Printer Friendly Version - 2017 Guilford Indians Spring Year in Review

The Guilford girls’ tennis team was the Class M runner-up after taking a loss to Hand in the State Tournament final this spring. This marked the second time in three years the Indians reached a state final. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The 2017 spring sports season featured plenty of success for the Guilford Indians. The girls’ tennis team made its second state final in three seasons, while several other squads had prosperous postseason showings.

The Guilford girls’ tennis team put together a memorable campaign that saw the Indians advance all the way to the championship match of the Class M State Tournament.

After netting 13 wins for the regular season and reaching semifinals of the SCC Tournament, Chris Marra and the Indians earned the No. 12 seed in the Class M State Tournament—the same tournament in which they reached their first state final two years ago and then made the semifinal round last spring. After defeating Suffield (6-1) and North Haven (4-3) to open the draw, Guilford dispatched Woodstock Academy (7-0) and Farmington (6-1) to get back to the championship match for a showdown against No. 2 seed and SCC champion Hand. The Class M final took place on June 1 at Westbrook, where Hand took the title with a 5-2 victory. The Indians were trailing 3-2 as the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches went to decisive third sets, and Hand came away with wins in both contests to clinch the championship.

Guilford’s lone senior was its No. 1 singles player, Claire Dinauer, who notched All-SCC Division I honors after posting a record of 18-10 for the season. Dinauer also qualified for the State Open Championship, as did the Indians’ No. 2 doubles team of junior captain Sam Stofflet and sophomore partner Emily Dietzko.

The junior doubles team of siblings Charlotte and Molly Babbin also made the All-SCC Division I Team, plus they made All-State Team honors by reaching the semifinals of the State Open.

Head Coach Rob Messer’s club posted an excellent record of 16-4 for the 2017 regular season to go with berths in the SCC and Class L State tournaments. After defeating Xavier 5-2 in the SCC quarterfinals, Guilford took a 7-0 loss to Hand in the semis to finish at 17-5 overall.

Singles player and lone senior Jeff Eng posted a record of 11-7 record for the season and earned All-SCC Division I Team honors.

Head Coach Brian White and the Indians competed in the Class M State Tournament and earned an opening-round victory before taking a loss to finish with a record of 9-9.

Nineteenth-ranked Guilford traveled to No. 14 Wolcott for a qualifying round matchup and prevailed 18-2 on May 27. Facing No. 3 Weston in the first round on May 31, the Indians took a 15-7 defeat.

Shane Molloy went All-SCC First Team and John Delucia was Second Team, while also being named to the All-State Team. Molloy was additionally named to the All-American Team, the New Haven Register

First-year Head Coach Wendy Epke and the Indians won their opening contest of the Class M State Tournament and then lost their next game to conclude their campaign.

Sixteenth-seeded Guilford began the Class M State Tournament with a 17-7 win over No. 17 RHAM in the qualifying round on May 26. Then in the first round on May 30 against top seed East Lyme, the Indians took a 19-4 defeat to finish the year at 9-9 overall.

Nicolette Spotlow and Olivia Clarke were All-SCC First Team selections and Alexa Petritz made the Second Team. Clarke and Spotlow were named to the New Haven Register

Head Coach Jon Rivera and the Indians finished in fourth place at the SCC Championship at Lyman Hall on May 23. Meredith Bloss took the 3,200 crown for the Indians with a time of 11:09.02, edging out second-place runner Bridgid Selfors of Mercy (11:09.09). The 4x800 relay of Andrea Basilicato, Chloe Shaw, Julia Esposito, and Elissa Strand emerged victorious in 9:47.95, besting runner-up Amity (9:55.79).

Also scoring points for Guilford, Jacqui Guerra finished second in the 1,600 (5:13.45), fourth for the 3,200 (11:54.43), and was eighth in the 800 (2:26.45). Bloss finished third in the 1,600 at 5:13.94 with Kelsi Putnam in sixth (5:26.37). Strand finished sixth in the 800 by running a 2:24.43, while Mallory Peters finished seventh in the discus (98-3). Also, the Indians’ 4x400 relay of Jess Bohan, Sofia Migani, Strand, and Shaw took fifth place in 4:14.69.

The Indians finished tied for fourth with Law at the Class MM State Championship on May 31. Bloss was the runner-up in the 1,600 (5:09.98) to Tolland’s Katherine Deloreto (5:06.09), while Guerra finished third (5:12.10) in the event. Bloss was also second in the 3,200 (11:13.94) to Hayley Collins of Tolland (11:02.13), with Guerra finishing fourth (11:34.53). Strand finished fourth in the 800 (2:25.11) and Chloe Shaw followed in fifth (2:25.16). Guilford’s 4x800 relay of Julia Esposito, Shaw, Kelsi Putnam, and Strand was the runner-up (9:37.49) to Avon (9:36.39). The 4x400 relay of Shaw, Strand, Jess Bohan, and Guerra finished in seventh (4:15.79).

Guilford scored seven points to finish tied for 26th place at the State Open Championship, which was held on June 5 at Willow Brook Park in New Britain. Bloss came in fifth place in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:59.30 to net four points, while Guerra also qualified in the event. Guilford’s 4x800 relay took sixth place at 9:44.75 to score the remaining three points for the Indians. Elsewhere for Guilford, Guerra finished 11th (5:12.94) for the 1,600 with Bloss also qualifying for the event, while Strand took 14th place (2:33.37) in the 800 with Shaw additionally qualifying for that event.

