SIMSBURY, July 13 – Nail-biting finishes in the District 6 tournament are nothing new for the Canton Major Division softball team (ages 11-12). Twice, Canton had seven-run leads in Monday night’s championship game with undefeated Granby. But Granby refused to fold. Granby scored six times in the fifth inning to pull within one run and had runners on first and third base in the bottom of the sixth with no outs.
But Canton received a huge double play from second baseman Alex Martin to help Canton outlast Granby, 11-10 and win its first District 6 championship since 1999. The win places Canton into the state tournament for just the third time in the last 20 years. Alex Powell was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI for Canton while Kylie Delos had two hits and one RBI. Erin Detorie had a double and one RBI.
Road racing
Canton sweep at Lobster Loop race
CANTON, Aug. 16 – In his last run before returning to school in less than 24 hours, Nate Bussiere became the first Canton runner to ever win the 18th annual Lobster Loop road race with a 26-second win over Avon’s John Drago. Bussiere, who will be a junior at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh this fall, led from start to finish. Drago pulled away from Spencer Sass in the last mile of the race.
On the women’s side, Canton’s Mary Lynn Currier finished 15th overall with a time of 18:34 to win the race for the sixth straight time. Over 430 runners and walkers participated in the event, which is a fundraiser for the Canton Middle School’s PTO organization.
Track & field
Smyth surges to 11th in decathlon debut
NEW BRITAIN, June 17 -- Junior Connor Smyth was looking for a new challenge. He found it in the decathlon. The first Canton High athlete to compete in the CIAC decathlon, Smyth surged on the day 2 of the 10-event competition to finish 11th in a field of 64 athletes with 5,096 points. Smyth was 35th after day 1 but finished strong with a fourth place finish in the discus and a fifth place finish in the javelin.
He cleared 9 feet and a quarter inch in his first attempt in the pole vault to finish 14th in that event. Smyth toyed with the idea of the decathlon a year ago but he needed to learn to pole vault. He has been doing some vaulting at Simsbury this spring. “It’s the competition and the variety of the events,” Smyth said. “I like doing everything.”'
Smyth set new school record in the discus with a throw 116 feet, 8 inches, breaking the mark that he set earlier this year by a little over a foot. He broke his own record in the javelin from 2008 by nine feet with a throw of 147-10.
Along with newly-established records in the pole vault and decathlon, Smyth also owns the school records in the high jump, long jump and triple jump.
Smyth also plays on the varsity basketball team. He joined the track team as a sophomore after seeing some friends participate the previous year. “It’s different,” he said of track and field. “Track is more relaxed. Basketball is really intense.”
Smyth was in the middle of the pack after day 1 in 35th place. He did well in three field events, sparked by his 12th place finish in the long jump (18 feet, 7.25 inches) and a 16th place finish in the high jump (5 feet, 5 ¾ inches).
Mike Leduc became the first Canton runner to participate in the CIAC’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing 11th in 10:31.00.
Golf
Canton girls, boys finish 6th
WATERTOWN, June 8 -- A sixth place finish at the CIAC Division IV tournament was the highest that a Canton High boys team has ever achieved. Still, the Warriors were a bit disappointed with their performance at Crestbrook Park in Watertown.
Canton was just six shots behind the winner, Trinity Catholic of Stamford with a 330. The Warriors shot a 336 but struggled on the green. Shots that normally stuck to the green at their home course (Tower Ridge in Simsbury) rolled right off the green.
“Maturity had a lot to do with it,” Canton coach Bill Phelps said. “We weren’t used to that. We’re still young and we made some silly mistakes but we’ll be back.”
Other teams with older players handled the adversity a little better. Canton was just two strokes out of second place, which went to St. Paul and Northwest Catholic with 334. Blayne Houlihan led the way with a 79, followed by Ryan Allen with an 82. Dave Roux shot a 84 while Brad Parliament and Jon Phelps each shot a 92.
Allen earned All-NCCC honors while Allen and Houlihan were selected to the All-State squad. Canton’s entire team will return next spring. Allen, Houlihan, Parliament and Phelps are each juniors while Roux is a sophomore.
GIRLS GOLF: In just its third varsity season, Canton finished sixth out of 15 teams in the CIAC tournament at the Orange Hill Country Club on a rainy afternoon. The Warriors shot 400 on the 18-hole course. Weston won the championship with 375 while Farmington (385) and Simsbury (386) were second and third, respectively.
“It was a much longer course than other courses we have played and the kids were a bit nervous,” Canton coach John Manners said.
Senior Tessa Newell led Canton with a 98 while freshman Nikki Liucci had a 99. Sophomore Megan Roux (100), junior Kelly McAlindin (107) and sophomore Sarah Getz (113) rounded out the top five.
Some players had a rough time on the course and on another day, Canton could have been contending with New Canaan (390) and Greenwich (393), who finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
But Manners was thrilled with the season. Canton (16-5, 9-1 SCGGL) won its second straight Southern Connecticut Girls Golf League championship and won 11 of its first 12 matches. All five starters earned some All-SCGGL recognition.
McAlindin was a first team selection to the SCGGL’s All-Star team while Newell, Getz, Liucci and Roux were all named to the All-SCGGL’s second team.
“We don’t have a real standout player but we have five solid players,” Manners said.
Canton was the only Class S team that qualified for the state tournament. Avon was ninth with 404.
