​The Connecticut High School Coaches Association (CHSCA) released their All-State boys’ basketball teams and three area players made the teams.  
 
Matt Turkington earned Class S first-team All-State honors after leading Cromwell to the cusp of a state finals berth. The 6’4 center was the heart and soul of the team. He was a force on the inside, with unlimited shooting range from the outside. He average 11 points and five rebounds per game this past season. The senior also added a block and a steal per contest.
 
Turkington’s teammate Jake Regula earned second-team honors. The sharp-shooting senior scored 14 points per game and scored in double-figures in each of the team’s final twelve games.  He scored a season-high 29 points in a win over Westbrook on February 24th.         
 
Wethersfield Ryan Peterson was selected to the Class L second-team following this sensational senior season. The 6’5” shooting guard was best known for his acrobatic layups and highlight reel dunks during his four years as an Eagles. He used his smooth jumper and long frame to post 15 points, seven rebound, and three assists per game as a senior.      

Chris Young with his mom, Angela

All good running backs have power, speed, and agility. The great ones are instinctual. From Jim Brown to Barry Sanders to Adrian Peterson, the historically special running backs have the one trait which separates them from the rest.
 
Chris Young has those same instincts.   
 
There was no better example of Young’s unique attribute then during the 2013 regular season finale when Rocky Hill was facing rival Northwest Catholic in their annual Thanksgiving Day duel.  The Terriers had struggled offensively and were clinging to a 14-6 lead with time dwindling down in the first half. Facings fourth and goal from the one-yard line, Rocky Hill ran a play which called for Young to take a pitch and sweep to the right. As the play unfolded, Young saw several Northwest defenders waiting to devour him if he followed the play’s design. He made a split-second decision to cut on a dime and found a narrow opening in the heart of the defense, allowing him to waltz into the end zone. The touchdown propelled Rocky Hill to victory, securing the school’s first ever home playoff game.
 
Young credited the season-defining touchdown to reading the defense prior to the snap and then letting his instincts take over once the play started.  Young used this sixth sense to amass 5392 rushing yards and score 82 touchdowns during his illustrious high school career. However, his high school feats are just beginning for the hometown hero. He now eyes the next step in his journey, which will take him up north where he will play for Springfield College this fall.
 
“I’m looking forward to the competition. I know that college football is going to be different than high school football,” said the confident senior, “I am looking forward to all the challenges and feel that Springfield made a good choice in recruiting me.”
 
When you watch Young play football it’s easy to see why Springfield recruited the naturally gifted tailback.  He’s not only blessed with the athletic ability that colleges covet, but he also possesses a football acumen that is second to none.  He eats, sleeps, and breaths football. But that wasn’t the way it always was. 
 
“Funny thing about football is that I started playing to give me an outlet. I started playing in elementary school as a way to stay out of trouble,” said Young, “I used football as a positive outlet and then fell in love with it.”
 
His love for football combined with Springfield’s storied history of athletics was a natural fit. Springfield is known as the birth place of basketball, thanks to James Naismith, who invented the game while working in the physical education department for the university in the late 1800’s. 
 
“The athletic vibe that I got from the school was one of the reasons I chose Springfield.  They are very athletically oriented,” he said, referring to his campus visit, “Their weight room and the athletic department are great. I feel that Springfield gives me the best chance to further my football career.”
 
Springfield may be known for basketball, but the football program has been equally successful. Veteran head coach Mike DeLong is the catalyst behind the team’s success, winning sixty percent of his games over 29 productive seasons. He enters his 30th season leading the Pride and now has the multi-faceted Young at his disposal. 
 
Young may have thrived as a running back at Rocky Hill, but he also excelled at a variety of other positions, including linebacker and cornerback. He also returned kicks as an underclassman, which will give him added value as a he enters the collegiate stage of his football career. He said that he looks forward to his new role at Springfield and that there is no substitute for working hard.
 
“Nothing has been given to me. Everything that I earned, I achieved through hard work and the help of my teammates, close friends, and family,” said the 2013 team captain, “In order to be a football player at any level, you have to be able to play through injuries and you have to be able to fight through a lot of adversity in order to be a great player.”
 
Young learned his work ethic from his mother, Angela Young, whom he says is his biggest influence. She is also his biggest fan, showing up at every Rocky Hill football game dressed in her trademark #29 apparel.
 
