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02/02/2020 11:00 PMGirls’ Indoor Track
The Hand girls’ indoor track squad posted a trio of first-place finishes on its way to taking third place as a team at the SCC East Sectional Championship last week. The Tigers totaled a team score of 73 points in their third-place performance at Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Jan. 29. Hillhouse took the title with a score of 101 points, edging out runner-up Sheehan by just one point for the top spot.
Junior Anna Steffen claimed first place in two distance events for Hand at sectionals, winning both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. In the 1,600, Steffen ran a time of 5:27.81 to finish well ahead of Don’nay Davis of Hillhouse (5:38.19) for top honors. Steffen also raced her way to a comfortable victory in the 3,200 by recording a time of 11:34.25, which was nearly 50 seconds faster than runner-up Adriana Franzese from Shelton (12:25.02).
The Tigers were also bolstered by a victory from senior Chloe Thompson in the 1,000-meter run. Thompson timed in with a mark of 3:18.09 to finish ahead of freshman teammate Adelynn Arroyo (3:19.50) for first place.
Junior Morgan Combs took second place in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:44.58 for the Tigers. Hand’s 4x800 relay featuring Combs, freshman Madeline Coulis, Arroyo, and Thompson came in second place by posting a time of 10:23.08.
The Tigers’ 4x400 relay of senior Kayla Howard, freshman Maya Howard, Arroyo, and sophomore Meryl Sullivan turned in a time of 4:24.78 to finish third. The 1,600 sprint medley relay of sophomore Kyra Matkin, junior Olivia Henkel, Coulis, and Combs took fourth place at 4:42.56.
Junior Olivia Zdunek finished fourth in the high jump by clearing a height of 4 feet-6 inches for Hand. Sophomore Julianna Powell also cleared 4-6 and came in sixth place.
Sullivan raced her way to a fourth-place showing in the 600 behind a time of 1:47.84. Coulis finished sixth (1:48.57) in the 600, Maya Howard found ninth (1:51.13), and junior Molly Kerrigan took 10th place (1:53.74).
Freshman Julia Coric finished seventh in the 300 by running a time of 44.96 seconds. The Tigers’ 4x200 relay of Matkin, Henkel, sophomore Nicolette Doherty, and Coric claimed seventh place with a 1:58.53.
Junior Keelin Virgulto finished ninth in the 1,000 with a time of 3:46.87 for the Tigers. Sophomore Reilly Duncanson took 10th place for the long jump by reaching a distance of 13-10.5.
Gymnastics
The Tigers competed against Foran in a road meet on Jan. 30. The Tigers notched a 121.3-114.1 win against the Lions to raise their record to 8-2 this season.
Senior Carly Barba finished in first place on the vault with a score of 8.2 for the Tigers. Freshman Morgan McMahon scored an 8.1 to take second place in the event. McMahon also took first place on the floor exercise by posting a score of 8.4 and was third for the beam with a 7.8.
Head Coach Kelly Smith noted some other strong performances from her gymnasts in this meet. Junior Kayla Cataldo scored a 7.9 on vault on her way to posting an all-around total of 29.4. Additionally, freshman Ellie Davern scored a 7.8 on vault and a 7.7 on floor, sophomore Paige Dean totaled a score of 7.3 for the bars, and freshman Eva Alquist scored a 7.1 on bars.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
Hand had a road meet against Notre Dame-West Haven that took place at Albertus Magnus College on Jan. 27. The Tigers defeated the Green Knights by the final score of 97-78 to improve to 4-1 this winter. Hand also moved to 2-0 in SCC Division I competition with the win.
Senior Daniel Chen took first place in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.74 for the Tigers. Senior William Porter finished first in the 100 butterfly (58.41), junior Jack Signorello won the 200 individual medley (2:13.14), and sophomore John Beiner claimed first place in the 100 freestyle (54.23).
The Tigers’ 200 medley relay of senior Jae Pinilla-O’Dea, Beiner, sophomore Ian Lobby, and Chen finished in first place with a time of 1:53.69. The 200 freestyle relay of Chen, Looby, Signorello, and Porter took first by recording a mark of 1:40.64.
Girls’ Basketball
Hand went up against a pair of divisional opponents in last week’s action. The Tigers posted victories versus Wilbur Cross and Lyman Hall to move to 12-3 overall with a record of 5-0 in the SCC Quinnipiac Division.
On Jan. 28, Hand traveled to New Haven to face Wilbur Cross for a Quinnipiac Division matchup. The Tigers won the game by the final score of 41-34 to remain undefeated in the division, while handing the Governors their first loss in divisional play.
