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01/29/2017 11:00 PMBoys’ Indoor Track
The Tigers’ boys’ indoor track team came in second place at the SCC East Sectional Championship at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Jan. 24. Hand scored 92 points and only placed behind Sheehan (96.5).
Hand featured several event winners at the sectional meet. Troy Lefler won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.99 seconds with Zach Deptula of Shelton placing second (8.01). Lefler also prevailed in the long jump by reaching 20 feet-2.5 inches to defeat Amity’s Daniel Koproski (20-1). Max Veth won the 300-meter dash in a time of 36.57 seconds with Shelton’s Luke English placing second (36.91). In the 600-meter run, Veth ran a time of 1:24 and finished second to English. Devon McShane cleared 14 feet and took the pole vault over Amity’s Matt D’Onofrio (11-6). The Tigers’ 4x400 relay of Matt Parker, John Lisi, John Hartman, and Veth was victorious in 3:36.28, besting runner-up Law (3:39.52).
Elsewhere, the 1,600 sprint medley relay of Ameen Parks, Ethan McMahon, Matt Parker, and Owen McGeary was the runner-up (3:51.35) to Shelton (3:49.24); McMahon finished fifth in the 55-meter dash (6.84); Liam Akers was ninth in the 300 (38.56); John Lisi and (2:50.94) and McGeary (2:51.20) had a 4-5 finish in the 1,000; Jaime Calderon came in fifth for the 1,600 (4:45.87); and the 4x800 relay of Tyler Bernard, Mark Lisi, Mike Rossi, and Calderon was sixth (9:10.93). Additionally, Quincy Heinrich tied for second (5-10) in the high jump behind Hillhouse’s Keon Jackson (6-0), plus Russ Powell was fourth (5-8), McShane took seventh (5-6), Greyson McGeary claimed eighth (5-6), and John Clyde was 10th (5-6). Hartman placed fourth in the long jump (19-10.25), while Kyle Citrin was 10th for the pole vault (8-6).
Girls’ Indoor Track
Hand finished seventh with 38 points at last week’s SCC East Sectional Championship.
Caroline O’Neil was victorious in a pair of events for the Tigers. O’Neil won the 55-meter dash by running a time of 7.335 seconds to edge Law’s Kiara Smith, who went a 7.339. O’Neil also posted a time of 41.42 to win the 300 over runner-up Wynter Williams of Hillhouse (42.72).
Also for Hand, Megan Phillips came in third place in the 800 (3:16.91), while teammate Emily Connelly finished 10th (3:25.35). Elinor Laffargue finished sixth in the 55 (7.96); Gabrielle Harmon was fifth in the 300 (44.02) with Bridget Phillips (45.67) in seventh and Kayla Howard taking 10th (46.68); Ashlinn Virgulto claimed eighth place in the 600 (1:50.47) with Chloe Veth following in ninth (1:51.33; Emily Baker raced to 10th in the 1,600 (5:53.12); and Jade Law finished 10th in the 3,200 (13:01.63).
The Tigers’ 4x400 relay of Megan Phillips, Harmon, Abby Walton, and O’Neil finished second (4:16.00) to Hillhouse (4:12.36); the 4x200 relay of Laffargue, Grace Craven, Brooke Meeker, and Bridget Phillips was sixth (1:57.54); and the 4x800 of Baker, Gabriella Larizza, Francesca Antoni, and Law placed seventh (11:48.81).
Wrestling
Hand improved to 14-2 by earning a 38-29 victory over Guilford on Jan. 24.
Wins for the Tigers came from Kyle Davern (106-pound weight class, pin at 2:25), Dylan Brochard (113, pin at 4:54), Mark Hartmann (120, 17-0 technical fall), Charlie Jenson (138, 15-10 decision), Zakery Santoemma (145, pin at 4:23), Adam Hendrick (160, pin at 3:54), and Michael Burchell (285, pin at 0:25).
Gymnastics
Hand improved to 11-0 after sweeping a pair of quad-meets last week.
First off, Hand scored 133.75 points to sweep a meet against Mercy (130.65), Valley Regional (109.15), and Haddam-Killingworth/Hale-Ray/Morgan (99.4) on Jan. 26. Erin Naclerio had an 8.9 on vault, 9.15 on beam, 9.0 on the floor, and 34.85 all-around score. Noelle Bergere tallied an 8.65 for the floor. Head Coach Kelly Smith said that the Tigers performed well on beam and floor during the second half of the meet to erase a small deficit against Mercy.
The Tigers then swept a meet on Jan. 28 by scoring a 127.3 to defeat New Milford (126.95), Pomperaug (114.55), and Hamden (103.3). Hand’s performances included Olivia Finke (32.5 all-around, 8.4 on beam, 8.15 on floor, 8.1 on vault); Bergere (32.15 all-around, 8.4 on floor, 8.15 on vault, 8.0 on beam); Schylar Saliba (31.65 all-around, 8.55 on beam, 8.45 on vault); Lexi Theel (30.00 all-around, 8.05 on vault); Sam Mayhew (8.3 on vault); and Carly Barba (8.05 on vault).
“We’re psyched with this win today because we knew it would be a really close meet and we snuck it out. We’re so proud of all the little things they did today. They fought hard, they put it all out there, and, even if we had come up short, we would’ve been happy with our performances today,” said Coach Smith. “I’m especially proud of the people who competed all-around this week. We had some new people step up and do a really great job, especially senior captain Olivia Finke and sophomore Schylar Saliba competing all-around in both meets this week. We will most likely see New Milford again at states, so it will be important for us to use this as a confidence booster and work to defeat them again next time with a more comfortable margin. Today’s score was so close that it came down to the very last floor routine, in which Noelle Bergere turned in a great routine to seal the win.”
