Shutdown stops Edwards-Mizel from
putting cherry on top of NSCD career
By Bill McLean
You don’t get a varsity letter for scooping ice cream at Graeter’s in Winnetka.
But North Shore Country Day senior and three-sport standout Edith Edwards-Mizel put in an effort similar to the ones that produced 11 letters for the Raiders. During her junior year she made customers salivate with scoop-sized eyes; they didn’t just receive a run-of-the-mill sundae when Edwards-Mizel worked her shift.
Their treat sported a scrumptious smile — thanks to the way Edwards-Mizel arranged the sundae’s toppings.
“I had that down,” the Raider said of the dessert artwork she produced behind the counter.
But her senior soccer season this spring which produced her 11th career varsity letter?
Down for the count, sadly.
And officially.
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors conducted a video conference on April 21 and decided to cancel all IHSA spring state tournaments. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education had announced that all Illinois high schools will complete the 2019-20 school term from home via e-learning amid COVID-19 concerns.
The 5-foot-2 Edwards-Mizel will have to settle for having helped NSCD’s girls soccer program take runner-up honors at each of the last two Class A state tournaments. She also served and volleyed in doubles for the school’s Class A state championship girls tennis teams in 2017 and 2018 and played point guard for the Raiders’ varsity girls basketball squad the past two winters.
“I enjoy competing,” understated Edwards-Mizel, the reigning Independent School League Player of the Year in girls soccer and a two-time Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater, as well as an Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association all-sectional honoree in 2019.
“I love being active.”
She loves excelling in the classroom, too. The Illinois State Scholar with the 4.1 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) earned a spot on the IHSA’s 2019-20 All-State Academic Team.
“An academic rock star,” Raiders soccer coach Lizzy Giffen said of the daughter of Mike Edwards, a DePaul University philosophy professor who has been auditing Italian courses at the university for several years and occasionally speaks the language at the dinner table.
Edwards-Mizel, a quick forward with a strong shot, has been fluent in soccer. Last spring she paced NSCD in points (20 goals and 16 assists) and totaled 28 and 21 for the program’s first Final Four state team in ’18.
But she downplayed her impressive numbers, saying she had the luxury of playing with “two fabulous wings” (2019 graduates Emily Weil and Paige Forester) in each season.
“Edith,” Giffen said, “is incredibly humble.”
The Williams (Mass.) College-bound Edwards-Mizel intends to focus on academics on the East Coast, majoring in statistics because “answers are concrete, for the most part,” she noted. Edwards-Mizel might also major in a social science. Nobody would be surprised if the NSCD Community Service Club leader since 2018 finds the time for philanthropic pursuits at Williams.
Organized sports, at the next level?
None.
But tennis is a lifetime sport, so watch out for down-the-line return winners from Edwards-Mizel for the next decade — or five. The two-time tennis team captain played no. 1 singles for the Raiders last fall.
“My parents [her mother’s name is Melissa Mizel] have always emphasized academics,” said Edwards-Mizel, a NSCD student since the fifth grade. “They don’t pay attention to grades; they care more about what I’m learning.”
Melissa and Colby College sophomore Zeke Edwards-Mizel (one of Edith’s two older brothers; the other is Williams College graduate Will Edwards-Mizel, 28) have taught Edith how to cook since the onset of the pandemic.
Zeke played soccer and tennis at NSCD; Will ran cross country and raced for track and field teams at New Trier before hustling for the Williams cross country team.
Little sis praised the brothers for helping her develop a competitive streak at a young age.
“Very loving, very supportive,” Edwards-Mizel said of her sibs. “They both had quite the will to win. Both toughened me up.”
Zeke, by the way, paved Edith’s path to that gig at Graeter’s Ice Cream. He had scooped there for a year. He also must have made kid customers smile from ear to ear — moments before ice cream would adorn their faces, forehead to chin.
“A smidge of nepotism helped me,” Edwards-Mizel surmised. “Zeke went over the application process with me. I liked working there. I remember greeting the customers and watching them stare up at the list of flavors behind me. I didn’t mind waiting for their orders.
“I never rushed the customer.”
Edwards-Mizel and her patient teammates waited and waited for hopeful news from the IHSA this spring.
And waited some more, until April 21.
