Softball team rallies to win title
STRATFORD, June 13 – Canton scored two runs with two outs in the top of the seventh inning on a suicide squeeze bunt by second baseman Sarah Sapia to beat defending champion Coginchaug Saturday, 4-2 and win its first Class S softball championship since 1991 at Deluca Field before about 500 fans.
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.
TRACK and FIELD: The Canton boys track team tied a school record by finishing 12th in Class S for the second time in three years. The Warriors earned 21 points, led by Erik Nystrom, who finished third in the 3,200 meters with a time of 9:57.34. Mike Leduc was a strong fifth with a season-best time of 10:09.98. Nystrom is the third Canton runner to earn a bronze medal. Jasen Watson (400) and Nate Bussiere (800) each finished third at the Class S meet in 2007.
Two relay teams broke school records. For the second meet in a row, Canton’s 3,200-meter relay team (Matt Casey, Dylan Petruskevicious, Kevin Kurnat, Sean Murphy) finished seventh and set a new school record. The relay team finished seventh in 8:39.95, knocking off over five seconds of the time set a week ago at the NCCC championship meet.
Canton’s 400 meter relay team (Chris Hyde, Luke Talbot, Brian Lochner, Ryan Gallagher) took 14th place but set a new school record of 46.07, snapping the mark of 46.5 set a week ago at the NCCC championships.
Gallagher was 14th in the 400 meters (52.80) while David Kucia finished 12th in the 110 high hurdles in 16.80. Connor Smyth, who will try the CIAC decathlon, was ninth in the high jump (5-9) and 15th in the long jump (19-3). Colin Glasson was 11th in the shot with a throw of 42-2 feet.
The Canton girls team didn’t score any points but Tyisha Alexander did set a new school record with a jump of 4-8 in the high jump.
BOYS GOLF: 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.
BASEBALL: Hits were hard to come by for Canton (9-10, 7-6 NCCC) down the stretch. The pitching was strong but it wasn’t enough as the Warriors won only two of their final seven games, including a 2-0 loss to Old Lyme in the first round of the Class S tournament.
Old Lyme pitcher Nick Fazzino scattered five hits over seven innings as Canton was shutout for the third time in the last seven games. Mike Smith had a pair of RBI singles for No. 11 Old Lyme. For Canton, Travis Lane had a single and double while Austin Bronson had a double. Nick Quattro and Brian Magna each had singles.
Junior Tyler Plourd was one of 40 juniors selected to play in the second Connecticut High School Coaches Association Junior All-Star game. Team MVP was shared by Brian Magna and Plourd. Bronson won the Coaches Award.
TENNIS: The Canton boys tennis team finished at 6-10 with a pair of 5-2 victories in the final week of the season over the Windsor Locks/East Granby co-op team. The Canton girls tennis team (6-14) missed the CIAC Class S tournament for just the second time in the last 18 years. The final win of the season came in a 6-1 decision over Windsor Locks on May 20.
