the sports department, vernon june

South Windsor Edition June 2013

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AirborneWHAT’S INSIDE

Return of the Commu-nity MVP. This month, Tolland’s Keane.

Page 20

Athletes from Hart-ford making a huge local impact

Pages 4-5Evan Macy | Staff

Ellington’s Kelsey Sgarlata leaps through the air during the Class M state meet at Willow Brook Park. For more visit thesportsdept.

By Evan MacySports Editor

Just because you’re good at something, doesn’t mean you have to always do it.

A problem that few have to contend with, Ellington’s Ali Larew deals with it all the time. She’s good at everything.

“She grew up playing golf at Ellington

Ridge with her brothers,” Ellington golf coach Mike Stiles said, “But softball was her main sport. She’s an outstanding soft-ball player. This year, her senior year she decided to play golf. She qualified for the girls state tournament.”

In addition to her prowess on the field and the golf course, Larew is also a remarkable student. She is her class Salutatorian and will

attend Villanova University next fall.“I kind of focused on academics

when I had to focus on academics,” Larew said. “It’s just like golf, one stroke at a time, one project or pa-per at a time.”

It all started when she was a kid. Golfing by four, she was a regular in junior golf for years. And, she had some pretty tough competitors right under her roof to test her athletic chops. LAREW Continued on PAGE 31

Ellington’s Larew swaps base hits for birdies

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Ellington’s Ali Larew follows through.

Read all about Kaitlyn Lajoie and the rest of this year’s scholar athletes Pages 12, 13, 25, 29

Highlights of the MonthPage 5

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Publisher: Kevin Hayes • [email protected]: Brendan Faherty • Production Manager: Patty Hunter

Contributing Writers: Jon Buzby • Tom Ainsworth • Steve Smith • Reid L Walmark • Danny Atkinson • Brian Mazzone • Nate Owen • Amy Locandro • Bob

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TOLLAND — Five local gymnasts, Alexander Fitzgerald, Nathan Kopp, Jonathan Lerch, Christopher Tricard and Franklin Valentin competed in the National JO Gymnastics Cham-pionships in Portland, Oregon.

All five gymnasts made it to the finals. Chris Tricard, a level 10 gym-nast in the 15 year-old age group, placed 1st in the Nation on Pom-mel Horse. Frankie Valentin, a level

9 gymnast in the 14 year-old age group, placed 6th on Rings and 5th in the Nation as an All Around, a total of all six events.

Tri-Town Gymnastics, 211 Hartford Turnpike, Tolland, CT, and Owner Dennis Adams, will be celebrating 32 years in business this year.

This is Tri-Town Gymnastics’ and Coach Frank Valentin’s first National Champion.

Quintet of gymnasts make finals in Oregon

Staff Report

For all of the accomplishments Casey Mitchell and Sam Odell have shared this season, this most recent recognition is without a doubt the most significant to date. Both have been recognized in Wres-tling USA magazine with a 2013 High School Honorable Mention All-American.

It takes a lot to be recognized in Wrestling USA magazine and only the best get select-ed annually from each state, and in some states there are no worthy entries. This year South Windsor High School’s Casey Mitch-ell and Sam Odell earned the honor and are proud to represent Connecticut.

Mitchell, 145lb and Odell, 152lb ran with almost identical records this year with Mitchell 49-1 and Odell 47-1. As their 2013 regular season came to an unde-feated close both wrestlers continued to advance - earning the 1st place champi-onship in their respective weight class for their LL high school division, then moved on to win the Connecticut State Open Championship advancing them to New England’s where they both lost close matches in the finals to twins from Rhode Island, taking home the 2nd place spot.

“Casey and Sam have worked ex-

tremely hard to accomplish their goals to be State champs,” said South Wind-sor coach Jude Knapp. “They definitely helped each other these past four years always pushing the other to work harder.”

Similar records are no surprise to the boys who have been wrestling together since they were 8 years old, but their wrestling careers are not over yet.

Mitchell will be attending Sacred Heart University’s D1 program in September and Odell has been accepted into the Na-val academy prep school in Newport, RI, and then will go on to the Naval academy, Annapolis, MD. Both schools are part of the EIWA conference and the boys look forward to the day they will meet again on the mat.

SW wrestlers honorable mention All-Americans

Casey Mitchell, left, and Sam Odell.

The other night my neighbor had his 9-year-old son in the backyard tak-ing swings in a make-shift batting cage. The boy’s baseball season had just ended the night before.

And while I’m not sure whose idea it was to head outside and hit balls, I can only guess based on the father’s barking voice and the sweating scowl on the batter’s face as he longingly gazed at my boys and me biking by, that it was not the boy’s suggestion.

Kids enjoy the sum-mer months because they get a break from the stresses of school.

Other than a few summer reading assignments, which,

let’s face it, usually get completed un-der duress the weekend before the

first day of school, kids can just be kids.

And for many, this means not having the pres-sure and stress that is often in-volved with being on a youth sports team.

That boy across the street was out hitting balls every night during the season. My guess is, he wanted to be in order to im-prove and keep his name on the lineup card. Or at least was more

willing to be out there. But now that the

season is over, I can’t help but think he’d rather be in a pool somewhere, romping around the local jungle gym, playing kickball, or maybe coming along for a bike ride.

As parents, we need to keep that in mind.

While there’s nothing wrong with kids being outside during the summer months playing baseball or basketball or maybe even a sport they never play in an organized league, they should do so on their own terms.

It shouldn’t be because we parents are making threats about how the other players are all practicing on their own or playing on travel teams or in sum-mer leagues.

Or how about this one: “If you don’t practice, you’ll be left off the team next year.” Yes, that’s one of my originals, thus this column.

If your son (or daughter) does ask you to shoot hoops in the driveway or head to the batting cages, that’s great.

But try not to offer advice unless asked. Just observe.

Think of it as if your child chose to read a book just for fun that wasn’t on his summer reading list. My guess is you wouldn’t be looking over his shoul-der trying to hone his reading skills. In fact, you probably wouldn’t even be in the same room.

During the summer, don’t to fine-tune his swing … unless he asks.

During the summer months, I try to remember this simple rule: The best way for a kid to spend his time during the summer when it involves sports, is simply, however he chooses.

Much like we did, or wish we had been allowed to, when we were kids.

Contact Jon Buzby at [email protected] and follow him @YouthS-portsBuzz on Twitter.

It’s okay for kids to take the summer off from youth sports

Kevin Hayes | StaffYouth sports are in full swing.


By Danny AtkinsonStaff Writer

A great majority of local athletes are fortunate to play their sports, and grow up in a great community, like Enfield, like South Windsor or like Glastonbury. They are taught their sport by talented coaches and learn in school from dedi-cated teachers.

However, there are a handful of prom-inent local athletes who have grown up and live under very different circum-stances than those of their teammates. These athletes are currently or formally were citizens of Hartford.

For them, being able to attend first-rate high schools in the communities surrounding Hartford is a once in a lifetime chance. It has opened up their worldview and given them academic, social and athletic opportunities they may have never been exposed to oth-erwise.

Five athletes, Tyron Williams of Suf-field High, Tarchee Brown of Rockville, Owen Bewry of Somers, Matt Rodri-guez of Windsor Locks, and Tajha Lewis of East Windsor are all members of this group. Each of them grew up in Hartford, and only Brown now lives outside of the capitol city. This quintet has embraced the opportunity to attend schools outside of Hartford, and believe their decision has had an overwhelming impact on their lives.

Tyron Williams is in his senior year at Suffield, and has starred for its basket-ball team during his time there. Williams quickly acclimated to the environment at Suffield and embraced all the school had to offer, particularly on the aca-demic front. He became involved in the school’s agro-science program, which is not offered to the same extent at Capitol Prep, which he originally wanted to at-tend before joining the Hartford Region Open Choice Program. Williams has clearly enjoyed being able to closely

study plants and nature for four years, and said that he had the ideal academic experience at Suffield.

