“Valley Winter Sports Sees Postseason Time, Led by Gymnastics Team’s 2nd Consecutive State Title” plus 1 more |
| Valley Winter Sports Sees Postseason Time, Led by Gymnastics Team’s 2nd Consecutive State Title Posted: 30 Dec 2010 01:08 AM PST The Warriors' gymnastics team's second-consecutive Class S state title was undoubtedly the winter season's highlight for Valley, but other successes-including top-10 postseason finishes for the track teams and a trip to the state semifinals for the boys' basketball squad-also made headlines in the 2009-10 campaign. Gymnastics From day one of the Valley gymnastics season, doubts formed in the minds of the gymnasts and coaching staff about the team. Injuries plagued the talented Warriors and as each week went by, another gymnast would get hurt and be unable to compete. Despite this, the defending Class S state champions posted a 6-1 regular season record and not only persevered through the injuries, but won the state championship for the second year in a row and placed third in the State Open behind two strong Class L teams, just missing the New England Championship. The team was led by lone senior captain Sasha Karol, who suffered her share of injuries, but still came through for the Warriors. Karol, who also earned the Coaches' Award, posted some of her best scores in the state championship meet, which no doubt helped her team's big win. Also contributing were veteran juniors Katie Frese, Melissa Luster, and Margaret Dubey. All three have been with the team since the start and were an integral part of the Warriors' success. Frese, the only gymnast that didn't have to work through any injuries, had the season of her life. Not only was she named the team's MVP, but she earned First Team All-State for the third year in a row, placed second individually in Class S, and came in second all-around in the New England Championship. Luster and Dubey, both out with injuries for a few meets, earned Second Team All-State and stepped it up in big meets. Also coming in as solid gymnasts were freshmen Annie Kingston and Maggie Calamari. Kingston missed much of the season battling an injury, but still racked up the points when it counted. Calamari showed she fit in with the team's fighting ways and earned the Most Improved Award. Girls' Basketball Looking at its 4-16 record, it's easy to say the girls' basketball team finished below where it wanted to be. However, looking at scores, the Warriors' fight and heart was evident with tough games against Portland, East Hampton, and Morgan. Valley started the year with a big win over Hale-Ray that was followed by an eight-game losing streak. The team then beat Westbrook before losing another set of games. Valley then beat Hyde, a game that seemed to turn the season around with close losses to North Branford, Cromwell, and Coginchaug. Leading the efforts were senior captains Amanda Hines (Honorable Mention All-Shoreline), Colleen Costin, and Jesse Reed, as well as senior Kate Bengston. Leading the scoring was Costin (130 points) and freshman standout Allison McDougall (131 points). Boys' Basketball Valley put in a solid 2009-10 season filled with talent, guts, and determination despite another coaching change and facing teams in the Shoreline Conference-one of the toughest in the state. The Warriors finished 18-7, including a tremendous run in both the Shoreline Conference and Class S State Tournaments, both of which lasted until the semifinal round. The team's biggest accomplishment was making it to the Class S semifinal game by beating St. Paul at the buzzer in the quarterfinals, as well as a regular-season win over eventual state champion at Cromwel. Leading the team was senior captain Jeff Holmes, a vocal veteran who has logged many games on the varsity level in his career. Also contributing were seniors Kyle Cunningham (Comeback "Clutch" Player of the Year) and Jack Duggan. Possibly making the most headlines was junior Taylor Rioux-one of the team's leading scorers, Most Valuable Player, First Team All-Shoreline, and First Team All-Area for the New Haven Register. Also coming through in clutch situations were junior Mitch King, who was also a top scorer; Mike Marshall (Coaches' Award), and Kyle Connor (Most Improved). Girls' Indoor Track To say the Valley girls' indoor track season was a success this past winter is an understatement. Coming out with no seniors-a plus for the coming years-and a third-place finish in Class S and fifth place in the conference, the Warriors continued to wow on the track throughout the season, boasting several individual records and top finishes. The