levels of integrity, self-discipline and courage.

Silver is the female recipient of the award representing Greenwich High School and senior Noah Chass is the male recipient of the scholar-athlete award from Greenwich High. Both Silver and Chass are Greenwich High varsity track and field athletes.

“I am truly honored to receive this award,” Silver said. “When Mr. G (Georgiou) originally called me into his office, I thought I was in trouble, so receiving it was definitely a nice surprise! My teammate, Noah Chass, won the same award for men, so it’s pretty crazy that both recipients are from the track team.”

Soon, Silver will begin a new chapter in her academic career at Georgetown University, where she plans on majoring in Finance.

“I definitely love any math class I’ve taken,” she said. “I also have enjoyed Economics this year and it has made me really excited to take other business courses at Georgetown.”

Balancing schoolwork and high school athletics isn’t easy. Silver and her GHS track teammates have to focus on making time for their studies after spending time on the track for practice each day and competitive meets.

“We usually have two-hour practices for six days a week and then indoor meets can be up to 13 hours long,” Silver said. “As for outdoor, the meets are typically shorter, so it isn’t as much of a struggle to get work done. I really try to get as much work done as possible in between events (I usually have 3-4 events per meet). I also try to maximize my free time in school to get ahead of work.”

Silver credits Greenwich High School for helping her reach and realize her academic goals.

“GHS has helped me reach my potential by fostering a supportive and collaborative environment,” Silver noted. “My teachers are always willing to meet with me to go over concepts I’m struggling on, which I’ve found to be incredibly helpful, especially for AP level classes.”

Silver’s track accomplishments as a member of the Cardinals’ indoor and outdoor track teams, are many. She was a key contributor on the Cardinals’ varsity girls track team that captured the team championship at the CIAC Class LL Championships this past winter and competed on the school’s outdoor track and field team that won the Class LL title in the spring of 2025.

She has served as one of the captains of Greenwich’s indoor and outdoor track teams her junior and senior year and is a two-time All-New England Team athlete and two-time CIAC All-State track and field athlete. Silver’s sparkling track career at GHS has seen her earn All-FCIAC First Team honors several times as well.

The relay races are among Silver’s favorite events to test her running skills in and she’s competed on four Greenwich High relays that have set school records during her career. The Cardinals varsity girls track and field team is guided by head coach Peter Watson, who has helped Silver greatly in her running career.

“He spends hours crafting practice plans, spread sheets, and workouts to help better our team,” Silver said of Watson. “This past indoor season, he prepared me to run the 600-meter, believing it would be good prep for my outdoor 400-meter. It was definitely a hard adjustment to get used to since I’m a sprinter, but I’m really glad he made me try it. I ended up being in the top-10 in the state for the 600-meter and got third at LLs. The 600 definitely makes running the 400-meter more manageable.”

Christopher Wallace, the Cardinals’ varsity boys track and field head coach, was also an assistant girls coach during Silver’s freshman season on the team.

“Although he isn’t technically my coach, he (Wallace) has helped me improve tremendously,” Silver noted. “He runs an offseason training program in the summer and fall, which is great prep for indoor. More than that, he is incredibly supportive and always willing to help.”

Helping to lead the GHS girls track and field team for two seasons have been Silver, Eliana Daplyn and Theresa Knuth. Daplyn and Knuth are also senior captains on the Cardinals track team, which is off to a successful start to the outdoor season.

“Being captain alongside Ellie and Theresa for two years has been extremely rewarding and such a fun experience,” Silver said. “We have won outdoor FCIACs and LLs (in 2025) and indoor FCIACs and LLs, as well as second place at the State Open meet (in 2026).”

“Going into my last outdoor track season, I’m hoping we can carry on this momentum,” she continued. “Other than accolades, I feel like I made some of my closest friends through Greenwich track and couldn’t be more grateful for that.”

At the championship meets, such as the FCIAC and CIAC Class LL competition, Silver usually runs in the 4×100-meter relay, the 400-meter run and the 4×400-meter relay.

“I especially love the relays because we are all working toward one goal and it makes track more of a team sport,” she said. “On the 4×1 and 4×4, I’m always the lead leg, so I love being able to watch and cheer on my teammates still in the relay.”

While reflecting on her Greenwich High track career, Silver mentioned some of her most memorable Cardinal moments.

“Definitely getting the school record in the 4×2 relay and All New England honors for the 4×2 as well as the 4×4 this past indoor season,” Nina said. “I’m the only senior on the 4×2 and the rest of the girls are underclassmen – Ella Barber, Riley Barber and Chloe Culver. It was so special to achieve the fastest time in school history with such a young relay squad. I can’t wait to see what they all do once they’re seniors.”

“As for the 4×4-meter relay, we are all seniors – Gemma Hardwick, Maggie McCooe and Ellie Daplyn and it has been the same team of girls since last year,” Silver continued. “It’s been so incredible to see all the progress we made and to perform well when we needed it the most. We earned All-New England honors and then at New Balance Indoor Nationals, we broke the indoor 4×4 school record, which was the perfect way to end our season.”