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02/16/2020 11:00 PMBoys’ Indoor Track
The Hand boys’ indoor track team continued its excellent postseason run by taking third place at the Class L State Championship at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 15. On the heels of claiming their first East Sectional and SCC titles in team history, the Tigers racked up 55 points on their way to placing third at the Class L meet last week.
Hand was bolstered by a pair of first-place finishes at states. Junior Dante Zucconi claimed first place in the 1,600 meter-run with a time of 4:28.71 for the Tigers. Zucconi edged out Mark Petrosky of Bristol Central (4:28.89) by the slimmest of margins to get the gold.
Hand’s 4x200 relay of junior Josh Stewart, senior Ameen Parks, junior Braeden Kosiewicz, and junior Carson Hines took first place by recording a time of 1:33.40, beating out the team from Simsbury (1:34.35) for top honors.
Junior Bryce Myers finished second in the pole vault by clearing a height of 12 feet at the state meet. Stewart took second place in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.64 in the final heat. Stewart was also second for the preliminaries at 6.71. In the 300-meter dash, Stewart finished seventh by running a time of 38.41.
Junior Connor Parthasarthy finished third in the 1,000 with a mark of 2:41.73 for Hand. Zucconi took fourth place in the 3,200 at 9:54.63. Senior Corey Duncanson placed sixth in the prelims of the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.33 and then ran an 8.28 in the finals for sixth place overall.
The Tigers’ 1,600 sprint medley team of junior Daven Pelaez, Hines, Kosiewicz, and Parthasarthy took third place in 3:46.36. Hand’s 4x400 relay of senior Besufekad Ostrup, Parks, Parthasarthy, and Hines finished fourth in 3:32.55.
Girls’ Indoor Track
The Tigers put forth a solid performance at the Class L State Championship last week. Hand totaled a team score of 20 points en route to a ninth-place finish at the state meet.
Junior Anna Steffen came in second place for the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:22.94 in states. In the 1,000-meter run, senior Chloe Thompson and freshman Adelyn Arroyo placed fourth (3:12.10) and fifth (3:12.51), respectively, for Hand.
The Tigers’ 4x800 relay of junior Morgan Combs, Arroyo, freshman Madeline Coulis, and Thompson finished with a time 10:18.49 to take fourth place. The 4x400 relay of freshmen Meryl Sullivan, Maya Howard, Julia Coric and Arroyo took fifth place at 4:20.04.
Girls’ Basketball
Hand completed its regular season by winning both of its games last week to finish with a record of 17-3, while also clinching the SCC Quinnipiac Division title. The Tigers will begin the postseason by competing in the SCC Tournament this week.
On Feb. 11, Hand claimed a 46-24 road win at divisional opponent Lauralton Hall.
Then, on Feb. 14, the Tigers hosted Wilbur Cross and prevailed by a 57-51 score to clinch Quinnipiac title with a record of 8-0 in the division. Cross finished at 6-2 in the Quinnipiac and would have shared the division title with the Tigers with a victory. Instead, Hand erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Governors and win the Quinnipiac title outright.
Senior Sara Wohlgemuth scored 14 points to help Hand rally for its victory versus Cross. Sophomore Brooke Salutari netted 13 points for the Tigers in the win.
Boys’ Basketball
Hand lost both of its matchups in last week to move to 6-12 this season.
On Feb. 11, the Tigers dropped a 78-67 decision at Hillhouse in an SCC Hammonasset Division game. Two days later, Hand lost at home to Lyman Hall by the final score of 57-45 in another divisional matchup.
Wrestling
The Tigers had a strong showing at the SCC Championship at Mercy High School on Feb. 15, scoring 65.5 points as a team to finish in sixth place.