team's biggest accomplishment was the 4x800 relay of Georgia O'Neil, Ally Gates, Liza Dee and Megan Callahan claiming the state title with sophomore powerhouse and team MVP Gates also setting a conference record in the 3,200 and freshman standout and First-Year MVP Katie Watts setting a conference record in the pole vault. Both Watts and Gates also earned First Team All-Shoreline honors with Gates making a trip to the New England Championship. Junior veterans Dee and Marissa Barnes led as captains with Dee guiding the distance runners throughout the season and Barnes-head of the sprinters-falling ill midway through the season and forcing Dee to step up. Other standouts were Colleen Gardner (Most Improved) and Lindsay Grote (Lou Luciani Coach's Award), Megan Giamei, Sarah Hammond, and Meredith Kelly. Boys' Indoor Track The boys' indoor track team stayed somewhat under the radar for much of the campaign, but at the big meets at the end of the season-the Shoreline Conference and Class S State Championships-the team shined. With many individuals placing high throughout the season in various meets, most everyone raked in points at the Shoreline meet as the Warriors placed fifth. The Class S meet saw the team finish in 19th. The team's brightest star was senior Kevin Dunn, whose highlights included being named as the team MVP, as well as his first-place finish at the conference championship in the 1,600, a win gained against a very good field of runners that included runners that had beaten him earlier in the season. Dunn's win at the championship marked his second-consecutive year being named to the All-Shoreline team. Dunn ran the 1,600 consistently and was the anchor leg in the sprint medley relay-also a top team in large invitational meets that finished consistently in the top five. Also contributing were seniors Dom Melillo and Nick Denegre, whose consistent high places in meets in their events-sprint medley relay and 4x200 for Melillo; and the 600, sprint medley, and 4x400 relay for Denegre-raked in points for the team on a regular basis. Junior Peter Russo-a captain for the current season, along with teammate Ryan Wichtowski-were recipients of the Coaches' Award. Deserving mention for consistently placing highly in big meets were Luc Dang (55 hurdles and 4x200), Adam Jaynes (55 hurdles and 4x400), Glenn Holmes (1,000 and 3,200, Most Improved), Russo (SMR and 4x400), Wichtowski (300 and 55 hurdles), Paul Myers (4x200, Most Valuable First-Year Runner), and Keir Magoulas (600). 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| Unknown names bag unexpected medals for India in 2010 Posted: 30 Dec 2010 09:06 PM PST New Delhi, Dec 30 : In a year that witnessed two sporting spectacles in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, sports like gymnastics, rowing, wushu and roller sports brought unexpected glory to India. Some unknown names in Indian sporting arena rose to the prominence, marking a successful year which holds a promise of a bright future. Among those glories, one that stood out the most was Ashish Kumar's exploits in the gymnastics that added silver wares to the empty cabinet of the game. The 19-year-old sensation from Allahabad won silver and bronze in CWG and bronze in Asiad. He opened India's gymnastics account in Delhi, winning silver medal in the men's vault and the bronze in the floor exercise. Ashish also became the first Indian gymnast to win a medal in the Asian Games after he bagged a bronze in the men's floor event. Unlike Ashish's feat, India's first individual gold in men's rowing single sculls at the Asian Games was not a surprise. Bajrang Lal Thakar had won a silver in the last edition, having missed out on the gold by a narrow margin and was expected to improve on it this time. Besides Thakar's gold, India notched up three silvers and a bronze in the men's fours, men's eights, men's lightweight fours and women's pairs rowing events. In wushu, the sport more famously known as Chinese martial art, India picked up two medals, bettering the single medal won at the 2006 Doha Games. Sandhyarani Devi won a silver in women's sanshou while Bimoljit Singh got a bronze in the men's event. India bagged two medals in roller sports, introduced for the first time in the Asiad, and the credit goes to Anup Kumar and Avani Panchal who won bronze in free and pair skating respectively. With the kind of performace came from some unexpected sports, it can be imagine that the future of Indian sports will touch new heights. --UNI This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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