Williams’s statements are echoed by the other four athletes, who empha-sized how attending schools outside of Hartford exposed them to more chal-lenging and comprehensive academic environments.

“The classes at Somers are more in-teresting and challenging,” said Owen Bewry, a junior who plays hoops for the Spartans. “The teachers here develop a close relationship with you and make sure that you understand the material

and are giving 100 percent in class.”“I am in a much better learning envi-

ronment at Windsor Locks then I would have been at a Hartford school,” said Matt Rodriguez, a senior who competes for the Raiders track teams. “It is much quieter at Windsor Locks, and I am able to have a very wide range of classes. The teachers here are great, and almost all my classes have been interesting.”

Tarchee Brown said that there were stark differences between the learning and social environments at Hartford Public and Rockville High. Brown at-tended Hartford Public for his first two

years of high school before transferring to Rockville as a junior when his mother moved to Vernon. The basketball star stated that it was much easier for him to focus on his work this year because the classes were more demanding.

“Everyone is a family at Rockville,” he said. “I felt like I belonged from the mo-ment I started here.”

“It is nice to not have to deal with all the commotion and drama at the city schools,” said Bewry, who was encour-aged to attend Somers by his father. “I feel more comfortable and safe at Somers.”

Harry Bellucci coaches the football team at Hartford Public High, and Wen-dell Williams coaches girls’ basketball and volleyball for Weaver High. Both men agreed that athletes who partici-pate in the Open Choice Program are exposed to a better and more rigorous academic environment than they would have been at one of Hartford’s high schools.

“The kids who do Open Choice have a lot more options than those at Hartford Public,” Wendell Williams said. “They are able to choose from a lot more classes and can take a wide variety of subjects. At suburban schools, they are able to focus on certain subjects and prepare themselves for majors.”

However, Bellucci said that the tough-er academic standards at these schools can sometimes backfire on athletes who are not prepared for the demands they will face.

“A lot of kids are not ready academi-cally for the challenge,” Bellucci said. “You have kids who can be successful in the honors programs here [Hartford Public] or at other city schools, and then they go somewhere else and are be-hind and over-matched in those same programs.”

Each member of the quintet said that attending their high schools had allowed them to build relationships and friend-

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success in local High Schoolsships with students who grew up in dif-ferent and more diverse backgrounds.

Sophomore Tajha Lewis is one of the top athletes on the Windsor Locks track teams. She was encouraged to at-tend Windsor Locks by her mother. She believes that by doing so, she has ulti-mately expanded her world view.

“I’ve learned a lot from my teachers, and meeting so many students from different backgrounds has made me more open-minded,” Lewis said. “I’ve definitely made a lot of new friends who have different opinions on issues, and it has started to change how I look at the world.”

Tyron Williams has similar sentiments to Lewis after attending Suffield for four years.

“I’ve had amazing opportunities to meet people from different backgrounds at Suffield,” he said. “I feel like these ex-periences have taught me how to build close relationships with all types of peo-ple, and have ultimately prepared me for college life.”

Bellucci and Wendell Williams both said that the Open Choice Program does a great job of allowing Hartford residents to meet peers from different cultures. However, they each said that athletes at their schools who have par-

ticipated in the program told them that it was difficult for them to build lasting re-lationships with their friends and team-mates. They were unable to spend time socially with friends and teammates be-

cause of the distance between Hartford and the towns they attended school in. Bellucci and Williams also stated that these athletes found it hard to juggle school and sports when they had to travel to and from Hartford each day, sometimes relying on public transporta-tion to do so.

Each member of the quintet said that they have truly enjoyed competing for their high schools. Brown enjoyed play-ing for Hartford Public, but said that be-ing part of the Rockville program has been a great experience for him.

“Everyone was very welcoming form the minute I got here,” he said. “Coach [Peter McCann] taught me a lot about basketball and helped me with my con-fidence. He always expects us to com-pete hard. You can’t slack off for a sec-ond.”

Rodriguez said that track drives him and inspires him to give his all. Rodri-guez plans to continue his track career in college.

Bellucci and Williams both argued that athletes at their schools get more out of sports than their counterparts at suburban schools. They each said that their players face a tougher level of competition and that as a result have to fight harder for playing time and recog-nition.

“My players get to prove themselves against the best of the best at Hartford Public,” Bellucci said. “You’re not going to face the elite programs at a smaller school like Suffield.”

Williams, Brown, Bewry, Rodriguez and Lewis understand that the transi-tion from high school to college will be a tough one, but each is very confident that they will be prepared for it because of the lessons they learned from their teachers, classmates and coaches. Ro-driguez and Bewry spoke about how Windsor Locks and Somers have pre-pared them for college.

“I feel like I’m prepared for all types of situations,” said Rodriguez, who is look-ing at attending New Haven, Howard, Central Connecticut and Quinnipiac. “I should be able to find my place quickly.”

“I know that having such good teach-ers will prepare me for college classes,” Bewry said. “I now have the opportunity to get into a good college.”

Highlights of the Month

Tolland: Katy Sprout set a state record in the 300 hurdles and led the Eagles to a title.

Rockville: The Rams’ softball team fell short of its goal to repeat in Class L, with a tough loss to Berlin early in the tournament.

Ellington: Girls tennis got its first ever unde-feated regular season, thanks in part to a per-fect record by Hannah Riley.

South Windsor: Sabrina Skenyon and Steph Bois-vert combined to form the No. 1 doubles team for the Bobcats this season.

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June 2013 7

Softball NotebookSo�b

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By Brendan FahertyStaff Writer

As defending Class L champions, the Rockville Rams knew they had a target on their back. But every team - except for Bristol Central, missed the target through-out the season.

After a 19-1 season, and an easy 7-0 win - the team’s 12th shutout of the sea-son - over No. 14 Ledyard, the No. 3 Rams had a date with No. 6 Berlin (17-3) in the Class L quarterfinals.

The Rams were stunned early in the game, as Berlin pitcher Makayla Harris hit a two run double in the first inning, and also struck out nine batters on the mound, as the Redcoats cruised to a 3-0 win.

Kaitlyn Lajoie matched Harris in the strikeout department, but the rough first inning cost the Rams.

All wasn’t lost on the season, as the Rams had five players named to the All-CCC East team: Kaitlyn Lajoie, Chrissy Pettengill, Laura Skoly, Courtney Oliva, and Megan Gardiner.

EllingtonAfter a 17-3 season in 2012, the Knights

were stunned in the first round in a loss to Holy Cross.

The Knights didn’t miss a beat in the regular season, going 14-3, but were able to keep focus in the tournament. In the first round, the Knights crushed Plainfield, 17-2 behind a 17 hit performance and freshman catcher Brianna DeLand who hit two doubles with three RBI and a run scored.

The Knights were able to keep the mo-mentum going in the second round, dis-posing of Montville, 6-1 as Rachel Tsho-nas struck out seven, while Nikki Foote hit two doubles.

Ellington’s run came to a screeching halt, as a six run second inning gave top seed Suffield enough of a cushion for a 9-3 win, ending the Knights season.

TollandTolland’s 13-7 season ended with a 2-1

loss to No.14 Griswold in the Class M first

round as the Wolverines Emily Slonski hit a ball back to the pitcher with the bases loaded and Tolland tried for the double play, but throw to first was late and the winning run scored.

After a slow start to the season, drop-ping its first two game, the Eagles rattled off seven wins in nine games, including wins over Fermi and Rocky Hill during that stretch. They beat Fermi a second time, 19-0 and followed up with a 31-0 throttling of Bloomfield for their most im-pressive wins of the season.

South WindsorThe Bobcats, lead by All-CCC North

player Maddy Silverman, finished the season 11-8, before losing in the second round of the Class LL tournament, 4-0, to Stamford.

In the first round, the No. 21 seed Bob-cats beat Danbury, 4-1. Freshman Pey-ton Silverman led the way on the mound and in the batter’s box. She had six strike-outs and two hits with two RBI, pacing the Bobcats.