“She’s worked really hard and she made sure to teach me and my brothers that we have to work hard to get what we want. She taught us that nothing was going to be given to us,” said the family-oriented Young, “I have a lot of natural ability, but she told me that my ability will only take me so far and that I have to keep working.”
 
For her part, Angela says that she is very proud of her son’s football achievements, but it’s what he’s accomplished off the field that fills her with pride. She said that she is most proud that her son has been able to maintain high grades and continues to take honor classes even in his final semester at Rocky Hill. She will continue to be her son’s biggest fan and, no doubt, will be covered in Springfield attire this fall.
 
Young, his mom, and his close family have become renowned within the community, having their own cheering section during Friday night games the past four years. He is looking forward to his next challenge, but he will always treasure his time at Rocky Hill.
 
“I’m going to miss high school football. There is nothing like it,” said the soon-to-be graduate, “High school football is its own thing. You can’t compare it to anything else.”
 
His high school will miss him too. Young set numerous football records at Rocky Hill and set a high bar for any successors. This past fall, Young shattered his own records from the previous season; rushing for 1996 yards and 35 touchdowns, while helping carry the Terriers to the Class S semi-finals. He was so productive last season that he scored a touchdown every 5.6 carriers and averaged over 10 yards per carry; both are video game type statistics.
 
The multi-sport Young also excelled as a wrestler, finishing 3rd at the Class S Finals in the 182-pound weight division. Despite Young’s success on the mat, he will not continue to wrestle at Springfield, saying that it will be “football year round”--- choosing to keep the focus on the field and his new surroundings.
 
“I feel like I’m ready to branch out,” Young added, “I’m ready for college football and ready to explore what college life has to offer.”
 
Young will play one more game in Connecticut before jetting off to college. He was selected to play in the ‘Super-100′ game, which is the annual All-Star game for the state’s best high school seniors. He will be part of the Nutmeg Team, led by Sheehan coach John Ferrazzi. The star-studded game will be played at Rentschler Field in Hartford on June 28 at 4:30 p.m. This will be your last chance to see Rocky Hill’s record-breaking running back before he takes his talents and instincts to Springfield.   
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​It takes a special high school student to excel both academically and athletically. Erika Leonard has managed to achieve this, while remaining humble in the process.  The senior is entering her final softball season at Rocky Hill High School and, over the next couple of months, hopes to make a few more memories to add to an already memorable high school career. 
 
“Our team is looking really good. Last year we had a lot of freshman starters and now they have that year of experience.” Leonard said, “The team has really meshed and we play well together.  So far we are looking pretty strong.”  
 
The right-handed Leonard is one of only three seniors on Rocky Hill’s young roster, but she knows that chemistry is the most important attribute a team can have. Katie Slavin and Louisa Acca are the other senior softballers on the team’s roster. The three have shared great moments and success together.
 
“We all get along really, really well.  We have a great time, on and off the field.” Leonard said about her relationship with Slavin and Acca, “We also share a state championship and that’s a bond that we’ll keep forever.”
 
The Terriers’ trifecta of seniors are looking to help duplicate the feat of the 2012 Rocky Hill championship team, which used talent and team chemistry en route to blanking Granby Memorial to capture the Class M crown. Leonard describes this as the best moment of her time playing softball and she would want nothing more than to close out her senior campaign in similar fashion. 
 
“We don’t want to leave our senior seasons without another ring,” she said, “We are going for the state championship.” 
 
Leonard has earned All-Conference and All-Academic each of her three years and a second championship would be the cherry on the top of an already stellar high school career. The sensational shortstop, who is just as productive in the field as she is at the plate, came into her own during the team’s 2012 title run. She hit .494, drove in 19 runs, and jacked three homeruns. She followed up her spectacular sophomore season by improving her batting average (.519) and also added eight stolen bases, six doubles, and another homerun to her impressive resume. She was named to the All-State team as a junior and there is no telling what kind of gaudy statistics she could post this season. However, the confident senior says that she doesn’t need individual accolades to motivate her.      
 
“To me, it’s not about the recognition that you get from everybody else. It’s about the recognition that you get from yourself,” said Leonard, “I’m not someone who needs a lot of recognition. I know that my hard work will pay off and I’m just looking to improve every year.” 
 
