Isabel Hetherington & Emily Wood
Sports Editors
After the interruption and delay that followed Hurricane Sandy, the Fairfield County Interscholastic Conference (FCIAC) season is finally coming to a close.
Boys’ cross country placed 10th out of the 17 teams who ran in FCIACs, with varsity performances from seniors Kalan Lysenko, Kevin McEneaney, and Tucker Radecki, junior Sam Reynolds, and sophomores Alexander Ellsworth, Logan Hart, Spencer Lyman, and Aidan Tuttle. One aspect of the team that contributed to the boys’ success was the younger additions to the roster. “The team did a good job and there were standout performances from some of our younger guys like Alex Ellsworth and Spencer Lyman,” Coach Evan Remley said. “Spencer took second for New Canaan with a time of 17:42 and Alex followed in third with an 18:02 time.”
Seniors Lana Delvecchio and Olivia Hompe start off the race strong, running in the FCIAC Girls’ Varsity race.
The girls’ cross country team placed 9th out of 16 teams in the FCIAC race this year, with a team score of 182. Improving their average team time by 1 minute and 34 seconds, the girls have grown since last year. “My expectations were exactly what we accomplished. I hoped that all the girls would improve their personal record and do their best,” Coach Art Brown said. “We had two girls, Lana [Del Vecchio] and Olivia [Hompe], break 16 minutes for the first time in the season, which is a huge accomplishment.” Seniors Lana and Olivia ran side-by-side placing 21st and 27th in the varsity race. Other key varsity runners included juniors Elizabeth Perry and Jenna Sachs.
The girls also collected medals in the Junior Varsity (JV) race. Senior Lily Citrin, junior Liz Gordon and sophomores Caroline Ostrand and Corinne Vietorisz placed in the top twenty in the JV race. “Almost all of our girls PR-ed (personal record) and six girls even got medals. Overall, it was a great end to the season,” senior captain Sarah Luke said.
Boys’ soccer were handed a loss in the quarterfinals against the Ridgefield Tigers, with the score of 0-1. “Even though we lost to Ridgefield, I was really proud of how our team competed,” senior captain Justin Pertierra said. “Ridgefield is a very tough team and the game was close the whole time. We had some great chances to score, but we were a bit unlucky.”
Despite the loss, the boys played well and proved that they are strong competitors. “I know the level of competition is really tough in the post-season, but I think we proved that if we play well we can take on any team,” Justin said.
Girls’ field hockey beat Fairfield Warde in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win, but suffered a 3-0 loss to Darien in the semifinals, who went on to reign as co-champions with Greenwich. The girls played well and left their best out on the field. “I think we exceeded all expectations. We might not have made it to the finals, but every game we played we put up a tough fight and played the best we had all year,” senior captain Bridget Falcone said. Bridget also noted how their success was a group effort. “I think all players played amazing throughout FCIACs. It was not any individual effort that made our performance successful rather a good team effort where we all worked together.”
The competition was tough for girls’ swimming and diving, as New Canaan placed third after Greenwich and Darien with a total of 309.5 points. “Darien was a tough competitor this year. They have a lot of really fast girls. As always, Wilton and Greenwich were also tough competitors and we always feel lucky to be in the top ranking with them,” senior captain Tess Musky-Goldwyn said. “Even though we didn’t win, all of our girls swam really well and put everything out there. We have a great team with a lot of potential that will take them far after we graduate.”
During the meet, the girls had many great individual performances. Senior captain Maddie Rusch took first in the 50 yard free for her fourth consecutive season with a PR of 23.88 seconds, leaving a new FCIAC record of a four-year winning streak for the first time in FCIAC history. Maddie continued her victory streak, winning gold in two other events. The girls’ also took first the 200 medley with a time of 1:50:98. Other stand out performances included junior Jenna Egan, taking second in the 200 free and fourth in the 100 fly. Freshman Meghan Egan also earned points for New Canaan, placing third in the 100 free. Freshman Libby O’Hare took third in the 100 breaststroke. For diving, the girls dominated, taking three of the five spots in the FCIAC meet. Freshman Kylie Towbin got silver, senior captain Meredith Jonker got fourth, and senior captain Arianna Ross rounded off the top 5. Meredith also noted good performances of the newer players. “After coming off such a great season the past three years, I was nervous we couldn’t live up to the goals we hoped. Our new members of the team exceeded everyone’s expectations,” she said.
Girls’ soccer suffered a disappointing loss to Trumbull in the quarter finals, but left it all on the field. “Although we only made it to the first round of FCIACs, we played one of our best games ever against Trumbull. The whole team came out to play which showed on the field, but unfortunately the other team got lucky,” senior captain Kelly Armstrong said.
Junior Virginia Farley takes the ball in girls’ soccer FCIAC quarterfinals.
Senior captain Anna Borea agreed stating how their tough fight against Trumbull described their character as a team. “Even though we lost we fought the hardest we ever have in a game, and just being apart of that game and seeing all of the girls put in everything on the field just showed how good of a team we really are,” she said. During the game, the good performance of the team was not due to the standout of any individual. “Soccer is a team sport, and to be honest I have never seen a great player without a great team to back her up. With a great team, everyone stands out,” Anna said.
Two teams that did not participate in FCIACs but still finished with strong season records were volleyball and football. Volleyball wrapped up their fall season with a record of 8-10 and finishing third in the East division. Although the football team is not playing the in the championship game, they continue their season with a FCIAC record of 8-1. The boys’ will play Darien on November 22, for the annual Turkey Bowl game.
