Golf Wins Two More, Competes at Tourney
GHS boys golf defeated New Britain (147-254) and won a quad match verse Newington, Wethersfield, and Avon last week. Last Tuesday, the Guardians defeated the Golden Hurricane at Stanley Golf Course in New Britain on a cool breezy day. Senior co-captain Charlie Dolan led all scorers with a (-3) 33, using brilliant iron play to hit seven out of nine greens in regulation, which provided him with a flawless scorecard that listed six pars and three birdies. Sophomore Gavin Kvadus finished at (+1) 37 which, which was facilitated by incredibly hitting all nine greens in regulation. Senior Nick DiNino followed closely behind by hitting all seven fairways, posting a 38. Rounding out the scoring for the Guardians was senior co-captain Connor Goode with seven pars on his scorecard. Head coach Tom Zelek said, “The team is certainly performing at a high level no matter where we play and with only one more home match and our end of season tournaments coming up we are in top form.” On Wednesday, the Guardians came away with three wins on a day that featured excellent weather at Wethersfield Country Club. Glastonbury posted a total team score of 146, Newington 168, Avon 170 and Wethersfield 171. Goode led all scorers with a (-2) 33, hitting seven greens in regulation leading to an unblemished scorecard with seven pars and a pair of birdies. Dolan followed closely behind with a 36, including three birdies. Rounding out the scoring was sophomore Gavin Kvadus, posting a 38, and senior Nick Anderson with a 39. Zelek added, “The boys golf team continues to take advantage of the excellent weather and course conditions. Their fine play has led to our conference record totaling 9 wins and no losses and our overall record to 12 wins to no losses.” The following day, the team competed at the 52nd annual CHAPPA Invitational Two-Man tournament, held at Longshore Golf course in Westport. This tournament has been held since 1970 and is named after longtime Staples golf coach Mike Chappa. Goode and Dolan combined to shoot an impressive 66, earning them a tie for third place in the event out of the thirty teams competing. The event is “Best Ball” event Glastonbury has competed in since it’s inception until ten years ago when a new two man tournament was started closer to home and has been held at Blackledge golf course in Hebron. Glastonbury also brought another team consisting of DiNino and Kvadus, who finished at 73 to finish in 8th place. “The guys all did remarkably well considering they have never played this course and tied the team from Staples who use Longshore as it’s home course. It was an extremely long day as we started at 7:00 am and didn’t get back to Glastonbury until after 7:30 pm,” said Zelek, “I couldn’t be happier with the amount of commitment the boys showed as only two other teams from the CIAC made the trip to Westport. Many teams will not travel this far and spend all day as we did to compete in this tournament. It is very prestigious as most any Connecticut player who has played at the professional (PGA) level has participated in this tournament. The guys never once complained and their excellent scores after enduring such a trip show how dedicated they are to Glastonbury golf.” Boys XC Wins Tri-Meet Following the GHS cross country team’s stellar second-place performance at the Winding Trails Invitational on September 25th, the Guardians traveled back to the Winding Trails course on September 28th for their third tri-meet of the season against Northwest Catholic and Farmington. Running through wet and muddy conditions, Glastonbury came out on top against both schools: 15-50 against Northwest Catholic and 17-45 against Farmington. Leading from the front, Glastonbury’s first five runners overall placed first, second, third, fifth, and sixth. Junior Harrison Krause confidently led the Guardians, finishing in 17:44. Close behind him was Kevin Graziosi in 17:53 and Dominic Pena in 17:58. Rounding out Glastonbury’s scoring runners were Troy Giaccone (18:08) and Cameron Colletti (18:22), immediately followed by Cody Stone (18:22) in a photo finish. Jackson Stone (18:57), Ben Yalof (19:18), Evan Don Francisco (22:13), and Dylan Vincellette (22:35) had very notable performances as they all improved their times on the Winding Trails course from just three days prior. The Glastonbury boys are currently 3-3 this season and will look to improve their times at the Harry Geraghty Invitational on October 1st in South Windsor. The team’s final regular-season meet and senior night will be hosted on October 12th at JB Williams Park against Simsbury. Field Hockey Blanks Avon and Enfield GHS field hockey had a perfect week, shutting out Avon (4-0) and Monday and Enfield (6-0) on Friday. In the road win over Avon, senior captains Molly Harding and Christina Guanci each scored a pair of goals, while fellow senior Hannah David added two assists. Against Enfield, Harding added two more goals and Guanci, Allie Lips, Addison Infante, and Kaitlyn Welsh each found the back of the net. Goalie Kaitlyn Parent and the Guardians stout defense stymied both Avon and Enfield’s attack as GHS improved to 6-1-1-1 with the wins. Swim & Dive Continue to Roll The Glastonbury High School Girls’ Swimming and Diving Team defeated Manchester 89-79 in a home dual meet last Tuesday afternoon at GHS. The Guardians cruised to yet another victory by winning 9 of the 11 events and moved their season record to a perfect 5-0 and 18-1 all-time against the newly named Red Hawks. GHS was led by Belle Christensen and Riley Kudlac who each had 3 wins each. The double winners were Avery Kudlac, Annika Paluska, Norell Paluska and Riley Lord. The single winners were Vivian Nguyen, Lauren Lord, Rachel Davis, Evie Christensen and Emily Booth. Manchester got one win each from Carolyn Miner and Chayse Mercer (diving). The meet started with a 1-2 sweep in the 200 medley relay by GHS. The relay team of Belle Christensen, Riley Kudlac, Avery Kudlac and Vivian Nguyen easily placed 1st while the relay team of Lucy Boisoneau, Julianne Lui, Rachel Davis and Sophie Redfern placed 2nd. The Guardians were off to a perfect 12-2 start and the meet would never get any closer. The 200 freestyle was a 1-2-3 sweep by the Guardians. Annika Paluska was 1st, Evie Christensen was 2nd and Margo Zhang was 3rd. Annika qualified for the Class LL Meet with her excellent time. The 200 individual medley was another 1-2-3 sweep. Riley Kudlac was 1st, Heather Newandee was 2nd and Lucy Boisoneau was 3rd. Manchester got a win in the 50 freestyle as Carolyn Miner sprinted to victory. GHS would place 2-3-4. Emily Booth was 2nd, Madelynn Booth was 3rd and Sophie Redfern was 4th. The score entering the diving event was 47-13 in favor of GHS. Diving was the highlight of the meet for Manchester as they swept the event by going 1-2-3. Chayse Mercer got the victory, Mairyn Melesko was 2nd and Nicole Donovan was 3rd. Addison Fastiggi placed 4th and Julia Pistorius placed 5th for GHS to make the score 50-26 entering the 2nd half of the meet. GHS went back to work and swept the 100 butterfly by going 1-2-3. Belle Christensen was 1st, Lola Branson was 2nd and Hannah Kaufman was 3rd. Riley Kudlac qualified for the Class LL Meet in an exhibition heat of the 100 butterfly. The 100 freestyle was the same 1-2-3 sweep by GHS. Norell Paluska was 1st, Brooke Sowka was 2nd and Vivian Nguyen was 3rd. Norell qualified for the Class LL Meet with her impressive time. The long distance 500 freestyle would be the clinching event as GHS once again place 1-2-3 to sweep the event. Lauren Lord was 1st, Paeton Romero was 2nd and Elizabeth Evans was 3rd. The meet score was now 89-32 and the Red Hawks could no longer catch up. The Guardians would swim the last 4 events exhibition. The 200 freestyle sprint relay saw GHS touch 1-2. The relay team of Belle Christensen, Riley Lord, Norell Paluska and Annika Paluska touched 1st while the relay team of Julianne Lui, Sophie Redfern, Heather Newandee and Katie Papa touched 2nd. The 100 backstroke was probably the most exciting race of the afternoon as 3 swimmers battled it out. Avery Kudlac, Rachel Davis from Glastonbury and Carolyn Miner from Manchester gave the fans an incredible race. 1st to 3rd was separated by a little over a half a second. When the dust settled, it was Rachel Davis who got the victory over Avery Kudlac and Carolyn Miner was just behind in 3rd place. Rachel qualified for the Class LL Meet with her great time. The 100 breaststroke would see GHS touch 1-2-3 once again. Riley Lord was 1st, Julianne Lui was 2nd and Katie Papa was 3rd. The 400 freestyle relay was also a sweep with the Guardians touching 1-2. The relay team of Evie Christensen, Avery Kudlac, Riley Kudlac and Emily Booth touched 1st while the relay team of Brooke Sowka, Paeton Romero, Rachel Davis and Katie Papa touched 2nd. The finals score came to 89-79. The Guardians participated in the West Hartford Invitational last week and although there were no team scores kept, the swimmers turned in some impressive times. The most noteworthy performance for GHS came from Rachel Davis who improved on her 3rd fastest time in school history in the 100 breaststroke. The upcoming schedule has GHS taking on E.O. Smith/Tolland at the Mansfield Community Center Pool on Friday, October 15th at 3:45 PM. There is also another away meet against East Hartford at East Hartford High School on Tuesday, October 19th also at 3:45 PM. Contributed by Steve Hoyt.
0 Comments
Sammy Johnson- Wethersfield (Soccer): Johnson scored the game-winning goal as Wethersfield defeated Newington (3-2) in the battle of unbeatens. The senior, who scored on a header earlier in the game, booted in the deciding goal after splitting a pair of Newington defenders and drifting right before firing the shot to the left corner of the net with 19 minutes remaining in regulation.
“Once the ball came to my foot at the top of the box I had one objective and that was to score. I knew I wasn’t going to pass it backwards and give up the opportunity. When I turned and saw the defenders in front of me, I decided that I would try to take them on myself and trusted my footwork. I did some moves and opened up some space to get by them, and right when the ball left my foot on the shot, I knew it was going in,” recalled Johnson, “It was the best feeling to help bring my team to victory, especially in such an important game against our rivals and the undefeated Newington. With all the people there it was truly exhilarating, probably my favorite game I’ve ever played in. I’m just happy we got the result we wanted, and I look forward to continuing the undefeated streak going forward in the season.” Josh Gstell scored the other goal for the Eagles, who improved to 7-0-1. Teddy Williams- Cromwell/Portland (Football): Williams caught a touchdown, his third of the season, and returned a punt 62 yards for the game-deciding score as the Panthers downed Valley Regional/Old Lyme 21-6 last Saturday to improve to 3-0. The senior is also a stud linebacker for the team, averaging 10 tackles per game this fall. Michael Bohlke- Newington (Cross Country): Bohlke won the Wickham Park Invitational in the Boys Large Varsity Division at Wickham Park in Manchester on October 9, besting the second place finisher by 24 seconds. The senior ran the 5k-course in 15:54, an incredible pace of 5:08 per mile, and was the only competitor at the invite to break the 16-minute barrier. Brayden Bayek- Rocky Hill (Cross Country): Bayek had a great showing at the Wickham Park Invitational, running a 17:14 (5:35 pace) to finish 14th in the Boys Medium Division. The junior’s effort, along with Bryan Martinez (26th) and Matthew Rostkowski (48th), allowed the Terriers to finished 7th overall as a team at the invite. Erin Abrams- Newington (Swim & Dive): Abrams had a state qualifying time in the 100 breaststroke in a meet against Hall last Tuesday. The senior is helping lead a Nor’easters team that is prepping for the CCC tournament in early November. Newington's #4 Luca Corvino and #22 Hayden Fish combine to make a tackle. Photo credit- Mick Pigott
Newington football fell to Glastonbury 28-20 last Friday night at Alumni Field, suffering a loss for the first time this fall. The Nor’easters entered the contest undefeated at 4-0, averaging nearly 48 points per game, but lost the time of possession battled after getting outrushed 331-2. “I think they had a good game-plan coming in trying to keep the ball out of our offenses hands, and they were able to chew the clock,” Newington head coach Jason Pace said, “Our defense played better after the first two drives, but it just came down to collectively we didn’t execute when we had to.” Newington displayed flashes of the offensive fireworks that earned them the title of ‘The Greatest Show of Grass’. Junior quarterback Paddy Brown tossed three more touchdowns, upping his season total to 19. On the team’s first offensive play, Brown connected with Charles Judge-Blair on a bubble screen and the speedy receiver broke a pair of tackles before jetting 47-yards down the sidelines for a touchdown. Brown twice found Austyn Howe for scoring strikes, one on a 39-yard deep ball in the second quarter and the other on a 3-yard back-shoulder fade in the third quarter. Howe’s second score provided Newington a 20-14 cushion, but they were held scoreless the rest of the way. Glastonbury senior Matt Daniels had scoring runs of 41 and 89 yards in the final quarter, finishing with a game-high 167 yards on the ground. The win was the first of the year for the Guardians, who entered Newington 0-4. “This was a team that was very physical, but I liked the way that we responded. What we need to focus on is being more disciplined, we had a couple of costly penalties that we just can’t have going forward, especially against teams that are physical. When we’re up in the fourth quarter, we have to put that game away,” added