Sports Highlights 2013

Sports HighlightsSports Highlights

Sports Highlights

January 31, 2013

the cheshire herald, JaNUarY 31, 2013

Sports Highlightstwo

last fall brought closure for cheshire girls’ soccer. the lady rams said goodbye to six seniors and head coach andrew ash-worth, who resigned after his sec-ond season.

“i enjoyed working with the girls, including the seniors. the program will miss those six girls,” said ashworth.

Before this turnover, chs re-claimed their eighth housatonic division title (6-0-2; 12-4-2 over-all) in the last 10 years. Both of their ties (0-0; 2-2) came against shelton, the rival who ended their four-year reign in 2011.

“it was a goal at the beginning of the season,” stated ashworth.

in the regular season, cheshire dropped just two games (1-0, 5-2), both against hamden. While sweeping the fi rst two games with daniel hand, chs (second seed) lost 2-1 in the southern connecti-cut Conference quarterfi nals. The lady rams received the seventh seed for the class ll tourna-ment, falling 1-0 against New Milford in the fi rst round.

“it’s nice winning a champi-onship, but we wanted to go fur-ther in the (post-season) tourna-

ments,” refl ected Ashworth.hosting games on the turf at

alumni Field allowed cheshire to showcase their speed. in her second season as a starter, sopho-more alexandra Pelletier used her quickness to net a team-leading 17 goals. she added seven assists.

Pelletier and classmate Kath-leen castrilli (four goals, assist) both netted their fi rst hat tricks in an 11-0 shutout of lyman hall.

an all-class ll/all-housa-tonic choice, Pelletier was team MVP and became the fi rst player since 2005 to receive all-New england. she joined senior Kelsie carlette as New Haven Register all-area.

“ali (Pelletier) is an excellent player,” said ashworth. “her ath-leticism carries her to places that most people can’t get to. i know she’ll continue to work hard.”

carlette (all-housatonic; seven goals) and fellow captain Jenna hart (four goals, two as-sists), along with classmates Ni-cole stauffer (all-housatonic; eight goals), lauren como (four goals), claudia Martinez (goal, two assists), and juniors lily dolyak (two goals, team-best

10 assists) and leah chamber-lin (two goals and assists apiece) were upperclassmen at forward and mid-fi eld. Como, Carlette, and stauffer each had four assists.

carlette, who played with her second anterior cruciate ligament injury in the 2011 post-season, rehabbed for her fourth year as a starter. she moved from forward to mid-fi eld, teaming with Hart.

“Kelsie has been nothing but a great person to be around. she showed great character through adversity,” explained ashworth. “everybody respected Jenna, as well. she will be a big loss.”

stauffer got off to a fast start offensively, adding her fi rst hat trick against Wilbur cross (6-0). Unfortunately, in the fi rst meet-ing with lyman hall, stauffer went down with an injury. At fi rst thought to be a season-ending setback, she received a positive second opinion and returned after missing four games.

“it was good to get Nicole back,” added ashworth. “she is capable of scoring goals from anywhere. it was a shame that the injury limited her mobility at the end of the season.”

Starting for the fi rst time at mid-fi eld, Dolyak joined Stauffer as new members of the all-hou-satonic team.

“i’m disappointed that i won’t be around to work with lily next year,” stated ashworth. “she has great technical ability with the ball. i was delighted with the way she responded after riding the bench as a sophomore.”

ashworth feels classmate ally lamberti, the left defensive back, will be a great captain with dolyak next year.

i always found ally to be a delightful girl,” said ashworth. “she will have a great season next year.”

chamberlin, castrilli, Mar-tinez, and sophomore Victoria schoenwald (assist) supplied

Seniors Lead Girls’ Soccer To Top Of Housy Again

points off the bench.como, who started the previ-

ous two years as a defensive back, was shifted into the mid-fi eld for her fi nal season. She scored her fi rst goal off of a header.

“We tried to build a position for her in the mid-fi eld,” said Ash-worth. “then for states, we put her back on defense.”

the defense gave up just 16 goals. For the majority of the season, senior lizzie Jentzen and lamberti teamed with sopho-mores Kacey conlon and hannah Perez (two goals, assist). Jentzen, a three-year starter, was defen-sive Player of the Year.

“lizzie just worked hard and showed great effort,” stated ash-worth. “she was very consistent.”

Perez missed her freshman year to acl surgery, but didn’t waste time making an impact in the 2012 season. her versatility was displayed in the second meeting with host hand. Perez moved up the fi eld to score her fi rst two goals and also defended in the 3-1 road victory.

“hannah was a constant on the bench when she was injured. then, she became the player

we all thought she could be as a sophomore. she was pleasant and well-rounded,” explained ash-worth. “Kacey (conlon) wants to play even if she was injured. she was a big reason why we defend-ed as well as we did.”

When lamberti was ill, class-mate erin albrecht substituted for her. sophomore alicia Gray also contributed to the backfi eld.

“i thought the defense played well together,” ashworth said.

the unit was dealt a blow when junior goalkeeper Natalie reyn-olds (six shutouts) was injured during the rematch with shelton. Gray replaced her and didn’t al-low a goal in the second half.

“it was one of the turning points of the season,” recalled ashworth. “You could sense there was disappointment from Natalie’s injury.”

reynolds didn’t return to the lineup, so the staff asked sopho-more carolyn Giusti to transition from forward into a goalkeeper. she had two shutouts, receiving the smitty award.

“carolyn did amazingly well, considering she isn’t a goalkeep-er,” said ashworth.

Jim Brandolini/cheshire herald

Senior Kelsie Carlette battles for the ball on Senior Night.Goalkeeper Natalie Reynolds (right) leaps up to swat the ball away.

allen Paul/cheshire herald

eight-time housatonic division champions

Good wishes to seniors Kelsie carlette, Jenna hart, lauren como, lizzie Jentzen, claudia

Martinez, and Nicole stauffer.

the girls are in great hands with new captains, juniors lily dolyak and ally lamberti!

CONGRATS TO THE CHS GIRLS’ SOCCER PROGRAM!


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last spring, scott Matthews became chs girls’ tennis head coach. this year, it is the boys’ team that is transitioning to new leadership.

chris Pappas is excited to build on the success of retired coach Jim Matthews, who compiled a 256-53 record in 15 seasons. his boys won three state team titles (1997-98, 2002), nine housaton-ic division crowns, and 12 state championships in doubles.

“his accomplishments are un-believable,” explained Pappas, of Jim Matthews. “i can’t compare myself to what he has done. he got cheshire to a better place than when he came into it. he set a level of excellence.”

Pappas actually coached chs girls from 1997-2003.

“i left when i graduated law school from Quinnipiac,” reflect-ed Pappas. “i still worked as a tennis pro at North haven health & racket club.”

his 2013 team will be minus six graduates. tanner Barros, Usama

choudhry, and Jeff lee started alongside captains tyler hajjar, drew henderson (cheshire Ki-wanis sportsmanship award), and Brad Mahar (Most improved).

the cupboard still isn’t bare by any means. senior Bryan adams, who will play at Bucknell Uni-versity (lewisburg, Pa.), and ju-nior Jeremy reichentahl return in the top singles spots. Both were 2012 all-scc division i.

“Jim always placed a lot of re-sponsibility in his captains,” stat-ed Pappas. “i think that will make the transition easier.”

a captain with classmate Blake Wetmore, adams (all-state/MVP) has compiled a 30-3 record in his first three years. He has started every year at number one. Adams won his first 22 matches last year, 25 dating back to 2011, before falling in three sets to am-ity freshman Jason seidman in the Class LL semifinals. In four meetings with seidman, adams is 3-1.

“he has obviously accom-

plished a lot in his first three years,” said Pappas.

reichentahl, also a starter since his freshman year, went 14-5 in 2012. hajjar, Barros, and lee va-cate singles positions.

senior casey Barry and junior Nick anthony are returning start-ers in doubles. Barry has played the last two years at number one, teaming with Mahar last spring.

anthony played with lee and choudhry in the second spot.

“the boys’ game is different than the girls because you have two doubles teams instead of three in the lineup,” explained Pappas. “they all play hard.”

Wetmore battled injuries last

season, but classmate andrew carroll stepped up when given matches. sophomores also saw action. Jack ajello and abdullah choudhry, along with ricardo Valentin and david light, had chemistry in doubles. reilly el-dredge competed in singles.

the rams went 16-3 last year and reached the SCC final where they lost 4-3 against amity. all of the matches between the rivals were decided by a point.

“i’m can’t wait to get started this year,” Pappas said.

chs girls lost an identical six starters to graduation. alex hirt, taylor strange, erica larson, and Katie seggerman had been three-

year starters.senior captains Meredith

Bryden, lindsey Garibaldi, and anna toscano are the most expe-rienced players left over.

“it is a big change, but it just means we have to work harder to keep our reputation in connecti-cut,” said Garibaldi. “We trained together in the summer and right now in the winter to get ready.”

cheshire seeks a return to the scc and class l tournaments.

cheshire girls’ golf has senior experience on their side in 2013. Four of five starters are back for what the girls hope is a sixth straight state Open berth.

“i’m hoping we all gel and have a good year,” stated head coach John Williams. “i’d like to also fit some other girls into matches to prepare for next season when these girls graduate.”

cheshire is coming off a 13-6 season in which they took third in the southern connecticut Girls’ Golf league regular season (9-3) and fourth (408) in the annual tournament hosted by hawk’s landing in southington.

their stroke differential (64.47) qualified for the State Open. Se-niors andra Frappier (seventh, 86), emily larkin (108), Meg robles (109), Maggie Kulpa (112), along with graduated cap-tain elizabeth Beaudoin (119), combined to earn 13th place (415) at Orange hills country club.

Beaudoin, who received the cheshire Junior Women’s club leadership award, is the only

Bryan Adams (above) makes contact with his racket. At right, Anna Toscano follows through on her swing.

tracey harrington/cheshire herald


See LADY, page 9player not back this season.

“We wouldn’t have done it without Maggie Kulpa. she de-cided to come out the first time last year and posted some great scores for us,” reflected Williams, of his rookie of the Year.

Frappier, who returns as cap-tain with larkin, is preparing to finish the strongest career in CHS history. she has played number one since joining the program. Frappier is a three-time all-state/all-scGGl honoree/New eng-land qualifier and two-time SC-GGl champion.

Frappier secured medalist sta-tus in eight of 14 matches last season. she plans to sign with Fairleigh dickinson University (teaneck, N.J.) later this year.

“andra has been a great lead-er,” said Williams. “her chipping is very good. Putting is where she wants to improve, so she can try to win the state championship.”

larkin, the number two player and two-year starter, joined Frap-pier in last year’s dennis Gui-

Senior Golfers Ready For Last Ride

See GIRLS, page 9


Sports HighlightsFour

there is a saying that legacy never dies. With a coaching change for the first time in the program’s 37 years, the 2012 cheshire girls’ swim and dive team more than lived up to stellar teams from the past.

dan Mascolo, who succeeded retired head coach ed aston, led cheshire to a 9-1 record and the school’s 18th southern connecti-cut conference championship (1,314 points). They finished sec-ond in class ll (555) and sev-enth within the state Open (199).