Softball squads make deep runs

Evan Macy | Staff

Ellington lost to Suffield in the quarters.


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Baseball NotebookBaseb

all


The Ellington baseball team had a great season, with many ups and downs. Unfortunately, the season was completed n a down note, with a thrill-ing Class M tournament opener elimi-nating the Knights from contention.

Against Bacon Academy, the Knights blew a lead, and then in the eighth in-ning, fell 5-4.

Their 11-9 record during the regu-lar season is reflective of the ups and downs, as the squad pieced together a four game win streak mid-season, but lost two of its final three heading into the tournament.

TollandThe Eagles played well enough dur-

ing the regular season to compile a 12-8 record, and get a home game in Class L.

Unfortunatey, they could not take advantage as the team was bested by Guilford at home, 7-4.

In the difficult CCC Conference, the Eagles held their own, beating tourna-ment teams like Fermi, Stafford, Wl-lington and E.O. Smith.

Talented returnees will fuel a antici-pated 2014 campaign.

South WindsorThough the South Windsor baseball

team may have had a 11-10 record this year, the season was filled with memo-ries and accomplishments that far ex-ceed the win-loss record. Mike Bastis and Nick Nowak were selected all con-ference, and each returns in 2014 for a promising squad looking to improve on a 4-2 loss to Conard in the first round of the Class LL state tournament.

A great memory for this years team was coming back from down 4-0, and being no hit for five innings, to beat Westhill 9-5.

“Four great young men who were captains and very good leaders for the team,” head coach Jim Abbott said of his departing seniors. “They will be missed very much.”

RockvilleThe 6-10 Rams ended on a very high

note despite missing the playoffs, winning four out of the last five games to close out the season. Kurt Annelli was named to all conference and all academic team.

Joining Annelli on the all academic team were Matt Goff, Carlos Adamson, Jon Frank, Dan Wheeler, and Brett Mont-

miny.“The seniors will be greatly missed by

myself and the rest of the team. “ Arthur Wheelock said of the large group of de-parting players he will need to replace in 2014. “They have worked hard and put in a lot of time and effort into the program over the last four years. More important-ly, they have become great people.”

Ellington, Tolland, SW ousted in first round


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Lacrosse NotebookLacro

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By Reid L. WalmarkStaff Writer

The Tolland boys lacrosse team reached the quarterfinals of the Class S tournament but lost to No. 6 Mor-gan-Clinton 14-12. The third-seedaed Eagles had defeated No. 14 Northwest Catholic-West Hartford on May 29 in the first round. Tolland, which went 4-3 in May, qualified for the CCC East tourna-ment but lost to Northwest Catholic 15-9 in the semifinals as the No. 3 seed. The Eagles were 12-4 in the regular season, a five-game improvement over their 7-9 record in 2011-12 when they earned a Class S berth but lost in the first round.

Tolland finished at 13-6.South Windsor BoysThe South Windsor boys fell one win

shy from qualifying for the Class L play-offs by finishing at 6-10, the record they carved out in the previous year as well. The Bobcats wound up seventh of eight teams in the ultra-competitive CCC West with a 1-6 record. They won two of their last three games but that couldn’t

compensate for opening the season with five straight losses.

South Windsor was 1-3 in May be-fore closing out the schedule with wins over Windsor and Ellington with a loss to Class L semifinalist Simsbury in be-tween.

Ellington BoysThe Ellington boys, who were 6-10,

failed to qualify for the Class S tourna-ment, missing with two fewer wins than needed to secure a berth. The Knights were on a drive to qualify by winning three straight games from May 4-13, beating Woodstock Academy, Suffield and Lewis Mills-Burlilngton, but they closed out 2012-13 with losses to Gran-by Memorial and South Windsor.

Ellington finished 6-10 the year be-fore, failing to qualify for the state play-offs by not winning its last two games.

Rockville BoysThe Rockville boys finished 1-15 with

their win coming on April 29 in a 15-11 victory over Haddam-Killingworth in Vernon. The Rams, who were 2-13 in 2011-12, ended this season with an

eight-game losing streak. South Windsor GirlsThe South Windsor girls had trouble

in the CCC North by compiling a 1-5 re-cord and finishing sixth of seven teams. But their record outside the division was quite impressive. The Bobcats were 7-5-2 overall and earned the No. 12 seed in the Class L state tournament. South Windsor lost to No. 5 Cheshire 10-5 in the first round.

The Bobcats went 2-3-2 in May be-fore the state playoffs. Their regular season was their first with a winning re-cord since going 11-3 in 2008-09. South Windsor qualified for the state tourna-ment in 2009-10 and 2010-11 before missing the playoffs in 2011-12 with a 4-10-1 record.

Ellington GirlsThe Ellington girls barely missed

qualifying for the Class S tournament by compiling a 6-10 record. After winning their season-opener, the Knights lost five in a row. They turned it around by winning three straight to get back into the hunt for a post-season berth, but

the winning streak was followed by four consecutive losses.

Ellington closed out the season by winning two of its last three, beating Waterford and Woodstock Academy but the game in between, which would have helped the Knights qualify for the S playoffs, was against Granby Memo-rial, a team that reached the tournament semifinals. Ellington went 2-4 in May.

The season was a step backward from 2011-12 when Ellington was seed-ed ninth in Class S and was eliminated in the quarterfinals to finish at 10-7.

Tolland boys reach Class S quarters

Evan Macy | Staff

Tolland’s Jeremy Clavette tosses a pass.

June 201310

Joffre Rodriguez (second from right,THS 2014) and his CT Northstars AAU Basketball U17 Team finished 2nd place in the CT State Division 1 Tourna-ment. The silver medal finish qualifies the team to compete at the 2013 AAU D1 Nationals to be held in Orlando, FL on July 23-29.

Tolland’s Rodriguez leads CT Northstars to 2nd place

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The 2011 and 2012 Wild Thing Kart senior champion Ron Midford Jr. and 2012 Carquest Champions for Chari-ties winner will be racing to support the Troy Russell Benefit Fund on June 28, at Stafford motor speedway.

On August 13, 2012, Troy, an out-standing Ellington High School student athlete, suffered a serious accident in Narragansett, RI leaving him with two broken vertebrae and the loss of mo-bility in both his arms and legs. With a tremendous amount of hard work and the support of friends and family, Troy continues to make great progress in his recovery. His strength, courage and positive attitude have been an in-spiration to all of us. On behalf of Troy and his Family we would like to thank all who continue to support Troy in his recovery.

To learn more about Troy Russell’s progress, please visit www.facebook.com/PrayForTroy.

To learn more about Ron Midford Jr. and the Champions for Charities Race, please go to www.staffordspeedway.comand click on the CARQUEST

Champions for Charities link.

If you would like to pur-chase tickets for this event please con-tact by phone, email or stop by Kar Kare Auto Body a Division of Bolles Mo-tors, 113 Win-dermere Ave, Ellington, CT 06029, or call 860-875-1290. You can also email, [email protected].

Contacts at Kar Kare are Ron Midford Jr or Kim Chilcott , or Contact Troy’s Aunt Do-reen Midford at 860-871-9440

NOTE, tickets will not be sold at door because space is limited.

Carquest champions for charities to hold outing

Troy Russell with father Eric.


SOUTH WINDSORCIAC Scholar Athlete

Academic accomplishments: High Honors all 4 years; All-Academic Athlete; National Gladiator Academic Athlete Award; National Honor Soci-ety.Athetic accomplishments: Lettered 4 years in field hockey and lacrosse; All Conference 3 years in field hockey.Most memorable thing about high

school: Forming close friendships with my teammates.Biggest influence in life: I’ve had a lot of positive influences in my life including my Mom. Her battle with Leukemia inspires me to live life to the fullest and strive to be the best I can be. If I could change one thing in the world it would be: People who pass judgment on others without truly knowing them. If this changed, all colors, shapes and sizes would be treated equally and with respect. Re-spect leads to peace in small and big arenas.What it means to be named a Scholar Athete: I feel very blessed and thankful that my hard work paid off and was recognized in this way.College Plans: Attending Quinnipiac University majoring in Athletic Train-ing/Sports Medicine. Also, playing Field Hockey for the Quinnipiac Bob-cats.