Girls’ Basketball
Hand prevailed in two of its three games last week to stand at 12-3 for the season. The Tigers netted a 55-44 win over Mercy and then earned a 68-56 decision against Lyman Hall to up its SCC Oronoque Division record to 5-0. The Tigers ended the week with a 43-42 loss to Career on Jan. 27.
In the Mercy victory, Gabby Egidio led all scorers with 15 points, while Gabby Martin racked up nine points, nine assists, five rebounds, and four steals. Emma Sullivan and Sara Wohlgemuth broke into double figures with 10 points each, Kaitlyn Martin chipped in seven points, eight rebounds, and two steals; and Halle Freund posted seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Hand forced Mercy into 22 turnovers in the victory.
Mercy’s Sam Chapps scored seven of her nine points in the first quarter to give the visitors a 14-13 lead after one. Three pointers from Egidio and Sullivan, coupled with a stingy defense, spurred the Tigers to a 24-21 halftime lead. A pair of buckets from both Egidio and Colleen Caruth helped Hand take a five-point lead into the final frame. Mercy continually threatened to pull even in the fourth, but Hand maintained its composure and outscored the 6th-ranked team in the state 20-14 to finish off the win.
“This was such a high-energy contest for all 32-minutes. It was a really fun game to be a part of. Our kids did an amazing job with their intensity and execution.” said Head Coach Tim Tredwell. “I thought Kaitlyn, Colleen, and Halle were fantastic keeping Megan Deville from getting going. For a kid who only took one shot, Halle played a huge role in this win the way she patrolled the middle on offense and defense. Sara provided a tremendous lift off the bench. For a freshman, she plays way beyond her years every night. The energy from our bench was the best its been all season. I’m just incredibly proud of the effort tonight.”
Versus Lyman Hall, Gabby Martin scored a team-high 16 points and she also racked up 13 assists, five rebounds, and three steals. Egidio put up 14 points and seven steals, plus Kaitlyn Martin added 13 points and seven rebounds. Hand shot 51 percent from the floor, out-rebounded Lyman Hall 33-22, and forced the Trojans into 23 turnovers.
Down 14-13 after one, Lyman Hall scored the first basket of the second quarter for its only lead of the game. Hand immediately went on a 10-0 run to take a 24-15 advantage. Up 32-22 at the half, the Tigers poured it on in the third behind Egidio’s nine points and Gabby Martin’s six assists to take a 58-41 lead into the fourth en route to the 12-point win in Wallingford.
Versus Career, Gabby Martin led Hand with 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Sullivan hit a pair of threes on her way to 10 points.
Career took advantage of a sluggish Hand start, outscoring the home team 14-5 in the opening frame. The Tigers recovered in the second with Gabby Martin scoring nine of her team-high 11 points as Hand took a 24-21 halftime lead. However, the same energy that Hand found in second quarter escaped them in the third as Career outscored the Tigers 11-6 to take a 32-30 lead into the fourth. The game went back and forth with neither team creating any separation. Career left the door open for Hand by going 2-of-6 from the free throw line down the stretch. Down one with 14 seconds to play, Hand had one last chance to steal the win, but was unable to get a shot off, letting Career escape with a 43-42 win victory.
Boys’ Basketball
The Tigers took a 54-44 loss to Branford on Jan. 23 and then lost 58-36 to Amity on Jan. 27.
In the Branford game, Garrett Noonan had 14 points, Graeme McGivern added 12 points, and Brett Bilcheck scored eight for Hand (1-11). The game was tied with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter before the Hornets pulled away.
Boys’ and Girls’ Fencing
Hand took part in the State Novice Tournament at Guilford on Jan. 28. Jonas Bizier finished in first place for the boys’ sabre competition, Mikey Hilmer took sixth in boys’ foil, Maggie Lesnik finished seventh in girls’ sabre, and Natalie McCarthy finished eighth in the girls’ sabre tournament for the Tigers.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The Tigers skated past Milford 6-1 to improve to 4-6-1 on the season, and then 5-6-1 (and 4-1-1 over their last 6 games) with a 5-0 final over North Haven on Jan. 28.
Against Milford, Matt Rice recorded two goals. Facing North Haven, Rice had two goals and an assist, as did Chase Freiman.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
Hand took a 100-86 loss to Notre Dame-West Haven at Albertus Magnus College last week to move to a mark of 4-3.
In the previous week’s action, Hand lost a close contest by a 96-90 final to Amity. The Tigers broke the school record for the 200 medley relay as the quartet of Chris Wu, Paul O’Connor, Michael Healey, and Dylan Merritt swam a time of 1:45.87. Another school record fell in the 400 freestyle relay behind the mark of 3:25.81 put forth by Will Porter, O’Connor, Tyler Merritt, and Wu. The 200 free relay team of Healey, Dylan Merritt, Porter, and Tyler Merrit also took first at 1:37.27.
In addition to his relay contributions, Wu finished first in the 50 free (23.13) and took second in the 100 free (49.78). O’Connor also took a first in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.10) and was second in the 500 free (5:06.16). Dan Chen took second in the 200 individual medley (2:10.67) and the 100 breaststroke (59.50). Beecher Porter placed second in the 200 free (1:53.86) and third in the 100 free (51.99). Tyler Merritt took third in the 200 freestyle (1:54.31) and the 500 free (5:12.81).
Teddy Zeng finished in first in the diving with a score of 349.10, while Declan Maloney placed second with a total of 186.00.