Del Val athletes work hard every year to earn their varsity letter, and a special version is the gold “D”, which is awarded to athletes who participate on the varsity team all four years. Margaret Simpson has not only received one gold “D.” She earned three gold D’s, breaking multiple school records across volleyball, girls basketball and girls lacrosse along the way.
Simpson was also awarded Del Val’s Scholar Athlete on April 27 at the Skyland Conference luncheon, the “Del Val All Sports Boosters Club” and the “Hann-Townsend Award” during the senior awards night on June 2.
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Tye Falkenstein and Margaret Simpson stand at the Skyland Conference Lunch. (Photo via the Athletic Department)
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Brooklyn Liskowacki, Taylor Aycock, Norbert Hirst, Meadow Testa, Maddie Fisher and Margaret Simpson stand together to get a photo after being awarded the Del Val All Sport Boosters Club Awards.
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Margaret Simpson holding her Hann-Townsend Award and a recognition award for the three sports she plays.
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Maggie Simpson with club coach Ramona Walters and Del Val coach Stephanie Rifflard along with her mom Amy Simpson, sister Abbie Simpson and father Chris Simpson during senior commitment day on May 20th.
Simpson’s records are single season assists and career-assists records in volleyball, as well as draw controls, ground balls, and forced turnovers in lacrosse, along with 957 career rebounds. The current school records are now 419 single season assists and 1129 career-assists for volleyball, 395 draw controls, 285 ground balls and 129 forced turnovers for lacrosse.
“She’s an incredible athlete, she just has a very natural talent in whatever sport she’s working on,” volleyball head coach and math teacher Erin Green said. “But you can tell that even though she is a natural athlete, she still works hard at everything that she does.”
Despite her success, Simpson remains humble.
“A lot of it is due to my team,” Simpson said. “In the past years, we’ve had a really strong team who’s helped me accomplish these records. I couldn’t have done it without all my teammates and my coaches.”
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Margaret Simpson playing as a setter in volleyball during the 2026 season.
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Simpson playing offense on the 2026 basketball team.
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Simpson going to pass to the lacrosse ball during the 2026 season.
Simpson’s lacrosse coach Stephanie Rifflard understands the impact that Simpson has had on Del Val athletics.
“Reaching that level takes more than talent it takes relentless hard work, dedication, passion, grit and a genuine love for the game,” Rifflard said. “In Maggie’s case, she didn’t just break one record she rewrote the record book in numerous categories. That level of achievement is incredibly rare and speaks to the impact she has had on our program.”
Simpson not only plays on Del Val’s team, but she also plays on Triple Threat Elite, a travel team coached by Ramona Walters. She also helps with younger athletes’ camps.
“I really enjoyed watching all of them [Simpson and her friends] achieve more than they ever thought they could,” Del Val assistant volleyball coach and Simpson’s mom, Amy Simpson said. “As a coach, Maggie was the kid you could count on to steal the ball and get the points we needed to win the game.”
Simpson is committed to play lacrosse at Adelphi University and plans to major in nursing. She is excited for this new chapter of her life and hopes to be a coach so she can give back and impact future generations.
“Definitely just work hard and put training in the off season,” Simpson said. “Also be confident because that’s something I didn’t have a lot of in my younger years and the second I started to gain confidence, that’s when I really developed a lot as an athlete.”