Angela KingField Hocky, Lacrosse

SOUTH WINDSORCIAC Scholar Athlete

Academic accomplishments: High Honor Roll all 4 years, AP Scholar with Honor, Cornell University Book Award, National Honor Society, Span-ish Honor Society, Connecticut Swim-ming Scholar Athlete, CCC North All-Academic (seven seasons), Highest GPA of a Varsity Athlete (five seasons).Athetic accomplishments: Captain of SWHS Boys Swimming and Diving, CCC North All-Conference (3 seasons of swimming), CIAC All-State (swim-ming).Most memorable thing about high school: I can vividly remember stand-ing on the pool deck as the freestyle

swimmer of our 200 Medley Relay at the 2013 State Class L Champion-ships finished the race, looking up at the scoreboard, and screaming in shock and joy as I saw the time next to our name. Touching out the next two teams by 0.15 and 0.23 for sec-ond place meant that we had earned all-state honors, which was just an awesome feeling. I replay that moment over and over again in my head and still get the same felling of excitement and utter disbelief.Biggest influence in life: Being fortu-nate to have had all of the opportunities I did has shown me how important it is to make the most of everything. To me, there is no reason not to give 100% all of the time. I strive for perfection, but in the sense that there is always room for improvement.If I could change one thing in the world it would be: I wish I could teach the people I see every day to be more optimistic. I think that a lot of people spend too much time counting the days, while they should be counting their blessings. If we want to make the world a better place, then we have to see that it already is a great one and learn to find happiness everywhere. College Plans: University of Connecti-cut, Storrs, majoring in engineering.

Tim SavidgeCross Country, Swimming, Track

Congratulations to the Class of 2013The Scholar-Athlete Program annually recognizes two high school seniors, one male and one female, from each member high school whose academic and athletic careers have been exemplary,

whose personal standards and acheivements are a model to others, and who posess high levels of integrity, self-discipline and courage.

June 201313

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ROCKVILLECIAC Scholar Athlete

Academic accomplishments: National Honor Society, Geometry

Award 2011, Chemistry Award 2011, Discover Languages Award 2010, Spanish Award 2010, High Honors 2010-2013Athetic accomplishments: CCC All-Conference, 2011, 2012, 2013, CCC All-Academic Team, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, CHSCA All State First Team 2012, 2013, Hartford Courant All-State 2012, New Haven Register Team, 2012, All-Courant Team 2012, Team Captain 2012-2013Most memorable thing about high school: Winning the Class L State Championship for softball last year.Biggest influence in life: My family and coaches.What it means to be named a Scholar Athete: It means a lot to me, like all my hard work has finally paid off.College Plans: Going to the Univer-sity of Bridgeport on a full scholar-ship to study criminal justice.

Kaitlyn LajoieSoftball

ROCKVILLECIAC Scholar Athlete

Academic accomplishments: Top Ten Scholar, National Honor Society,

AP U.S. History, AP Language and Comparison, Ap Calculus, ECE Phys-ics.Athetic accomplishments: Three years varsity tennis, tennis co-captain.Most memorable thing about high school: Good times with friends in my marching band and tennis team-mates.Biggest influence in life: My family and my friends.If I could change one thing in the world it would be: World Hunger- I find it inexcusable that at the same time thousands of people die of star-vation per day, and over one third of all Americans are obese. We need to change this. What it means to be named a Scholar Athete: It is an honor, reflec-tive of my hard work as a student and an athete throughout my gour years at Rockville High School..College Plans: University of Connect-icut, Storrs, majoring in engineering.

Caleb BrownellTennis, Wrestling



June 201314

Our 33nd year 1981–2013

Summer Camps 2013RESIDENTIAL/COMMUTER CAMPSat Wesleyan University, Middletown, CTSESSION I JULY 14–18, BOYS & GIRLS AGES 10–18SESSION II JULY 21–25, PREMIER BOYS & GIRLS AGES 12–18

FULL DAY CAMPS9 am–3 pm at TD Bank Oakwood Soccer Park, PortlandSESSION I JULY 8–12, BOYS & GIRLS AGES 7–15SESSION II JULY 29–AUGUST 2, BOYS & GIRLS AGES 7–15

HALF DAY CAMPSTD Bank Oakwood Soccer Park, Portland9 am–12 pm FOR BOYS & GIRLS AGES 6–126 pm–9 pm FOR BOYS & GIRLS AGES 7–14

SESSION I APRIL 15–19SESSION II JUNE 24–28SESSION III (pm) AUGUST 4–8

SESSION IV AUGUST 12–16SESSION V AUGUST 19–23

GIRLS’ SESSION II AUGUST 18–22

HIGH SCHOOL PREPARATION SESSIONSAt TD Bank Oakwood Soccer Park, PortlandSUNDAY–THURSDAY AGES 13–18BOYS’ SESSION I AUGUST 11–15XAVIER H.S. BOYS SESSION III AUGUST 18–22

COLLEGE BOUND PLAYER COMBINEAt TD Bank Oakwood Soccer Park, PortlandJUNE 12–13 GIRLS, GRADES 9, 10, 11 BOYS, GRADES 10, 11, 12

TEAM CAMPSAGES 10 –18ONE WEEK SESSIONS AVAILABLEAT TD BANK OAKWOOD SOCCER PARKPORTLAND

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The future looks bright for Ellington baseball. The Knights’ junior varsity squad defeated Somers 8-0 in late May to complete a perfect season, 19-0. Members from this unbeaten team will be looked upon to make an impact on the varsity squad next year.Pictured from left to right: Cameron Rosa, Brian Machado, Shane Mc-Gowan, Daniel McPartland, James Harney, Danny Hayes, Joe Dzen, Christian Rider, jay Skorulski, Dave Roberts and Bailey Bassett. Back row, left to right: Coach Ralph Santaniello, Justin Malley, Grahm Caso and Manager Steve Charrette.

Ellington JV baseball finishes perfect 19-0

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Staff Report

The official start of Summer is just a few weeks away, which is exciting for everyone.

Tolland Parks and Rec enjoys pro-viding a wide variety of camps, pro-grams and activities to keep every-one busy.

There is still room in many of pro-grams like the Crandall Camp, and some of the sports camps so be sure to call. Due to poor enrollment the Summer Solstice Triathlon was can-celled.

Thanks to all the volunteers and participants that supported Tolland Parks and Rec in the past. The or-ganization may try change over to a duathalon next year to eliminate the swimming issues. Check back fre-quently to stay posted.

Crandall Pond will be open for les-sons and open swim weekdays start-ing on Monday, June 24th. There is a per person fee for swimming.

So check out the Tolland Parks and Rec website for a complete listing of all the things offered this summer.

Go to Tolland.org, under parks and recreation, and brochures. Also while there, check out the over 300 online

programs offered. They cover a wide range of topics and skills which may prove helpful in today’s ever chang-ing job market.

Save the date Saturday, Septem-ber 21 the Annual Celebrate Tolland Festival. This year’s event will be held behind town hall.

The event is looking to showcase local artists and talent.

The day will be filled with entertain-ment, games, contests, and lots of good food.

If interested in participating contact the Recreation Office.

As always if you have any ques-tions give Tolland Parks and Red a call at 871-3610 Monday through Thursday.

Tolland Parks and Rec

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“Ask the ATC*” By Matt Boudreau, ATC*Certified Athletic TrainerCertified Athletic Trainers (ATC’s) are

allied health care providers trained in the prevention, evaluation and rehabilitation of sports injuries. They work under the di-rection of a physician and they are board certified nationally and licensed in CT. Visit www.NATA.org for more information. Certi-fied athletic trainers at Enfield High School and Enrico Fermi High School are provided by Hartford Hospital Rehabilitation Network ( rehab.harthosp.org ), formerly Eastern Rehabilitation Network.

Hartford Hospital Rehabilitation Network (HHRN) and The Sports Department have partnered to bring readers a monthly col-umn on sports medicine topics. Readers may submit questions related to injuries, training advice, rehabilitation or any other sports medicine topic. Submit questions to: Nicole Fontaine, ATC, (South Windsor High School) – [email protected], Greg Zimbelman, Physical Therapist, (HHRN South Windsor) – [email protected].

Heat vs. ColdBeing an athlete or your typical weekend

warrior you are likely to encounter an acute musculoskeletal injury once or twice in your lifetime. Acute injuries are typically defined from the point of trauma, which is up to 48-72 hours after. But where do you go from there? What can you do to help the heal-ing process? Two common modalities used by rehab specialists are cryotherapy (cold) and thermotherapy (heat). But, how do you know when to apply either therapy during the healing process.

To answer this question you must first understand how each of these modali-

ties affects the body when applied. When applying cold to an injury you can expect changes to happen in that area of the body. Vasoconstriction, the narrowing of blood vessels to occur which in turn reduces bleeding. As blood flow decreases so does cellular metabolism which helps to reduce swelling to the injured area. Cold helps to increase a patient’s pain threshold making them more comfortable after the injury oc-curs. You can expect muscle elasticity to decrease, which helps to reduce muscle spasms around the injury.

When you apply heat to an injury you can expect some different changes to oc-cur. One of the main changes is vasodila-tion or the widening of blood vessels, which increases blood flow to the injury site. As blood flow increases so does cellular me-tabolism, which allows an increase in nu-trients to be sent to the injury site to help speed up healing and recovery. Similar to cryotherapy, thermotherapy also helps to increase the patient’s pain threshold and decrease muscle spasm.

So what does this all mean and where do you go from here? As a general rule of thumb it is best to apply cold to the in-jury between 48-72 hours to help decrease bleeding and inflammation, pain and spasm. After the 72 hour mark it is usually best to heat the injury site to help increase blood flow and nutrients to the area to help rebuild the damaged tissues.

Something to keep in mind, applying cold to an injury at any point after it occurs is never a bad idea. When using both cryo-therapy and thermotherapy, the long known acronym RICE also helps in the recovery process. R- rest, I- ice, C- compression, E- elevation. You should always consult your doctor regarding concerns.


SIMMONSPREMIER SOCCER 2013TRYOUTS / SUMMER CAMPSIMMONS-SOCCER.COM

Simmons Premier Soccer Club has been around since 2006, and our club has grown tremendously. We mostly consist of players from Eastern CT.

All tryouts will be held at our home �elds in South Windsor, CT, located on the corner of West Road Field and 700 Sullivan Avenue across from the �re house.

Players must register at http://simmons-soccer.com a week before their �rst tryout date. Please give us a call at (860) 888-2703 if you have any questions.


Glastonbury’s Evan Grenus shot a two-under-par 70 to take co-medalist honors in the D-I golf tournament last week. Teammate Albert Hansrisuk also had a stellar round, a 79, helping the Tomahawks to a 9th place finish. ... En-field’s Ryan Zetterholm was another local medalist, his one-under 71 taking tops in D-III. Local squads made a good showing in D-III on the team level as well, with Ellington (4th), Enfield (5th), Suffield (7th) and Tolland (10th) all fin-ishing in the top 10. ... East Windsor’s Author Ouimet made a strong show-ing in D-IV, posting a six-over 77, good for fifth place in the tournament. ... The Glastonbury girls golf team finished eighth in the girls tournament last week, with Alexandra LeClair leading the way with an 89. Ellington’s Ali Larew was also impressive, shooting a 91 and get-ting 14th place.

Track and FieldTolland finished fourth in the girls

State Open track tournament. ... Eagles’ hurdler Katy Sprout took first place in

the 300 hurdles with an incredi-ble time of 43.48 seconds, best-ing a State Open record by almost four tenths of a second. She was also a part of the Eagles’ second place finishing 4x400 relay squad. ... Tolland’s Meghan Lester threw the javelin 132 athe State Open. ... The Glastonbury

girls took second in the 4x800 relay in the State Open.

Boys TennisGlastonbury’s Reid Risinger made

it all the way to the finals in the Class LL boys tennis tournament. His 1-6, 3-6 loss to No. 1 seeded Jason Seidman was his first of the season. ... Tolland’s Cameron Nick made it to the third round of Class M, but fell to the No. 1 overall

Odds and Ends: Stellar spring performances

Evan Macy | StaffTolland’s Katy Sprout set the state record in the 300 hurdles.


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June 201320

By Reid L. WalmarkStaff Writer

Rob Keane’s re-introduction to the Tolland sports scene didn’t quite take the traditional path of family involvement with child-player and parent-coach. In-stead of waiting until he had children old enough to participate, then helping out those teams, Keane decided to coach his younger brother in youth basketball while he was a freshman at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Keane coached his younger brother Tim nearly 30 years ago and has stayed with it ever since. Keane has had the opportunity to coach hundreds of local kids, including his own four sons. He of-ficiated recreation basketball games be-fore he became a coach then a league administrator when sons Corey, now 19, and a baseball player at Eastern Connecticut, Collin, 16, Clayton, 13, and Cooper, 9, started out in sports.

Today, he is president of the Tolland Basketball Club, the travel team pro-gram for boys, and vice president of baseball’s junior and senior divisions (13- to 16-year-olds) and the Ameri-can Legion team. He has been a board member in various capacities in base-ball for 14 years.

The theme of his involvement is two-fold: for the players to enjoy their partici-pation to the max and to ensure that the right adults are involved in running the leagues and their many teams. That’s why he’s stayed on. Both are important in his view and critical in providing the proper experience for all recreation ath-letes.

“His heart is in the right place,” said Tom Ainsworth, Tolland’s director or recreation and adult education, who was with the town when Keane ran the gym on Saturdays while he was in col-lege. Ainsworth has known him since

Keane’s days playing basketball and baseball at Tolland High School. “He’s there for the kids.

“Rob is a very dedicated person. He’s very organized. He’s genuine in what he does. He works well with the kids. He’s fun to be around. He’s a fairly low-key guy. He doesn’t make a big deal about what he does. Yes, he’s made a big im-pact. He’s fair, and he’s always been about that,” said Ainsworth, who praised how he’s built up the travel teams in hoops.

Keane, 47, who moved to town as a 6-year-old, raises funds for the Connect-icut Children’s Medical Center Founda-tion but calls his sports involvement “the best thing in my life. It’s a huge part of my life. I love everything about it,” Ke-ane said from his office in Hartford. His wife, Sue, he says, is a huge supporter of what he does.

“People put their time in. It’s volun-teers – that’s the key. There are won-derful people in town. We don’t preach winning at all costs,” said the Pilgrim Drive resident.

When Corey began tee-ball as a 5-year-old, Keane heard comments from coaches John Gallic and Aldo Mazzadra, among others, about the need for qualified adults to help run the leagues in Tolland. That spurred his in-terest in taking his commitment to the next level.

“They kind of threw me right into the fire, and I joined the board,” he said. “The guys I knew just told me what a great organization it is.” Now he is hon-oring his pledge to stay involved in the decision-making process for Tolland boys basketball and baseball.

Keane has coached baseball all-star teams, winning two district champion-ships within the last nine years, and travel basketball teams. He gave bas-ketball head coaching duties to Scott

Curtis for Clayton’s eighth-grade travel team this past season.

His sons played football and soccer as well, but Keane took a different ap-

proach for their days with those sports. “I figured it was time to be a father and not coach,” Keane said. “I watched them play and enjoyed the games.”

TheSportsDept.com - Print Edition

Ellington Park and Rec

Community MVP: Tolland’s Keane

Fall soccer registrations are being accepted at either the recreation of-fice or via active-net(Town of Elling-ton registration system). Check the updated parks and recreation page (Town of Ellington website) for the recreation and travel division evalu-ation dates and time frames.

Recreation division teams will par-ticipate in practices and games with-in Ellington only, while ‘travel’ teams will compete in both home and away matches, at either the Division 3, 4 or 5 levels. Pre-registration is re-quired. Please check the website under parks and recreation to review

the CJSA age cutoffs for eligibility for the 2013-14 youth soccer seasons.

Summer activities The summer day camp (Cen-

ter School) and waterfront (Sandy Beach/Crystal Lake) are available open until August 16 and August 18, respectively.

Successful 2013 Sprint Triath-lon

Yet another successful (weather and participant-wise) Sprint triathlon will be held at Sandy beach (Crys-tal Lake) on July 14 (rain date: July 21). Please register via active-net by June 15.

Evan Macy | StaffTolland’s Rob Keane is recognized during Little League opening day back in April.


ROCKVILLE — A total of 12 individuals spanning eight decades and represent-ing ten athletic programs will comprise the inaugural class of the Rockville High School Hall of Fame when ceremonies are conducted on June 16 at the high school. A reception is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the high school’s auditorium foyer with the Hall of Fame induction ceremony set for 2 p.m. at the auditorium.

Selected as charter members of the Class of 2013 are Betsy J. Andersen Mc-Shea ’87, Joseph Calaci, Jr. ’70, John R. Canavari, Thomas J. Dunn, Francis E. Geissler ’33; Harry M. Geraghty, Susan M. Golden Perrella ’99, D. Michael Leon-ard III ’00, James L. Martello ’65, G. Alan Putz ’65, William T. Romanowski ’84, and Ralph K. Schumey ’47.

Canavari, Geissler, Geraghty and Schumey will be inducted posthumously.

A 12-time letter winner, Andersen was a two-time All-State honoree in soccer, basketball and track & field and ten-time All-Conference selection. She was a two-time USA Today All-America honorable mention selection in basketball and grad-uated as the all-time basketball leader in points and rebounds and the school record-holder in the javelin.

Calaci lettered four seasons in football and baseball. As a senior in 1969, he earned All-State football honors on both offense and defense and All-America honorable mention recognition by Pa-rade Magazine. That year, he set state records for touchdowns and points in a season.

A Weehawken, NJ native and 1950 graduate of Central Connecticut State University, Canavari was a member of the RHS athletic coaching staff from 1952 through 1967 and also served as Director of Physical Education and Ath-letics in Vernon.

A Waterbury native and long-time Man-chester resident, Dunn is the most suc-cessful football coach in RHS history. In 26 seasons between 1979 and 2004, the

University of Notre Dame graduate led the Rams to three berths in the Class “L” state title game (in a seven-year span) and six conference championships. In 1990, the Rams won the only state title in program history, and Dunn was selected Coach-of-the-Year by the Northern Con-necticut Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame for the second time.

A Broad Brook na-tive, Geissler is one of two charter induct-ees to both play and coach at RHS. Geissler played four years of basketball and three years of baseball, and after earning ten letters in three sports at Cen-tral Connecticut State University, returned to coach for six years before moving on as a coach and administra-tor at Eastern Connecticut State Univer-sity.

Geraghty coached boys’ and girls’ cross country, girls’ track & field and boys’ basketball for a total of 33 seasons between the fall of 1982 and the spring of 1994. In 14 cross country seasons, the St. Albans, NY native led the Rams to 11 boys’ and girls’ conference cham-pionships, and the girls to three state titles in a four-year span between 1985 and 1989. In an eight-year span in cross country, Geraghty - who graduated from St. Bonaventure University - directed the RHS boys’ and girls’ team to three state titles and five second-place finishes, with the boys twice taking second place in the State Open.

Golden was a four-year letter winner and three-sport captain in cross coun-try, indoor and outdoor track who won four individual state championships at 800 and 1,000 meters. As a senior, she

gained All-State honors in cross country with a fourth-place finish, then won state championships at 800 meters both in-doors and outdoors (defending her out-door title), and ran to a second-place fin-ish at that distance in the New England Championships.

Leonard played four years of baseball and three of ice hock-ey, leading the base-ball team to consecu-tive berths in the state championship and the 2000 state title. A right-handed-hitting catcher, Leonard was honored as the Con-necticut Gatorade and Hartford Courant Player-of-the-Year as a senior, when he repeated All-State honors. A three-time all-conference base-ball selection, Leon-ard was also Scholar

Athlete of the year and All-Conference hockey selection. Leonard played three seasons in the Boston Red Sox organi-zation – reaching the Double A level - fol-lowing a four-year career at the Univer-sity of Connecticut.

Martello was a three-sport letter winner who went on to coach girls’ basketball for 24 seasons between 1977 and 2001. As a player, Martello lettered four seasons in basketball under Hall of Fame coach John Canavari and four seasons in base-ball and two in soccer. He was a player on the best teams in the most success-ful era in RHS history and was the No. 1 pitcher on the staff throughout his ca-reer. As a senior in basketball, he led the Rams to the state tournament semifinals and helped the baseball team to the state final as both a freshman and sophomore.

Putz was a four-year member of the basketball and baseball programs -- play-ing guard in basketball and pitching and

playing third base in baseball – who also played soccer for two seasons. An All-America infielder at Springfield College in 1969, Putz was drafted six times by professional baseball – including in the 27th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates after his senior year at RHS – and reached the Triple A level with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973.

Romanowski played four seasons of football under Hall of Fame coach Tom Dunn and three of baseball, serving as a football team captain as a senior and earning academic acclaim. A lineback-er, Romanowski went on to a four-year football career at Boston College – win-ning the program’s Scanlan Trophy for outstanding scholarship, leadership and athletic ability as a senior – and a 16-year career in the NFL which included five Su-per Bowl appearances, four Super Bowl victories, and two selections to the Pro Bowl.

Schumey was one of the most accom-plished athletes of the 1940s, playing four years of soccer and baseball and three of basketball and serving as a two-sport captain. That year, he received the RHS Sportsmanship Award. Following graduation, the lifelong Vernon/Rockville resident played professional baseball in the Boston Braves’ system, served in the U.S. Air Force, played baseball at Willi-mantic State Teachers’ College, studied voice at the Hart School of Music, gradu-ated from the University of Hartford, and taught for 25 years in the Vernon Public School system.

Dave Smith, a former RHS teacher and coach, will serve as Master of Cer-emonies.

Tickets are $35 each and must be re-served by June 7. For ticket information, contact RHS Director of Athletics Steven Phelps at 860-870- 6050 x. 328 ([email protected]), or Hall of Fame committee chairman Scott Smith ’88 at 860-604-6618 ([email protected]).

Rockville announces Hall of Fame classRomanowski, Putz, Schumey headline star-studded list of inagural class honorees


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Youth Photos

Kevin Hayes | StaffThe Ellington and Vernon middle school baseball and girls softball teams had a rare opportunity to see what it’s like to play on the big stage last month when they played a regular season game at Eastern Connecticut State University. TheSportsDept.com captured some of the action from the girls softball game that day. Vernon defeated Ellington on the softball diamond while Elling-ton was victorious over Vernon in baseball.



Golf pagE

Staff Report

SOUTH WINDSOR — The team repre-senting Aerodyne Alloys are the winners of the Willow Brook South Windsor Business Challenge. “The Shoot-Out” is an event to decide the best company golf team in South Windsor. This year it was won with a great low score of nine under par by the foursome of Kirk Smallidge, Gordon An-derson, Bob Jergel and Chris Pick. A dona-tion of $1500.00 was made in their name to Adoptive Family at Christmas Time.

Aerodyne Alloys has been a leading in-ternational supplier and processor of high temp specialty alloys since 1979. The pri-mary industries they provide specialty al-loys to include Aerospace, Power Genera-tion, Petrochemical and MRO. In addition to South Windsor, CT they have facilities in California, South Carolina and Texas.

“This was a wonderful day for our lo-cal business leaders to network and play some golf while giving back to our com-munity at the same time”, said Jeff Beyer, PGA Head Golf Professional at Willow Brook. “We encourage all local businesses

to get involved next year and see if they can become the winners of “The Shoot-out” and make a donation to their charity of choice.”

“Having the opportunity to host an event like this is special. We not only get to sup-port a charity that benefits our town we get the chance to help grow local business and our economy at the same time,” adds Beyer. Willow Brook Golf Course opened in 2002. Besides offering a challenging 18-Hole, Par 60 layout. The facility also fea-tures a natural grass driving range, prac-tice sand bunker and two practice greens. In addition, the South Windsor course con-tains a fully stocked PGA golf shop.

Aerodyne Alloys victors in SW “Shoot-Out” tourney

Members of the winning foursome.

June 2013 25

By Julie Dutton, ATC, LAT

Director of Athletic Training Services

Before taking the field, athletes should perform a dynamic warm-up to increase sports performance and reduce the risk of injury. A dynamic warm-up is defined by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as, “a type of functionally-based stretch-ing that uses sport-specific movements to prepare the body for activity - emphasis is on the movement requirements of the sport rather than the individual muscle”.

In a 2009 Position Statement on Youth Resistance Training, the National Strength and Conditioning Association recommend-ed the inclusion of a 5-10 minute warm-up period involving dynamic movements, such as hops, skips, and jumps. These movement activities for both the upper and lower body are time-efficient and have been found to increase core body temper-ature, enhance motor unit excitability, im-prove kinesthetic sense (body awareness)

and maximize range of motion, all of which can ultimately improve performance and reduce the risk of injury.

Other studies have determined that the benefits of dynamic warm-up include increases in static and dynamic balance and proprioception in soccer players (Daneshjoo, 2012) and improved power, strength, muscular endurance, anaerobic capacity and agility performance in wres-tlers, when compared to static stretch-ing alone (Herman, 2008). Because a dynamic warm-up is designed based on the range of motion, strength and agil-ity requirements of the sport, each sport should have its own individual dynamic warm-up. While a sprinter’s warm-up should include a knee lift drill, a baseball warm-up should include arm swings and circles. Regardless of the specific exer-cise, each warm-up should start slowly and gradually increase in range of motion and speed, and include 10-30 repetitions.

For more information on sport-specific dynamic warm-up, please contact Julie Dutton, ATC, LAT or any one of our cli-nicians at Integrated Rehabilitation Ser-vices.

Dynamic Warm-up



ELLINGTONCIAC Scholar Athlete

Academic accomplishments: Sa-lutatorian, Class Scholar, President’s Award for Educational Excellence, Na-tional Honor SocietyAthletic accomplishments: CAS-CIAC Scholar Athlete Award, 2013 Outstanding Athlete Award – selected by coaches and the Athletic Director, 2012 High School Sportsmanship Award - selected by coaches and the Athletic Director, Varsity Golf - Coach-es’ Award, All State, qualified for New England Championships, Varsity Softball – Captain, Coaches’ Award, All-Conference (2, 3), Scholar Athlete Award, Varsity Volleyball – MVP, Cap-tain, Coaches’ Award, Scholar Athlete

Award, Journal Inquirer All-Academic TeamMost memorable thing about high school: Generally speaking, the time I spent playing high school sports has been unforgettable. I always looked forward to going to practice and games after school, and will never forget the memories my teammates and I share—especially the times we won close games/matches. My most memorable sports season has without a doubt been this spring’s golf sea-son. It was awesome to be able to go out and play a round of golf with my best friends after school every day—it doesn’t get much better than that. Biggest influence in life: My older brothers, Tim and Nick. They’ve been such incredible role models and friends throughout the years, always encour-aging and inspiring me to work to my full potential, to do what I love, and to stay true to myself. I give them quite a bit of credit in making me the athlete I am today—they were the ones who taught me to swing a golf club back in the day!College plans: I will attend Villanova University in the fall.

Ali LarewGolf, Volletball, Softball

ELLINGTONCIAC Scholar Athlete

Academic accomplishments: Har-vard Radcliffe Book Award, Bausch & Lomb Science Award, CAS Gover-nor’s Scholar Candidate, Rensselaer Medalist, Boy’s State Delegate, High Honors, Scholar Athlete, 2013 Elling-ton High School ValedictorianAthletic accomplishments: Indoor Track NCCC All-Conference team Boys’ Soccer NCCC All-Conference

team, Boys’ Soccer All-Area Team, Boys’ Soccer NCCC Senior Bowl 2012, Boys’ Soccer CT Senior Bowl 2012, Dr. Valerio Moretti Scholar-Athlete Award 2012, Boys’ Soccer Class M All-State Team, Boys’ Soccer All-New England Team, Boys’ Soccer NSCAA Scholar All-America Team .Most memorable thing about high school: The friends I made and all the great times we had. I know I’ll remem-ber my high school experience for the rest of my life.Biggest influence in life: My parents are no doubt the biggest influence in my life. They’ve always given me the right advice and have helped me every step of the way. If I could change one thing in the world it would be: The weather. New England weather is a real pain; I just want it to be nice out every day.College plans: I plan to attend UConn to pursue a major in Biomedical Engi-neering.

Drew CohenSoccer, Indoor Track

June 201326


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Staff Report

Benefitting from a deep, unified, and inspired team, Suffield’s girls varsity swimming and diving squad racked up points across the entire spectrum of events to capture the school’s first New England Prep Championship since the inception of the meet nearly forty years ago.

The Tigers could not be denied this year, starting with an automatic All America performance and new New England prep and Academy record in the opening event, the 200 medley re-lay. In this event, one that Suffield has not lost to any team for over a year, the Tiger foursome (Pure Maleenont ‘15, Becca Titterton ‘15, Carly Drew ‘16, Anna Strzempko ‘13) built an im-pressive lead in the backstroke and breaststroke legs, cruising to a fast 1:46.25, nearly four seconds ahead of second place Exeter.

Strzempko returned in the very next Even though Suffield’s current school record holder, Maleenont, was skipping the IM in favor of two other events, the speedy final would see Hannah Katz ‘14 swim under the re-cord in an outstanding 2:10.18 for fourth place, while Titterton achieved

a similar feat, racing to a 2:08.58 re-cord, only .1 out of 2nd place. Jillian Haywood ‘14 took the all important consolation final in the IM in a life-time best (2:16.92), adding 9 points to SA’s running total. In the 50 free, Suffield had two scorers in the conso-lation final, Katerina Gazis ‘14 (14th, 25.97/25.90 prelims) and Drew (16th, 26.08/25.83 prelims) to finish up the first half of the meet.

The much anticipated breaststroke final showcased Suffield’s talented sophomore pair, Titterton and Lowe, who have long been a force in CT age group swimming. The two quickly distanced themselves from the field, with Lowe finishing in a new top 25 1:07.31 and Titterton blazing a new New England record and All America time of 1:04.19, nearly a full second under the two year old record. Hay-wood again won the consols in the breaststroke to cement Suffield’s vic-tory in the meet, assuming no relay DQ in the final event, the 400 free re-lay. With safe starts and a “just hold on” approach to the race, Maleenont, Katz, Strzempko, and Maggi swam well to grab 2nd place, a new school record (3:37.19), securing the elusive team title.

Tolland’s Titterton leads Tigers to NE title

Training today’s youthBy Rich DeStefano, BS, ACSM

Athletes strive toward achieving their personal best. As coaches, parents and physicians, we need to be able to guide them so they can reach their goals without injuring themselves. One way to prevent injuries is having the athlete train to increase strength and flexibility of muscles through a strength training program

I hear it all year long. “How young can an athlete start weight training?” Before we start let’s start off and de-fine strength training. It’s the method of conditioning designed to increase the individual’s ability to exert or resist force. The goal is not to see which kid is the strongest, bur to improve the musculoskeletal strength. Strength training can mean using weights or it can mean doing situps, push ups and pull ups without weights.

