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02/04/2014 11:00 PMIndoor Track
It was a strong day for the Tigers at the SCC Championship on Jan. 30 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center, as the girls tallied 50 points for a runner-up spot, and the boys were third also with 50.
On the girls' slate, Caroline O'Neil captured the 300 crown with a time of 41.74, while she was second in the 55 dash (7.34). In other running events, Jane Butler was third in the 600 (1:45.03), as was Kathryn Phillips for the 1,000 (3:11.68). In relays, the 4x400 group of Butler, Emily Shafer, Madeline Yaggi, Molly Citrin, Julia Thompson, and Skyler Silva saw second (4:16.64); plus the 4x200 grouping with Citrin, O' Neil, Sam Schaefer, Shafer, Lauren Brady, and Justine Griffin came in fourth (1:51.83). Also runner-up was the 1,600 sprint medley team of Schaefer, Griffin, Brady, Phillips, Natalie Baughan, and Silva (4:29.86).
With the boys, the Tigers earned a bulk of their points with the pole vault, which was won by Ian Bergere (14-0), followed by Kyle Boling, Rich Sangster, and Hunter Stokes with throws of 11-6 each for third. On relays, the 4x400 sextet of Ryan Monico, Adam Taylor, Kevin Clarke, Mike Gilchrist, Mike Gentile, and Nick Balow were fourth (3:37.76); also fourth was the 4x800 squad with Gentile, Connor Favre, Clarke, Taylor, Griffin Pardales, and Bryce Thomson (8:38.79), as was the 1,600 sprint medley group of Garrison Fenner, Jamie Gorman, Monico, Taylor, Jacob Morro, and Pardales (3:56.35). Ben Reul was third for the high jump (5-8), and Nick Balow found fourth for the 600 (1:28.09). Tommy Wilson came in fourth in the 300 (37.54), while Gilchrist (6.85) and Wilson (6.88) were fifth and six for the 55, respectively.
Boys' Ice Hockey
The Tigers defeated Milford, 4-1, on Feb. 1 to improve to 7-6 and notch their third-straight win. Dan Braumann and Ben Solin each had two goals and an assist.
Girls' Basketball
The Tigers began the week with a resounding 69-26 win over Branford on Jan. 28 before Hand then notched its 10th win in its last 11 games with a 56-38 victory at Guilford on Jan. 31 to move to 12-4 and stay perfect in the SCC Hammonasset Division at 5-0.
Versus the Hornets, Branford's early 3-2 lead was the only one they had all night, as Hand jumped out to a commanding 19-5 first-quarter lead behind Cassidy Wygonik's (12 points, 7 rebounds) eight points. Hand kept the pressure on in the second quarter behind eight points from Gege Catalano (14 points, 11 rebounds), stretching its edge as it went into the half up 34-14. Branford was outscored in the third, 18-4, with six different Tigers getting in the scorebook. With the benches emptied in the fourth, Hand coasted to victory.
Lily Taylor scored seven points and dished out four assists, while Lauren Brandau grabbed seven rebounds and also had four assists. Hand out-rebounded Branford, 47-26, and forced 22 Hornets' turnovers.
Facing Guilford, Hand broke it open on a 14-3 run to finish the first quarter with an 18-8 lead. The Tigers increased the lead to 15 after three quarters. Taylor added another three-pointer in the fourth and Cori Ouellette put in her second three (7 points total), as the Tigers eased to the decision.
Taylor led all scorers with 18 points on five second-half three-pointers. Wygonik and Catalano combined for 16 points, 18 rebounds, and six blocks, while Sophie Joel and Brandau handed out four assists each.
Boys' Basketball
Hand suffered two losses, first to Cross, 81-36, on Jan. 28 before a SCC Hammonasset Division road defeat, 55-50, at Guilford on Jan. 31, to yield a record of 8-5 (3-2 in the division).
Versus Cross, the Governors used a 28-point outburst in the first quarter to send Hand to its fourth loss of the season, as Phil Crampton led the Tigers with seven points.
Against Guilford, the Indians led by as many as 10 late in the fourth, but with two minutes to play, Brendan Hughes and Andre Frederick combined on a five-point play with Hughes hitting a three-pointer as Frederick was fouled underneath and converted both free throws to cut the Indians' lead in half. Hand managed to cut the deficit to three with just under a minute to play. Griffin Wray made a steal with 10 seconds remaining, but could not connect with Hughes in transition by throwing the ball out of bounds with two seconds remaining.
Hughes had 16 points, while Frederick added 13 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks.
Fencing
The Tigers battled Cheshire Academy on Jan. 29, and boys' varsity prevailed, 7-2, and boys' JV fell, 6-3. Kyle Welch (3-0), Griffin McShane (2-1), and Ha Yeong Kim (2-0) were all strong on the mat.
Skiing
Hand participated in its second race of the season on Jan. 23 against eight schools including: Barlow, Bethel, Fairfield, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Weston and Wilton.
The girls' squad placed sixth in the competition with Melanie Rennie taking third out of 65 participants with a combined time of 48.02 (24.23 and 23.79). Carly Fischer was ninth with a total time of 49.17 (24.79 and 24.38), followed by Caitlyn Harvey placing 23rd on a combined showing of 51.50 (25.69 and 25.81). The boys' team was sixth with Ethan Wilson finishing seventh out of 79 participants with a sum time of 45.20 (23.85 and 21.35), followed by Stefan Pelletier in eighth with a combined time of 45.43 (23.75 and 21.68), and Ryan Garb finishing 25th thanks to a combined time of 48.33 (25.34 and 22.99).
Additionally, Rennie (finishing 8th), Wilson (13th), Fischer (15th), and Pelletier (27th) competed in the GS Shoot-Out on Jan. 27.
Wrestling
Hand scored a 43-21 win over Branford on Jan. 29 to improve to 8-3 on the year.
At Branford, victories came from Eric Bloomfield (170; 7-2 decision), Justin Dwyer (220; forfeit), Connor Sakmar (106; pin 3:29), Francis Regala (113; pin 2:46), Liam Sullivan (126; 4-2 decision), Keith Mallon (132; 12-1 decision), Ashton Gyenizs (138; 7-2 decision), Zakery Santoemma (152; pin 3:09), and Luke Bernardo (160; pin 2:29).