Pace, who knew Glastonbury was better than their record indicated, “We watched the film and they were physical and in every game. They could have easily been 2-2 or 3-1 coming in and we knew it was going to be a battle.” Newington had a two chances to take the lead or tie in the fourth, yet came up empty on both attempts. Trailing 21-20, Brown connected with Josiah Ross on passes of 14 and 16 yards to get into the red zone, but the drive stalled, resulting in a turnover on downs as the 16-yard line. After Daniels scored his 89-yarder with less than a minute remaining to make it an 8-point game, Brown found Howe down the middle of the field for a 45-yard reception to the 16-yard line. However, Brown was sacked and his desperation fourth-down pass into the end zone fell incomplete to end the final scoring opportunity. The win was the first of the season for Glastonbury, who is coached by Eric Hennessy. Hennessy coached Newington football from 2013-2016. “Newington is a pretty amazing team offensively and they’re fast, so we don’t match up well with their speed but we understood that we could matchup with their size,” Hennessy said after the game, “We felt we could wear them out a little bit. That was our goal.” Newington (4-1) is on a bye week before next traveling to West Hartford to battle Conard (2-3) on Oct. 22 at 7:00 p.m. Pace said he’d like to see the team come out with a greater sense of urgency, “Starting with [Glastonbury] we knew we would have a really tough stretch against some really good football teams. We have to make sure we use the bye week to fix some of the things we did wrong tonight. We just have to play better going forward.” Newington's Shakir Smith looks for running room during a 28-20 loss to Glastonbury. Photo credit- Mick Pigott Prior to kickoff of the 2019 season opener against Haddam-Killingworth, Cromwell/Portland head coach Randell Bennett told backup quarterback, freshman Cole Brisson, to be prepared because he never knew when his number would be called. On the first drive of the game, starter Cam Latronica was injured, thrusting Brisson into the starting role.
It’s a role that Brisson has kept ever since, and the quarterback change started a rebuilding process in Cromwell as Bennett played several underclassmen during a 2-8 season. Two years and a pandemic later, the Panthers again faced rival H-K and made a statement to the rest of the football community by trouncing the Cougars 41-3 in front of a packed house at Pierson Park last Friday night. “We executed early,” Bennett said of his team’s fast start, “We get a couple of turnovers and then we started running some of the plays we had been working on. When [the players] saw that success, that fueled their hunger. After not playing for so long, they were hungry tonight.” Senior captain Owen Brunk added, “I like how aggressive we came out. Coach put together a great game plan. They knew what it would take to beat this team and we had three weeks of practices, so we came out and executed.” The Panthers overwhelmed the visiting Cougars in all three phases. H-K fumbled the opening kick-off, which was a pooch kick from Teddy Williams, who then forced and recovered the fumble. Brisson immediately went to work, connecting with Ryan Rozich on a 33-yard pass down to the four-yard line, before keeping it himself on quarterback draw to score on the next play. Ben Fagan then intercepted a pass on the Cougars first offensive possession. On the ensuing play following the turnover, Brisson lofted a perfect spiral down the middle of the field to a streaking Williams for a 56-yard touchdown strike. And just like that it was 14-0 less than three minutes into the game. “We made up some new plays in practice and we executed them. We knew the holes they had, and we just attacked them,” said Brisson, “We definitely had a lot of energy and there was a lot of hype around us, so we wanted to come out and make it a statement game.” The lefty engineered an offense that got production from a variety of sources, including starting running back Alex Hair, who scored twice on the ground, and speedy wide receiver Brandon Rose, who made a spectacular catch of a rainbow ball from Brisson in the third quarter for a 32-yard touchdown. Cromwell/Portland's defensive front-seven smothered the ground game of the Cougars, who finished with (-43) rushing yards in the game. Brunk, Williams, and Rozich led the defensive charge, proving to be one of the