Despite the previously held belief that strength training was unsafe and ineffective for children, health organi-zations such as the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), The Amer-ican Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Strength and Condition-ing Association (NSCA) now “support children’s participation in appropriately designed and competently supervised

strength training programs.” Experts have found that strength

training programs can be safe, effec-tive and may also help prevent certain sports-related injuries among young athletes. Recent findings suggest that strength training during childhood and adolescence may make bones stron-ger, a benefit which can last a lifetime.

As far as what age a child should start such a program, here is a good rule of thumb a lot of us coaches preach: If a 7 or 8 year old is ready for participation in organized sports or activity such as little league, soccer league, swimming team or gymnastics, then they are ready for some type of strength train-ing program. For children starting of in weight training, lifetime fitness and proper exercise techniques should be emphasized.

Rich DeStafano is owner of New England Sports Performance Institute with a training facility at Star Hill Fam-ily Athletic Center in Tolland. For the past 18 years Rich has been an active member of the American College of Sports Medicine and holds a degree in Exercise Science from Southern Connecticut State University. Athletes interested in improving their speed, agility, strength and conditioning may contact Rich at 203-415-3340.

Suffield Academy’s Becca Titterton swims the breast stroke.

June 2013 29

TOLLANDCIAC Scholar Athlete

Academic accomplishments: Valedictorian, Class of 2013, Tolland High School, National Honor Soci-ety - Mark Twain Chapter, National Merit Scholarship – Commended Student, Big Y Scholarship Re-cipient, Connecticut CAPT Scholar, THS Academic Excellence Awards for AP Calculus, Honors Spanish 5, Honors Pre-Calculus, Honors Span-ish 4, Honors World History, Hon-ors Algebra II, Art Foundations, Hon-ors Geometry, and Spanish 2 THS - Senior Excellence Awards for aca-demic performance over four years in the fields of: Mathematics and Spanish. Scholastic Art and Writing Award - Silver Award for Drawing. Knights of Columbus - Civil Citizen-ship Award, Wendy’s High School Heisman Award – 2012 School Win-ner/Tolland High School, Recipient

of the Rensselaer Polytechnic In-stitute Medal Award for outstanding academic achievement in the study of mathematics and science, JETS - Junior Engineering and Technol-ogy Society, World Language Club, Sidetrax – Literary Magazine, MIT High School Summer Program Athletic accomplishments: Most memorable thing about high school: The first round playoff game down at Trinity College this year. Even though we didn’t advance, it was a great atmosphere. Bucks Na-tion was rowdy and it’s something I’ll remember forever.Biggest influence in life: My par-ents – no matter what I do or what I choose to pursue in the future, I know they’ll always support me.If I could change one thing in the world it would be: I’d like to bring communities together. In our world we are seeing an increasing depen-dence on technology which is isolat-ing members of our communities. If we had more events or activities where people could get to know each other, I think local communities and society in general would benefit. What it means to be named Schol-ar Athlete of the Year: Receiving this award is a great honor and a culmination of the hard work and dedication to both my academics and athletic pursuits.College plans: I am attending the University of Connecticut, Honors program in the fall. I plan to study Economics and Mathematics. Ulti-mately, I’d like to pursue a career in Sports Management.

Garret TirrellIce Hockey, Baseball

Dine in only through July 15. Not valid with any other offers or coupons.

By Patrick TelmanSpecial to the Sports Department

The Spring/Summer version of Parks & Recreation Magazine is out and delivered to all South Windsor mailing addresses.

The Magazine details upcoming pro-grams for April 1st to September 1st, including; VMP pool, Summer Camps, Concerts, etc… In addition the Parks & Recreation web site recreation.southwindsor.org will be continuously updated with the same program in-formation leading up to the Magazine release.

Registration for All Spring/Summer programs and offerings are underway.

You can register for programs at the office, by mail or online. The recre-ation office can be reached at: (860) 648-6355.

Office hours are: Monday through Friday 8:00am-4:30pm.

Tennis LessonsInstructed by Todd Custer Lessons

are available for the beginner to ad-vanced player. They meet at Wapping School Tennis Courts; Monday-Friday for two week sessions, starting July 1, July 15, July 29 and 8/12.

Mornings, Afternoons and evening sessions are available.

View schedule and or register online at http://southwindsor.recreation.org.

South Windsor Park and Rec

TOLLANDCIAC Scholar Athlete

Academic accomplishment: AP Biology Department Award, UConn Chemistry Department Award, C.P. US History Award

Athletic Accomplishments: Qualified for the Individual Doubles Open tournament with my partner for two years straight, co-captain.

Most memorable thing about high school: All the amazing peo-ple I have met during my extra-cur-ricular activities. The girls on the tennis team are some of the nicest people I know. We were always laughing at practice and I never wanted to go home after practice because I always had a great time. And then there are the people I have met in band and jazz band. They are the smartest people I know and I enjoyed working hard everyday with them to create music with them. I truly enjoyed getting to

know these people throughout my four years at Tolland High School.

Biggest Influence in life: My parents have been a huge influ-ence in my life. They have support-ed me through every step in my life and encouraged me to do my best in every avenue I pursued. But the most important thing my parents have taught me is that no matter how focused I have been to have fun in my life. They have showed me the importance of balance in my life.

If I could change one thing in the world it would be: I would personally shut down all the pup-py mills in our country. They are horrible institutions that not only severely hurt dogs physically and make dogs very ill, but they cause many physiological problems with animals. People need to stop sup-porting these horrible places and start adopting dogs from shelters that truly deserve a good home.

What it means to be named Scholar Athlete of the Year: Be-ing named Scholar Athlete of the Year means that all my hard work, whether it was running suicides on the courts or burying myself in books for a big exam, paid off. This award means that people who work really hard to get good grades can be just as successful in athletics.

College plans: I will be attend-ing UConn in the fall and plan on majoring in Allied Health Sciences.

Rebecca HeilmanTennis



June 201330

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Continued from PAGE 1 “It had the biggest effect on me becom-

ing an athlete,” Larew said of her two older brothers. “I always had someone to go to the golf course with and shot hoops with.”

Tim, 22, and Nick, 20 played golf and basketball with Ali, helping her develop into a tough competitor.

But when high school arrived, it was softball that became her sport, not golf.

“I played softball all my life and I think I got a little burnt out,” Larew said. “By the time the season rolled around my heart wasn’t in it. Every time I didn’t have a tournament I’d be on the golf course, I guess that was a hint. I was kind of tear-ing it up, I was having a blast and that’s kind of what made it happen.”

It was no surprise that Larew was able to not only qualify for the girls state tour-nament, but also shoot a 91, including a back-nine 43.

“She came to me a couple months be-fore the season and said she was think-ing about trying out for the golf team,” Stiles said. “I knew Ali from varsity vol-leyball, she is an outstanding athlete, so when she told me she was going to try

out for golf I was very happy.”Years of softball excellence served

Larew well on the golf course, as mental toughness and physical strength helped her keep pace with the boys.

“She hits the ball a long way,” Stiles said. “She is the kind of athlete that when she’s doing something she’s dedicating herself to getting better at it. She does whatever it takes to get better. Her men-tal game is very strong. She enjoys the process of getting better. Some people, if it doesn’t come easy they get down on themselves. She views the process as a challenge and she thrives in that envi-ronment. Whether that’s with softball, or growing up with two older brothers who are great athletes, I don’t know what it is.”

With graduation on the horizon, Larew reflects on how beneficial a decision she made, leaving softball behind and reach-ing for her true life-long passion, golf.

“The thought of playing golf spring of senior year,” the senior said, “I don’t think there is anything better.”

Larew was an all-state golfer this year, and also selected as a CIAC Scholar Athlete from Ellington. She will play in the New England Championships June 17.

June 201332


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