ghs sports news & notes

Double Dip for GHS Girls T&F

Glastonbury High School girls’ track and field had a pair of meets on Saturday, Jan 8. The Guardians broke the team into two groups, sending one group to the Elm City Coach Invitational in New Haven and another to the Hartford Public Meet.
           
At the Elm City Coaches Invite, the girls posted great times and results. The girls 4x200 team made up of Meghan Smith, Annika Paluska, Alex Edwards and Molly Harding started the day off strong with a winning time of 1:52. In the 55 meter hurdles and 55 meter dash Zoe Spann-McDonald placed 2nd and 6th. The girls dominated the middle distance events with Molly Harding and Annika Paluska placing 1st and 3rd in the 600 meters with times of 1:40.24 and 1:43.36. In the 1000 meters, Ava Gattinella took 2nd with a speedy 3:06.26. In the 1600 meters, Jackie Dudus came in second with a time of 5:31.31 in the 1600 meters with Kelley MacElhiney close behind in a 4th place finish of 5:41.65. During the 3200, which is the longest event of the day, Annika Hurley came in 3rd with a time of 11:52.67. The sprinters also ran strong with Molly Harding winning the 300 in a time of 42.83. To round out the track events the girls 4x400 team raced strong coming in second with a time of 4:20.81. In the high jump Kate DeSousa dominated, winning the event with a jump of 5’4” and attempted to break the school record. Anna Hilary and Rebekah Kilgore placed 1st and 2nd with heights of 8’0” and 7’6”. To round out the day Layla Spann-McDonald placed 3rd in the shot put with a great throw of 30’10” and placed 9th in the long jump with a distance of 14’5.25”.
           
At the Hartford Public meet, Maya Drelichowski and Avery Olschefskie found success in the 300 meters with Drelichowski placing 11th with a time of 51.84 and Olschefskie in 20th with a time of 53.86. In the 1600 meter run Jocelyn Wolf came in second with a time of 6:14, Isabella Martas-Mayr came in fifth with a time of 6:32, followed by Chloe Griffin in sixth with a time of 6:38. In to the 55 meter dash, Maya Drelichowski finished in 24th place with a time of 9.02 and Avery Olschefskie came in 32nd with a time of 9.36. In the 600 meters, Drelichowski took first with a time of 1:59 and Olschefskie tenth with a time of 2:10. In the shot put, Shalon Hardy came in 20th with a throw of 19’2.25” and Cece Kabbani came in 26th with a throw of 15’2”. Overall, the girls track team had a successful meet and hope to continue their achievements throughout the rest of the season. 
           
Overall the girls had a great day and are looking to continue their strong performances as they get closer to the beginning of the championship season. The Guardians will head down to New Haven for the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) Coaches Invitational on Jan the 22nd.
 
 
GHS Swim & Dive Downs Conard, Falls at Xavier
 
Glastonbury boys swimming and diving defeated Conard (98-76) on Jan. 11 to earn their third win and then suffered their first defeat three days later, losing to Xavier (92-89) on Jan. 14.
           
In the win over Conard, the Guardians defeated the Chieftains at Cornerstone Pool in West Hartford. Glastonbury won 10 of the 12 events, improving at 21-2 all-time against CHS. Campbell McFall and James Liao both had perfect four-win afternoons. Jack Watson, Sean Savidge and Brian Pawlowski each had two wins. The single winners were Jay Shah, Leo Wong, Connor Lieu, John Redfern and Myles Murphy. Keaden Nguyen and Andrew Phan each had 1 win for Conard.
           
The meet started with a 1-3 finish for GHS in the 200 medley relay. The relay team of Jack Watson, Sean Savidge, Brian Pawlowski and James Liao won the event in a season best time. The relay team of Donald Newandee, Max Ramirez, Niall Easton and John Redfern placed 3rd. The score of the meet was 10-4 in favor of GHS and the Guardians would extend that lead throughout the meet. The 200 freestyle was a 1-2-4 finish. Campbell McFall was 1st and qualified for the Class LL Meet, Myles Murphy was 2nd and John Comite was 4th.
           