fiercest linebacker groups on the state. Brunk and Williams each intercepted passes to go along with double digit tackles. Williams said the three are playing in-synch, “It’s awesome. I know that if I make a mistake, those two have my back and they’ll make the play. It allows me to go 100% and fly around out there.” The three also did damage on the offensive side. Brunk scored on an 11-yard run, Williams led the team with 110 receiving yards, and Rozich totaled 92 scrimmage yards. During the 2019 rebuilding year, Brunk made All-State and Williams showed flashes of greatness. Rozich played well as a wide-eyed freshman, learning on the fly. “Playing as freshmen and sophomores, we were able to grow together and we were able to really gel together,” said Rozich, who is reaping the benefits from his varsity experience in 2019, “It has a huge impact, we were able to experience things for the first time. It was a big step from youth to playing varsity football and we have so much more experience this year.” The 38-point win improved the Panthers to 2-0. They opened the season with a 36-8 road victory over Morgan before having their week two game against North Branford postponed and rescheduled to a later date. Bennett was proud of how his team responded following the three-week delay, “We definitely liked the way we started against Morgan and we definitely started the game that same way tonight. When they have that energy, they run with it.” In the opening win over Morgan, the defense was stout from start to finish as the three linebackers combined for 40 tackles and sophomore defensive back Daevyon Lovelace make a triumphant high school debut by intercepting a pass and returning it 46 yards for a touchdown. Lovelace added five tackles and knocked down three passes. Brisson threw a touchdown and ran for two more. During last year’s COVID-restrictions, he worked on his agility and speed in the offseason, adding a new dimension to his game. “I knew this year we had a lot of returning players and I knew that there was a lot of promise for this season, so I wanted to put in a lot of work to make sure we could make this season the best that it could be,” said Brisson. Friday’s game started a streak of nine straight weeks of football for the Panthers. Next up is a Saturday showdown at (1-2) Valley Regional/Old Lyme on October 9 at Old Lyme High School before traveling for the make-up game against North Branford. Brunk believes the team has the tools and chemistry to play through the scheduling gauntlet, “My freshman and sophomore year I thought our team was close but compared to this team now, it’s different. In the offseason we worked out together and then we’d hang out together. We created a bond that makes it easier when we’re on the field.” Cromwell-Portland football captains (L-R) Teddy Williams, Ryan Rozich, Cole Brisson, and Owen Brunk Marshall Butler- Middletown (Soccer): Butler scored three goals as the Blue Dragons defeated Plainville 4-1 last Tuesday. The junior leads the team in goals through the first seven games, including a handful of multi-goal games as Middletown is 5-0-2 entering the week.
Maya Kozlowski- Newington (Volleyball): Kozlowski had a season-high seven aces as Newington swept Bulkeley (3-0) last Wednesday. She is part of a strong junior class for the Nor’easter, as fellow juniors Sophia Chrostowski (six kills) and Gabriela Caceres (five aces) carried the team to a straight-set victory over Wethersfield last Friday. Thomas Brodowicz- Wethersfield (Soccer): Brodowicz scored with less than a minute left as Wethersfield defeated Simsbury (1-0) in dramatic fashion last Thursday. The junior netted the game-winner with 37 second remaining in regulation as the Eagles improved to 6-0-1 this fall. Emily Palumbo- Rocky Hill (Swim & Dive): Palumbo finished first in the diving competition against Wethersfield last Friday. The sophomore scored a meet-high 169.7, finishing ahead of second place finisher Dayna Miller of Wethersfield. Brooke Arnold- Wethersfield (Swim & Dive): Arnold won both the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle as Wethersfield defeated Rocky Hill last Friday night. Alanna DePinto (200 IM), Jilian Pitchell (50 Free), Jaime Condon (100 Fly), Sabrina Schuster (100 Free), Anabella Cartiera (100 Back) finished with best times in their individual events for the Eagles. lastonbury High School cross country runner Joseph Accurso is proof that hard work pays off.
