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12/22/2016 11:00 PMThe 2016 spring season in Westbrook saw tennis player Casey Burns continue her run of success in the conference tournament, while Danyelle Engles turned some heads in the throwing events throughout the postseason. Also, Westbrook’s baseball and softball teams both qualified for their respective state tournaments.
Girls’ Tennis
After Westbrook went 14-6 for the regular season, junior Casey Burns won her third-straight Shoreline Conference title by capturing the No. 1 and 2 singles championship with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Haddam-Killingworth’s Emily Beck.
In the No. 3 and 4 singles bracket, the Knights’ Sara Farnoli lost in the final to Old Saybrook’s Erin Stangel, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). Burns and Farnoli were both named to the All-Shoreline Conference First Team, while teammate Anna Schneider made the Second Team. After Shorelines, Westbrook competed in the Class S State Tournament and defeated Windsor Locks 6-1 in the qualifying round before losing in the first round to Valley Regional, 5-2. Burns and Schneider later competed at the State Open Championship. Burns won three matches to reach the quarterfinal round, where she took her only loss of the season.
Burns was a New Haven Register All-Area selection. Burns, Schneider, and Katie Xenelis were Westbrook’s captains.
Boys’ Tennis
Westbrook welcomed a new Head Coach in Dan Shapiro and finished third in the Shoreline Conference with a record of 15-5, which marked a four-win improvement from 2015.
Junior No. 1 singles player Gus Marx won seven matches and earned an All-Shoreline First Team nod by playing deep into the league tournament. The No. 1 doubles team of juniors Austin Herzy and Phil Hartzell went 12-4, advanced to the Shoreline Tournament semifinals, and were voted Second Team All-Conference. Freshman Nate Comment went 16-3 at the No. 5 singles spot and took home the team’s Coach’s Award. Westbrook’s No. 2 doubles tandem of senior Caleb Wood and sophomore Kevin Dickey won the Most Improved Award. Marx and No. 2 singles player Dave Amendola, a junior, teamed up for the doubles tournament in the Class S State Championship and advanced to the third round.
Girls’ Outdoor Track
Westbrook finished in fifth place at the Shoreline Conference Championship and then took 16th place at the Class S State Championship.
Sophomore Danyelle Engles had a great postseason by winning shot put with a throw of 33 feet-8 inches and the discus at 99-4 at Shorelines, after which she posted fifth-place finishes in the shot put, discus, and javelin at the Class S meet to qualify for the State Open in all three events. Engles also took second in the javelin at the Shoreline Conference Championship, while Kelly Donlan finished second in the shot put and third for the discus.
Boys’ Outdoor Track
The Knights came in fifth place at the Shoreline Conference Championship and then finished in 27th place at the Class S State Championship.
At the Shoreline meet, Turner Davis and Vincent Dyer both took second place for the Knights as Davis did so in the high jump (5 feet-8 inches), while Dyer was runner-up in the discus (121-9) with Jay Donlan finishing third (119-8). For the state meet, the Knights’ top performer was senior Griffin Dahl, who was seventh in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:41.74.
Softball
Westbrook had one of its best seasons in recent years as Head Coach Caitlin Eicher’s club qualified for both the Shoreline Conference Tournament and the Class S State Tournament en route to an overall record of 12-10.
The Knights clinched their berth in states by defeating Portland 5-4 on May 10, a victory during the middle of a six-game winning streak. Westbrook lost to Morgan in the Shoreline quarterfinals and then its season came to a close with a 9-1 loss to St. Paul in the first round of the Class S Tournament. K
nights’ junior Alexa Mulvihill was named All-Shoreline Conference First Team as a utility player, senior pitcher Hannah Bibisi made the Second Team, and junior catcher Biance Ferrucci was an Honorable Mention.
Baseball
The Knights qualified for the Class S State Tournament by blanking O’Brien Tech 1-0 behind five-hit, 11-strikeout performance from Alex Hartzell and a home run by Arno Utegg on May 23. Westbrook then took a 12-0 loss to Morgan in the first round of states to finish the year with a record of 8-13.The Knights were coached by Derek Hanssen and their senior captains were Utegg, Sean Antonson and Chris Benzi.