GHS Sports News & notes

Incredible Invite for GHS Girls T&F  
 
The Glastonbury High School girls track and field team traveled to New Haven and dominated the South Connecticut Conference Coaches Invitational on Jan. 22. The Guardians earned 116 total points, 33 more than runner-up Sheehan (83). 
           
The meet began with strong performances from two of the Glastonbury relay teams. The 4x200m relay team consisting of Hannah Caiola, Riley Carroll, Meghan Smith, and Emily Smith finished 4th with a time of 1:51.56, and the 4x800m relay team consisting of Kelley MacElhiney, Lucy Bergin, Alex Edwards, and Kylie Hilliard finished 3rd with a time of 10:15.14. Zoe Spann-Mcdonald finished 1st overall in the 55m hurdles with a time of 8.76, and Celina Rodrigues finished in 10.78. Molly Harding placed second overall in the 55m dash and tied the current school record, finishing at 7.36. Hannah Caiola also ran the 55m, coming in at 7.93. In the 600m, both of the Glastonbury runners placed top 10. Ava Gattinella finished 3rd with a time of 1:41.61 and Meghan Smith placed 7th with a 1:45.03. In the 1600m, Lila Garbett crossed the finish line first for Glastonbury and 12th overall in a time of 5:43.38. Following Garbett were Kylie Hilliard (5:49.90), Jocelyn Wolf (5:56.49), and Isabella Martas-Mayr (6:16.40). The Glastonbury distance runners also dominated the 3200m with Annika Hurley coming in 1st overall with a time of 11:48.96. Lucy Bergin placed 2nd overall with a time of 11:55.47. Seniors Olivia Dickson and Sarah Ongley finished close behind, earning them 8th and 9th place overall. Dickson ran a 12:29.85, and Ongley finished in 12:31.15. Riley Carroll and Hannah Caiola both had strong finishes in the 300m as well. Carrol placed 6th with a time of 43.83, and Caiola placed 14th overall with a time of 45.34. To wrap up the running events, the Glastonbury relays both placed 1st overall. The Sprint Medley Relay consisting of Celina Rodrigues, Emily Smith, Ava Gattinella, and Jackie Dudus crossed the line at 4:34:30, and the 4x400m Relay team consisting of Meghan Smith, Riley Carroll, Alex Edwards, and Molly Harding ran a season-best time of 4:08.84. 
           
The Guardians were also strong in the field events with Layla Spann-McDonald placing 1st in the shot put with a throw of 34’11.75” and jumping 13’1” over at long jump. Anna Morris placed 10th in shot put with a throw of 29’7.25”, and Anna Hilary placed 3rd in pole vault at 8’6”. At high jump, Kate DeSousa and Allie Lips both had great performances. DeSousa placed 4th, jumping 5’0”, and Lips placed 14th with a jump of 4’6”. 
           
All in all, the Glastonbury girls track and field team came together for one last meet before the start of conference and state competition.
 
 GHS Swimming and Diving Downs Short-Handed Foes  
 
  The boys swimming and diving team earned two more victories last week, defeating Enfield 84-43 and East Catholic 84-64
           
In the road win at Enfield on Jan. 25, the Guardians outmanned the home team, who only had seven athletes competing. There is also no diving board at the Enfield Annex Pool, resulting in no diving event in this meet. The Guardians won 10 of the 11 events to swamp the Eagles. The win improved GHS to 2-0 all-time against Enfield. The old Fermi High School is essentially the new Enfield High School as Fermi went defunct in 2016 and GHS was 6-0 against Fermi. James Liao had a perfect four-win afternoon while Myles Murphy provided three wins. The double winners were Sander Silverman and John Redfern. The single winners were Isaac Shen, Alex Wong, Jack Watson, Campbell McFall, Derek Lui, Ben Boisoneau, Nick Roberts and Will Torrey. Tanner Pinto-Cohn provided the win for Enfield.
           
The meet started with a 1-2 sweep in the 200 medley relay. The relay team of Myles Murphy, Isaac Shen, Sander Silverman and James Liao were 1st while the relay team of Donald Newandee, Derek Lui, John Redfern and John Comite were 2nd. The 200 freestyle was a 1-2-3 sweep by GHS. Alex Wong was 1st, Ryan Lieu was 2nd and Will Torrey was 3rd.
           
Enfield got its lone win in the 200 individual medley as Tanner Pinto-Cohn won the event by 10 seconds. GHS placed 2-3-4. Donald Newandee was 2nd, Isaac Shen was 3rd and Daniel Gorenbeyn was 4th. The 50 freestyle was a 1-2-4 finish for the Guardians. Jack Watson was 1st, Niall Easton was 2nd and Devon Allison was 4th. There was no diving, but they did take a break before the start of the 100 butterfly. The 100 butterfly was a 1-2-4 finish for Glastonbury. Campbell McFall was 1st, Connor Lieu was 2nd and Myles Murphy was 4th.
           