“Even though this wasn’t the way they wanted it to end, they are still leading our team in a new way, and I am very proud of them,” Giffen said.
putting cherry on top of NSCD career
By Bill McLean
You don’t get a varsity letter for scooping ice cream at Graeter’s in Winnetka.
But North Shore Country Day senior and three-sport standout Edith Edwards-Mizel put in an effort similar to the ones that produced 11 letters for the Raiders. During her junior year she made customers salivate with scoop-sized eyes; they didn’t just receive a run-of-the-mill sundae when Edwards-Mizel worked her shift.
Their treat sported a scrumptious smile — thanks to the way Edwards-Mizel arranged the sundae’s toppings.
“I had that down,” the Raider said of the dessert artwork she produced behind the counter.
But her senior soccer season this spring which produced her 11th career varsity letter?
Down for the count, sadly.
And officially.
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors conducted a video conference on April 21 and decided to cancel all IHSA spring state tournaments. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education had announced that all Illinois high schools will complete the 2019-20 school term from home via e-learning amid COVID-19 concerns.
The 5-foot-2 Edwards-Mizel will have to settle for having helped NSCD’s girls soccer program take runner-up honors at each of the last two Class A state tournaments. She also served and volleyed in doubles for the school’s Class A state championship girls tennis teams in 2017 and 2018 and played point guard for the Raiders’ varsity girls basketball squad the past two winters.
“I enjoy competing,” understated Edwards-Mizel, the reigning Independent School League Player of the Year in girls soccer and a two-time Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater, as well as an Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association all-sectional honoree in 2019.
“I love being active.”
She loves excelling in the classroom, too. The Illinois State Scholar with the 4.1 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) earned a spot on the IHSA’s 2019-20 All-State Academic Team.
“An academic rock star,” Raiders soccer coach Lizzy Giffen said of the daughter of Mike Edwards, a DePaul University philosophy professor who has been auditing Italian courses at the university for several years and occasionally speaks the language at the dinner table.
Edwards-Mizel, a quick forward with a strong shot, has been fluent in soccer. Last spring she paced NSCD in points (20 goals and 16 assists) and totaled 28 and 21 for the program’s first Final Four state team in ’18.
But she downplayed her impressive numbers, saying she had the luxury of playing with “two fabulous wings” (2019 graduates Emily Weil and Paige Forester) in each season.
“Edith,” Giffen said, “is incredibly humble.”
The Williams (Mass.) College-bound Edwards-Mizel intends to focus on academics on the East Coast, majoring in statistics because “answers are concrete, for the most part,” she noted. Edwards-Mizel might also major in a social science. Nobody would be surprised if the NSCD Community Service Club leader since 2018 finds the time for philanthropic pursuits at Williams.
Organized sports, at the next level?
None.
But tennis is a lifetime sport, so watch out for down-the-line return winners from Edwards-Mizel for the next decade — or five. The two-time tennis team captain played no. 1 singles for the Raiders last fall.
“My parents [her mother’s name is Melissa Mizel] have always emphasized academics,” said Edwards-Mizel, a NSCD student since the fifth grade. “They don’t pay attention to grades; they care more about what I’m learning.”
Melissa and Colby College sophomore Zeke Edwards-Mizel (one of Edith’s two older brothers; the other is Williams College graduate Will Edwards-Mizel, 28) have taught Edith how to cook since the onset of the pandemic.
Zeke played soccer and tennis at NSCD; Will ran cross country and raced for track and field teams at New Trier before hustling for the Williams cross country team.
Little sis praised the brothers for helping her develop a competitive streak at a young age.
“Very loving, very supportive,” Edwards-Mizel said of her sibs. “They both had quite the will to win. Both toughened me up.”
Zeke, by the way, paved Edith’s path to that gig at Graeter’s Ice Cream. He had scooped there for a year. He also must have made kid customers smile from ear to ear — moments before ice cream would adorn their faces, forehead to chin.
“A smidge of nepotism helped me,” Edwards-Mizel surmised. “Zeke went over the application process with me. I liked working there. I remember greeting the customers and watching them stare up at the list of flavors behind me. I didn’t mind waiting for their orders.
“I never rushed the customer.”
Edwards-Mizel and her patient teammates waited and waited for hopeful news from the IHSA this spring.
And waited some more, until April 21.
“Even though this wasn’t the way they wanted it to end, they are still leading our team in a new way, and I am very proud of them,” Giffen said.