Two days later, Hand claimed a 61-41 victory at Lyman Hall in another Quinnipiac Division contest.
Boys’ Basketball
The Tigers played a pair of home games last week and came away with split to move to 6-7 on the year. Hand lost to Law and then defeated Sheehan in recent action.
Hand hosted Law for an SCC Hammonasset Division game on Jan. 28. The Tigers took a 48-41 defeat to put their divisional record at 1-3 on the season
Three days after that, the Tigers faced Sheehan at home and prevailed by a 59-45 score.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The Tigers took to their home ice to face Guilford in an SCC/SWC Division II showdown at Northford Ice Pavilion on Jan. 31. Hand defeated the Indians by the final score of 4-1 to boost its overall record to 10-1 on the season. The Tigers also improved to 3-0 in the division with the victory.
Girls’ Ice HockeyThe Hand-Coginchaug-Valley Regional-Old Lyme (H-C-VR-OL) girls’ ice hockey squad split a pair of games in recent action. The Tigers now have a record of 4-9 on the campaign.
On Jan. 27, the Tigers took a 6-5 overtime loss to Trumbull-St. Joseph in a non-conference game at the Sports Center of Connecticut.
Two days later, H-C-VR-OL claimed a 3-1 home victory against Masuk-Barlow-Newtown-Lauralton Hall-Shelton at Northford Ice Pavilion in an SCC contest. The Tigers improved to 2-4 in the SCC with the win.
Wrestling
Hand was on the road to face crosstown rival Guilford on Jan. 29. The Tigers took a 54-12 defeat against the Indians in an SCC matchup at Guilford High School.
Junior Brian Beirne prevailed via an 11-7 decision in the 132-pound bout for Hand. Sophomore Cameron Chieppo pinned his opponent just 48 seconds into their 145-pound matchup. Junior Rocky Mayer earned a 5-0 victory on a decision at 170 pounds.
Boys’ Fencing
The Tigers’ foil team faced Cheshire Academy in a recent matchup and triumphed by the final score of 7-2. Senior Michael Himler won all three of his matchups, while senior Finn Byrne and junior Luke Newton contributed two wins apiece for the Tigers.
Hand went on to get an 8-1 win versus North Branford in its next contest. Byrne and Newton both had three victories with Hilmer winning his only match of the day. Senior Matthew Esposito also notched a win for the Tigers.
The foil team’s next matchup was a home meet against Marine Science. The Tigers earned an 8-1 victory, keyed by wins each from Byrne, Newton, and Esposito. Hilmer won his only bout, while junior Daniel Ginsburg, who’s primarily a saber fencer, was victorious in his varsity foil debut.
The boys’ épée team earned a 7-2 victory against Marine Science. Senior Evan Merenda won both of his matches, as did junior Adam LeBlanc. Sophomore Brian Girardi also contributed with a victory.
The Tigers also participated in the state’s JV and Novice tournaments. At the JV Tournament, Esposito took third place in foil, Merenda finished third for épée, LeBlanc came in fifth place in épée, and junior Roland Calia-Bogan finished seventh in saber.
In the Novice Tournament, freshman Jay Boyer took seventh place in saber, while freshman Blake Volenec placed eighth in épée.
Girls’ Fencing
The Hand foil squad picked up a 7-2 win over Cheshire Academy in a recent matchup. Junior Cameryn Brown led the charge by winning three bouts for the Tigers. Senior Nikki Vaccaro and sophomore Angela Zhang each claimed a pair of victories.
The Tigers followed up that victory by defeating North Branford by an 8-1 score. Brown posted three wins, Vaccaro had two wins, and junior Brenna MacCallum also notched two victories.
Hand went on to win a close one against Marine Science by a 5-4 final. Brown claimed three wins, while MacCallum and senior Violet Johnson also secured important victories for the Tigers.
The épée team also faced Marine Science and earned an 8-1 victory. Senior Ally Lesnik and junior Sophie Glassman won all three of their matchups with junior Becca Cancelliere contributing the other two wins.
Hand also competed in the state’s JV and Novice tournaments in recent action. Cancelliere finished third for épée with sophomore Sarah Swenson taking fourth place. Zhang finished fourth in the foil competition for Hand. Sophomore Brigid O’Keefe came in fourth place for saber, and junior Megan Kelly finished seventh.
For the novice tourney, sophomore Haley Wong finished the round-robin portion of the tournament in seventh place and then took a 15-11 loss in a close contest in her first elimination bout.