Accurso first started distance running his first year in high school to prepare him for outdoor track season. At the time he said he was one of the slowest freshmen on the team but over the past three years he’s transformed into one of the better runners in the area. This past Friday, the GHS senior ran the fastest time (16:18) to win the Harry Geraghty Invitational in South Winsor. Accurso first-place finish helped the Guardians win the overall event. Accurso has picked up where he left off last fall when he was named All-State following his junior campaign. “My progression was spurred by the exceptional work ethic of the upperclassmen at that time. A lot of emphasis was placed on goal setting during my freshman year. Each time I achieved a goal, it was replaced with a more ambitious one. At the beginning of each season, goal-setting made me ask myself where I wanted to be at the end of the season and how I was going to get there,” recalled Accurso, “The legendary alumni of Glastonbury’s running programs have also really inspired me. It’s an honor to be able to chase after the records of accomplished Glastonbury runners such as Donn Cabral, Randy Neish, and others.” GHS head coach Mark Alexander said he could see Accurso’s drive as a freshman, “Joseph worked very hard over the last four years. He put in the hours of training over the summers to get to where he is today.” He continued, “As a leader the team respects Joseph. He talks to the younger athletes and gives them pointers on how to improve. He always leads by example. The younger athletes see how hard he works and the success he has this season. They want to be like Joseph, and they work hard like him.” The school’s cross country programs are consistently competitive, and this fall the boy’s team is replacing several pieces after graduating a lot of depth. Accurso said, “The team this year is a solid group of guys who all want to consistently put in the work and improve. Our freshmen, in particular, have shown great promise because they are just as hungry to improve and contribute to the team as our upperclassmen. The goal for this rebuilding season is to act as a kickstart for our program’s promising next couple of years.” Accurso added that an important aspect is the team’s work with GHS strength and conditioning coach Zachary Bohling. “This allowed us to work on acceleration and strength to prepare for the hilly championship course at Wickham Park. Personally, in preparation for the season I emphasized increasing my summer mileage to 50-55 miles every week. Despite graduating a lot of our top runners last year, in terms of having the confidence to lead and represent the team during competitions, there wasn’t much of a change. Our goal for this season is to qualify for state opens as a team and then see how many guys we can get qualified for New England’s.” Accurso and his cross country teammates have the Wickham Park Invitational coming up this Saturday, October 9. The conference and state tournaments will take place later this month. Volleyball Sweeps Avon, Outlasts Bristol Eastern
GHS girls’ volleyball had a busy week, sweeping Avon (25-12, 27-25, 25-15) last Wednesday and then surviving a five-set match win Bristol Eastern (25-21, 25-17, 15-25, 26-28, 21-19) on Friday to improve to 5-4. Junior Evelyn Brenton led the way with 13 kills in each of the two wins, adding five aces and four blocks in the marathon match verse Bristol Eastern. Setter Sara Wild totaled 56 assists in the two games and Ana Andriyashko chipped in with 13 total kills and fives aces. Field Hockey Blanks Newington, Falls to Guilford GHS field hockey traveled o Newington and shutout the Nor’easters 7-0 last Tuesday. Senior captain Molly Harding netted three goals and Kaitlyn Welsh added two more. Alicia Choquette and Allyson Collette each scored as well. Goalie Kaitlyn Parent had a pair of saves, while the Guardians offense peppered Newington goalie Carley Rice with 19 shots. The team suffered their first regulation loss (4-0) at Guilford last Saturday, falling to 4-1-1-1 this season. Boys Golf Remains Undefeated GHS boys golf won two more matches last week, defeating Newington (151-191) and Wethersfield (153-206) Against Newington, the Guardians took advantage of great weather conditions to post another excellent team score at Indian Hill Country Club in Newington. Senior