ghs sports news & notes

GHS Field Hockey Finishing Strong 
 
GHS field hockey scored two more important victories last week, beaten previously unbeaten Wethersfield (1-0) and shutting out Southington (4-0).
 
Last Wednesday (Oct 29), took down #6 ranked Wethersfield in a CCC South conference matchup. Christina Guanci's goal in the first quarter proved to be the game-winner. Guanci scored after collecting a rebound after Wethersfield goalie Julia Peacock made a save midway through the quarter. The goal held up as Glastonbury dominated possession for the remainder of the game, holding a 12-3 shot advantage and a 12-to-1 penalty corner advantage. GHS senior goalie Kaitlyn Parent stopped all three shots that Wethersfield put on net, helping preserve the team’s eighth shutout this season. Wethersfield's best chance to even up the score came as time was winding down in the fourth quarter and they were awarded a penalty corner.  However, senior Molly Harding rushed out to pressure the ball as it was inserted and fellow senior Kaitlyn Welsh intercepted the pass off the insert to end the Wethersfield scoring chance and secure the win.  
 
Two days later, the team kept their undefeated CCC South record intact by winning at Southington. After a scoreless first quarter, the Guardians with a little less than three minutes before intermission when junior forward Alicia Choquette tipped a ball into goal off a pass from Harding. After intermission, Harding and Choquette connected again with Choquette scoring again off an assist from Harding in the third quarter. Choquette's third-quarter goal was the first of three goals that the Guardians would score in a four-minute span. Guanci scored the other two, the first after rebounding a shot on goal by Harding and the second off an assist from Harding. Parent saved the one shot she faced as the GHS defensive unit of Grace Boehning, Skylar Fiske, Teagan Rooney, Mikayla Balatbat, Kaitlyn Welsh, and Hannah David prevented Southington from generating much offense. The win, the team's ninth via shutout, was its 11th overall and the team heads into the last week of regular season play with an 11-1-2-1 overall record.
  
Senior Night Victory for GHS Swim & Dive 
 
The Glastonbury High School Girls’ Swimming and Diving Team hosted and defeated CCC East opponent East Catholic (97-71) on Senior Night for the last dual meet of the season last Tuesday (Oct 28). 
 
The Guardians easily dispatched the Eagles by winning 10 of the 12 events. With East Catholic being the last dual meet of the regular season and a CCC East Divisional opponent, this marks another CCC East Divisional title for Glastonbury as they easily ran through the division with a perfect 5-0 record. This makes 19 years in a row with GHS winning the CCC Division. Glastonbury also won the CCC Division from 1979-1993 which makes it 34 times out of 48 years that they have won the CCC Division. Their record over the last 19 years is an astounding 87-0. The victory also makes GHS undefeated at 9-0 on the season and 13-0 all-time against East Catholic. The last time GHS had an undefeated season was back in 2004 and 2005 when they were 12-0 and 13-0 respectively. This team truly deserves to be undefeated as they were never challenged in any of the dual meets or scrimmages this season and it is safe to say this is the strongest squad ever for GHS girls swimming and diving.
 
Just prior to the meet, the graduating seniors from both teams were recognized. Flowers and applause were given to the 5 seniors from East Catholic as well as the 9 seniors from Glastonbury. The GHS Seniors are Evie Christensen, captain Rachel Davis, diver Addison Fastiggi, Caroline Koziol, captain Riley Lord, Julianne Lui, diver Alana Mondschein, captain Vivian Nguyen and Norell Paluska. These athletes will be sorely missed both in and out of the pool and we wish them great success in the future.
 
In this meet, the Guardians were led by triple winners Rachel Davis, Avery Kudlac, Brooke Sowka, Annika Paluska and Riley Kudlac. Emily Booth was a double winner and the single winners were Norell Paluska and Francesca Gionfriddo. East Catholic got wins from Emma Wojnarowski and Tahlia Crowley. The meet began with a 1-3 finish by GHS in the 200 medley relay. The relay team of Rachel Davis, Norell Paluska, Avery Kudlac and Emily Booth won by 4 seconds while the relay team of Belle Christensen, Julianne Lui, Lauren Lord and Madelynn Booth placed 3rd. The score was 10-4 and GHS would extend the lead throughout the rest of the meet.
 
