Printer Friendly Version - Guilford Girls’ Track Places 2nd at Sectionals; Boys’ Hockey, Girls’ Hoops Make States

Meredith Bloss finished first in the 3,200 and was also second in both the 1,000 and 1,600 for the Guilford girls’ indoor track team at the SCC East Sectional Championship on Jan. 24. The Indians finished second as a squad at the meet. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Indians' girls' indoor track team took part in the SCC East Sectional Championship at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Jan. 24. Guilford scored 94 points and finished in second place behind only Hillhouse (144 points) at the meet.

Jacqui Guerra took the title in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:10.26, edging out runner-up and teammate Meredith Bloss (3:12.60). The tandem finished in the same spots for the 1,600 with Guerra clocking in at 5:33.63 and Bloss at 5:34.95. For the 3,200, Bloss finished first (11:55.57) and Guerra came in second (12:03.92). The Indians' 4x800 relay of Chloe Shaw, Julia Esposito, Kelsi Putnam, and Elissa Strand also came out on top (10:18.12) over runner-up Shelton (10:20.67), while Sofia Migani cleared 4-8 to win the high jump for the Indians.

Elsewhere, Guilford's 1,600 sprint medley team of Gabriela Garcia-Perez, Putnam, Shaw, and Strand was third (4:34.57); Migani finished third for the long jump (15-10), Gianna Siciliano came in fourth for the 1,600 (5:42.02) and seventh with the 3,200 (12:50.73), and Garcia-Perez was seventh in the 55-meter dash (7.96 seconds).

Guilford came in tied for eighth place by scoring 17 points at last week's SCC East Sectional Championship.

Corey Sondak was a close runner-up in the 55-meter dash (6.629 seconds) to Mike Plakson of Law (6.627) at the sectional meet. Will Smith came in second for the 600 (1:26.28) to winner Talib McBride of Hillhouse (1:25.99).

Also for Guilford, Joe Walters finished seventh for the 600 (1:32.68), Ben Crair was seventh for the 1,600 (4:53.54) and Brennan Kaisen was eighth (4:57.14), Connor Rose placed seventh for the shot put (37-9.5), and Elijah Dillon paced his way to eighth in the 3,200 (10:21.83). The 4x400 relay of Smith, Rhys Kalama, McKendry Eschinger, and Walters finished eighth (3:47.17); and those same four athletes came in sixth for the 4x800 relay at 8:52.95.

The Indians won all three of their games last week, while qualifying for the Division II State Tournament in the process. Guilford now has a record of 10-2 this year.

Guilford first doubled up Newtown 8-4 on Jan. 22 to seal up a spot in states. The Indians defeated Housatonic-Northwestern-Wamogo 9-3 two days later, after which they posted a 5-3 win versus on Jan. 27.

Against Amity, Guilford's goals came from Jack Ring (2), John DeLucia (2), and Joe Neleber. Assists went to Jack Dacey (3), DeLucia (2), Jake Watrous, Ring, and Lucas Napolitano. The Indians outshot the Spartans 30-26, with Mete Yanbul making 23 saves in net,

Against Housatonic-Northwestern-Wamogo, Ring scorched the ice with a six-goal performance for Guilford. DeLucia scored two goals, and Watrous added another in the victory. Assisting on goals were Tom Cattaneo (3), Dacey (2), DeLucia (2), Watrous (2), Ring, and Xander Mason-Mann. Yanbul (15 saves) and Will Boender (6 saves) shared the netminding duties as Guilford won the shots-on-goal battle 40-24.

Facing Newtown, Ring and DeLucia both posted hat tricks for the Indians, while Dacey and Zach Woxland also scored goals. Assisting on scores were Ring (3), Dacey (2), Cattaneo, Neleber, DeLucia, Watrous, and Mason-Mann. Guilford outshot Newtown 42-30, with Yanbul making 26 stops.

Guilford grabbed one win in its three contests last week, but it was a crucial victory that guaranteed berths in the SCC and State tournaments for the Indians, who are now 8-6 on the season.

The Indians first dropped a 58-47 decision to Lyman Hall on Jan. 22. Guilford then clinched a postseason berth by getting its eighth victory with a 54-26 final over North Haven on Jan. 24. The Indians later lost by a 53-52 score against Foran on Jan. 26.

Lyman Hall hit 10 three-pointers in its win against the Indians. Guilford closed the gap to 47-45, before Kailey Lipka made a three to put Lyman Hall ahead 50-45. The Trojans came back with another bucket to go up seven with a minute to play. Amanda King led the Indians with 17 points, and Elle Petra came off the bench to score 11 points.

Against North Haven, Guilford jumped out to a 15-1 first-quarter lead and never looked back. King led all scorers with 17 points and seven steals. Lily Hedge came off the bench in her first varsity game to score 11.

Facing Foran, Guilford trailed 27-21 at the half, but a 23-11 run that was sparked by 14 second-half points from King put the Indians up 44-38. In a game of runs, Foran regrouped and went on its own 15-5 run, before King hit a three at the buzzer to make it a one-point loss for Guilford.

The Indians will host Branford on their Senior Night on Friday, Feb. 2. Festivities begin at

6:45 p.m. as Guilford will honor its six seniors: Hyman, King, Jordan Hedge, Molly Linell, Hannah McDermott, and Emma Rand.

Guilford improved to 13-0 after locking down another trio of wins this past week.

Guilford then took down Amistad 62-46 on Jan. 25 and Law by the score of 63-42 one night later. Noah Rubino totaled 19 points against Amistad, and Donlan tallied 17 points the next night against Law.

Keldon LaRose won his 126-pound bout by pin at the 3:57 mark for the Indians. Also recording victories for Guilford were Vinny Mascola (145, by 16-5 decision), Joe Santino (152, by 186 decision), Christion Swan (160, by 12-4 decision), Charlie Andrus (182, by 8-3 decision), and AJ Moscato (195, by 8-1 decision).

Olivia Ciocca, who trains with Hand and competes as a team-of-one for Guilford, put in strong performances during the Tigers' two meets last week.

When Hand hosted Hamden on Jan. 23, Ciocca took the top spot in the all-around with a total score of 32.3. She finished tied for first on floor (8.25), second on the vault (8.3) and bars (8.2), and tied for third in the beam (7.5) at the meet.

In Hand's contest against Mercy, Haddam-Killingworth/Hale-Ray/Morgan, and Valley Regional on Jan. 25, Ciocca scored an 8.15 on the vault, 7.3 for bars, 7.1 on beam, and 8.4 on floor.

Jacqui Guerra won the 1,000 and 1,600 and was runner-up for the 3,200 to help the Indians’ girls’ indoor track team take second place at the SCC East Sectional Championship. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

Julia Hyman and the Guilford girls’ basketball team defeated North Haven this past week to secure a postseason bid. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier