The summer stretches out before us, but before we concern ourselves with the fortunes of our Little Leaguers and soccer camps, it’s worth taking a look back at the season past and, in the spirit of a high school yearbook, handing out some superlatives along the way.
BEST TEAM:
The Windsor girls track team repeated as Class L state champions. The stars were a group of runners in the sprints and middle distance events, especially the relays, but the Warriors got points in a host of events.
Sydnee Over won the 400 ahead of teammate Ashley Graves but the Warriors did their best work in the relays. The team of Chalsea Clark, Janae Wilson, Courtney Kearse and Brianna Allen won the 4x100. The team of Over, Allen, Nastasya Rodriques and Graves won the 4x400 and Keniece Walker, Rodriques, Medinah Nabadduka and Over won the 4x800.
Add in a first in the long jump and second in the triple jump for Wilson and the blueprint for Windsor’s dominance is clear.
TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:
There were so many but none match the wizardry of East Catholic softball pitcher Allyson Fournier, who allowed two runs after April 27. She pitched the Eagles into extra innings of the state semifinals before Seymour found a way to get someone home. In this case, one run was enough.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Fournier’s accomplishment was mind-boggling but there are others who had terrific seasons. Somers’ JoJo Meunier led the Spartans to the Class S softball finals. Meunier did not allow a run in the first two tournament games and led the Spartans to a 19-5 record.
Rockville was 17-6 and made it to the Class L quarterfinals with only one senior. Her name was Brianna Levick and she played a near flawless shortstop while hitting better than .400 with pop. The Rams have nearly everyone back next season but replacing Levick will not be easy.
BAD DRAW:
The senior laden Suffield girls lacrosse team was 13-3 during the regular season and each of the losses was by a single goal. One of those losses was to Granby, which is what made the Wildcats Class M tournament draw so unfortunate.
The Wildcats had a first round bye but met the Bears, a team they beat twice – once for the NCCC title – in the second round. Granby won 14-10 and played all the way to the state finals where it lost 8-7 to Weston. No doubt Suffield will wonder if things might have been different if it had met Granby under different circumstances. As it is, Nicole Gagnon, Natalie Glynn, McKenna Tierney, Kristina Schneider and Isabella Isotti will need to carry-on the Suffield tradition without the 13 seniors who led the team this season.
SURPRISE:
Each team has different levels of expectation entering a season. East Windsor's softball coach was optimistic in March because her program at last had enough players to field a JV team. She also thought it was possible the Panthers could reach the state tournament for the second straight season.
Not only did East Windsor reach the tournament, but the Panthers put together a five-game winning streak at the end of May, including a victory in the first round of the state tournament.
More than this, the Panthers lost in the second round to Stafford 2-1. Stafford went all the way to the finals before losing to Hale-Ray. This is a splendid effort from a program and Briana Matteson, Kayla Herson, LaShonda Hilson, Kelly Lemay and Alicia Meyers can take pride in what they are leaving behind.
STREAK OVER:
Windsor Locks had not won a girls tennis match since 2009 but this season the Raiders went 7-11 and finished fifth in the NCCC tournament. Credit to Cristina Sepanski, Kimberly Love, Carolyn Vogt, Julie DellaGuistina, Amy Wetzel, Charlotte Zocco, Tianna Duquette, Diane Vogt, Paise Lee, Jess Massey, Ali Martinez and Jenn Rivera for sticking with it.
THE END:
Some distinguished high school careers came to an end this spring and not always in victory:
- Tolland senior Sarah Anischik, a mainstay on the basketball team, reached the second round of the State Open tennis tournament before falling to Bianka Horvath.
- Maggie Sundberg got to go out as a champion, which is not the way high school careers usually end, when she led sophomores Carli Shroyer and Shannon Bailey and junior Mary O’Neil to a first place finish in the 4x800 relay in the Class MM meet.
- Sometimes it’s enough to just go out with a good performance. Fermi senior Jaime Giaccone finished sixth in the 100 hurdles at the Class MM meet. She knocked nearly a full second off her seed-time to earn three points for Fermi, the only points not won for the team by either Rachel Van Gilder or Ashley Van Gilder.