The 200 freestyle was a 1-4-5 finish for the Guardians. Brooke Sowka swam a great race to hold off Emma Wojnarowksi from East Catholic for the win. Evie Christensen was 4th and Paeton Romero was 5th. The 200 individual was a 1-2-3 sweep by Glastonbury. Rachel Davis was 1st, Norell Paluska was 2nd and Vivian Nguyen was 3rd. The 50 freestyle was a 1-2-5 finish for GHS. Annika Paluska was 1st, Riley Kudlac was 2nd and Emily Booth was 5th. The score before diving was 43-19.
 
Diving was a 1-4-5 finish for the Guardians. Francesca Gionfriddo narrowly out-scored a pair of strong divers from East Catholic. Senior Alana Mondschein was 4th and Anna Hilary was 5th. Senior Addison Fastiggi also dove exhibition. The 2nd half started with a 1-2-3 GHS sweep in the 100 butterfly. Avery Kudlac was 1st, Vivian Nguyen was 2nd and Julianne Lui was 3rd. The 100 freestyle was another 1-2-3 sweep by Glastonbury. Riley Kudlac was 1st, Annika Paluska was 2nd and Katie Papa was 3rd. Annika improved on her 7th fastest time in school history in the 100 freestyle with her excellent time.
 
The Eagles would get their 1st win of the afternoon as Emma Wojnarowski held off Brooke Sowka in the 500 freestyle. Brooke was 2nd, Lauren Lord was 4th and Paeton Romero was 5th. The 200 freestyle sprint relay would be the clinching event for GHS as they placed 1-2 to sweep the event and make the score 97-43. The relay team of Emily Booth, Riley Kudlac, Brooke Sowka and Annika Paluska were 1st while the relay team of Madelynn Booth, Heather Newandee, Vivian Nguyen and Katie Papa placed 2nd. GHS would swim the last 3 events exhibition.
 
Tahlia Crowley got the 2nd East Catholic win in the 100 backstroke as she out-touched Avery Kudlac who was 2nd. Belle Christensen would touch 3rd and Claire Ferony would touch 4th. The 100 breaststroke would see GHS touch 1-2-3 to sweep the event. Rachel Davis touched 1st, Norell Paluska touched 2nd and Julianne Lui touched 3rd.
 
The final 400 freestyle relay would be another sweep by GHS as they touched 1-2. All of the active Senior swimmers were in action for the relay as it represented their final dual meet race at the GHS pool. The relay team of Riley Kudlac, Brooke Sowka, Annika Paluska and Avery Kudlac easily touched 1st while the all-Senior relay team of Vivian Nguyen, Evie Christensen, Rachel Davis and Norell Paluska touched 2nd. An exhibition relay team had Natalie Koziol (sister of Senior Caroline), Elizabeth Evans and Seniors Riley Lord and Julianne Lui. The final score came to 97-71.
 
The prior weekend saw some of the Glastonbury divers participate in the West Hartford Diving Invitational at Cornerstone Pool. Divers were able to perform their 11-dive programs in preparation for the Class LL and State Open Meets. The Guardians were well represented and turned in some significant performances. Alana Mondschein scored 306.55 points which is good for 9th highest 11-dive score in school history. Lola DeFranco scored 313.80 points which is also good for 9th highest in school history. Leading the way was Francesca Gionfriddo who scored 358.55 which is good for 6th highest in school history. Sydney Barcikowski also qualified for the Class LL Meet.
 
After the CCC Championship Meet, GHS will participate in the Class LL Championships and then the State Open. The Class LL Diving Championships will be held on Thursday, November 11th at 5:30 PM at Middletown High School. The Class LL Swimming Preliminaries will be Saturday, November 13th at 11:30 AM at East Hartford High School. Preliminaries are set up with all of the automatic qualifiers and those entered with times equal to or better than the 36th fastest time. The Class LL Swimming Finals will be Wednesday, November 17th at 6 PM at Southern Connecticut State University. Finals include the top 24 times from Preliminaries in each event. The State Open Diving will be Thursday, November 18th at 5:30 PM at Middletown High School. The State Open Swimming will be Sunday, November 21st at 2 PM at Cornerstone Aquatics Center. The State Open consists of the top 24 times from all 4 Classes (LL, L, M & S). Contributed by Steve Hoyt.