The 200 individual medley was a 1-2-5 finish. Jack Watson was 1st, Sean Savidge was 2nd and Derek Liu was 5th. The 50 freestyle was a 1-2-3 sweep. James Liao was 1st and qualified for the Class LL Meet, John Redfern was 2nd and Connor Lieu was 3rd. The score entering diving was 46-16. GHS placed 1-3-4 in diving. Jay Shah was 1st, Max McCurdy was 3rd and Devon Allison was 4th.
           
The second half started with the 100 butterfly and Keaden Nguyen from Conard won the event as he out-touched John Comite. GHS did place 2-3-4 to out-score CHS. John Comite was 2nd, Alex Wong was 3rd and Sean Savidge was 4th. Conard won back to back events as Andrew Phan won the 100 freestyle. The Guardians once again placed 2-3-4. Derek Liu was 2nd, Niall Easton was 3rd and Isaac Shen was 4th.
           
The long distance 500 freestyle was a 1-2-3 sweep by Glastonbury. Campbell McFall won the event, broke the 5 minute barrier and qualified for the Class LL Meet with his excellent time. Brian Pawlowski was 2nd and John Redfern was 3rd. Both Brian and John also qualified for the Class LL Meet. The 200 freestyle sprint relay would be the clinching event of the meet as GHS placed 1-3 to make the meet score 98-41. The relay team of Sean Savidge, Leo Wong, Connor Lieu and Campbell McFall easily won the event while the relay team of John Comite, Derek Lui, Max Ramirez and Myles Murphy placed 2nd. GHS would swim the last 3 events exhibition.
           
In the 100 backstroke, GHS would touch 1-2. James Liao touched 1st and qualified for the Class LL Meet. Donald Newandee touched 2nd. In the 100 breaststroke, GHS swept the event as they touched 1-2-3. Brian Pawlowski touched 1st, Ethan Hipsky touched 2nd and Niall Easton touched 3rd. The final 400 freestyle relay was also a sweep as Glastonbury touched 1-2. The relay team of John Redfern, Myles Murphy, Campbell McFall and James Liao touched 1st while the relay team of John Comite, Ryan Lieu, Jack Watson and Brian Pawlowski touched 2nd. Final score came to 98-76.
           
In the loss at Xavier, the Guardians could only manage a single event win out of the 12 events , dropping to 3-1 on the season and a very competitive 18-10 all-time against the private school from Middletown. Jay Shah turned in the lone Glastonbury win in diving. Xavier has some serious top end talent and they showed their excellence as Mitchell Wollen, Samuel Enes and Noah San Vicente each had perfect four-win afternoons. Nikita Zuev had three wins, Matthew Whitaker and Maxwell Enes each had two wins and Dillon Gallo had a win.
           
The meet started with a dominant six second win by the Xavier 200 medley relay team of Mitchel Wollen, Matthew Whitaker, Samuel Enes and Nikita Zuev. The GHS relay team of James Liao, Sean Savidge, Jack Watson and John Redfern placed 2nd with a season best time. The score was quickly 10-4 in favor of Xavier. The Falcons kept the pressure on as they went 1-2-5 in the 200 freestyle. Noah San Vicente was 1st and Maxwell Enes was 2nd with sub-1:50 second times. James DeDonato from Xavier placed 5th, a proud Pine Brook Pool Club member. Ari Lazaridis is also a Glastonbury resident and swam an exhibition heat of the 200 freestyle.
           
GHS managed a 3-4 finish. Campbell McFall was 3rd with a sub-1:50 time and Myles Murphy was 4th. The event score was 11-5 in favor of Xavier and now the meet score was 21-9.
           
The 200 individual medley was another great event for the Falcons as they went 1-2 again. This time is was Mitchell Wollen in 1st and Matthew Whitaker in 2nd. GHS placed 3-4-5. Brian Pawlowski was 3rd, Jack Watson was 4th and Ethan Hipsky was 5th. Both Brian and Jack qualified for the Class LL Meet with their excellent times. The event score was 10-6 in favor of Xavier and now the meet score was 31-15. Xavier went 1-3 in the 50 freestyle with Samuel Enes in 1st and Dillon Gallo in 3rd. GHS placed 2-4-5 with James Liao, John Redfern and Sean Savidge. Event score was 9-7 in favor of Xavier and now GHS faced its largest deficit of the season by far with the meet score at 40-22.
           