co-captain Connor Goode posted his first eagle of the season, posting a (-1) 35. Goode hit six greens in regulation and only needed 14 putts to earn the match medalist or co-medalist for the 6th time this season. Senior Nick DiNino followed with a 38, needing only 13 putts. Senior co-captain Charlie Dolan (hitting seven greens in regulation) and senior Nick Anderson rounded out the scoring, each shooting a 39. Head coach Tom Zelek said of the win, “The boys are able to take their fine scoring on the road to courses we don’t see very often, which will certainly help as we begin preparations for our end of the year tournament schedule.” Two days later, the team faced cloudy, cool conditions in the win over Wethersfield at Glastonbury Hills Country Club. Goode once again led the team and was the match medalist with an even-par 36. Goode continued his consistent play with seven pars and needed only 13 putts on the day. Dolan was close behind with a 37, needing only 12 putts. DiNino and Anderson were again solid as the team remain undefeated this fall with eight wins overall and seven within the conference. Zelek added, “Consistency, one of the hardest things to achieve in golf, has been one of our assets this year. As we enter the second half of our season we will hopefully continue doing what we have so far and work on other aspects of our game to continue being one of the top Division I teams in the state.” Swim & Dive Sinks Middletown GHS girls swimming and diving team defeated Middletown (95-81) at the dark and gloomy Baldwin-Parmalee Pool at Middletown High School last Tuesday afternoon. The Guardians won 11 of the 12 events to move to 4-0 on the season and 8-0 all-time against Middletown. GHS was led by Annika Paluska and Riley Lord, who each had three wins. The double winners were Riley Kudlac, Brooke Sowka and Norell Paluska. The single winners were Rachel Davis, Katie Papa, Lauren Lord, Emily Booth, Avery Kudlac, Evie Christensen, Heather Newandee and Paeton Romero. Layla Solberg (diving) was the lone winner for Middletown. Middletown High School currently has no restrictions on away team attendance, so the stands had many Glastonbury parents there to support the athletes. The meet started with a GHS 1-2 sweep in the 200 medley relay. The relay team of Riley Lord, Riley Kudlac, Brooke Sowka and Katie Papa easily won the event while the relay team of Julianne Lui, Avery Kudlac, Annika Paluska and Sofie Redfern placed 2nd. GHS was up 12-2 and the meet would never get any closer. The 200 freestyle and the 200 individual medley were both 1-2-3 sweeps by the Guardians. In the 200 freestyle, Norell Paluska was 1st, Vivian Nguyen was 2nd and Emily Booth was 3rd. In the 200 individual medley, Lauren Lord was 1st, Belle Christensen was 2nd and Elizabeth Evans was 3rd. The 50 freestyle was a 1-3-4 finish for Glastonbury. Riley Lord was 1st, Margo Zhang was 3rd and Paeton Romero was 4th. The score of the meet before diving was 49-13. Diving was once again a highlight even though Middletown’s Layla Solberg won the event with an impressive score of 210.25 points. The Guardians placed 2-3-5. Anna Hilary had a great day on the board as she placed 2nd, qualified for the Class LL Meet with her 197.70 point score and also produced the 8th highest score for 6-dives in school history. Lola DeFranco placed 3rd and also qualified for the Class LL Meet with her 164.70 point score. Hailey Zimmerman placed 5th to make the score 57-21 after diving. The 2nd half started with a 1-2-4 finish in the 100 butterfly. Annika Paluska was 1st, Madelynn Booth was 2nd and Sophie Redfern was 4th. The 100 freestyle was a 1-2-3 sweep by GHS. Norell Paluska was 1st, Lauren Lord was 2nd and Lola Branson was 3rd. The long distance 500 freestyle would be the clinching event of the meet as GHS again placed 1-2-3 to sweep. Riley Lord was 1st, Lucy Boisoneau was 2nd and Julianne Lui was 3rd. The score was now 95-31 and GHS would swim the last 4 events exhibition. The Guardians would touch 1-2 in the 200 freestyle sprint relay. The relay team of Riley Lord, Emily Booth, Brooke Sowka and Annika Paluska would touch 1st while the relay team of Julianne Lui, Madelynn Booth, Belle Christensen and Sophie Redfern would touch 2nd. The 100 backstroke and the 100 breaststroke would both be 1-2-4 finishes by GHS. In the 100 backstroke, Avery