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12/30/2014 11:00 PMThe winter season for the Haddam-Killingworth Cougars featured multiple state tournament squads, in addition to a girls' indoor track team that claimed its first Shoreline Conference Crown in a decade.
Girls' Indoor Track
Dick Dupuis and his Cougars won their first Shoreline Conference title since 2004 on Feb. 1. With senior Sarah Smith winning the shot put, the Cougars also had a trio of triumphs by senior Leah Pfrommer in the 55 dash, 300, and long jump and then another pair from sophomore Maddie Brandon for the 1,600 and 3,200 races. The girls then followed that up by coming in fifth at the Class S State Championship with Pfrommer taking the long jump. For the State Open, Pfrommer completed the trifecta by capturing the long jump again, in addition to qualifying for the New England Championship for the event (coming in 6th). The 1,600 sprint medley relay group of Pfrommer, junior Dani Roman, senior Jenny Martin, Brandon, and senior Menalie Hyde also reached the State Open, as did Smith for shot put. The rest of the seniors were Julia Faust, Christiana Field, Jennifer Halleck, Erin Kane, and Lily Umba.
Boys' Indoor Track
Dick Dupuis and HK finished as runner-up at the Shoreline Conference Championship, which was highlighted by the 4x200 relay team of junior Canute Watson, plus seniors John Schuster, Christian Ticino, and Nick Afragola, which won the event with a meet-record time of 1:34.39. Watson also took home the 55 dash title and there was another top finish for the Cougars with the 300 thanks to senior Ethan Kovach. At the Class S State Championship, the Cougars finished fifth with that same 4x200 squad taking the state crown. For the State Open, HK sent that same 4x200 group along with Kovach (for the 300), sophomore Cameron Garrelts (1,000); the all-senior 4x400 team of Ticino, Afragola, Logan O' Donnell, Kovach, Schuster, and Nathan Kelly; plus the 1,600 sprint medley relay grouping of Watson, Afragola, Ticino, Garrelts, O' Donnell, and junior David Baird. The rest of HK's seniors included Christopher Catenaro, Brendan Centi, and Taylor Sergi.
Girls' Basketball
Coached by Jim Bombaci, who also notched his 500th career win during the season, HK finished the regular season 14-6 before falling in the semifinals of the Shoreline Conference Tournament versus Cromwell and the first round of the Class M State Tournament to Old Saybrook. The Cougars' senior class was comprised of Maya Savino, Kiley Anderson, Lauren McCann, and Hannah Madore.
Boys' Basketball
Ryan Mackenzie's squad finished 8-12 on the regular campaign prior to losing against East Hampton in the opening round of the Class S State Tournament. HK's seniors were Kyle McCormick, Torren Callender, Peter Welch, and Thomas DiMauro.
Wrestling
Coached by Geoff Korper, the Cougars saw their first-ever state champions in seniors Zach Roth (170) and Ryan Henderson (145) as HK finished sixth at the Class S State meet as a team. In addition to them, sophomore Mackay Revis (132) and junior Paul LaRosa (182) qualified for the State Open with Henderson also earning a berth at the New England Championship by coming in third for the State Open. David Parmelee rounded out the team's seniors.
Boys' Ice Hockey
HK, a co-op team with Lyman Hall, was 9-11 on the season to finish ninth in Division III, where it fell to Staples/Weston/Shelton in the first round of the state tournament. Coached by Rich Minnix, the seniors were Shane Duhamel, Nick Baccaro, Boomer DeMorro, CJ Tangredi, Collin Ahern, and Rocky Cuccaro.
Boys' Swimming and Diving
Rookie Head Coach Devon Moore guided the Cougars to ninth at the Class S State Championship. Junior Garrett Mazziotti reached the State Open in the 100 butterfly and 200 free, breaking the school record at states in the latter event (1:45.96). Completing HK's senior class were Phoenix Campagnuolo, Charles Crocco, Nikolas Franceschi-Hofmann, Ian MacDonald, Gunnar Soneson, and Michael Szafran.