“i thought it was a great expe-rience,” said Mascolo. “the girls did a great job battling all year long and got to see great times. They finished where I hoped at the start of the season.”

Mascolo entered the program with the advantage of having al-ready coached the majority of girls growing up in the cheshire YMca sea dog swim club.

“it made me more like a return-ing coach than a new one,” ex-plained Mascolo, who still coach-es the sea dogs. “there was only a handful of kids who i had to get a feel for.”

cheshire started fast by win-ning the first nine meets, setting up a clash of unbeaten teams in Orange. For the second straight year, amity defeated visiting chs (96-88).

“the dual meet season is fun and exciting, but we put the em-phasis on the end of the season,” Mascolo said.

cheshire had conceded the scc regular season title for the second straight year, but they gained redemption in the title meet at southern connecticut state University. Unlike the 2011 final when their rival ended cheshire’s 17-year reign, they un-seated amity (1,037.5) to regain their familiar top spot.

“that (scc) meet was great,” reflected Mascolo. “The girls swam faster than we thought they would.”

senior taylor deubel (100-yard breaststroke, 1:08.2) and sophomore sara Barlok (100-yard backstroke, 59.91) claimed their first SCC individual crowns, adding another gold medal with their 200-yard medley squad (sophomore lindsay smalec, se-nior Jenna cannata; 1:51.16).

Barlok also led off for the 200-yard freestyle team (cannata, se-nior Maegan McGee, sophomore ellie senft; 1:44.24) that took runner-up. smalec also secured second in the 200-yard individual medley (iM; 2:14.7) and 100-yard butterfly (1:00.42). Barlok and smalec shared New Haven Register all-area with deubel.

“lindsay and sara are both hard workers who set a strong ex-ample for their teammates,” stat-ed Mascolo. the sophomore class definitely has depth to it.”

Numbers were key again this fall. senior Molly condron (all-scc; third, 1:01.68) and junior Laura Mongillo (fifth, 1:02.15)

followed Barlok’s scc back-stroke victory. Junior denise costello (200-yards, fourth, 2:00.68) and cannata (50-yards, sixth, 25.69; 100-yards, fifth, 56.17) were top freestyle scorers.

“it is always good when you can have three or four strong swimmers in an event,” explained Mascolo. “they got better by working off each other.”

that depth helped cheshire overtake amity (517) again at class ll. deubel led the way with a runner-up finish in breast-stroke (1:06.04) and another best time in the 200-yard iM (seventh, 2:12.79). she claimed bronze with the 200-yard medley team (third, 1:50.55).

due to mononucleosis, she watched the 2011 meet from the stands at Wesleyan University.

“taylor was putting up times that she had never seen before. she wanted to make the most of her senior year,” said Mascolo.

smalec joined deubel as all-class ll in the 200-yard iM (2:11.1). she also went under a minute to secure fifth in butterfly (58.89).

“lindsay and laura (Mongillo) gave us versatility,” added Mas-colo.

cheshire collected more sixth places from cannata (50-yard freestyle, 24.83; 100-yard free-style, 53.8) and condron (back-stroke, 1:00.61), along with the 200- (1:41.53) and 400-yard (senior tiffany Wang, McGee,

costello, smalec; 3:42.99) free-style squads. Mascolo felt class ll was cannata’s best meet ever.

“she had a great freshman year, but didn’t hit those times as a sophomore or junior,” said Mascolo. “she blew away her best times this year. Jenna would be nearly passed out by the end of practice because of the hard work she put in.”

teammates took notice by vot-ing cannata as their MVP. Wang, McGee, Barlok, senft, and fresh-man lauren Pasinski joined her as top sprinters. McGee returned from a year hiatus to compete among eight seniors.

“i was very impressed by my seniors in and out of the pool, especially my captains (cannata, condron, Wang),” stated Masco-lo. “What blew me away was that there was no drama this year.”

senft was awarded Most im-proved while her senior sister Maggie received the cheshire Junior Women’s club leader-ship award and Record Journal scholar athlete.

“ellie worked so hard for her breakthrough,” stated Mascolo.

ellie senft was among 10 girls qualifying for the state Open at

Yale University. deubel, who will swim at Marist college in Pough-keepsie, N.Y., contributed to the team’s sixth places in breaststroke (1:07.71) and 200-yard medley relay (1:51.26).

cannata (Bryant University-Smithfield, R.I.) and Condron also plan to compete at the col-legiate level.

the diving team started the year with a new coach (Patty conte), along with no seniors or freshmen. sophomore erin Mo-stoller reached the scc (seventh, 263.35) and class ll (ninth, 297.4) levels again. When a state Open spot opened up, she made her first appearance there and placed 23rd (264.95).

“i don’t think she thought about the state Open when the season started, so it was great to see her realize her potential,” explained Mascolo.

Junior diver theresa cashore was 13th (223.9) in the scc.

“Patty raised the bar for our divers and did an outstanding job,” said Mascolo.

cheshire will return next year under the captainship of costello, Mongillo, and classmate alison sklanka.

Girls’ Swim, Dive Wins Back SCC Under Mascolo

Photos by allen Paul/cheshire heraldJenna Cannata (above) was voted team MVP as a senior. Below, soph-omore Lindsay Smalec pushes forward in the butterfly.

GIRLS SWIM AND DIVEscc champions again, Way to Go Girls!

class ll runner-up

We’ll Miss You seniors; Jenna, Molly, tiffany,

taylor, McKenzie,Maegan, Maggie,

and cJ!

head coach dan Mascolo, your fi rst seasonwas awesome!

thanks to assistantdrew dichara and

diving coachPatty conte.


Sports HighlightsFive

A SparklingAchievement

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the second time was the charm for cheshire b oys’ soccer in 2012. the rams won only one of their fi rst seven games while fi lling spots vacated by graduated play-ers, but they came back to avenge three early losses and qualifi ed for the class ll tournament.

“as coaches, there is nothing that gives us more pleasure than seeing the improvement,” stated head coach artur Branco. “We had diffi cult times and couldn’t fi nd our groove, but then we start-ed putting things together.”

the rams (7-6-4; 3-2-3 in housatonic division) pushed host Newtown into overtime in the class ll First round before falling 2-1. the game capped the career of nine seniors.

“i thought we could have beaten Newtown, however, the ball didn’t bounce our way,” said Branco.

senior captains alex Bauer, Nick Berardi, sam donahue, devin lerner, and Matt Mueller were the most experienced var-sity players to start the season.

“With any team, captainship is very important. We relied on their leadership,” stated Branco.

Bauer (MVP) and sophomore sal rubano (Most improved) were recognized from a new de-fense.

“alex was the most valuable day in and out. he gave us what we expected every game,” ex-plained Branco. “sal got to the point where he was an important element of our team.”

lerner helped lead the defense. sophomore Zach Winch (two goals) and junior Griffen andes alternated on the left side. Junior Joe Phillips added versatility.

“it will be tough replacing devin. he was a factor at both ends of the fi eld,” added Branco.

cheshire had a new goalkeeper

after graduating two players the year before. sophomore Matt skydel started the season in net and then fi rst-year senior Evan colechia (cheshire Kiwanis club sportsmanship award) took the spot. colechia earned four of the fi ve shutouts.

“evan could have well been Most improved,” said Branco. “What he did is something i’ve never seen in my high school ca-reer. he commanded the box with his size and athleticism.”

donahue (all-housatonic; goal, two assists) anchored the center mid-fi eld with new start-ers, classmate Ben Gallo and freshman Jake Goldstein (two goals, assist). in his third season starting, donahue became the fi rst two-time recipient of the ram award.

“it says wonders about him. sam embodies the character-istics of the player we want to coach. he controls the game and is responsible off the fi eld,” stated Branco.

Gallo moved up from defense.“We felt of all the players we

had, Ben could be most effective at mid-fi eld. As he learned the po-sition, we got better,” said Bran-co. “We were extremely pleased with Jake (Goldstein). With his natural instincts, we see him as a

key player going forward.”Berardi (team leader with nine

assists; fi ve goals) and Mueller (team-best 11 goals; two assists) used speed and technical ability up top, totaling 43 points. Gradu-ation factored into Mueller’s move from mid-fi eld to forward where he debuted with a hat trick in a 4-2 opening win over North haven.

Mueller netted both game-win-ners against sheehan (2-1, 1-0), also breaking ties against lyman hall (3-2) and Xavier (1-0).

“i think it was a good move because we needed that spark up front,” refl ected Branco. “Matt can be a pest to his opponents. he is gritty and aggressive.”

Berardi, a four-year starter and all-housatonic selection, netted his fi nal goal to tie the Class LL First round 1-1. he later played alongside donahue in the senior Bowl.

“Nick was a threat day in and out. he is very strong one-on-one with a defender,” stated Branco.

Ross Caterino supplied his fi rst goal and assist. Fellow seniors Billy Janes, and Matt Mendonca also saw the most time of their careers as seniors.

While falling short of de-fending their housatonic title,


Matt Mueller led Cheshire boys’ soccer with 11 goals.

Soccer Builds

Cohesion

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With 18 events making up out-door track and fi eld, CHS Head coach Barbara hedden feels for-tunate to have a deep group of girls back this spring.

“the beginning of the spring is cold and hard to get things start-ed, so that experience can really help us,” explained hedden. “i think our senior captains Jenna hart, saparja Nag, and hannah Purtell have a good balance of leadership. as juniors, they stood out as individuals who helped the underclassmen.”

sophomore alexandra Pelletier and junior selina sampieri (Field MVP) return as top scorers on the track and in the fi eld, respec-tively. In her fi rst season, Pelletier ran the 400-meters (13th, 59.61) at the state Open. she earned run-ner-up (58.95) at class ll.

“ali showed toughness to run one of the most challenging races on the track,” stated hedden.

Pelletier added the bronze med-al (1:01.36) at the southern con-necticut conference east section-al. she was additionally a class LL qualifi er in the 200-meters and

anchored her 4 x 100-meter team (Kristin cabrera, Katie cavallaro, sampieri). By working on her starts, hedden feels she will only improve in the 100-meters.

“ali is an exceptional athlete and will be one of the top sprint-ers in the state,” said hedden.

sampieri burst onto the scene last spring in pole vault, tying 2012 graduate taylor Goldaper for the school record of nine feet and six inches. Goldaper won her fi rst individual crowns (East Sec-tional, nine feet; scc, nine, six) last season. sampieri placed third (eight, six) at east sectional.

“selina is a phenomenal ath-lete. For a fi rst-year pole vaulter, it was incredible for her to tie the record,” stated hedden.

Sampieri fi nished in the top 10 of class ll pole vault (10th, nine feet) and triple jump (seventh; 32, 10). cavallaro (high jump) and cabrera (long jump) also attend-ed the meet.

“selina can jump and throw javelin. she also has the speed to be a sprinter,” said hedden, who

See CHS, page 9

Track And Field Embraces Depth

See CHS, page 8

the 2012 outdoor season was a special one for Jake scinto rep-resenting chs boys’ track and fi eld team. Scinto went unbeaten

against connecticut residents in the high, long, and triple jumps, holding school records in all three

CHS Looks For Points Without Scinto

See DVARSKAS, page 8


Sports Highlightssix

chs girls’ lacrosse broke new ground as a program last season. in winning a school record 16 straight games, they established the best record (20-3) in school history and won consecutive southern connecticut conference Tournaments for the fi rst time.

the season culminated in the school’s fi rst Class L fi nal against Greenwich, a team that had beat-en cheshire 17-6 earlier in the season. despite playing without injured starters alyssa hague (Union college-schenectady, N.Y.) and senior Kathleen Kal-bian, cheshire rallied to tie the cardinals 8-8 with 10:25 left, yet came up short 9-8.

“We had not been there before, so it set a new benchmark for where we want to be,” explained head coach dan Warburton. “We never thought about winning a state championship and that team showed how close we are. it can be accomplished.”

cheshire will strive for that elusive crown without a record-setting group. the class of 2012 broke the mark for career wins (67-19; 24-2 in scc) at chs and became the fi rst class to make the SCC fi nal each season. They led the 2012 team to a 7-0 record in the scc, beating Guilford 18-9

in the title game. captains Maria Blois (Quinnipiac University), hague, and alexis sansone (hof-stra University-hempstead, N.Y.) were four-year letter winners.

Blois was named team MVP twice and scc Most Outstand-ing Player, receiving her fi rst all-american honorable Men-tion. hague (coaches award) and sansone (lacrosse award/Ncaa scholar athlete) joined Blois as all-class l and all-scc First teams, along with connecticut high school coaches associa-tion senior all-stars.

“You have a group of seniors who accomplished some amazing things. It will be tough to fi ll those holes, but i think we can be very competitive,” stated Warburton. “every year, our goal is to win the league and make a solid run in the state. We have people in place to help us reach those goals.”

Blois impacted each aspect of the game.

“We have a lot of people who can put up numbers, but we’ll miss Maria’s game sense. she had intangibles,” stated Warburton.

For the fi rst time at CHS, seven girls tallied at least 20 goals last spring. Blois (65 goals, 38 assists, junior emma Farrel (53, 20), Kal-bian (49, 26), hague (43, 10),

along with seniors alison hoynes (34, 16), christy Myjak (32, 11), and Nicole stauffer (22, 11) had career-high numbers.

“We scored 41 more goals (328) than we ever have before,” said Warburton. “i’ve never seen it spread out so much.”

Kalbian, who will attend ste-vens institute of technology (hoboken, N.J.), has played var-sity since she was a freshman. she contributes through the draw offensively and defensively like Blois. Kalbian (all-class l and all-scc First teams), along with lauren como, hoynes, and My-jak, are captains this year.

“Kathleen will be one of the best players in the state,” stated Warburton. “she does a lot of things for us.”

stauffer (super Junior/Most improved) also offsets graduation losses in the mid-fi eld. Her height and speed factored into her team’s success in transition last spring.

“i think she has developed a lot of confi dence,” Warburton said.

Warburton feels fortunate to have all three attack players (hoynes, Myjak, Farrel). hoynes and Myjak have started since they were sophomores. alison’s sister, Kayla, graduated in 2012.

“Attack and mid-fi eld will be our deepest areas of the fi eld,” said Warburton. “alison and christy have a lot of experience coming back as captains.”

Farrel, who rivals the state’s hardest shooters, more than tri-pled her points from freshman year. she was awarded all-class l and all-scc second teams.

“it’s great to have someone with her ability for two more years. emma will only improve,” added Warburton.

For the second straight sea-son, CHS has to fi ll the shoes of graduates on defense. como is the starting low defender back. sansone moved down last year to also play alongside Natalie Bar-nett (Keene state college-N.h.).

like como, Madeline tenen-baum is a returning senior de-

fense.“i always knew lauren could

be a good defender. she has great feet,” explained Warburton. “We think she will be a great leader.”

chs has had to adjust to not having senior Kelsie carlette for two seasons. carlette injured her anterior cruciate ligament twice, but as a sophomore, she posted three goals and an assist, receiv-ing Most improved.

“Kelsie is an amazing athlete and was a big part of our 2011 team,” added Warburton.

One of the keys to the season will be fi nding a new goalkeeper. Not only did cheshire graduate cortney andes (all-scc second team; eastern University-st. da-vid’s, Pa.), but they also lost ju-nior Maxine McGee who moved away. sophomore alexa carbone is the only returning goalie.

“Often, you have a goalie per class, so to have two classes with-out one is unusual,” said Warbur-ton. “With her experience, alexa has a good shot of seeing time. there have been girls express-

ing an interest in trying out, too. We’ll see what happens.”

like Farrel, classmates Mi-chelle Federico (11 goals, two assists) and Maddy levy (three goals) played key roles as sopho-mores. Both started the class l fi nal in a revamped lineup.

“that experience will only be positive,” added Warburton.

classmates Olivia larson (two goals) and danielle chambrelli (fi ve goals, one assist) added their fi rst points last year.

chs hopes familiarity helps in their run toward a third straight scc tournament title. Out of conference, they (top seed) de-feated Conard (12-7), Ridgefi eld (12-7), and William hall (12-10) to reach their fi rst state fi nal last year. hague and Kalbian were both injured during the semifi nal.

“competing against the teams we faced in the playoffs shows we can play with the best in con-necticut,” said Warburton.

Jillian Olderman, a graduated manager, is also playing at curry college (Milton, Mass.).

Girls’ Lacrosse Returns From Record-Setting Year


Above, Alison Hoynes shoots through a pair of defenders in the 2012 SCC fi nal. Kathleen Kalbian (below on left) had 75 points last year.


Cheshire Girls’ LacrosseHave a great 2013 season.

Good luck after graduationto our seniors!

From the Cheshire Lacrosse Club


Sports Highlightsseven

the depth of the cheshire boys’ lacrosse program will be key to their prospects in 2013. Fifteen graduates vacated spots at all three levels, following a 9-11 sea-son (5-5 in southern connecticut conference) last year.

“We’ve lost some really good players in the last couple years, but we have kids coming back who have played a lot of lacrosse and are working hard toward having a great year,” said head coach rich Pulisciano.

chs will aim to build chem-istry with a new defense. Kevin Pasquale (one assist; University of connecticut), Nick Palladino (one goal; Springfield College-Mass.), connor rand, Nick Vel-leca, and sean Murphy (Most im-proved) are graduated long poles.

Pasquale was defensive MVP and all-class l First team, join-ing attack tyler Violano (eastern connecticut state University) and long-stick mid-fielder Dylan Baumgardner (Quinnipiac Uni-versity; seven goals, assist) as

all-scc First team/connecticut high school coaches associa-tion senior all-stars. Baumgard-ner, a ground ball leader, received the tyska award.

“defensively, those guys set the example for these returning guys to follow,” said Pulisciano.

Pulisciano expects a big year from the lone returning defen-sive starter, tim covel (all-scc second team; one assist). a 2012 all-scc second team selection and senior captain with tom du-pont, covel has battled injuries since starting as a sophomore.

“he can’t get hurt. We need his ability and experience on the field,” said Pulisciano. “Tim is a bright kid who will do great things at connecticut college, too.”

classmates chris capone, erik Pierson, tyler sheehan, and ju-nior tyler Bailey have played short-stick mid-field and used long poles. anthony delbuono is another senior defenseman.

“the guys understand the game

of lacrosse,” stated Pulisciano. “We just have to find where the right pieces belong.”

For a lot of teams, graduating a two-year starting goalie the caliber of Will devine (coaches award; 261 saves) and class-mate Marco iovanna (cheshire Kiwanis club sportsmanship award; six saves), would be a tall order. Fortunately for chs, ju-nior Jared lawson (68 saves) was solid when starting three games in place of an injured devine last year. senior alex lord also add-ed a save last season.

“i can’t remember the last time cheshire had a problem with goalies,” reflected Pulisciano. “Me being a former goalie my-self, it is nice seeing these kids develop from my youth camp up to the high school.”

Offensively, chs lost 168 points to graduation. Kevin ad-ams (colgate University; 51 goals, 24 assists) and Violano (31, 22) were leaders on attack. adams was a two-time Offensive Player of the Year, receiving all-class and scc First teams/aca-demic all-american. he led in goals, assists, and points for the last two years.

“Kevin really found the back of the net. he is a tough loss,” stated Pulisciano. “tyler and (class-mate) spencer (hackett) picked up their offensive games in the last two seasons. We will be a work in progress to start out.”

dupont, like adams, will enter his third season as a starter and will run the offense on attack. his junior season included a ca-reer-high 25 goals and 17 assists, along with all-scc First team.

“tom has come a long way,” said Pulisciano. “he has gotten bigger, stronger, and faster.”

seniors chris trasacco (13 goals, 10 assists) and Jake Nes-dale (five, one) totaled 29 points on attack last season. senior John Klemenz (10, eight), juniors Matt samuelson (eight, seven) and Ben hamel (three goals), and sopho-

more Matt Blois (five, three) re-turn experience to the mid-field. Blois played extensively as a freshman in similar fashion to samuelson.

“Nick Graikoski is a senior who got injured last year and re-turned at the end of the season. he has been working in the fall,” added Pulisciano.

controlling face-offs is annu-ally a point of emphasis. hackett (sacred heart University; all-scc First team; 21 goals, nine assists), tyler carbone (two as-sists), and Baumgardner won 157 face-offs in their final year. Se-nior dan Brennan emerged to win 57 of 96 attempts and Klemenz controlled 10 opportunities. Pu-lisciano feels that underclassmen such as Blois and classmate Jack cunningham can add depth.

“You need possession of the ball to win games. it’s that sim-ple,” said Pulisciano.

last year’s team ended the regular season with a four-game slide, but came back to defeat Xavier 12-10 in a SCC quarterfi-nal. Cheshire (fifth seed) tied the

semifinal against Fairfield Prep 4-4 in the fourth quarter, but the Jesuits netted the last three goals of the game. Fairfield swept the scc regular season/tournament.

“the kids played unbelievably in that game,” reflected Puliscia-no. “every year, you are looking at Fairfield Prep in the SCC. I don’t have to get the guys excited for those games.”

cheshire has reached the state tournament every year under Pu-lisciano. chs (16th) beat New Milford 12-6 in a 2012 qualifier and were then eliminated 7-3 at top-seeded Simsbury. They fin-ished with 181 goals and 106 as-sists.

Boys’ Lacrosse Is Reloading

Tom Dupont posted 25 goals and 17 assists last spring.Jim Brandolini/cheshire herald

Tim Covel (left) defends against SCC rival Fairfield Prep.submitted photo

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likes sampieri’s potential to be a heptathlon athlete. “they (caval-laro, cabrera) have more experience and should come into their own to become exception-al.”

Versa t i l i t y is a strength of hart, who added hurdling to her repertoire last year. cavallaro and junior Brooke Phil-lips also hurdle.

“Jenna is well-rounded and willing to try new things,” explained hedden. “i’d like to see her become a state level athlete in the 300-meter hurdles.”

despite graduating car-la Bellantonio and Nicole adam (cheshire Junior Women’s club leadership award), cheshire has strength in numbers. hart and ju-nior Kimmi Grove ran together on both the 4x400- and 4x800-meter relays last season. hedden believes Nag can reach the class ll standard for the 400-meters like Grove.

“saparja can help us in the jumps,” said hedden.

Juniors denise costello and theresa cashore add experience in middle distance. costello ran for the fi rst time last year, earn-

ing seventh in the class ll 1,600-meters (5:24.43).

“With her work ethic, i’m sure she will be a state contender,” hedden said.

hedden expects Purtell to pick up leadership from

graduated track MVP aman-da chang, the east sectional

runner-up (3,200-meters).“hannah has made

huge strides. she can run from 800- to 3,200-me-ters and relays,” stated

hedden.hedden wants seniors emily

Gomes and Brittney Gunneson to be able to perform shot put, discus, and javelin. Gunneson threw javelin at class ll last spring. her sister Kelly Gunneson captained that team with chang, adam, and Goldaper.

“they will be the people the younger throwers look to for guidance,” said hedden, of Gomes and Brittney Gunneson.

senior ariel Greene, who transferred back to chs from Mercy, also plans to throw. as a sophomore at chs, Greene quali-fi ed for the State Open in discus.

chs went 8-2 in dual meets last year. they were top 10 at east sectional (fourth, 80 points) and scc (sixth, 44), recording 16th (15) in class ll.

Boys’ Golf To Follow Dietrich

CHS Has Options In Multiple Events

Alexandra Pelletier is sprinting in the image above.

continued from page 5 in 2012, cheshire boys’ golf entered the season with varsity inexperience. they won’t h ave that issue this spring.

after returning just two start-ers the year before, cheshire will have their top fi ve back. Seniors eric dietrich and Mike stanton, juniors Jake ecke and tom aris-co, and sophomore chris simione contributed to a 15-3 record (5-3 in housatonic division) last spring.

“i thought we played well down the stretch and having experience on these courses will give us a good start to this season,” stated head coach dan lee. “all the guys had a chance to play in the summer, too.”

dietrich, who captains his golf and basketball teams under lee, returns as one of the state’s best. In his only second season, he fi n-ished third in the southern con-necticut conference. dietrich

shot the same score (75) in earn-ing all-state at the state Open. his 0.5 stroke differential fac-tored into being MVP.

dietrich has already accepted a division i scholarship from the University of connecticut.

“he has really worked hard, particularly in the last two sum-mers,” explained lee. “eric not only leads us on the course, but (also) off it. he will be a great captain this year.”

dietrich teamed with ecke to capture fi rst place at the 31st Jack stigberg Memorial tournament (Wolcott) last year. chs previ-ously won in 1997 and 2008.

“eric and Jacob hadn’t played a tournament together, so they re-ally stepped up and represented our team very well,” added lee.

a single stroke separated si-mione (84) and ecke (85), along with stanton (92) and arisco (93), at the scc championship

(sixth, 336).lee found it hard to signal one

player out as Most improved last year, but settled on arisco.

“the common thread is that we have kids who work on their games,” explained lee. “that being said, tom’s improvement stood out for us. regardless of how good he has become, tom wants to get better every day.”

Mike Yavorek (cheshire Ki-wanis club sportsmanship award) graduated last season, but senior andrew Brown provides the team with another upperclass-man.

“Having seniors is benefi cial to your team,” said lee.

The Rams fi nished third in the housatonic and eighth (319) within connecticut last spring.

“Our fi rst goal is to win the housy and then scc,” said lee. “hopefully, that will help us go-ing into the state tournament.”

DOWLING FORDROUTE 10, CHESHIRE, CT • (203) 272-2772

events. he added the New eng-land and National titles in high jump, receiving the state’s Gato-rade Player of the Year.

Now that scinto (Princeton University-N.J.) has graduated among a strong senior class, cheshire plans to build a new group under fi rst-year head coach allen dvarskas. after working as an assistant, dvarskas was recent-ly hired to succeed tom lewoc.

“it will take another 20 years if ever for us to fi nd another athlete like Jake. i think collectively we have guys who will step up this

ence east sectional.“they are running well in-

doors,” stated dvarskas.sprinters Yi Zhang, an-

drew Fischer, and Michael ligi (cheshire Kiwanis club sports-manship award) have gradu-ated from the sprints. rahmi roundtree also moved away, but senior Brandon Wild and sopho-more Frank Fusco are back.

Junior liam Nicoll was fourth in the east sectional 400-meters (53.24). Juniors Michael Milici and Yadi lukashenko can also help middle distance without 2012 graduate andrew Panther.

Junior dave holtman, James’ brother, is the most experienced pole vaulter, following the gradu-ation of david Gomes and isaac Packtor. Gomes, who competes at central connecticut state Uni-versity, captained last year’s team with scinto and dalton Bassett.

cheshire’s senior class placed well at the 2012 east sectional (second, 103), scc (fourth, 62), class ll (sixth, 44.33), and state Open (third, 30). the rams were 6-4 in dual meets.

year,” said dvarskas, who also coaches the girls’ indoor team. “i’m nervous personally. You want to do a good job and make sure it is a fun experience.”

Junior thrower chibueze Njoku joined scinto at the state Open, fi nishing 22nd in discus (108 feet, nine inches). he was third (128 feet, nine inches) at class ll.

chs lost Njoku’s brother tochukwu, and James holtman to graduation, but Nick Jakowenko has throwing experience.

dvarskas feels that Jakowenko and senior Joe Nowak can score in jumps without scinto and fel-low graduate Max Fleischmann.

“Nick and (classmate) sagar Nakrani will be our captains,” added dvarskas. “i know the kids like working with them.”

Nakrani, seniors sam Brown and Brendan donovan, and junior trey Phillips bring experience from cross country to the distance team. Nakrani (3,200-meters, 10:07.82) and Phillips (800-me-ters, 2:04.31) placed fourth and fi fth, respectively, at last year’s southern connecticut confer-

Dvarskas Takes Over New Teamcontinued from page 5

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Sports HighlightsNine

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REGISTRATION DEADLINES U11 - U19: March 1, 2013 U10: March 8, 2013 U8: March 8, 2013

U-8 Age Group: born between 8/1/04 and 12/31/06, boys & girls participate in a team-oriented, developmental program (Friday practice, Saturday games - 5v5 format).

U-10 Age Group: born between 8/1/02 and 7/31/04, boys & girls participate in an in-house league program (Monday practice for girls/Thursday practice for boys, Saturday games - 8v8 format).

U-11 – U19 Age Groups: born between 8/1/93 and 7/31/02, recreational and/or competitive (“comp”) travel teams (practice days TBD, games on weekends).

• The U-11 and U-12 age groups play in an 8v8 league format within the South Central District

• The U-13 and above age groups play in an 11v11 league format within the South Central District

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.cheshiresoccerclub.org

S P R I N G 2 0 1 3 S E A S O N

While chs varsity boys’ vol-leyball was going 45-0 (school record) in the last two years, their junior varsity peers were similar-ly unbeaten in the regular season.

Now that chs has graduated a record-setting class (10 players) and core of their fi rst two Class l title teams, the coaching staff is looking for previous JV person-nel to pick up the baton.

“i think a lot of people feel we are done (with our title reign), but we fully expect to be back con-tending for another state cham-pionship,” said head coach sue Bavone. “this JV group didn’t lose either, playing the same boys their age.”

Bavone feels the pace of the game will be the biggest adjust-ment to the varsity level.

“i’ve always felt you need good coaches at the JV level,” explained Bavone. “(assistant) Jared (Ocoma) knows volleyball from playing at cheshire and syracuse (University). he coach-es them the same way he would varsity, so they know what is ex-pected of them.”

evan colechia, a senior captain with Zhihan Zou, will be the only starter returning to his varsity position at outside hitter. a 2012 all-southern connecticut con-ference second team selection, colechia produced 155 kills, 11 blocks, 29 digs, and 19 service aces in his fi rst full year as a start-er. he hit the winning kill (13 to-tal) in the Class L fi nal, a 3-1 win over Ridgefi eld at Shelton.

“he rose to the level of the seniors around him. The state fi -nal was a great example,” stated Bavone.

chs graduated top hitters ryan cuppernull and Nate howard, both of whom were connecticut high school coaches association senior all-stars and all-class l/all-scc First team honorees. cuppernull was also connecti-cut Player of the Year, scc Most Outstanding Player, and recipi-ent of the cheshire Kiwanis club leadership award.

“ryan’s loss will be felt around the court. he was strong in every

regular season and tournament. they swept Xavier for the club’s third tourney title in 2012.

the rams (23-0) proceeded to sweep rival amity and Glaston-bury to reach the Class L fi nal.

at the end, alfred Kroqi re-ceived the coaches award for the example he set for young players.

“the seniors set the bar high for these guys coming up,” said Bavone. “they don’t want to drop the ball on our success.”

position,” refl ected Bavone.No boy had cracked 1,000 kills

until howard (1,019) last spring. “We can’t replace Nate’s size

(six feet and 11 inches tall) and the intimidation factor. he gave us points before stepping onto the court,” Bavone explained. “We’ll be a smaller team this year.”

Bavone looks for juniors an-thony carbone and Patrick lind-ner to emerge as varsity outside hitters. seniors Ben Gallo and luke Yasuda are the most ex-perienced middle hitters after cheshire lost Matt Ward (all-scc First team) and James Pla-ninshek (all-scc second team; Most improved) to graduation.

Ward and fellow graduate tyler sweigard were Most Outstanding defensive Players.

“Middle is a tough spot to play. James and Matt did a lot of little things for us,” Bavone said.

Bavone feels the hardest player to replace will be three-year start-ing setter ray Brumleve, who graduated as the fi rst Ram to crack 2,000 (2,135) career assists. he also set the single-season mark (790) in 2012.

Brumleve, cuppernull, and howard shared Most Outstanding Offensive Player.

“You take for granted when you have a veteran setter. ray was very athletic and had great body control,” said Bavone. “it’s going to be different without him. that being said, (junior) ted li is taller than ray, so he could give us a blocking dimension this year.”

as usual, passing will be key to the team’s success. Bavone saw sweigard, who had a career-high 18 digs against Ridgefi eld, as an unsung hero last year.

“it is tough losing tyler,” said Bavone.

Bavone likes Zou’s versatility defensively.

“he is one of our best passers and i can see him being in the back row,” stated Bavone. “(se-nior) scott romano hopes to get in and play libero. (Junior) eric cusano is another passer.”

chs looks to extend their two-year unbeaten streak in the scc

With a 4-11 record (1-6 in divi-sion i), they missed the scc play-offs for the fi rst time last spring.

“We are really young, so we are going to work on developing our team and lineup,” said toscano.

this will be the fourth straight year that cheshire will have a new number one in singles. lar-son played there last spring, earn-ing MVP. seggerman and fellow graduate emily roberts played at the second and fourth positions.

at mid-season last year, tosca-no and Bryden switched between singles and doubles. senior Jess Joseph rotated with roberts.

“it was different playing at number three (singles). i was get-ting tough matches,” refl ected toscano. “i’ve played singles and doubles my whole life, so i have no preference this year. i’ll go wherever scott needs me.”

like in singles, chs will re-load in doubles. hirt and strange, who shared captainship with theresa Fitzpatrick last season, earned 2012 all-scc d-i at the

top spot and made the state Open. “the biggest thing i learned is

that you need to work hard to earn things,” added Garibaldi. “they really wanted to get better.”

Garibaldi has started since her sophomore year. She fi nished last season teaming with Bryden (Most improved) at number three.

“i think i’ll be playing with Meredith again,” stated Garibaldi, who is hitting with Bryden in the off-season. “she is a tall player who is strong at the net. Meredith has a great serve and backhand. Not only does she make me more competitive, but she is also hon-est and challenges me.”

Fitzpatrick’s departure opens up the second doubles position. her partner, senior Maegan Mc-Gee, plans to instead focus on swimming this spring.

after winning a match together in 2012, senior Katherine Pier and junior Katie Freitag add ex-perience to a young roster.

“I defi nitely want to encourage the girls, so they keep playing af-ter we graduate,” said toscano.

Lady Rams Are Training For 2013

continued from page 3


Senior co-captain Evan Colechia is Cheshire’s lone starter back.

Boys’ V-Ball Wants To Extend Success


cheshire beat Guilford 1-0 to end a fi ve-year drought against them. Gallo assisted on Berardi’s game-winner. The fi rst meeting ended in a scoreless draw.

“that rivalry goes a long way back. You should be proud when

you beat a team of their stature,” said Branco. “We should have won the housy (housatonic) again. it gives us something to strive for next season.”

Phillips, along with classmates Bryan carter and colin haensel, will captain the program in 2013.

Girls Share Chemistrymares tournament at lyman Or-chards Golf club. the girls took a share of second place (41).

“emily had trouble with her swing at the start of last season, but then she heated up. We are go-ing to need her,” stated Williams.

Kulpa, robles, and Molly

Pritchard started for the fi rst time as juniors.

“Megan was injured during cheerleading in the fall, but she expects to play. i hope to have her shoot 50,” added Williams. “When andra didn’t play in the league tournament last year, Mol-ly stepped in and did a good job.”


CHS Beats Guilford To End Drought


Sports Highlightsten

Questions surrounded cheshire football last year. how would the rams respond following the resignation of head coach Mark ecke? could they replace the contributions of a school record 26 graduates?

While smaller in quantity, 12 seniors were determined to leave on a positive note. the rams ral-lied around coach don drust, achieving the school’s fi rst win-ning season (6-4; 2-2 in southern connecticut conference divi-sion i east) since taking the 2009 class ll crown. chs was 5-5 in the previous two years.

“Going 6-4 isn’t where we want to be at cheshire, but coming into the year, no one thought our re-cord would be close to that,” said

drust, a 1999 chs graduate and member of the coaching staff since 2007. “i believe this senior group set a lot of things in play here for these underclassmen go-ing forward.”

Drust emphasized fi nishing games strong. On three occa-sions, cheshire rallied from half-time defi cits to win home games. among these comebacks was a 48-13 victory over Notre dame-West Haven, their fi rst rivalry win since 2009.

cheshire shut out host Bran-ford (20-0) and hamden (33-0), along with east haven (39-0) on senior Night.

“We feel scc is the most com-petitive conference in the state,” stated drust. “to be the best, you

have to beat the best. there is never a dull week.”

drust credits senior captains Matt escoto (defensive Player of the Year), sam Pascale, and Vin sansone (Offensive Player of the Year) for keeping the team together. sansone and Pascale, along with sophomore Jack cun-ningham, were selected all-scc d-i east and New Haven Register all-area.

“all three captains are great young men who will play in col-lege,” drust stated. “they are natural leaders. those guys don’t have to open their mouth to get people to follow them.”

While starting at safety in his sophomore and junior years, san-sone hadn’t played varsity quar-terback until his fi nal season. He scored running and throwing the ball.

“Vin led this team on and off the fi eld. He adapted to a lot of different things and kept working hard,” said drust.

sansone’s receivers included classmates tim covel, Beau Bartone, and Kevin dietrich and juniors Mark dietrich and Owen rockwell. covel, who was named Record Journal scholar athlete and received the cheshire Kiwanis sportsmanship award, missed the apple Valley classic due to injury.

“it is heartbreaking because tim is such a good guy,” added Drust. “The fi rst thing he did after the injury was tell the underclass-men that you have to enjoy every time you are on the fi eld.”

Bartone was a team leader at safety. after chs lost 38-13 on thanksgiving at southington, Bartone was voted defensive MVP (interception).

“Beau brought a level of tough-ness,” said drust. “he helped show guys that you can fl y around and make plays. that resonates through a team.”

Pascale, sophomore andrew Yamin, and cunningham rep-resented an explosive backfi eld both running and catching the ball. Pascale received all-class LL for the fi rst time, along with the tommy didomizio Memorial award and cheshire Junior Foot-ball scholarship.

“sammy brings something to

the table that not a lot of guys can do,” explained drust. “he worked hard in the weight room and gave everything he had on every single play. You can’t replace that ele-ment.”

At linebacker, Yamin fi nished as the leading tackler.

like Pascale and Yamin, cun-ningham was another versatile performer. he sparked the team with his kick-off and punt returns.

cunningham was the team leader in interception, making his fi rst two against ND-WH.

“they are two great guys,” said drust, of Yamin and cun-ningham. “Jack is an exceptional kid who understands the game so well. andrew has great instincts on the fi eld.”

they both ran behind a differ-ent offensive line from the year before. escoto, seniors colin harding and Matt Gardiner, ju-nior Joe strollo, and sophomore cullen clairmont contributed in the new unit.

escoto, harding (Outland award), junior dan lisath an-chored the defensive line.

“Matt (escoto) grew more and more each year. to have a defen-sive lineman make 60 tackles is unheard of,” stated drust. “colin has always had a lot of ability, but had to learn to do what was right on and off the fi eld. He grew up a lot this year.”

Pascale had his strongest sea-son on defense. after missing the majority of his junior year to injury, Gardiner was a leader at middle linebacker.

“he has all the attributes of a great football player when he is healthy. there is a lot of tread left on the tires for college,” said drust, of his Most improved re-cipient.

Junior anthony carbone con-tributed heavily despite playing with a cast on his hand. Mark dietrich joined Bartone at safety. colin thorne and tony Marcu-cilli also started as sophomores.

“We had a lot of underclassmen step up,” refl ected Drust.

senior tyler sheehan paced the team with tackles on special teams. Junior tyler Bailey, the back-up quarterback, emerged as the place kicker and punter.

“tyler showed us what cheshire high school football means to him,” explained drust. “he will do anything for the team.”

shortly after southington ended Cheshire’s fi ve-year win streak, drust was promoted from interim to head coach.

“Just like going into last sea-son, every year to lead this pro-gram is an honor,” stated drust. “i don’t believe there is a better place than cheshire high school. i’ll do whatever i can to make their decision the right one.”

cheshire opens the 2013 season with a visit to a new foe, Fairfi eld interscholastic athletic confer-ence member Ridgefi eld. Strollo will lead them as captain.

“Joe is exactly what a captain is supposed to be,” added drust. “the football community, his teammates, coaches, and players respect him.”

Football Overcomes Adversity

Quarterback Vin Sansone hands off to classmate Sam Pascale.


the 2012 Powder Puff classic between cheshire and southing-ton resulted in another nail-biter.

chs gave up just one touch-down on defense, but it was enough for southington to win 13-10. the lady Knights scored a fi ve-yard run with 3:58 left.

The Lady Rams saw a fi eld goal attempt come up just short with 39.3 seconds remaining. south-ington has a 8-6-1 advantage in the senior fl ag football series.

“defensively, it was one of my best teams,” said head coach George Gihuly, who has coached Powder Puff for 35 yea2rs. “the girls got so much experience. they enjoy football now.”

Kathryn Vitale led the ground game with 124 yards on 34 car-

ries. she put chs ahead on a two-yard run with 3:40 left in the second quarter. Nicole stauffer added the extra point (7-0).

“We lost a couple running backs before the game, but Kath-ryn stepped up,” stated Gihuly.

southington got on the score-board with 53.3 seconds left in the fi rst half, returning an inter-ception to the end zone. cheshire broke the 7-7 tie on a 12-yard fi eld goal from Stauffer with 1:55 left in the third quarter.

Kierstyn Bourdeau and em-ily Kolodecik anchored the de-fense. lauren Fountain, lauren Frascarelli, emily Gomes, Kim labbe, catherine Pearsall, Marisa Pisani, alicia torello, and Vitale joined them as captains.

Powder Puff Goes Down To Th e Wire

Kathryn Vitale jumps through an arm tackle.Photo courtesy of Joey Jones

CHESHIRE JUNIOR FOOTBALL

AND CHEERLEADING“Where The Tradition Begins”

www.cheshirejuniorfootball.com


Sports Highlightseleven

Photos by allen Paul/cheshire herald

Above, junior Emma Farrel prepares to hit the ball into play. Senior captain Lindsey Bonitz (below) received the P.L.A.Y.E.R. Award.

Thank you to Head Coach Eileen

Dunham and her staff of Sarah Izzo,

Michelle Libby, Sandi Vermeulen,

Maria Blois, and Melissa DePaolo!

Good luck to seniors Lindsey Bonitz,

Miranda Garcia, Emily Hague,

Maggie Kulpa, Emily Dooley,

Lauren Fountain, Sara Ilnicki,

Megan Robles, & Miranda Scaramozza!

First Defense of SCC regular

season/tournament titles

Back-to-back Class L fi nal berths

CONGRATS TO THE RECORD-SETTINGCHS FIELD HOCKEY TEAM

When Cheshire fi eld hockey graduated 21 girls in 2011, they weren’t forgotten. that group gave the 2012 team something to strive for the following season.

to the surprise of prognostica-tors around the state, cheshire (20-3) came within a single win of earning three championships for the second year in a row, fall-ing 4-0 to darien in the class l fi nal. CHS had never won consec-utive southern connecticut con-ference regular season or tourna-ment titles before this team, who extended the program’s confer-ence win streak to 30 games (school record).

“it showed what those (gradu-ate) seniors gave to the other girls,” said head coach eileen dunham. “When people looked at our team on paper, they didn’t think we could get very far.”

cheshire carried an eight-game win streak into the Class L fi nal. Nine girls fi nished one win shy (65-15-2) of tying the mark for victories by a single class.

“they (darien) are a power-house,” said Dunham. “It was fi t-ting they got number one because they deserve it. We hoped we could be the team to beat them, but it wasn’t our day.”

By starting the season 8-0, cheshire extended the school’s record win streak to 29. two milestones came in an 8-0 win over Sheehan. Junior mid-fi elder Michelle Federico had fi ve assists to set a new chs mark, helping the school reach 550 wins.

“You could see the doubt go-ing into the season, but as they started winning, they believed in themselves,” refl ected Dunham. “it wasn’t a surprise anymore.”

Federico broke the season as-sist record (21) in a class l semi-fi nal, adding the fi rst two goals of a 5-1 win over simsbury. Fed-erico, who had two goals and an assist in 2011, also contributed 19 goals as a junior. her honors include harrow sports-National Field hockey coaches associa-

tion all-southern New england region/all-class l and all-scc First teams/New Haven Register all-area and team MVPs.

Federico and Olivia larson will be senior captains this fall.

“the way she (Federico) worked out of season paid off,” said dunham. “she is so intense and loves the game. Michelle plays for her teammates and it shows in her records.”

Forward emma Farrel (two-time Offensive Player of the Year/class l second team/all-scc First team/New Haven Regis-ter All-Area) and Federico were both selected to the inaugural connecticut high school coach-es association Junior all-star Game. Farrel was the team goal leader (21) for the third straight year, depositing the game-winner (1-0) against daniel hand in the SCC fi nal. She had both goals in the team’s 2-1 comeback win against south Windsor in a class L quarterfi nal.

With her 11 assists, Farrel is seven assists and 22 points from breaking career records at chs.

“it is going to be incredibly devastating to lose her after next year,” stated dunham. “emma is so good at scoring. she is a once-in-a-blue-moon-kid.”

While chs scored 73 goals, a senior-laden defense gave up just 16 total and 75 percent fewer shots than 2011. lindsey Bonitz (all-scc First team) and emily hague (all-scc second team) started together for the second straight year, both garnering all-class l second teams and New Haven Register all-area. sara Ilnicki, who fi lled the fi nal back position, and goalkeeper lauren Fountain were new starters.

“they were critically important to our team,” said dunham.

Bonitz set chs records for sin-gle-season (17) and career (21) defensive saves. hague supplied seven in 2012.

“they are going to be nearly impossible to replace,” said dun-

ham, of her defensive Players of the Year. “there was never a time when i doubted their ability.”

dunham feels the Poise, lead-ership, attitude, You, excellence respect award (P.l.a.Y.e.r.), given to Bonitz, is the program’s greatest honor.

“she does well academically, athletically, and socially,” ex-plained dunham. “lindsey is smart and effi cient on the fi eld.”

Fountain had the same num-ber of shutouts as 2012 graduate Maria Blois the year before. in the scc tournament, chs didn’t yield a goal (6-0) in three games.

“lauren did a good job. she knew what she had around her and stepped up when she had the chance,” said dunham.

With the SCC semifi nal be-tween chs and Branford score-less after two overtimes, junior back-up Maddy levy replaced Fountain for penalty strokes. levy made two saves to help chs outlast their rival 4-2.

“stopping two shots is huge and that will give her confi dence for next season,” dunham said.

dunham feels her team will miss senior forward Miranda

Garcia, a four-year letter winner, who had seven goals and assists each in 2012. Garcia received the cheshire Junior Women’s lead-ership award.

“She has that fi eld hockey fi re. You could see every day at prac-tice that she wanted this to be her best season,” explained dunham.

a three-year starter like Far-rel and Federico, junior Kathleen lima had a career-high 10 goals and six assists.

“she uses her hockey back-ground to make so many plays that don’t show up in her stats,” stated dunham.

senior Maggie Kulpa (three assists) started for the fi rst time at mid-fi eld. Kulpa, along with Bonitz, Garcia, and hague, cap-tained the program.

“Maggie is smart and that translated to her improvement every year,” said dunham, of her Record Journal scholar athlete.

Juniors Olivia larson (six goals, eight assists) and danielle Bellantonio (two goals and as-sists apiece) also became starters. larson was rookie of the Year at

forward. Bellantonio, who rotated with sophomore Mikayla crieger in mid-fi eld, was Most Improved.

“Olivia got better and better. she worked so hard last summer,” said dunham. “danielle has had the skill and drive, but this year she started putting it all together.”

sophomore erica stauffer (four goals, three assists) and crieger (three goals and assists apiece) also played heavily on varsity. sophomores Kya O’donnell (two goals) and sara como (assist) joined senior emily dooley (as-sist) with their fi rst points.

“We have a lot of girls with po-tential coming up,” dunham said.

dunham credits their progres-sion to her staff.

“sandi (Vermuelen) is going to come back after doing a great job with our goalies. Michelle (libby) is so good at developing young athletes and, after their freshmen years, sarah (izzo) builds on their experience at JV (junior varsity). Melissa (de-Paolo) and Maria (Blois) wanted to give back to this program as volunteers,” added dunham.

Field Hockey Extends Success


Sports Highlightstwelve

chs head coach rob schae-fer couldn’t believe his eyes at last year’s state Open. his girls’ cross country team had placed sixth (241 points), the last quali-fying spot for the New england championship, at Wickham Park in Manchester.

they marked their second straight trip to regionals by secur-ing 19th (507) in North scitutate, r.i.

“it’s very remarkable,” recalled schaefer. “i knew we would have a good season, but it is tough to replace four varsity runners from the year before. these girls were very inspired by what the previ-ous seniors had accomplished.”

seventeen seniors became the fi rst class to win four straight housatonic division titles, sweeping host amity 20-36 and shelton 20-35 to cap an unbeat-en dual-meet record (7-0; 4-0). they claimed third (90) within the southern connecticut confer-

ence and took fourth (148) at the class ll championship.

“it never gets old winning the housy (housatonic). i’ve coached a lot of years when we came up short against amity,” said rob schaefer. “this class went 31-1 over four years, only losing to Guilford (in 2011).”

seniors Kathleen Kalbian (four-time MVP), Juliana lewis (cheshire Junior Women’s club leadership award), hannah Pur-tell (two-time Most improved), and Maddie tenenbaum cap-tained this team.

“They all fulfi lled the role in different ways and complemented each other,” explained schaefer.

the fall season capped a stellar career for Kalbian, who like her sister irene, ran number one for four years. Kalbian (New Haven Register all-area/Record Jour-nal scholar athlete) won three races as a senior. she earned all-scc/all-housatonic (fourth,


(From left) Natalie Wickenheisser, Hannah Purtell, and Kimmi Grove contributed to a deep girls’ varsity team. In the image on the right, senior Sagar Nakrani was named boys’ MVP.

Cross Country Says Goodbye To Large Senior Classes19:43.84), achieving all-class ll (seventh, 19:58) again.

“We’ve always relied on her and she has delivered,” stated schaefer. “those honors aren’t easy to attain.”

cheshire used depth behind Kalbian. Junior Kimmi Grove (14th, 20:15.98), Purtell (17th, 20:30.66), and sophomore Natalie Wickenheisser (18th, 20:35.29) were also all-housatonic. Grove, who was hampered by a back in-jury as a sophomore, just missed out all-scc and all-class ll (13th, 20:27). she had never led the varsity until taking 47th (20:42) at the state Open.

“it shows what Kimmi could do when she is healthy. she works so hard,” said schaefer. “Kimmi will captain us next year with (class-mates) hyeonju Kwon and taylor Bond.”

schaefer felt that Wickenheisser was inspired by sister tori, who captained the 2011 team.

“We have her for two more years,” added schaefer.

Purtell, senior Julie trifone, along with sophomore Kendra Brown, were also new to var-sity. at New england, Purtell (23rd, 21:07.55) and Kalbian (17th, 20:47.21) cracked the top 25 connecticut residents.

“hannah wasn’t happy with the way she was running at the start of this year, but nothing was go-ing to stop her from a successful season,” explained schaefer.

trifone was a key addition coming over from fi eld hockey. after winning scc junior varsity (21:24.46), she fi nished the sea-son in the varsity lineup.

Brown (45th, 22:05.31) fol-lowed sophomore liz cunning-ham (37th, 21:46.38) at scc. With cunningham held out due to a hip injury, junior erin strahley scored key points at amity and

the state Open (129th, 22:04).“erin saved those races for us,”

said schaefer. “i’m certain liz will be back healthy next year.”

chs boys had hopes of return-ing to the state Open in 2012. While injuries kept them short of their team goal, cheshire (7-2; 3-1 in housatonic division) was still represented for the fi rst time since 2008. senior sagar Nakrani (91st, 17:41) and junior lucas Marcouiller (46th, 17:16) both ran individually.

“We were disappointed to not make the state Open as a team, but due to injuries to (junior) trey (Phillips) and (senior) dante (anastasio), it made it hard for

us,” refl ected Head Coach Jim Bennett. “We did enjoy seeing

sagar and lucas run there for the fi rst time.”

Nakrani, a captain with anastasio,

sam Brown, and Brendan dono-van, was among

the team’s top two fi nishers in every dual meet. he paced the

way for the fi rst time at scc, earn-ing his fi rst

all-scc/all-housatonic honor

(ninth, 16:40.5). Na-krani also received New Haven Register all-area, Record Journal scholar athlete, and team MVP.

“sagar has had the right perspective as a

runner and leader,” said Bennett.Marcouiller (Most improved)

was all-housatonic after taking 14th (16:55.66) in the scc meet. he paced his team in the dual meet fi nale in which CHS split against shelton (21-38, win) and host amity (15-47, loss). Mar-couiller also placed 32nd (17:16)

at class ll, followed four spots later by Nakrani (17:18).

“We were very pleased with lucas,” added Bennett. “his progress dates back to his sopho-more year when we told him he was capable of running with the top guys. he put a lot of work in over the summer, so now his physical gifts are shining.”

Following a strong off-season, Phillips was expected to run number one. He fi nished fourth (16:42.5) in the haddad Windham invite, but suffered a knee injury and didn’t return until class ll (59th, 17:41). anastasio injured his hip after the same meet and came back at scc.

“We felt bad for dante being a senior, but he persevered for us,” said Bennett. “if not for his in-jury, i know trey would have had a big season. he still has that op-portunity next year.”

Bennett was pleased with the way his team stepped up without them, taking fi fth at SCC (133 points) and 10th (266) in class ll. sophomore Mark Fusco (69th) and Brown (70th) fi nished consecutively with the same time (17:49) in class ll. sophomore russell adam (77th, 17:54) and junior Ben Kaplan (102nd, 18:14) followed them.

“We were pleased with our progress,” added Bennett.

Fusco became chs number one runner in the only home meet at cheshire Park. Bennett feels the future is bright with adam, steven caldwell, and ryan shal-agan joining him in the sopho-more class.

chs graduates 16 seniors. don-ovan, who took 68th (18:24.68) in scc, was the choice for the cheshire Kiwanis club sports-manship award.

“We’ve been fortunate to have loyal, hard-working captains like Brendan,” stated Bennett.

Kaplan and Marcouiller will captain next year’s rams.

“it shows what Kimmi could do when she is healthy. she works so hard,” said schaefer. “Kimmi will captain us next year with (class-mates) hyeonju Kwon and taylor Bond.”

schaefer felt that Wickenheisser was inspired by sister tori, who captained

“We have her for two more years,” added

Purtell, senior Julie trifone, along with sophomore Kendra Brown, were also new to var-sity. at New england, Purtell (23rd, 21:07.55) and Kalbian (17th, 20:47.21) cracked the top 25 connecticut residents.

“hannah wasn’t happy with the way she was running at the start of this year, but nothing was go-ing to stop her from a successful season,” explained schaefer.

trifone was a key addition

(anastasio), it made it hard for us,” refl ected Head Coach Jim Bennett. “We did enjoy seeing

sagar and lucas run there for the fi rst time.”

Nakrani, a captain with anastasio,

sam Brown, and Brendan dono-van, was among

the team’s top two fi nishers in every dual meet. he paced the

way for the fi rst time at scc, earn-ing his fi rst

all-scc/all-housatonic honor

(ninth, 16:40.5). Na-krani also received Haven Register

area, Record Journalscholar athlete, and team MVP.