Kudlac was 1st, Rachel Davis was 2nd and Evie Christensen was 4th. Avery provided an unexpected highlight as she set a new Baldwin-Parmalee Pool Record for the 100 backstroke with her time of 1:01.88. The previous Baldwin-Parmalee Pool Record was set just 11 days ago on 9/17/21 by Farmington High School’s Jaee Raut with a time of 1:02.70. Avery also qualified for the Class LL Meet with that time. In the 100 breaststroke, Riley Kudlac was 1st, Brooke Sowka was 2nd and Sophie Redfern was 4th. Riley also qualified for the Class LL Meet with her time. The final 400 freestyle relay would see GHS touch 1-2 again. The relay team of Evie Christensen, Heather Newandee, Annika Paluska and Paeton Romero would touch 1st while the relay team of Vivian Nguyen, Belle Christensen, Claire Ferony and Hannah Kaufman touched 2nd. The final score came to 95-81. The upcoming schedule has an exciting new addition. There will be a dual meet scrimmage against the 2019 defending Class LL and State Open Champions from Cheshire High School on Thursday, October 7th at the Cheshire Community Pool starting at 7 PM. There is also a home dual meet against CCC rival South Windsor on Wednesday, October 13th at 3:45 PM. Contributed by Steve Hoyt. GHS senior Brooke Tracy has committed to play softball at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
“I am excited to announce my commitment to further my academic and athletic career at Bryant University,” Tracy stated after making her college commit on Sept 12, “Thank you to all my coaches, teammates, family and friends along the way. So excited for the next 4! Go Bulldogs!” Tracy is coming off a standout season as a junior, winning 15 of 19 starts on the mound, averaging nearly 10 strikeouts per outing. She also excelled from the plate, connecting on 24 hits, driving in 16 runs, and scoring 19 more. Bryant started recruiting Tracy while she was playing travel summer league softball for the CT Lightning Gold and she visited the campus before making her verbal commitment. “It was the best fit for me when it came down to athletics and academics. I had been on campus a few times and I really got a good feel for it,” said Tracy, “I like the size of the school, it’s not a very big school, and I think the size fits perfectly for me. Overall, the entire feel fit really well.” Tracy, who has lived in Glastonbury for most of her life outside of a couple of years in Puerto Rico, has played softball since grade school. “Softball is something that I can always use as an escape from reality in a way, because when I’m on the field I can forget about everything else that is going on. I can just focus on what I’m doing in that exact moment. That what has made me love it so much and the fact that I am always with my teammates and we’re always pushing each other to get better, while having fun.” She is currently playing Fall Ball for Rhode Island Thunder Gold. The year-round time of the diamond has prepared her for her upcoming senior season at GHS “We play every single weekend and the amount that I played I think will help,” said Tracy, “I worked really hard this summer and I’ve worked on all my skills. I’ve gotten more reps, my precision got better, I’m able to hit my spots more often, and spin the ball.” Along with Tracy, the Guardians return every starter from a season ago, including fellow 2021 all-conference players Rayah Snyder and Sadie Scurto. The team won 13 of 17 regular season games and a pair of tourney games before losing to the eventual Class LL state champion Southington Knights. “Last year was definitely a rebuilding season but the team played really well and the dynamic of the team clicked immediately and got stronger as the season went on,” added Tracy, “I’m super confident in this team. We proved ourselves last year with younger players and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish this year. A lot of us played summer ball, so all of us have been developing.” This spring she’ll take the hill for one final season in Glastonbury before joining the Bulldogs at Bryant. “The level of competition is definitely doing to increase, which I’m excited for,” stated Tracy “It will be nice to be on a team that can support me as I navigate through college.” |
AuthorSports Editor for the Rare Reminder, Glastonbury Citizen, and Rivereast News Bulletin Archives
April 2024
Categories |