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01/20/2018 11:00 PMGirls’ Ice Hockey
The Branford-East Haven-North Branford (Bfd-EH-NB) girls’ ice hockey team had a busy schedule last week. The Wings were on the ice for three games and won all three of them to improve to 8-3 this winter.
Bfd-EH-NB got going by recording a 3-0 home shutout over Masuk-Barlow-Newtown-Oxford-Bethel at DiLungo Rink on Jan. 16. North Branford student Emilie Wilkinson, Branford resident Sophia Caturano, and East Haven’s Juliana Constantinople scored the goals for the Wings, who received two assists from North Branford’s Emmy Norton. East Haven student Izabella Segui played goal and recorded her first varsity shutout.
The following day, the Wings faced off against another SCC South Division opponent and posted a 5-0 victory versus Notre Dame-Fairfield/Law/Foran/Weston at Milford Ice Pavilion. Constantinople netted a pair of goals, while Caturano, Norton, and Wilkinson also lit the lamp for the Wings. Norton had three assists, and Wilkinson handed out a pair of assists in the victory.
Bfd-EH-NB closed out its week by hosting non-conference opponent Northwest Catholic-Mercy and came away with a 5-3 win. Constantinople recorded a hat trick by netting three goals, while Norton handed out four assists in the victory. Caturano and Wilkinson added one goal apiece for the Wings, who saw East Haven’s Julia SanGiovanni make several great saves in net to pick up the win.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The Hornets played one game last week with a SCC/SWC Division II matchup against Watertown-Pomperaug at Taft-Mays Rink on Jan. 20. Branford took a 6-1 loss and now has a record of 5-2-1 for the year.
Boys’ Indoor Track
Aidan Kropiwnicki broke the school record in the 400-meter dash for the Branford boys’ indoor track team at Yale Track Classic at Coxe Cage on Jan. 20. Kropiwnicki, a junior, ran a time of 51.90 seconds to top the record and etch his name in Hornets’ history. In addition to the 400, Kropiwnicki has also qualified for states in the pole vault and with the 1,600 sprint medley relay this season.
Previously in the week, Branford saw several of its up-and-coming track and field athletes turn in notable showings at the SCC Novice Meet, which was held at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Jan. 18.
The Hornets’ 4x400-meter relay of sophomore Harrison Carnivale, senior Kadir Sahin, senior CJ Miller, and junior Glenn Iacovetti took first place with a time of 3:57.23, defeating the runner-up quartet from Hand by more than four seconds. Miller also clocked in at 39.97 seconds to earn a third-place finish in the 300-meter dash on behalf of the Hornets.
Also at meet, junior Brandon Perez cleared 5 feet-2 inches to take second place in the high jump. Sean Jansen finished second in the pole vault by clearing 9-6, while fellow sophomore Andrew Wirtz placed fifth by reaching 9 feet. Senior Ryan McCarthy took third place in the 600-meter run at 1:34.98, and Iacovetti finished fourth with a mark of 1:35.53.
Girls’ Indoor Track
Senior Bridget Wirtz and junior Liante Claude competed for the Hornets at the Yale Track Classic last week.
Claude posted a 14th-place finish in the 400-meter dash by running a time of 60.29 seconds, while Wirtz cleared 9 feet in the pole vault to come in 17th place at the meet.
“This was a good tuneup for some of our athletes before the championship season,” Head Coach Kevin Connell said. “We don’t have the numbers we’ve had in the past, but we have some high-caliber performers who should do well in the next couple of weeks.”
A few days earlier, the Hornets were represented by several athletes at the SCC Novice Meet. Sophomore Molly Zaffino ran a time of 10.94 seconds to pace fourth in the preliminaries of the 55-meter hurdles, followed by a mark of 11.10 in the final for an overall fifth-place finish. Fellow sophomore Kayla Pollard took seventh in the prelims of the 55-meter dash with an 8.34 and then finished seventh in the finals, while improving her time to 8.28.
Additionally, the Hornets’ 4x200 relay of freshman Kaitlyn Dugan, sophomore Rose Lockery, Pollard, and Zaffino posted a time of 2:05.25 and finished in sixth place.
Gymnastics
Brooke Kustra is a freshman at Branford High School who trains with the gymnastics team at Daniel Hand High School and also competes on behalf of the Hornets as a team-of-one at the Tigers’ meets. Last week, Kustra competed at two meets as Hand defeated Norwich Free Academy and Hamden at home on Jan. 16 and then claimed a win at Foran two nights later.
In the first meet, Kustra took third place on beam with a score of 8.3, in addition to scoring an 8.05 on vault, a 7.7 for the floor exercise, and a 7.0 on bars for an all-around total of 31.05.
At the Foran meet, Kustra finished third in the all-around with a score of 32.75, bolstered by her second-place finish on bars (8.3) and her third-place performance on the beam (8.65). She also scored an 8.0 on vault and a 7.8 on floor.
“[The Foran meet] was Brooke’s strongest so far this season. She’s...seen much success on bars this season. She is even working some additional skills to increase her start value, although they may not be ready this year,” said Hand Head Coach Kelly Smith of Kustra. “On beam, we’ve been impressed with her confidence and the way she attacks her routine. She’s hit all her beam routines in competition and seems unfazed by nerves, which as a freshman, is great. She’s a strong all-around gymnast and has great potential moving forward.”
Girls’ Basketball
The Hornets were on the road for a pair of recent SCC Hammonasset Division contests and took defeats in both games. Branford lost against Amity and Sacred Heart Academy to move to 5-8 on the year.
Branford lost to Amity by the score of 54-34 on Jan. 16. Junior Sophie Araneo scored 13 points, and senior Emma Pierson had 10 points for the Hornets.
Then on Jan. 19, the Hornets were on the road again to face Sacred Heart Academy and dropped a 42-33 decision against the Sharks. Araneo scored 16 points for Branford in the loss.
Boys’ Basketball
Branford played a pair of SCC Quinnipiac Division games on its home floor last week. The Hornets lost to Foran and Law and are now 1-10 on the season.
On Jan. 16, the Hornets hosted Foran and dropped a 54-51 decision at Branford High School. Trailing by 10 points entering the fourth quarter, Branford outscored Foran 18-11 in the final frame, although the Lions hung on to come away with the win. Senior Ethan Boileau had a big game by scoring 16 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Hornets. Sophomore Kevin Baxter scored 13 points, senior Zane Kmietek had 11 points, and senior Danny Thomas scored nine points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Three nights later, Branford was back home to tip off against Law and took a 72-42 defeat. Kmietek scored 10 points, Baxter had eight points, and Boileau scored seven points.