Leonard’s years of hard work and her determination led to her being recruited by several colleges. She ultimately chose the University of Maine, where she will become the first softball player from Rocky Hill to play at a Division-I level.  
 
“I excited about all the new opportunities. I have always loved softball and I can’t believe that my dream of playing Division-I at such a great college is coming true,” she said, “Things have fallen into place for me. I am very blessed.”
 
At Maine, Leonard will be under the guidance of head coach Lynn Coutts, who is a former All-American softball player for the university. Coutts is currently in her third season coaching the Black Bears and is one of the reasons why Leonard chose to play in Maine.
 
“{The coaches} truly care about all of the players on the team,” Leonard said about choosing Maine over the other schools who were recruiting her, “Also, the whole environment was great. Everybody was so friendly and I know that it’s going to be a great experience for me.”
 
Leonard will soon be taking the next step in her softball career, but there are goals that she still wants to accomplish in high school first. She also acknowledged that she will miss a lot from the place that she calls home. 
 
“It’s going to be very hard for me.  I am very attached to my friend and family,” Leonard admitted, “I will really miss playing sports in high school as well. Playing softball in high school reminds me of why I started loving the sport in the first place.”
 
Before Leonard joins her new softball family in Maine, she has one season left in her hometown of Rocky Hill. She’s hoping that she can celebrate one last time with her local family and friend by helping bring another softball championship to the town were her love of softball began.  
 
  

​The Rocky Hill boy’s lacrosse team is entering their third season at the varsity level.  The team fell just short of making the Class S tournament last season, losing to Weston in the qualifying round. This year, the team looks to earn their first official tournament berth and improve on last season’s increase in production.
 
Head coach Dave DeNovellis, who has led the Terriers since the varsity program began, will have a young, but talented group on the field this season. DeNovellis will have the tough task of replacing last season’s most valuable player Brendon Quirion, who graduated. Quirion scored 35 goals, and dished out 24 assists during his senior season. He also led the team with 189 ground balls (a ground ball is registered when a player uses his crosse to pick up a loose ball from the ground).
 
The team does have last season’s leading goal-scorer Jared Anderson returning for his junior season. The 5’11 attacker scored 40 goals and added 12 assists in 2013. Sophomore defenseman Matthew Callahan and sophomore midfielder Patrick Sullivan will play significant roles as underclassman.    
 
The Terriers are off to a slow start this season, losing to crosstown rival Newington in their opener, and then dropping their next two games to South Windsor and Bacon Academy. The rough start could be attributed to a very competitive early schedule. Newington and South Windsor are both classified as Class L and Rocky Hill plays at the Class S level.  
 
Rocky Hill’s upcoming games will be a better indicator of the team’s progress from last season until now. This includes an early-bird special home game this Saturday against East Catholic, a fellow Class S school. The Terriers are looking to avenge last season’s 10-5 loss to the Eagles. Game time is 10 a.m. at Rocky Hill High School. 

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The Wethersfield Track & Field team is coming off a Class MM title last season and head coach Jeff Weber will have several athletes returning this season in their pursuit for back-to-back titles. Last season, the Eagles easily defeated the competition at the Class MM finals, despite not having a single athlete win an event. Several top-five finishes allowed the Eagles to finish 13 points clear of second-place Branford during last June’s event at Middletown High School. 
 
Weber, who has been coaching at Wethersfield since 1998 and is also an assistant coach for the Eagles’ indoor track team, will have the tough task of filling the voids left by a talented group of exiting seniors.  One of those seniors was sprinter O’Neil Drummond, who finished second in the 100-meter dash and was the key anchor of the 4x100 meter reply. Drummond will be tough to replace, but the team has a host of athletes that will be up for the task. 
 
The team is stacked with athletes who can run, jump, and throw with anybody in the state. Senior Conner Jones assumes the bulk of the sprinting responsibilities left by Drummond’s departure. Helping fill Drummond’s speedy shoes will be Elijah Young, who showed great wheels and promise as a freshman, finishing with the second-fastest time amongst freshmen during the 100-meter dash preliminaries last season.  Young also finished seventh in the triple jump, which was the best finish amongst freshmen.      
 
Senior Pierce Weatherspoon and his aerial abilities will lead the Wethersfield jump-team. As a junior, the high-flying Eagle finished just outside the qualifying points during the finals of the high jump. He is also coming off an impressive basketball season, where he would wow crowds with his leaping ability on the court. 
 
The throwing events are where Wethersfield should really excel.  Zac Livingston and Whitton Devaux finished second and third, respectively, in the javelin throw as juniors. John Tapia is the discus guru and is entering his junior season. Tapia finished second in the discus finals at the Indoor Track finals earlier this year. Senior strongman Giancarlo Serrao returns after a top-five finish in the shot put last season.
 
All told, it should be another competitive season for the Eagles. The team will open with the first two meets at home. They will take on 2013 Class L champ Windsor in the second of the two home dates. The showdown with Windsor will take place at Wethersfield High School on Tuesday, April 15th at 3:45 p.m.  

Newington setter Riley McManus

The year was 1990. George Herbert Walker Bush was leading the country, “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” by Michael Bolton topped the Billboard charts, and The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan to win the WWF Championship in a “Title for Title” winner-take-all match at WrestleMania VI.
 
Buried in these and the other early storylines during the turn of the decade was the fact that Newington High School had implemented a boys’ volleyball program.  Boys’ volleyball had always been overshadowed by girls’ version of the sport, but 23 successful seasons since their inception, the Newington boys have built a storied tradition that rivals any volleyball program in the state. 
 
The change in perception didn’t happen overnight. Boys’ volleyball in the state of Connecticut had trouble getting the recognition that it deserved for many years. All that changed in 2001 when the sport was sanctioned by the CIAC (Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference). This allowed Newington and others schools with boys’ volleyball programs to compete in conference and league play. 
 
Head coach Curt Burns has been on the forefront for most of the program’s development and success. The veteran coach has been leading the Newington boys since 2004, helping the Indians win six conference titles during his tenure. In 2012, Burns and his boys turned a conference title into a state title, defeating Oxford in the Class M finals. Burns has seen the sport and program grow throughout his time in Newington.  However, the coach knows that there are still challenges.
 
“The level of play has definitely come up over the years, but what’s interesting with volleyball is that we still don’t have any youth programs,” Burns, who is entering his eleventh season at Newington, said, “When boys get to high school they are a little intimidated and they are going to play the sports that they did as a youth.”
 
Burns said that he hopes to develop a youth program in order to help integrate volleyball into the sports landscape prior to high school.
 
“We don’t get a large number of kids from the freshman class,” Burns continued, “We’re getting kids that are trying out as juniors and seniors, but by then they’re missing those really important developmental years.”
 
Despite the challenges, Newington still gets about 20 to 30 athletes who try out for the team each season and Burns believes that volleyball has an advantage over other sports in terms of competition.
 
“Volleyball is different than a sport like football, where you need an incredibly high number of athletes,” Burns, who has also coached the Avon girls’ volleyball team since 1989, said, “If you have a good nucleus of strong volleyball players, you can go pretty far.”
 
Newington didn’t get a chance to defend their Class M crown the following the 2012 season. Boys’ volleyball is separated into two divisions, a medium class and large class. Last season, the team was moved up to Class L, but this season they will be back competing at the Class M level.
 
The 2013 squad was eliminated by conference foe Glastonbury in the quarterfinals of the Class L tournament.  Last season Newington was hindered by only having three seniors on the roster, but this season the Indians will be loaded with upperclassman, including 11 seniors. The team also has five starters returning from last season, with three of those players coming off All-Conference seasons and two earning All-State honors.
 
Junior Jordan Aprea and senior Riley McManus will be the team’s captains. As a sophomore, Aprea finished second on the team in kills, digs, and aces. McManus is the distributor--- the talented setter registered 600 of the team’s 710 assists last season. The two captains will be joined by middle blockers Jonathan Cloutier and Flavio Lici. The 6’4 Cloutier led the team with 50 total blocks and Lici added 26 more rejections in 2013.
 
With an experienced and talented lineup, there is plenty of reason for optimism for the upcoming season and their coach knows that the expectations are high.
 
“Our outlook is very positive and we’ve set lofty goals for ourselves,” Burns said, “We feel we are a strong contender to get back to the class M finals.”   
 
The team begins the season with three of their first five matches at home, including back-to-back home tilts against East Hartford (4/16) and Fermi (4/21). Both matches start at 5:00 and Burns welcomes all the support the team can get. 
 
“Volleyball is a great spectator sport, because you’re right on top on the action,” Burns said, “It’s really fan-friendly.”  
 
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