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03/01/2020 11:00 PMGirls’ Fencing
Junior Cameryn Brown became the first athlete in the history of the Hand girls’ fencing team to take first place at the Individual State Championship last weekend. Brown grabbed the gold in the foil competition when the first day of the championship was held on Feb. 29.
Brown defeated the top-ranked fencer, Willow Wang of Waterford, during the foil tournament. Brown went on to defeat 4th-seeded Lindsey Smith of Guilford before beating No. 2 seed Alec Cole of Waterford to secure the title.
Prior to the individual state meet, the Tigers completed their regular season with two meets against Morgan, along with matchups versus Guilford and Old Lyme. Hand won both of its contests with Morgan, while taking losses against Guilford and Old Lyme.
Brown (42-8 record on the year), senior Nikki Vaccaro (26-26), junior Brenna MacCallum (9-15), and sophomore Angela Zhang (7-7) led the foil team to a record of 10-13 this season. Seniors Natalie McCarthy (24-10) and Maggie Lesnik (26-9) and junior Hope Blundon (13-12) helped the saber squad finish at 9-6. Senior Ally Lesnik (38-11), junior Sophie Glassman (26-9), and sophomore Natasha McCarthy (19-11) guided the épée team to a mark of 14-5. The Tigers finished with an overall record of 7-7 on the campaign.
Boys’ Fencing
The Hand boys’ fencing team finished its regular season with two meets against Clinton, as well as matches versus Guilford, Xavier, and Lyme-Old Lyme—all of which all resulted in wins for the Tigers.
Seniors Michael Hilmer (44-5 record on the season), Finn Byrne (37-12), and junior Luke Newton (35-15) led the foil team to a 23-2 record this year. Junior Daniel Ginsburg (34-8), sophomore Max Wu (24-12), and junior Roland Calia-Bogan (11-15) carried the saber team to a record of 13-2. Senior Evan Meranda (22-12), junior Adam LeBlanc (12-10), and sophomore Brian Griardi (24-12) helped the épée team post a 10-9 regular-season record.
On Feb. 29, the Tigers’ foil and saber teams participated in the first day of the Individual State Championship. Hilmer came in fifth place for the foil competition, earning All-State Second Team honors for Hand.
Boys’ Indoor TrackThe Hand boys’ indoor track team saw its 4x400-meter relay finish in second place when the New England Indoor Track Championships were held at Reggie Lewis State Track Athletic Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts on Feb. 29.The Tigers’ unit of senior Ameen Parks, senior Besufekad Opstrup, junior Connor Parthasarthy, and junior Cameron Hines posted a time of 3:25.65 to earn runner-up honors for the 4x400 relay at New Englands. The quartet from South Burlington, Vermont finished first for the event with a time of 3:37.94.Boys’ Ice Hockey
The Tigers split a pair of matchups against divisional opponents during the last week of week of the regular season. Hand finished with an overall record of 17-2-1 for regular-season play to go with a mark of 7-1-1 in SCC Division II action.
On Feb. 26, Hand defeated North Haven by a 4-1 score at Northford Ice Pavilion. Junior Tatum Fitzmaurice had a goal and two assists, while senior Brendan Ryan tallied a goal with an assist for the Tigers.
Two days later, Hand took a 4-3 defeat against Branford at Northford Ice Pavilion. The Tigers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the score before the Hornets netted the go-ahead goal in the final seconds of the game. Junior John Gagliardi had a goal and an assist for Hand.
The Tigers are the No. 2 seed in the SCC/SWC Division II Tournament and will play No. 3 seed North Haven in the semifinals at Bennett Rink on Thursday, March 5 at 5:15 p.m. With a win, the Tigers would face the winner of top-seeded Branford and the No. 4 seed, the East Haven co-op, in the championship game at Bennett Rink on Saturday, March 7 at 4 p.m.
Following the conference tourney, Hand will compete in the Division II State Tournament that gets underway with first-round games on Monday, March 9.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
The Hand-Coginchaug-Valley Regional-Old Lyme girls’ ice hockey team went up against West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy (WH-SHA) in the quarterfinals of the SCC Tournament last week. The No. 6 seed Tigers took a 7-0 loss against No. 3 seed WH-SHA at Bennett Rink on Feb. 24. The team finished with a record of 5-16 on the season.
Gymnastics
The Tigers competed at the Class S State Championship that took place at Jonathan Law High School on Feb. 29. Hand finished in sixth place with an overall score of 129.950 at states, marking the team’s second-best score of the season.
Senior Carly-Anna Barba concluded her high school gymnastics career by posting her all-time best score on the floor with an 8.9. Barba and freshman Eva Alquist both finished with a score of 8.05 on bars for the Tigers.
Wrestling
The Tigers saw two athletes wrestle at the State Open Championship that took place at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 28 and 29. Hand scored two points to finish in a tie for 81st place at the meet.
Junior Rocky Mayer won his first match by an 8-4 decision in the 170-pound weight class. Mayer lost his next bout on a 13-0 majority decision and then took a 9-8 loss in the consolation rounds.
Junior Brian Beirne took two defeats in the 132-pound weight class. Beirne lost on a pinfall in his first contest and then lost a 13-2 majority decision in the consolation bracket.