Xavier does not have any divers, so the Guardians were able to make a major comeback as they placed 1-2-3 by default and that is a 13-0 event score. Jay Shah was the highlight of the meet for GHS as he had a fantastic performance on the 1 meter board. Jay’s score of 263.50 points moved him from 6th place to 5th place in school history. He only trails divers Ethan Godfrey, Nick Jefferson, Samuel Hoyt, and Jason Bagdasarian on that Top Ten List. Max McCurdy was 2nd and Devon Allison was 3rd and now the meet score was 40-35 despite Xavier dominating the first four swimming events.
           
Glastonbury would not go down without a fight as they importantly placed 2-3-4 to out-score Xavier in the 100 butterfly. Samuel Enes easily won the event by 6 seconds. John Comite was 2nd, Alex Wong was 3rd and Niall Easton had a great swim as he went from 5th to 4th in the final leg. The event score was 9-7 in favor of GHS and now the meet score was 47-44. The 100 freestyle would be the same result as GHS kept up the good fight as they placed 2-3-4 again. Nikita Zuev won the event by 2 seconds and James DeDonato was 5th. Campbell McFall was 2nd, John Redfern was 3rd and Myles Murphy was 4th with a Class LL qualifying time. Another event score of 9-7 and now the meet score was as close as it could be without being tied as Xavier was ahead by 1 point with the score 54-53.
           
Xavier put the hammer down in the 500 freestyle as they placed 1-2 again. Noah San Vicente was 1st and Maxwell Enes was 2nd while both turned in sub-5 minute times. GHS would place 3-4-5. Brian Pawlowski was 3rd, Ethan Hipsky was 4th and Derek Liu was 5th. The event score was 10-6 in favor of Xavier and now the meet score was 64-59. In order to try and keep it within striking distance, Coach Hoyt split her 200 freestyle relays in an attempt to place 2-3 and that is just what happened. The Falcons dominated with a 5 second victory with the relay team of Samuel Enes, Dillon Gallo, Maxwell Enes and Noah San Vicente. The 2nd place Glastonbury relay team was Sean Savidge, Leo Wong, Brian Pawlowski and Myles Murphy while the 3rd place relay team was Campbell McFall, Noah Roberts, Max Ramirez and Alex Wong. The event score was 8-6 in favor of the Falcons making the meet score 72-65.
           
Mitchell Wollen was back in the water for the 100 backstroke and won the event by an impressive 4 seconds. GHS placed 2-3 in the event with James Liao in 2nd and Jack Watson in 3rd. The event score was 9-7 in favor of Xavier and now the meet score was 81-72. The last gasp would come in the 100 breaststroke and Matthew Whitaker would stand tall as he won the event by 3 seconds. GHS would place 2-5. Sean Savidge was 2nd and Isaac Shen was 5th . The event score was 11-5 in favor of Xavier and now the meet score was 92-77 and that would clinch the meet since the missing points in diving meant that the Falcons could clinch the meet with 90 points or more. Xavier would swim the last event exhibition.
           
The Falcons would still dominate the 400 freestyle relay as they placed 1-3. The relay team of Noah San Vicente, Maxwell Enes, Mitchell Wollen and Nikita Zuev cruised to a 4 second victory. The GHS relay team of Campbell McFall, John Redfern, Brian Pawlowski and James Liao placed 2nd with an excellent season best time. The final score came to 92-89 and this meet was by far the most exciting of the season and produced some great swims. Xavier was the better team with 4 of their top swimmers being seniors (Wollen, Zuev, San Vicente and Gallo).
           
​The upcoming schedule has a home dual meet against Hall High School on Friday, January 21st at 5:30 p.m. There is also an away dual meet against Enfield High School on Tuesday, January 25th and the old Fermi High School annex pool at 3:45 PM. Contributed by Steve Hoyt.