GHS sports new & notes

GHS Boys Basketball Splits at Tourney 

The Guardians played in the annual Art Kohs Tourney at Xavier High School last week, losing to Waterford, 54-43, on Dec. 27 before earning their first victory of the season by defeating Valley Regional 38-31 on Dec. 28. 
           
Despite having only eight players available because of COVID-19 protocols, the team played valiantly in both games and head coach James Vaughan said he was proud of how his team competed.  
In the win over Valley, Dan Cantafi led the way with 13 points and Owen Peterson added nine.  Jack Hennessy and Adam Molusis each had six, and Trey Tennyson chipped in four.
           
Following the conclusion of the tournament, Molusis was named to the All-Tournament team.
 
 
GHS Boys T&F Compete at Hillhouse, Twice
 
The boys’ indoor track and field team at GHS started the season by competing in two separate meets at the Floyd Athletic Center in New Haven. First they had a strong performance in the Hillhouse Invitational on Dec. 17/18 and then performed well at the Hillhouse Holiday Invite on Dec. 23. 
           
In the invitational, Davian Rivera ran a 7.71 in the 55 meter dash. Joe Accurso came in 4th in the 3200 meter run with a time of 9:55.49, followed by Harrison Krause, who placed 11th overall. In shot put, Alex George’s best throw was 39’ 11”, earning him 11th place, while Tye Karpicky threw 35’ 2”, placing 22nd overall. Competing in the high jump for his first time, Kevin Clarke placed 6th with a jump 5’ 8” high, while Aiden Katzmen followed closely with a jump of 5’ 4”, earning him 11th place. In the sprinting events, Michael Sardo placed 3rd overall in the 300 meter dash with a time of 36.32, followed by Jace Lewis (40.52), Christian Miclette (42.91), Jack Kelley (43.25), Kevin Sardo (45.39), and Zach Bergin (46.33). Tobin Walsh competed in the semifinals of the 55 meter hurdles, improving on his time to finish in 10.83 seconds. In the freshman 600 meter dash, Christian Miclette and Kevin Sardo led the pack finishing in 6th and 8th place with times of 1:44.56 and 1:45.55, respectively, followed closely by Zach Bergin (1:46.19) and Jack Kelley (1:48.09). In the varsity 600 meter dash, Michael Sardo placed second overall with a time of 1:26.50, followed by Kevin Clarke (1:34.49) and Drew Stranko (1:42.49). Dominic Pena, Ben Yolaf, Cam Colletti and Max Pawelek secured 4th place with a time of 9:08.60 in the 4x800 meter relay. In the freshman 1600 meter run, Austyn Neidel found success with a time of 5:36.77. In the varsity 1600 meter run, Cody Stone and Cam Colletti had strong performances with times of 4:52.87 and 4:59.85, respectively, followed by Will Haddad (5:13.04) and Jackson Stone (5:24.85). Dominic Pena competed in the 1000 meter run and earned 8th place with a time of 2:54.37, followed by Ben Yolaf (3:01.17) and Max Pawelek (3:10.23). In the field, Thomas Ryan earned 3rd overall in pole vault with a height of 10’ 6”. Competing in long jump, Jack Schaffner also earned 3rd place with a jump of 18’ 6.5.
           
At the Holiday Invitational, Tobin Walsh and Evan DonFrancisco competed in the 55 meter hurdles with times of 10.61 seconds and 11.39 seconds, respectively. In the 55 meter dash, Jace Lewis ran a 7.62 seconds, followed by Tobin Walsh (8.25). In the 300 meters, Jackson Boyd ran a time of 39.62, while Jace Lewis followed closely with a time of 41.04. Joe Accurso led the pack in the 1600 meter run, coming in 6th place with a time of 4:38.17, followed by Cam Colletti’s 14th place finish with a time of 4:57.16. In the 3200 meter run, Will Haddad finished 12th with a time of 11:41.28. In the 1000 meter, Cody Stone placed 5th with a time of 2:48.48 and Max Pawelek finished in 3:05.11. Cody Stone, Cam Colletti, Joe Accurso and Max Pawelek finished second overall in the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 9:04.83. In the field events, Jack Schaffner placed 2nd overall in triple jump with a jump of 38’ 6.5” and 8th overall in long jump with a jump of 18’ 2.5”. Placing 8th in pole vault, Eli Durham made a strong first appearance this season with a height of 8’ 6.” JJ Whiby found success in high jump, earning 10th overall with a jump 5’ 2” high.

GHS Girls T&F Dominate Final Meet of 2021
           
The Glastonbury High School girls’ indoor track and field team crushed their final meet of 2021 at the Coach Bob Saulsbury Invitational in New Haven on Dec. 29.

In the 600 meters, Molly Harding and Alex Edwards blew away the competition with Harding placing first with a time of 1:40.52 and Edwards following with a third-place finish in 1:47.40. Annika Hurley and Jackie Dudus placed first and second in the 3200m with Hurley winning the event with a 12:19.89 and Dudus crossing the line second at 12:33.63. The relay teams also swept the competition with Molly Harding, Hannah Caiola, Ava Gattinella, and Alex Edwards making up both the Sprint Medley Relay and the 4x400m relay. The team placed first in both relays with the Sprint Medley Relay finishing in a time of 4:22.65, and the 4x400m relay, crossing the finish line at 4:18.45. In the 1600m, all three Glastonbury girls finished in a row placing 4th, 5th, and 6th overall with Olivia Dickson crossing the line first for Glastonbury with a time of 5:41.68.  In the 55 meters, Hannah Caiola and Emily Smith ran 8.01 and 8.22, respectively. Emily Smith also raced the 300 meters, finishing 10th with a time of 47.89. In the 1000m race, all three of Glastonbury’s runners placed in the top 10 with Kylie Hilliard finishing 5th overall with a time of 3:17.14. Freshman Celina Rodrigues started off  the meet with a 14th place finish in the 55m hurdles with a time of 11.07.   

​The Guardians were also great in the field events as Layla Spann-McDonald placed third in the shot put with a throw of 31’9” and Anna Morris came in 8th with a throw of 26’1.5”.