“sagar has had the right perspective as a

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Sports Highlightsthirteen


Lauren Fountain (above) returns for her senior year at fi rst base. To the left, fellow co-captain Nicole D’Amato throws the pitch.

From The Friends of SoftballFrom

Good luck to theCHS Softball team and

Coach Hoag forthe 2013 season!

Kathleen hoag enjoys work-ing with her softball senior class so much that when her twin sis-t er, Maureen disorbo, decided to step down as head coach last spring, Kathleen wanted to stay on for the 2013 season.

“i thought the girls deserved a better send off then a new coach-ing staff. i went through that as a player and it was hard,” said hoag, who assisted her sister for eight years. “i feel like we are going to be contenders this year, so maybe there are more expectations on me as head coach. i’ll put more time in because the girls de-serve it.”

hoag and disorbo started playing softball at age 6. they belong to the lyman hall hall of Fame.

“after college, we got back together to coach. i’m going to miss her, but in a lot of respects, not much has changed,” said hoag. “Maureen and i shared equal responsibilities, so it will be an easy transition this year.”

the lady rams graduated just three players (caroline Kushner, Julie Becker, chelsea Mongillo) from the 2012 team that went 13-9 (4-4 in housatonic divi-sion). cheshire (20th seed) upset Pomperaug (13th) 3-1 in the class ll First round, but fell 9-0 in the next round at Masuk (fourth).

“there aren’t a lot of big holes that we have to fi ll. That being said, there is always someone who surprises you,” stated hoag. “We have so much depth.”

senior captains Nicole d’amato (2012 MVP) and lau-ren Fountain are entering their fourth year as starters. d’amato moved up to varsity mid-way through her freshman season and has persevered through injuries to be a key pitcher. in 134 reg-

ular-season innings last spring, d’amato gave up just 32 earned runs and 20 walks. she struck out 114 batters while allowing 120 hits.

“she has really made a big commitment to getting better,” said hoag. “Nicole has a nice repertoire of pitches. she throws

harder than the majority of the pitchers we see and has great

movement.”hoag is

c o n f i d e n t about her w o r k -ing with c lassmate K i e r s t y n Bourdeau b e h i n d the plate. B o u r -deau, a

Junior all-star with

d’amato, led chs with 45 assists

last spring.“Kierstyn has been

working hard on her defense. she has changed her footwork to get quicker and better at blocking to avoid passed balls,” said hoag.In her fi rst year as a

starter, Bourdeau (Offensive Player of the Year) was integral in the cleanup spot. in batting .356, she had 12 runs scored, 23 hits (home run included), and 19 rBis (team leader). Bourdeau joined 2012 graduate caroline Kushner as all-class ll/all-housatonic.

“she is at her best in the clutch situations,” stated hoag.

another senior, Fountain has been a fi xture at fi rst base. She also contributed 11 runs scored, 14 hits, and six rBi last season.

“We need her presence in the

fi eld,” added Hoag. “I know she will keep the team together.”

Kushner, a four-year starter and 2012 captain with Becker, is the only departure from last year’s infi eld. She led in runs scored (19), hits (25), and batting aver-age (.362) last season.

Kushner was selected for the chsca and Federation softball Umpires of Greater New haven scholar athlete senior all-star Games. Becker competed in the latter contest.

“caroline was a formidable adversary from the moment she stepped on the fi eld,” Hoag said.

Junior Bryanna Mcintosh, a two-year starter, may remain at second base or shift over to re-place Kushner at shortstop.

“every year, Bryanna surprises me with another element of her game,” Hoag refl ected. “She read the play so well last year without having to get the signal on the base paths.”

like Mcintosh, sophomore third baseman casey harding (.279, 13 runs scored, 19 hits, 12 rBis) was an immediate starter. she batted in the leadoff spot, along with receiving defensive Player of the Year.

“Physically, casey performed day in and out,” said hoag. “You teach her something once and she gets it. she is a natural athlete and so coachable. anyone would be lucky to have her.”

Fellow sophomores Olivia Odermatt (Most improved; one hit) and Sara Como (13 hits, fi ve RBIs) grew up as infi elders be-fore learning outfi eld positions in 2012. Both scored four runs. Odermatt made only one error.

“Olivia would like to get back in the infi eld. We want to see more offensive production,” stat-ed hoag. “i’m going to need her (como) bat in the lineup.”

senior Kathryn Vitale (nine runs and hits each, three rBis) started in center fi eld when Mon-

Cheshire Soft ball Retains Hoag

gillo had mononucleosis in 2012.“she has worked at being a

good outfi elder,” said Hoag. “Kathryn tracks the ball really well. she has a great swing, but has to work out the kinks. Bryan-na and Kat give us great speed.”

hoag wants base runners to set the table for Bourdeau, junior alexa dileo (nine runs scored, 14 hits, 10 rBis), and d’amato (fi ve, 11, fi ve), who all hit home runs last spring. another starter since her freshman year, dileo drew a team-best 11 walks from the designated player position.

“alexa has college home run kind of power. People see her and their mouths drop open. her pres-ence is intimidating, but she is so soft spoken,” stated hoag.

cheshire hopes to win back the housatonic title after their four-

year reign (school record) was snapped last year. For the fi rst time since 2005, they missed the southern connecticut conference tournament. cheshire won their lone scc title in 2002.

“there is a sense of urgency. this is the last hurrah for the seniors,” said hoag. “the state championship is within our grasp, if we put the work into this year.”


Sports HighlightsFourteen

Jim Brandolini/cheshire heraldJunior Dan Schock led the 2012 team in earned run average.

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After reflection, Cheshire base-ball head coach Bill Mrowka felt his 2011 team should have fin-ished around the .500 mark. the rams lost 10 games by three runs or less, resulting in a 4-16 record (1-7 in housatonic division).

“We didn’t get much offensive production (.220 batting aver-age). We only scored 50 runs while giving up 112,” recalled Mrowka. “It was definitely a frus-trating year.”

Mrowka feels what transpired was a test of how to handle adver-sity. he credited the example set by graduated seniors Jordan Ku-bilus, tim Budd, connor clark, Nick d’annolfo, Justin Klanica, Vik lyall, collin Murphy, and adam rider.

Kubilus was their ace pitcher and captained the team with Budd, the catcher.

“Jordan threw a lot of innings and deserved better than his re-cord (1-8, 3.38 earned run aver-age, team-best 26 strikeouts). We didn’t give him run support, but he never once got down on any-body. i think that is a lesson for our returning guys,” said Mrow-ka. “Do you point fingers or work harder? Nobody wants to go 4-16 again. We can definitely be com-petitive this year.”

in a tough season last year, players emerged as contributors to build around in 2013. Junior center fielder/pitcher Dan Schock led the rams in batting aver-age (.333), hits (20), runs scored (nine), home runs (one), rBis (10), and stolen bases (six).

“he really broke through bat-ting leadoff,” said Mrowka.

On the mound, schock posted the lowest era (2.37). he had a 1-2 record, surrendering 28 hits and striking out 24.

schock carried that momentum into the summer, recording a no-hitter for the cheshire american legion senior team.

“dan had a great summer. he

walked too many guys (24) last spring, but in the off-season, he worked on his mechanics,” stated Mrowka.

Kubilus threw 58 innings last spring and the next closest was schock with 23.2. With Kubilus now at albertus Magnus college, upperclassmen will be asked to expand their roles.

Junior ethan lonardelli posted a 2.44 era in 2012. he gave up 15 hits and seven walks, ringing up 16 strikeouts and a save.

“ethan is a strong left-hander with a good work ethic,” added Mrowka.

When he is not pitching, lonar-delli plays at first base. He sup-plied 14 hits and three rBis last season, scoring four runs.

Junior Kyle Waldron (seven hits, two rBis) can move be-tween first and third. Classmate and fellow infielder Alex Augusto (two hits, one rBi) and Waldron each scored three times in 2012.

“We threw guys into the fire,” reflected Mrowka. “Kyle came into varsity halfway through and batted cleanup. he keeps growing and will also pitch for us.”

seniors PJ Watson (2.8 era, eight strikeouts) and christian colp (3.5, one strikeout) gave up three hits each last spring, com-bining for seven innings of relief. classmate Zach Goul pitched four innings, striking out two and allowing six hits.

“We can help the pitchers by cutting down on our errors (35),” explained Mrowka.

his son cooper was playing varsity shortstop in the pre-sea-son last year before a back injury wiped out his freshman year.

“cooper’s injury was a big loss for us. hopefully, he will be healthy,” said Mrowka. “(Ju-nior) Wes robertson can help us behind the plate or in the middle infield.”

senior Kyle hodgdon (two hits and rBis each, one run) and

CHS Aims To Rebound In 2013

robertson have backed up Budd (Western New england Universi-ty-Springfield, Mass.).

“tim (Budd) could receive, block, and throw smoothly,” ex-plained Mrowka. “it’s a tough loss, but we have guys who’ve handled our pitchers before.”

Kubilus, rider, lyall, Budd, Klanica, and clark totaled 36 hits and 29 runs scored last year.

“We are going to ask guys to

step up,” Mrowka said. chs will return without senior

Vin sansone. another football player, senior outfielder Matt Gardiner (four runs scored, 10 hits, one rBi), hasn’t decided about this season.

Mrowka feels senior Kevin Mi-rando can be an outfield leader.

“Kevin has worked hard and done it by example,” stated Mrowka. “he never complains.”

Mrowka wants the program to strive to return to the south-ern connecticut conference and class ll tournaments, along with improving last year’s fifth place finish in the division.

“We are always tournament tested by the end of the year,” said Mrowka. “We know it’s a tough division and we welcome that challenge because we play the best teams.”


Sports HighlightsFifteen

cheshire girls’ volleyball head coach sue Bavone doesn’t be-lieve in rebuilding years. so even after chs graduated all but two starters from the 2011 team (23-1), she still expected to fi eld a competitive squad within con-necticut last fall.

the girls did more than that in the course of a 22-2 season. cheshire (second seed) outlasted Fairfi eld Ludlowe 3-2 to reach their fi rst Class LL fi nal since winning the crown in 2007. chs was swept 3-0 by top-seeded darien, but represented the only team to make the semifi nals in each of the last three years.

“i’m pretty impressed with that aspect,” said Bavone. “We take pride in consistently being a top team in the state.”

This semifi nal win was emo-tional since cheshire had been swept by the eventual champion in the last two semis. chs led 1-0 and 2-1, but after a rally by Fair-fi eld Ludlowe, they found them-selves two points (13-10) from elimination in the fi fth game. this time, they answered with a 5-0 spurt to victory. sophomore Jill howard hit her only kill of the match and then junior eryn dors-ey served the last four points.

“that was one of the most ex-citing matches. We were tired of being out in the semis and fi -nally cracked that ceiling,” added Bavone. “My only disappoint-ment came from not representing ourselves the same way in the fi -nal. it would have been good to pressure them (darien), but i’m proud of what we accomplished.”

Led by fi ve seniors, CHS won a school-record fi fth straight housatonic division title (8-0) and ninth southern connecticut conference crown (record). they shared both honors with amity.

chs started 13-0, including a 3-1 win over amity, but the spar-tans came back to be the only team to beat them (3-2) in the reg-ular season. it was their only de-feat (4-1) in fi ve-game matches.

due to weather complications, the third match between them in the SCC fi nal was canceled. They were named co-champions again.

