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06/05/2016 12:00 AMGirls’ Lacrosse
The Branford girls’ lacrosse team advanced to the semifinals of the Class M State Tournament after winning its first two games. On May 31, the 2nd-seeded Hornets hosted No. 18 seed Brookfield (7-9-1) and posted an 18-8 blowout. Two days later, Branford welcomed 7th-seeded East Lyme (16-4) to town and won a lopsided contest, 15-6. The Hornets improved to 16-3 and will play No. 6 seed New Canaan (17-4) in the semifinal round at Bunnell at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7. With a win, Branford would face the winner of top-seeded Hand and No. 4 Barlow for the championship at Law High School in Milford on Saturday, June 11.
Against Brookfield, Branford took a 9-4 halftime lead en route to the victory. Carolyn Caminear scored four goals, while Autumn McHenry had three goals with three assists and Sabrina Torcellini scored three goals. Ashlee Smestad scored twice, Sophie Spencer had a goal and two assists, LanLe Crotty had a goal with an assist, and Erin O’Brien, Morgan Gilman, Jessie O’Connor, and Katie Parker all added goals. The Hornets outshot Brookfield 31-12 with goalie Sydnie Smith making two saves.
Branford also held a 9-4 halftime advantage in the East Lyme contest and, once again, Caminear found the back of the net four times. Crotty scored three goals and handed out a pair of assists, Torcellini had three goals with an assist, McHenry scored twice and had three assists, Spencer scored two goals, Smestad had a goal, and Parker had an assist. Smith made seven saves for the Hornets, who outshot East Lyme 33-18.
Boys’ Lacrosse
The Hornets’ season came to a close with a 4-3 home loss to Pomperaug in the Class M State Tournament qualifying round on May 28. Branford, which was the No. 15 seed, finished the year with a record of 8-9. Pomperaug was the 18th seed and went 10-11.
Baseball
Branford finished the season with a record of 9-13 after taking a 3-2 loss at 3rd-seeded Wilcox Tech (20-5) in the first round of the Class L State Tournament on May 31. The Hornets were seeded 30th.
Zane Kmietek pitched for Branford and gave up two hits and two walks, while striking out four in six innings. The Hornets made a costly error in the first inning that led to all three runs for Wilcox Tech. The Hornets battled back in the fifth with RBI singles by Damien Maniscalco and Tanner Giddings to cut it to 3-2, but were unable to get any closer.
Girls’ Outdoor Track
Senior Claira Janover captured her third career postseason victory and her first at a state meet by winning the triple jump at the Class MM State Championship.
Janover, who won triple jump at the West Sectional Championship a few weeks ago, took first this time by hitting 35 feet-5 inches to edge out runner-up Kathryn Kelly of Lauralton Hall, who went 35-4.5. Janover also posted the fourth-fastest time of 16.25 seconds for the preliminaries of the 100-meter hurdles and came back to take third in the finals at 16.01. These performances helped the Hornets tally 51 points and finish fifth at Middletown High School on June 1.
Senior Cyrene Nicholas also had a big meet for Branford by placing in the top five of two events. Nicholas took third in the 1,600 (5:22.59) and was fifth for the 800 in 2:27.01. In the pole vault, Bridget Wirtz achieved a height of 9 feet that was good for third and fellow sophomore Taylor Brown cleared 8-6 to finish sixth. Keira Integlia threw 104-10 for fourth in the javelin and was followed by junior classmate Kiersten Bjork in seventh (95-5). Senior Issy Bysiewicz ran a time of 50.85 to finish fifth in the 300 hurdles. Senior Gerling Daniels ran 12.98 for seventh in the 100-meter dash prelims and was seventh in the finals at 12.84. Freshman Liante Claude came in eighth for the 400 at 1:01.60, while junior Amanda Acquarulo was eighth in the high jump (4-10). Also scoring points was the 4x400 relay of Claude, Janover, Nicholas, and Bysiewicz, which took seventh (4:15.45).
Additionally for Branford, its 4x100 relay of Acquarulo, senior Etta Hanlon, Claude, and Daniels finished ninth (52.14); junior Courtney Cosgrove was 12th for both the 1,600 (5:44.70) and 3,200 (12:46.67) with senior Anneliese Troidle taking 13th in the 1,600 (5:49.50), plus Hanlon came in 14th in the long jump (15-6.25) and Bysiewicz finished 23rd in the long jump (14-10).
“Gerling Daniels had another great race in the 100, building on her success from the SCC meet. She looked great in both her qualifying heat and in the finals. What a great end to her high school career. Claira Janover faced some stiff competition and came through to break the 35-foot barrier on several jumps and put together a 35-5 to win by half an inch. It was the culmination of four years of dedication and perseverance. Well deserved,” Head Coach Kevin Connell said. “This was a meet where any of a handful of teams could have won the championship. We needed to be perfect. We came up a little short. This was the best total we’ve ever had in the Class MM meet. A great effort from a terrific group of girls. We will have five going on to the State Open.”
Boys’ Outdoor Track
Senior Kory King raced to a second-place finish in the 100-meter high hurdles for Branford at the Class MM State Championship at Middletown High School on June 1. King, who recently won the 110 hurdles at the SCC West Sectional Championship, posted the fifth-best time of 16.06 seconds in the preliminaries at states. He came back for the finals and snagged second with a 15.48, which was only behind Lyman Hall’s John Witik (14.94). King also finished seventh in the 300 intermediate hurdles at 42.51, while senior teammate Seraphin Tala claimed eighth in 42.81. These performances accounted for the Hornets 11 points, which put them in 20th place.
Tala was also ninth for the 110 hurdles prelims at 16.44 and took 10th in the high jump with a height of 5 feet-8 inches. Freshman Marzio Mastroianni finished 10th in the 3,200-meter run (4:49.87), King placed 12th in the triple jump (37-5.5), freshman Matt Alexander took 21st place in the long jump (17-7.5), and senior Marshall Borrus (24.48) and junior David Donnelly (25.38) were 30th and 32nd, respectively, in the 200-meter dash.
For relays, the 4x400 of Mastroianni, seniors Dan Lau and Jayden Sullivan, and Borrus finished 14th (3:48.63); while the 4x800 of Borrus, senior Joe Borst, junior Andrew Byrne, and freshman Derek Tratnyek took 16th place at 9:13.26.
Golf
The Hornets saw two athletes compete at the Chappa Tournament at Longshore Golf Club in Westport in May 26 as Ryan Sember and Liam Deane combined to score a 76 on behalf of Branford.
Then at the SCC Championship at Racebrook Country Club in Orange on May 31, Sember and Deane hit the links again and shot scores of 81 and 92, respectively.