Stiffer challenges lay ahead for Avon track
Collinsville Press
AVON, May 1 – The Avon High boys and girls track teams are each undefeated at 3-0 but the stiffer challenges lay ahead. Neither team was really challenged in victories over East Windsor and Somers. Last Friday, Plainville pressed the Falcons a bit but the boys team prevailed, 94-65 and the girls team outlasted the Blue Devils, 81-69.
A meet at Ellington along with Enfield will be good test for the Falcons earlier on Tuesday. The Ellington boys were second in the league in 2008 and 2007 and won five straight league titles from 2001-05. A more significant challenge is next week when the Falcons squads travel to Tolland to face the Eagles, who have won the last four NCCC girls titles and the last two boys championships.
Avon has a strong group of runners led by junior Claire Smith, who won a Class M in the 3,200 as a freshman, Emily Kelly (400, 800). Titi VanRiel (200, 400), John Drago (distance), Eric Stevens (800) and Tim Buell.
There are plenty of athletes on the squad and head coach Al Daddario and his staff are trying to spread out the wealth to earn points in the sport’s 18 events.
In the win over Plainville, Brandon Burciaga won the shot put and javelin and took third in the discus while Stevens swept the high jump, 800 and 1,600 meters. It was his first races ever in the 800 and 1,600.
On the girls side, Tracey Bembong won the long jump, was second in the triple jump and third in the high jump. VanRiel won the 400 and participated in the winning 4x400 and 4x800 squads. Kelly (800) and Smith (1,600) each won an individual event and ran on a winning relay.
The Falcons took a small team to Coginchaug’s Blue Devil Invitational on Saturday and did well. The girls finished fourth in the 10-team field while the boys took sixth.
Kalli Veldman, VanRiel, Kelly and Smith won the 4x800 meter relay in 10:09.9 while Catherine Martin (200), VanRiel (400) and Kelly (800) each won individual events. Smith was second in the 3,200.
Other top five finishes came from Madv Loughlin (fifth, 100 hurdles), Bembong (fourth, long jump) and Ariana Lafrance (fourth, triple jump).
For the boys, Drago had a whopping 16-second victory in the 3,200 meters with his winning time of 9:57.8 while the Avon 4x800 team of Bobbie Davies, Jeff Wang, Drew Montano and Tim Buell finished second.
Top five finishers for the boys included Tim Buell (fourth, 1,600), Dave Doebler (fourth, 200), D.J. Wendler (fifth, long jump), Chris Rendeiro (fourth, pole vault and triple jump), Nick Sauerbrunn (fifth, pole vault), Mitch McPhearson (fifth, discus), Robert Carver (fourth, javelin) and Mitch McPhearson (fifth, javelin).
Avon roundup, week 4, April 27-May 2
Softball team rallies for two wins; baseball team wins 10 in a row
AVON, May 2 – The Avon High softball team went 2-2 last week with a 9-6 victory over East Granby and a late-inning 15-14 victory over Windsor Locks to improve to 4-5 on the year.
On the strength of a home run from Grace Kucharski and 11 hits from her teammates, the Falcons outscored East Granby, 5-0 in the final 3 innings to earn a 9-6 victory at Fisher Meadow.
Earlier in the week, winless East Windsor rallied for its first win of the season with a 7-6 victory over the Falcons. The host Panthers trailed by a run in the bottom of the seventh but Ginger Starvish had a RBI double and Emma Golden added a RBI single to give East Windsor (1-7) the victory. Avon had taken the lead with three runs in the top of the seventh. Bolton also beat the Falcons with a 7-2 victory as P Jamie Harvey scattered eight hits and fanned two.
To begin the week, Avon rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, to beat Windsor Locks, 15-14 at Fisher Meadow. Avon scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch. Avon had 18 hits in the game and survived five errors.
BASEBALL: The Avon High baseball continues to roll with three more victories last week to complete the first half of the season undefeated at 10-0 and 6-0 in the NCCC. T.J. Stolzenberg had three hits and three RBI in a 8-1 victory over Windsor Locks while Sean Lanahan had a three-run home run in a 12-2 rout over Bolton. The Falcons completed the week with a 15-4 win over East Granby. Avon had 38 hits in the three victories.
LACROSSE: The Avon High boys lacrosse team improved to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the NCCC with a 7-6 win over Suffield. Kurt Shelley had three goals for the winners, who have won three straight. … The Avon High girls lacrosse team won its sixth straight match on Friday with a 15-5 win over Northwest Catholic. Julia Jarvis had four goals for the Falcons (6-1, 3-0 NCCC). Two days earlier, the Falcon girls outlasted Simsbury (2-3) by a 12-10 score as Avery Heelan scored five goals. To begin the week, Heelan, Jarvis and Danielle Neagle had three goals each in a 16-5 NCCC victory over Ellington.
TENNIS: The Avon High girls tennis team improved to 10-0 with shutout wins over Granby and Bolton this week. Only Enfield, Granby and Canton have earned any points against the Falcons this year, each scoring just one point. Avon has blanked its other seven remaining opponents by 7-0 scores. … The Avon boys tennis team slipped to 4-2 overall and 4-1 in the NCCC with a tight 4-3 loss to undefeated Bolton (6-0) by sweeping all four singles matches. Bolton’s Jesse Boyd at No. 3 singles and No. 4 Kris Borton each had to win in three sets. Boyd beat John Hope in the decisive third set, 6-2 while Borton outlasted Avon’s Zach Weiss in a tiebreaker, 7-5 to win the match.
GOLF: Nick Martinez earned medalist honors with a 38 at Blue Fox Run to lead the Avon boys to a 166-171 win over Tolland. The win improves Avon to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the NCCC. Jack O’Brien shot a 38 earlier in the week to earn medalist honors in Avon’s win over Coventry , 164-175 and Lewis Mills, 164-188. Avon dropped its league opener to Somers, 160-167 at Elmcrest Country Club on Monday. Keegan Johnson led the Falcons with a 39 while Alec Frieling and Justin Fischler each had a 42. … Demi Perry was medalist with a 41 at Blue Fox Run but the Falcons (2-3) fell to Berlin, 192-198 on Thursday.
Avon roundup, week 3, April 20-25
Softball team gets first win since 2007 with victory over Stafford, 8-2
AVON, April 26 -- With a big six-run third inning, the Avon softball team earned its first victory since May 2007 with an 8-2 win over Stafford. P Greta Grant earned the win for the Falcons (1-3, 1-2 NCCC). It was Avon’s first win over Stafford in years.
BASEBALL: Rain delayed action until the end of the week when Avon shutout St. Paul, 6-0, in a non-league contest and rolled over East Windsor, 21-3 a day later to remain undefeated at 8-0 and 3-0 in the league. Mike D’Onofrio was 2-for-4 for the Falcons against St. Paul while D’Onofrio had a home run to lead Avon’s 17-hit attack against East Windsor.
LACROSSE: The Avon boys won two straight last week with wins over Tolland, 13-3 and Ellington, 12-2 to improve to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the NCCC. The Falcon girls lacrosse team (3-1, 2-0 NCCC) received six goals from Lindsay Horbatuck to improve to 3-1 overall with a 16-7 victory over Southington.
TENNIS: The only match the Avon High boys got in (3-1, 3-0 NCCC) last week was a 7-0 loss to Hall of West Hartford. On the girls side, the Falcons improved to 9-0 with a doubleheader sweep of Coventry, 7-0, 7-0 and a shutout of Enfield.
TRACK & FIELD: The Falcons finally got a meet under their belt with easy victories over East Windsor on a cold and rainy afternoon. The boys and girls teams each easily won.
Avon roundup, week 2
Red-hot Stolzenberg leads undefeated baseball team
AVON, April 18 -- The weather is warming up with the arrival of spring. Avon’s T.J. Stolzenberg is already red-hot. Stolzenberg have seven hits in two days with two home runs, two triples and eight RBI as the Avon High baseball team remained undefeated (5-0, 2-0 NCCC) with three victories last week.
Stolzenberg had a home run, triple and four RBI as the Falcons outslugged Granby, 21-18. In an 8-0 win over rival Canton, Stolzenberg was 4-for-4 with a triple, double and four RBI. David Lavoie earned the win against the Warriors, scattering eight hits.
Earlier in the week, pitcher David Wyrick had three hits and two RBI in a 9-2 victory over Suffield. Brandon Telfer pitched six strong innings to get the victory.
SOFTBALL: Hits and runs were hard to come by for the Falcons. In three games last week, the Falcons scored two runs and had three hits and picked up three defeats. Suffield had 16 hits in a 18-1 victory in five innings and Canton had 17 hits in a 17-0 win, also in five innings. Granby also beat the Falcons, 5-1.
Avon will have to improve its defense. The Falcons made 17 errors in three games.
BOYS LACROSSE: Avon (2-2, 1-1 NCCC) couldn’t catch Conard in a 10-6 loss on Saturday at Buckingham Field. The Falcons did pick up their second win with a 12-9 win over Somers on Thursday as Connor Manning scored four goals and Terrence Olsen added six assists. Granby handed Avon its first loss of the season on Tuesday with a 10-3 decision. Chris Carlson had a game-high three goals in Avon’s 11-4 win over Farmington to open the season. The Falcons held Farmington scoreless in the second half.
GIRLS LACROSSE: After a season-opening loss to Glastonbury, Avon (2-1, 2-0 NCCC) easily rolled to a pair of league victories over Granby (13-2) and Somers (19-4). J.J. Gower had four goals in the win over Granby while Lindsay Horbatuck had three goals and four assists in the win over Somers.
TRACK: Avon’s first meet was postponed because the Falcons were on school vacation. Last week’s meet with Coventry and Stafford was postponed because they were on school vacation. This week, Avon will finally open the season with a tri-meet at East Windsor against the Panthers and Canton. The Canton boys are 4-0.
TENNIS: The defending NCCC champion Avon girls tennis team improved to 5-0 with dominant wins over Tolland (7-0), Canton (6-1) and Suffield (7-0). The Avon High boys team improved to 3-0 with wins over Windsor Locks (7-0), Suffield (6-1) and Canton (7-0).
GOLF: The Avon High boys team won its season-opening match with a 165-170 win over Canton at Blue Fox. The Falcon girls dropped a pair of difficult matches, losing to Canton, 212-221 and Simsbury, 196-212.
Avon roundup, week 1
Falcon football team to host Cromwell this fall
AVON, April 11 – The Avon High football team has released its 2009 schedule. The Falcons will play 10 games as they seek a third straight Uncas Division championship in the Pequot Conference. The most intriguing contest is on Saturday, Oct. 10 when the Falcons host defending Class S champion Cromwell. November looks to be challenging with a Nov. 7 home game against Enfield and a Nov. 14 game at Ellington. Avon will complete the regular season with a home game against Canton on Saturday, Nov. 21.
SOFTBALL: After spending a year playing at the junior varsity level, the Falcons make their varsity debut on Monday when they host Suffield High at Fisher Meadows. Senior captains Emily Kalen (2B), Chelsea Rigby (SS) and Janielle Julian lead the squad.
TRACK: The boys and girls track teams open the season on Tuesday when they host Coventry and Stafford at the high school. The boys were 11-3 overall and 10-3 in the league last year while the girls were 10-4 overall and 9-4 in the league.
GIRLS GOLF: Senior Demi Perry, junior Jackie Serruta and senior Hannah Cole are the team’s top three players and each played a year ago when the Falcons were 19-3 overall and a contender in the Southern Connecticut Girls Golf League. A key early season match will be Tuesday when Avon hosts travels to Tower Ridge in Simsbury to face a strong Canton team.
GIRLS LACROSSE: Second-year coach Terri Ziemnicki has several veterans returning from last year’s team that shared the NCCC championship with Suffield. All-State forward Lindsay Horbatuck (45 goals, 11 assists) returns along with seniors Julia Jarvis (23 goals, 12 assists) and Dee Dee Twohig, who were both All-NCCC selections. Junior midfielder J.J. Gower (36 goals, 13 assists) returns along with seniors Avery Heelan (19 goals, 14 assists) and Katie York (18 goals, 5 assists). Avon hosts a key NCCC match with Granby on Tuesday afternoon at the high school.
BOYS GOLF: A key early-season match to gauge Avon’s chances to compete for a NCCC championship will be Wednesday when the Falcons host a strong Canton squad at Blue Fox Run in a non-league contest. Senior captain Nick Martinez, a two-time All-NCCC selection and a 2008 Class L All-State pick, leads the Falcons along with senior Keegan Johnson and juniors June Shin and Jack O’Brien. Avon (18-2, 11-1 NCCC) won the league title a year ago.
BASEBALL: Coach Marty deLivron’s Falcons face long-time rival Canton for the only time this season on Friday at Buckingham Field at 3:45 p.m.
BOYS LACROSSE: The defending NCCC champion Falcons host a Saturday matinee at noon at Buckingham Field against Conard.