The 100 freestyle was a 1-2-3 sweep. James Liao was 1st, Alex Wong was 2nd and Alessandro Franco was 3rd. The 500 freestyle would be the clinching event for GHS as they turned in another 1-2-3 sweep. Derek Lui was 1st, Ryan Lieu was 2nd and Leo Wong was 3rd. The score was 84-23 and GHS would swim the last 4 events exhibition.
           
The 200 freestyle sprint relay was a 1-2 sweep for the Guardians as Enfield had no entries in the event. The relay team of Ben Boisoneau, Myles Murphy, Nick Roberts, James Liao touched 1st while the relay team Brian Pawlowski, Connor Lieu, Campbell McFall and Ryan Lieu touched 2nd. The 100 backstroke saw GHS touch 1-2-4. John Redfern touched 1st, Sander Silverman touched 2nd and Sean Savidge touched 4th.
           
The 100 breaststroke was a 1-2-3 sweep. Will Torrey was 1st, Jack Watson was 2nd and John Comite was 3rd. The final 400 freestyle relay was a 1-2- sweep. The relay team of Myles Murphy, James Liao, Sander Silverman and John Redfern touched 1st while the relay team of Brian Pawlowski, Ryan Lieu, Campbell McFall and Sean Savidge touched 2nd.
           
Two days later, the Guardians had their first Central Connecticut Conference divisional dual meet against East Catholic. Although East Catholic had more athletes than the 7 that Enfield had, they still only have 10 athletes total. It was another dominating home victory for GHS as they won 11 of the 12 events to raise their season record to 7-1, 1-0 in the CCC division, and 12-0 all-time against ECHS. Campbell McFall and Sander Silverman led the way with three wins each. The double winners were James Liao, Brian Pawlowski, John Comite and John Redfern. The single winners were Jack Watson, Jay Shah, Sean Savidge, Myles Murphy, Connor Lieu and Ryan Lieu. Sean Leary from East Catholic had one win.
           
The opening 200 medley relay was a 1-2 sweep for Glastonbury. The relay team of James Liao, Brian Pawlowski, Jack Watson and Campbell McFall easily won the event by 7 seconds. The relay team of Donald Newandee, Will Torrey, John Comite and Ryan Lieu placed 2nd. The 200 freestyle was also a sweep as GHS placed 1-2-3. Sander Silverman was 1st, Ben Boisoneau was 2nd and Ethan Hipsky was 3rd.
           
East Catholic got their lone win in the 200 individual medley. It was a photo finish between Sean Leary and Brian Pawlowski. The scoreboard showed Brian winning by 0.01 of a second, but by the naked eye the referee could see that Sean actually finished 1st. GHS did place 2-3-4. Brain was 2nd, John Redfern was 3rd and Isaac Shen was 4th. The 50 freestyle was a 1-2-4 finish. Campbell McFall was 1st in a sub-23 second performance, James Liao was 2nd and Leo Wong was 4th. The score before diving was 46-14.
           
East Catholic had no divers so GHS placed 1-2-3 by default. Jay Shah was 1st, Evan Scott was 2nd and Devon Allison was 3rd. After the break, GHS went 1-2-3 by default again as ECHS had no entries in the event. John Comite was 1st, Alex Wong was 2nd and Brian Pawlowski was 3rd. The 100 freestyle was a 1-2-4 finish. Sander Silverman was 1st, Jack Watson was 2nd and Ryan Lieu was 4th. Jack was a new qualifier for the Class LL Meet with his time. The 100 freestyle was the clinching event as the score was now 84-18 and East Catholic could no longer catch up. GHS would swim the last 5 events exhibition.
           
GHS would touch 1-2-3 in the 500 freestyle. John Redfern touched 1st, Myles Murphy touched 2nd and Ethan Hipsky touched 3rd. Myles became a new qualifier for the Class LL Meet. The 200 freestyle relay was a 1-2 sweep. The relay team of Campbell McFall, Brian Pawlowski, Sander Silverman and James Liao touched 1st while the relay team of Jack Watson, Connor Lieu, Ryan Lieu and John Redfern touched 2nd.
           
The 100 backstroke was another 1-2-3 sweep. John Comite was 1st, Donald Newandee was 2nd and Leo Wong was 3rd. The 100 breaststroke was a 1-3-4 finish. Sean Savidge was 1st, Will Torrey was 3rd and Isaac Shen was 4th. The final 400 freestyle relay was a 1-2- sweep. The relay team of Myles Murphy, Connor Lieu, Ryan Lieu and John Redfern touched 1st while the relay team of Niall Easton, Derek Lui, Alex Wong and Ethan Hipsky touched 2nd. 
           
The upcoming schedule has a home meet against Manchester/RHAM Coop on Friday, February 4th at 3:45 PM. There is also an away meet against a highly competitive Cheshire High School at the Cheshire Community Pool on Tuesday, February 8th at 7 PM. Contributed by Steve Hoyt.