At the New England Championship, Bloss finished seventh in the 3,200 (11:05), while the Indians’ 4x800 relay squad was 10th (9:39) on June 10 in Norwell, Massachusetts.

Guilford began its postseason by finishing eighth at the SCC Championship. Jordan Lembo-Frey ran a time of 22.35 seconds to defeat Alex Pratcher III from Law (22.49) for the 200 title. Lembo-Frey was also a close runner-up in the 100 as his mark of 11.16 put him just behind Pratcher III (11.12).

Also for Guilford, Finn Davidson came in fourth for the 1,600 (4:26.70), Corey Gambardella raced to eighth in the 800 (2:05.31), the 4x400 relay of Will Smith, Caleb Benedict, Gambardella, and Lembo-Frey finished third (3:26.15); and the 4x100 of Jacob Sabol-Low, Sam Sessions, Thomas Larkin-Wells, and Corey Sondak came in eighth place at 45.22.

Lembo-Frey captured the crown in the 200-meter dash to help the Guilford finish tied for seventh place at the Class MM State Championship. The Indians scored 33 points and tied with Hillhouse and East Lyme at the state meet, which was held at Willow Brook Park in New Britain. Lembo-Frey won the 200 by running a time of 22.52 seconds, defeating runner-up Pratcher III (22.61). Guilford’s 4x400 relay placed second (3:26.22) to Weston (3:25.34), and its 4x800 relay of Smith, Davidson, Joe Walters, and Gambardella finished third (8:12.50). Davidson finished fifth for the 1,600 (4:27.45), Gambardella was seventh in the 800 (2:01.02), Josh Stern raced to seventh for the 3,200 (10:10.08), and Sondak was eighth in the 100 (11.64) for Head Coach George Cooksey’s team.

For the State Open Championship, Lembo-Frey placed eighth in the 200-meter run with a time of 22.34 seconds to score a point. Additionally for the Indians, Davidson finished 11th for the 1,600-meter run (4:24.56); the 4x800 relay placed 12th (8:09.05); while the 4x400 relay also qualified for the event.

Head Coach Steve Zajac and the Indians finished with a record of 15-5 for the regular season, including a 3-1 win versus previously undefeated Cheshire that put an end to the Rams’ 39-game winning streak. Then as the No. 3 seed in the SCC Tournament, Guilford recorded thrilling comeback victories over 6th-seeded East Haven (3-2) and No. 2 seed North Haven (6-3 in 8 innings) en route to its first conference final, where the Indians took an 8-0 defeat to top-seeded Cheshire.

In the Class L State Tournament, the No. 6 seed Indians lost 4-2 against No. 27 Sacred Heart Academy. When all was said and done, Guilford finished the year with an overall record of 17-7, marking the most victories for the Indians in a season in Coach Zajac’s tenure.

Amanda King earned All-SCC First Team and Class L All-State honors. She was also selected to play in the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Junior Select All-Star Game. Megan Zampano was picked to play in the Umpires’ Association Scholar Athlete Classic. Emily Torre was All-SCC Second Team, while King was named to the All-Area Team for the New Haven Register

Head Coach Brian Hayden and the Guilford baseball squad finished with a record of 13-7 for the regular season on their way to qualifying for the Class L State Tournament, while also earning a wild card berth to the SCC Tournament for the first time in five years.

In the SCC tourney, 7th-seeded Guilford was narrowly defeated by No. 2 seed and eventual finalist Fairfield Prep, 4-3, in its opening contest. Then as the No. 9 seed in states, the Indians defeated No. 24 seed E.O. Smith (6-3) and No. 25 Bristol Central (7-1) in the first two rounds before taking a 10-8 home loss to all-time Cinderella story and eventual Class L champion, No. 32 seed Foran, in the quarterfinals.

Sean Kellaher was an All-SCC-Oronoque Division and All-State selection for the Indians. Matt Donlan and Noah Rubino were also All-Division.

The 18th annual Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Association State Championship was held on May 21 at Lake Waramaug in New Preston, where Guilford crew had a historic day by sending eight boats to the finals and bringing home three medals for the first time behind two silvers and one bronze. Nine Guilford boats participated in the day-long event for Head Coach Matt Wilson’s program, competing against 12 other teams from around Connecticut. Each race was 1,500 meters long with a six-lane course.

Guilford’s girls’ second varsity boat earned a bronze with a time of 5:25.3. This marked Guilford’s first medal in a girls’ varsity eight-boat. The girls’ novice eight-boat won a silver medal in its race with a time of 5:44.30, only placing behind first-place Glastonbury, which recorded a time of 5:38.90.

The boys’ novice eight-boat gained a silver medal with a time of 5:14.70; Glastonbury placed first at 5:09.50. The girls’ first varsity boat claimed fourth place with a time of 5:12.80, missing third place by just one second. The boys’ second varsity boat came in fourth place, boys’ first varsity came in eighth, girls’ third varsity came in fifth, and the girls’ novice four-boat finished in fourth for the Indians.

Head Coach Dave Esteban and the Guilford golf team finished 5-12 for the season. The Indians tallied a score of 344 to finish tied for 13th place with Platt at the Division II State Championship at Tallwood Country Club in Hebron on June 5.

Sam Inchalik and Guilford boys’ tennis won 17 matches and made the semifinals of the SCC Division I Tournament in 2017. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

Amanda King was an All-SCC First Team and All-State Team honoree for the Guilford softball squad, which reached its first SCC Tournament final this year. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

Sean Kellaher was an All-State selection who helped the Indians’ baseball team win 13 games and advance to the quarterfinals of the Class L State Tournament. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier