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10/02/2017 12:00 AMBoys’ and Girls’ Cross Country
On Sept. 26, Haddam-Killingworth’s boys’ and girls’ cross country teams opened their dual-meet seasons when they hosted the Shoreline Large School League Meet against Coginchaug, Valley Regional, Morgan, North Branford, and Cromwell. Both Cougars’ squads swept their opponents to start off their respective campaigns with 5-0 records.
The H-K boys ran as a pack toward the front to outdistance themselves from the rest of the field. The boys defeated Coginchaug by a score of 20-43, in addition to earning wins against Cromwell (20-43), Morgan (15-50), Valley (20-43), and North Branford (15-50). Finishing together in places four through 11, respectively, with the same time of 19:01 for the 3.1-mile course were freshman Matt Jennings, seniors Daniel Schumann, Jonah Spector, Michael Callis, Conor McCabe, Alex Inkel, along with juniors Kyle Criscuolo and Seth Freeman.
The girls used a similar race strategy as the boys on their way to defeating Coginchaug (21-40), Cromwell (20-39), Valley (20-43), Morgan (15-50), and North Branford (15-48). The Cougars were led by seniors Kelsey D’Amico, Lexie Bouthillier, Grace Lindell, and Julie Kelly, who raced together and finished with the same time of 23:12 to place fourth through seventh, respectively. Also having outstanding races for the Cougars were freshman Meara Bodak in ninth (23:59) and senior Maggie Fisher in 10th (24:02).
Previously, on Sept. 22, the Cougars traveled to Goddard Park in Warwick, Rhode Island to compete in the Ocean State Invitational, a meet that featured 88 schools from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
The H-K boys’ varsity team, which is ranked seventh in the state of Connecticut, competed in the championship race against some of the top-ranked teams in the Northeast and placed fifth by scoring 170 points. The team was led by senior Jonah Spector, who placed 14th in a time of 16:30 for the 5K course. Coming in behind him were seniors Schumann (24th, 16:47), Andrew Meredith (27th, 16:49), McCabe (41st, 17:09), and Kurt Sodergren (77th, 17:44). Rounding out the varsity squad were juniors Criscuolo (83rd, 17:54) and Freeman (87th, 18:04).
The girls’ squad placed third out of 28 teams in the Division I race as they scored 191 points. H-K was led by Kelly, who placed 10th with a time of 20:26, along with Lindell (23rd, 21:21), Bouthillier (29th, 21:31), and Fisher (67th, 22:37). Freshman Bodak competed in her first varsity race and finished 91st (23:14) for the 3.1-mile course.
The Cougars’ JV and freshman boys’ squads also performed well as they both placed second as a team in their races. The JV team was led by the duo of Inkel in third (18:06) and Callis at fourth (18:14). The freshman boys were led by Jennings, who placed third in a time of 14:12 for the 4,000-meter course.
Field Hockey
The Cougars faced Westbrook, Suffield, and Stonington this past week and grabbed two wins to move their record to 4-2-0-1.
H-K first took a 1-0 loss to Westbrook on Sept. 27. The Cougars bested Suffield by that same score a day later, after which they blanked Stonington 1-0 on Sept. 30.
Volleyball
H-K took on Valley Regional and East Hampton this past week and split the two matchups to move its mark to 6-3.
The Cougars first took a five-set loss to Valley Regional on Sept. 25. After that, they rebounded with a 3-0 sweep of East Hampton two days later.
Boys’ Soccer
H-K played recent contests against Old Saybrook and Morgan, taking a loss and earning a tie to move to 4-2-1 overall on the year.
The Cougars took their second loss of the season by a 1-0 margin against Old Saybrook on Sept. 25. H-K then played to a 1-1 draw with Morgan two days later.
Girls’ Soccer
H-K is now 0-5-1 after dropping a contest against Morgan last week. The Coguars took a 5-0 loss to Morgan on Sept. 28.
Football
H-K football moved to 2-2 after taking a 43-7 loss to Cromwell-Portland on Sept. 28. Jake Frith rushed for 46 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown for the Cougars.
After two quick scores by Cromwell in the first quarter, H-K came back in the second quarter and scored a touchdown to tighten the game. However, it was all Cromwell-Portland from that point on as the Panthers led 30-7 at halftime and scored twice in the second half to close out the game.
Jordan Callahan had a good night on special teams for H-K by kicking an extra point and punting four times for an average of 41 yards, including a 62-yard punt and two punts that were downed inside the Panthers’ 5-yard line.
“We responded well early after getting down by two scores, but we couldn’t maintain it for the entire game. Cromwell-Portland is a good team and played well,” said H-K Head Coach Mike Baklik.