Hand saw three wrestlers take third place in their respective weight classes at SCCs. In the 106-pound division, Charles Wahl finished third by winning a 9-7 overtime decision versus Guilford’s Mohammad Halabai in the consolation final. At 138 pounds, Joe Auora pinned Xavier’s Giovanni Imme at the 3:58 mark of the consolation final to claim third place. Rocky Mayer finished third in the 170-pound division with a 3-0 decision over East Haven’s Danny Clough. Seamus Moriarty took fourth place in the 182-pound weight class for the Tigers.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The Tigers defeated divisional opponent Guilford in their lone game of the week last week.
On Feb. 12, Hand went on the road to face Guilford and claimed a 4-1 victory over the Indians at Patsy DiLungo Ice Rink. The Tigers improved to 13-1-1 overall with a record of 6-0-1 in SCC/SWC Division II action with the win.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
The Hand-Coginchaug-Valley Regional-Old Lyme (H-C-VR-OL) girls’ ice hockey team took three defeats last week and now has a record of 5-14 on the year.
On Feb. 9, the Tigers lost to Trumbull-St. Joseph by a 6-3 score at Northford Ice Pavilion. One day later, H-C-VR-OL lost an 8-0 decision against Stamford-Westhill-Staples (S-W-S) in a road game. The Tigers had a rematch against S-W-S when the two teams squared off at Northford Ice Pavilion on Feb. 12. The Tigers took a 3-1 defeat in the contest.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
Hand was on the road to face Xavier for an SCC Division I matchup at Wesleyan University. The Tigers took a 103-81 defeat to the Falcons to drop to 4-4 on the season.
Boys’ Fencing
The Tigers saw their foil and épée teams earn wins against Marine Science in a road meet on Feb. 4. Senior Michael Hilmer notched two victories for the foil team. Senior Finn Byne, senior Matt Esposito, and junior Luke Newton also contributed two wins in Hand’s victory.
On Feb. 6, the Tigers’ full team hosted Law and scored a 25-2 victory. The saber squad went 9-0 on the day, led by three wins apiece from junior Daniel Ginsburg, junior Roland Calia-Bogan, and sophomore Max Wu. The foil team also swept Law with Hilmer, Byrne, Newton, and Esposito winning all of their bouts. The épée squad saw senior Evan Merenda, Johnson, and Girardi all go undefeated.
Then on Feb. 8, Hand went to Guilford High School to participate in the Guilford Invitational. The Tigers posted a 17-10 victory over the host Indians, spurred by victories from their foil (8-1) and saber (5-4) teams.
In its next match, Hand shut out Xavier by the final score of 27-0. The Tigers went on to notch a 15-12 win over Fairfield with its épée and foil squads each claiming 6-3 victories.
Hand then completed its sweep of the invitational by claiming a 14-13 win versus Cheshire Academy in its final contest of the day. The foil team won a 6-3 decision, while the saber team earned a hard-fought 5-4 victory.
Girls’ Fencing
Hand came away with a split when the Tigers faced Marine Science on the road on Feb. 4. The épée team earned a 6-3 victory, while the foil squad took a 5-4 defeat.
Two days later, Hand competed as a full team against Law and won the contest by a 23-4 margin. The épée claimed an 8-1 win with senior Ally Lesnik, junior Sophie Glassman, and Becca Cancelliere all going undefeated for the Tigers.
The saber team posted a 9-0 victory over Law as senior Maggie Lesnik, senior Natalie McCarthy, and sophomore Brigid O’Keefe won all of their bouts. Junior Megan Kelly also picked up her first varsity win for Hand.
The foil squad notched a 6-3 win, led by junior Cameryn Brown, senior Nikki Vacarro, and junior Brenna MacCallum.
On Feb. 8, the Tigers competed at the Guilford Invitational. Hand lost to Guilford by a 19-8 score in its first match. The Tigers bounced back with an 18-9 win over Fairfield, keyed by victories from their épée (7-2), saber (6-3), and foil (5-4) squads.
Hand’s last opponent of the meet was Cheshire Academy, and the Tigers finished the day on a high note by earning a 21-6 victory. Hand’s épée team posted a 9-0 shutout, the saber squad triumphed by a 7-2 final, and the foil squad earned a 5-4 win to help the Tigers defeat the Cats.