MANCHESTER — The Cheshire boys and girls cross country teams were among the state’s best at the Class L cross country state championships on Saturday Wickham Park.
The Ram boys finished third (148 points) in Class L and the Cheshire girls were fourth (94 points).
Cheshire junior Alexa Ciccone was second overall with a time of 19:15 to New Milford’s Sydney Kelleher – who was the overall winner on the 3.1-mile course with a 19:07.
Also scoring for the Cheshire girls were Mia Vientos (12th, 20:19, Emily D’Souza (18th, 20:41), Ava Ciccone (31st, 21:50) and Eva Curran (33rd, 21:58).
“I’m so happy for our team,” Cheshire coach Rob Schaefer said. “This is one of Cheshire’s strongest showings in years. Alexa Ciccone sets the tone as a leader; she makes everyone else want to run faster….and they do.”
“I always say that when a team makes the State Open, it’s a great year,” he added. “To be one of the top 20 teams in Connecticut is no small feat. I am so proud of our girls that they qualified this year…We are still a young team. Our top five is composed of two juniors, one sophomore, and two freshmen. To accomplish this much and be so young is amazing.”
Schaefer added that Eva Curran stepped up on Saturday and ran a full minute faster than last year. The coach added that Curran’s performance sealed Cheshire’s high position.
The Cheshire boys top five were: Tyler Caron (19th, 5:38 p.m.), Colin Grevelding (23rd, 5:48 p.m.), Daniel D’Souza (25th, 5:51 p.m.), James Boyd (30th, 5:55 p.m.) and Brian Krzanowski (56th, 18:39).
Also in the Class L girls race, Maloney’s Samantha Park was 25th overall in 21:31 and Avelinn Browne was 49th in 22:50.
In Class LL, the Southington girls were fourth overall (154 points) and were paced by Jessica Lombardo (8th, 20:05), Emma Talon (27th, 21:15), Julia Donorfio (31st, 21:18), Katherine Cavanaugh (34th, 21:33) and Ava Egan (54th, 22:08).
The Southington boys were 10th in Class LL and were highlighted by Jake Nafis (28th, 17:15), Drew Nafis (32nd, 17:19) and William Liebler (41st, 17:33).
The Sheehan boys had three runners in the top 50 in the Class M race. Tyler Deme was 18th (18:09), Owen Hotaling was 21st (18:15) and Bryan Medina (50th, 19:24) highlighted the Titans
The Sheehan girls were paced by Angelika Kotula (15th, 21:53) and Eleanor Chamberlain (24th, 22:21).
For Lyman Hall, Henry Murphy was 24th in Class MM at 17:53 and Samantha Jackson was 27th in Class MM for the Trojan girls. She ran a 22:10.
Also in Class MM, Erin Sola was 24th for Platt with a 22:06.
GIRLS DIVING
Lyman Hall’s sophomore Margaret Corso claimed the SCC championship in diving on Saturday at Sheehan High School.
Corso finished with the winning score of 386.95.
Cheshire’s Hannah Tao was second with a 384.60.
Lyman Hall also had three other divers in the top 10 including: Sienna DeLucia (4th, 368.70), Adriana Waton (6th, 348.30) and Sara Blazejowski (7th, 339.10).
Sheehan’s top divers on Saturday were: Savanna Bauman (8th, 336.05) and Emmalyn Rodriguez (13th, 320.50).
BOYS SOCCER
Cheshire 4, Guilford 0: No. 2 Cheshire earned a SCC quarterfinal win at Alumni Field and will host Fairfield Prep in a semifinal game on Tuesday.
Elis Sulollari scored the Rams’ first goal with an assistant from Samir Dishnica as the hosts took a 1-0 lead at the half.
Cheshire (12-2-1) benefited from a Glastonbury own goal to go up, 2-0. Will Stearns and Dishnica scored Cheshire’s final two goals with assists by Colin Brown and Kevi Sulollari.
Cheshire goalie Nolan Kappus made two saves for Cheshire.
Guilford fell to 11-4-2.
GIRLS SOCCER
Cheshire 3, Sacred Heart Academy 2, OT: Haley Shaw netted the game-winner with 1:30 left in overtime as the top-seeded Rams (16-0-1) earned the SCC Tournament quarterfinal win at Alumni Field.
Gabby Tirado had a goal for Cheshire and Abby Sink added an assist. Rams’ keeper Sophie Bates made four saves in net. The Rams will next play in the semis on Tuesday at home.
the no 8 Sharks’ Juliana Garcia scored both goals for the visitors, including the equalizer with 15 minutes left in the second half.
Sacred Heart is 9-8-1.
Glastonbury 2, Southington 0: Glastonbury’s Angela Chavez scores a goal in each half for the Guardians in a CCC win at Fontana Field.
Chavez scored off of an assist on Colleen Mitchell in the first half and then she scored on a penalty kick in the second half.
Glastonbury out shot Southington, 7-2. Southington goalie Margaret Miller made four saves and Guardians’ keeper Marla Radikas stopped one shot in the shutout.
Branford 3, Sheehan 2, OT: Tess Ferrie provided the game-winning goal for the No. 4 Hornets in the SCC Quarterfinals at Branford.
Branford (13-5) will now travel to No. 1 Cheshire on Tuesday at 5 pm
Sheehan fell to 11-5-1.
FIELD HOCKEY
Cheshire 4, Hamden 0: The No. 2 Rams improved to 13-4-1 and advanced to the SCC Tournament semifinals on Tuesday against No. 3 Daniel Hand.
Taya Buntin (2 assists), Caroline O’Dea, Reilly Whalen and Colby Paul all had single goals for Cheshire.
Ginny Curello had four saves in her seventh shutout of the season.
No. 7 Hamden dropped to 6-12.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Platt 3, New Britain 0: Eva Dudley had 17 kills and four aces as the Panthers earned a CCC Tournament first round win on the road.
Game scores were 25-16, 25-19 and 25-16.
Other standouts for Platt were Emily Hart (4 kills, 23 assists, 4 aces) and Anna Gostkowski (6 kills, 4 aces, block).
Platt (15-7) move on to play in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at Southington at 5:30 pm
Southington 3, Lewis Mills 0: Southington rolled to a CCC Tournament first-round win by game scores of 25-6, 25-10 and 25-14 as the Blue Knights improved to 16-2 on the season.
Southington was led by Haley Weiner (13 assists), Alyssa Ferreira (12 aces, 3 kills), Megan Smith (7 assists), Gabrielle Ferreira (6 kills), Cami Wessels (5 kills) and Erika Davies (5 kills).