“It was frustrating because fi rst we would have liked to play for the title and avenge our loss,” said Bavone. “it would have also al-lowed the girls to get their nerves out in a championship setting.”

Middle hitter amanda Palla-dino, a senior captain with Mer-edith Bryden, and sophomore setter sarah rodgers were named co-Offensive Players of the Year and members of the New Haven Register all-area team.

in her second season as a start-er, Palladino was a dominant hit-ter. she posted a team-leading 312 kills, 117 blocks, serving 30 aces and adding 36 digs.

Palladino, who shared all-hou-satonic with Norwegian transfer lisa Walle and sophomore Maria Buzzelli, was the program’s fi rst all-class ll First team selec-tion since 2004. she represented her team in the connecticut high school coaches association se-nior all-star Game.

“i’m so proud of her as a player and person. she embraced being a captain and once we hit states, she turned it up,” explained Bavone. “Without her, (sophomore) Jill howard is going to have to be our go-to middle next year.”

Walle, another middle hitter by trade, was moved outside. she compiled 185 kills, 23 blocks, 54 aces (team-best), and 79 digs.

“lisa was a nice addition who served and hit for power,” said Bavone. “i could always count on

her to be aggressive.”Walle served 11 of the last 12

points of the 3-1 victory over sta-ples in the Class LL quarterfi nal. Staples won the fi rst game, yet chs served out the next three on extended runs.

“We served well other than the (Class LL) fi nal,” stated Bavone. “We cut down on our errors.”

a server and passer off the bench in 2011, Bryden (57 kills, 31 aces, 19 blocks) became a starting middle in place of 2012 graduate Kelly Gunneson (south-ern connecticut state University).

“Meredith was unselfi sh in moving to a new position. We al-ready had a plethora of passers,” said Bavone, who gave her the coaches award. “she was slow-ing down opposing middle hitters at the end of the year.”

dorsey became a starting out-side hitter at mid-season, produc-ing 50 kills, 79 digs, and 25 aces. come next fall, she will be the third sister of her family to cap-

tain the lady rams.Junior Becca ligi will also join

dorsey as a 2013 captain. last season, she used her versatility to add 85 kills, 79 digs, and 23 aces.

sophomore Jillian haberli (76 kills, 18 digs, 13 aces) provided power hitting after training rigor-ously to improve her footwork. howard (26 kills, 14 blocks) and junior eva Whelan (17 kills) also came off the bench.

rodgers (Most improved; 51 aces, 17 kills, 85 digs) led with 606 assists. chs started out ro-tating junior Kathleen hastie and rodgers before settling on one setter. rodgers, who succeeded three-year starter Gina Buzzelli (trinity college), set a career-high 45 assists at amity.

“she did a good job spreading the ball around. sarah showed toughness playing varsity because the majority of opponents were upperclassmen,” said Bavone.

Bavone feels that hastie will be a good right-side hitter next fall

Girls’ V-Ball Wins Locally, Breaks Th rough In Class LL

after cheshire graduates Brittney Gunneson. a two-year starter, Gunneson had 84 kills, 24 blocks, 41 aces, 51 assists, and 30 digs.

“Brittney was valuable since she could set and hit for us. her serve also pressured a lot of other teams,” stated Bavone.

like rodgers, Buzzelli was a sophomore replacing a graduated captain (libero Kerry chavoya). she responded with a team-best 242 digs, 28 coming in a 3-2 win at Mercy, and 34 aces in earning defensive Player of the Year.

“Maria kept the ball in play for us,” said Bavone. “the good thing is that sarah and Maria still have room for improvement.”

senior sarah crooker (cheshire Junior Women’s club leadership award; 41 digs) and junior Phoe-be carmichael (79 digs) saw their most time in the back row.

“i liked how the upperclass-men meshed with the younger girls. We had great chemistry this year,” added Bavone.

al Valerio/cheshire herald

Amanda Palladino, displayed above setting the ball at the net, was a co-captain. Sarah Rodgers (below) led in assists.

Cheshire Girls’ Volleyball Continues Strong TraditionFor Head Coach Sue Bavone In 2012!

We love our seniors: Amanda Palladino, Meredith Bryden,Sarah Crooker, Brittney Gunneson, and Lisa Walle.

Lisa, you only spent one season with us, but we hope wewere your family away from home in Norway.

¬School record 5 straight Housatonic Division Champions

¬SCC record 9 tournament championships

¬First Class LL Final Since 2007



Sports Highlightssixteen

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Boys’ Basketball (8-4; 5-1 in housatonic division)

Senior captains: tim covel, eric dietrich, erik Pettit

After graduating four of fi ve starters from last season, chs has transitioned from a half-court style to an up-tempo approach. With their current fi ve-game win streak, cheshire leads the race for a second straight housatonic title.

Junior point guard collin Jor-dan is the lone starter back. his dribble penetration has created three-pointers for, among others, senior brothers Kevin and eric dietrich, along with Pettit and ju-niors reid duglenski, Jon rizzo, and tom arisco.

sophomore andrew Yamin has provided versatility at both ends. Fellow fi rst-year starter, junior tyler Post, and covel have pro-vided a low post presence.

cheshire uses a deep bench.Girls’ Basketball (8-7; 4-2)Senior captains: lauren como,

emma Gorham, Molly Jalbert.cheshire entered this season as

two-time defending housatoni c champions. despite two losses, they are still alive in the chase.

the team started 6-3, sweeping Hillhouse for the fi rst time. Junior point guard Missy Bailey has per-severed through injuries to lead in points and assists. como is a top outside shooter like Bailey and guards the best perimeter player.

lauren’s sophomore sister sara como plays up front with Jalbert, Gorham, and sopho-more Jill howard. Juniors lily dolyak, Bryanna Mcintosh, Kya

O’donnell, along with sopho-more Kelly Glatt, are seeing their most minutes in the backcourt.

CheerleadingSenior captains: Whitney lo-

rello, Marisa Pisaniafter starting the season at last

saturday’s Wolcott invite, chs looks to defend their fi rst South-ern connecticut conference title on Feb. 2 (10 a.m.) at shelton. Upcoming competitions include Quinnipiac University (Feb. 16), sachem classic (Feb. 23; North haven), New england Open (March 2; east haven), and state Open (March 8-9; hillhouse).

Before their winter season, fall awards were given to junior Monica Finkle (Most dedicated), along with sophomores Olivia Valente (Most improved) and av-ery York (cheshire Junior Wom-en’s club leadership award).

Boys’ Ice Hockey (2-10)Senior captain: tom dupontSenior assistant captains: tyler

lima, scott romanoit has been a frustrating winter

for cheshire, who have lost six games by a goal each. they beat tri-town (6-2) on Jan. 21 and Guilford (2-1) fi ve days later.

the defense, led by dupont, has been solid. romano has com-piled 258 saves in his fi rst season

as a starter. classmate Jack Nara-more (48) and junior Joey solla (19) have also received action.

Junior luke Vendetto (four as-sists) leads with six goals. sopho-more Ben Klanica (fi ve goals) and junior Jonathan hauser (two goals) have fi ve assists. Senior tyler lima (team-best six assists) and junior alex Bausch (one as-sist) have three goals. dupont and junior dan Purslow have three and four assists, respectively.

chs needs six more wins to make the division i tournament.

Girls’ Ice Hockey (7-6)Junior captain: abbie langelange, along with sophomores

lauren Blackwell, alexa car-bone, Bailie Violano, and fresh-men emily Gotowala and rachel Kozak, have helped the am-ity/cheshire/North haven co-Op team enjoy a current four-game win streak. alexa’s father tony is an assistant on the staff.

Indoor Track and FieldSenior captains (Girls): Jenna

hart, saparja Nag, hannah PurtellSenior captains (Boys): sam

Brown, Pat Germain, Nick Ja-kowenko, andrew Perrotti

On Jan. 23, chs visited New haven’s Floyd little athletic center for the scc east section-al. Junior selina sampieri claimed fi rst for pole vault (10 feet), breaking her school mark. senior Kathleen Kalbian took second in the 3,200-meters (11:47.91) and 4x800-meter relay (hart, junior Kimmi Grove, Purtell; 9:57.44). the 4x400-meter team (Grove, senior Nicole stauffer, junior Mi-chelle Federico, hart; 4:24.85) also took second.

liam Nicoll (300-meters, 36.91) and the 4x800-meter team (sophomore Mark Fusco, junior

Ben Kaplan, senior sagar Nakra-ni, junior trey Phillips; 8:39.34) won their fi rst titles. The girls and boys took third (68 points) and fi fth (40) places, respectively.

Skiing (boys, 4-1; girls, 0-3)Senior captains (Boys): an-

drew Brown, alec cunningham, Mike harris

Senior captain (Girls): Kelsie carlette

cheshire boys got off to strong start on Jan. 9, posting a score of 295.45 at Mount southing-ton. Brown (ninth, 47.86), harris (13th, 48.47), senior Matt Bossy (15th, 48.83), cunningham (19th, 49.37), junior ryan Bogrette (23rd, 50.34), and sophomore Joe Urbano (26th, 50.58) all scored.

after missing her second sea-son to anterior cruciate ligament surgery, carlette won her 2013 debut (48.56). sophomore liz cunningham (14th, 51.38), fresh-man Meghan diamond (16th, 51.48), sophomores Jennifer Brown (33rd, 55.22), Kather-ine dePalma (49th, 59.7), and Morgan hernandez (51st, 60.00) fi lled out the top six for the Lady rams (326.54).

teams need at least a .500 re-cord to make the state Open.

Boys’ Swim and Dive (5-4)Junior captains: Brian John-

son, Pat Morley, Jonathan Jin Qian

after graduation cut the rams

to seven athletes, 16 freshmen have strengthened the numbers they lacked in recent years.

head coach Fran connolly has never had junior captains before. classmate alex Bauer has low-ered his times in his second year.

Freshmen Karl Bishop and Kyle shadeck have joined John-son and Morley as top point scorers. Freshmen alex cheruk, Michael Goodrich, and Matt Pin-ciaro have swam on many relays.

The Rams seek to fi nish well in dual meets and peak at class l.

Wrestling (9-11)Senior captains: dan Massuc-

ci, tim homanWhile forfeiting weight classes

in dual meets, chs has been a strong tournament team anchored by 12 seniors. Massucci (138 pounds), senior Josh hunihan (160), juniors Jake cervero (132) and lucas swan (126) and Gabe Vega (170), took fi rst place in the Fairfi eld Ludlowe Tournament on dec. 15 of last year.

On Jan. 19, cervero won the New Milford tournament.

seniors steve Bergeron (145, 152) and dan Mayer (145-152), along with juniors Joe Villano (113) and sophomore erik raven-berg (106), have scored key points. a concussion kept homan (170) out until Jan. 23.

Cheshire hopes to take fi ve or six wrestlers to the state Open.

Photos by allen Paul/cheshire heraldSenior Andrew Brown (above) skis around at Mount Southington. Se-nior basketball player Lauren Como (right) scores between defenders.

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Sports Highlights 2013