Avon High Athletes Have Successful Winter Season

Avon athletes carried winning momentum from fall sports into winter sports this year.

The boys basketball team finished 18-6 in its last year in the NCCC to win the title. Junior Bryan Lachance was named tournament MVP and sophomore Nate Laszewski earned spots on the NCCC All-Tournament, All-Conference and CT All-State teams. Alex Zacchio earned All-Conference honors.

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Not to be outdone, the girls team also won its last NCCC title, which they share with co-champions, Canton. The team finished 21-5 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament before losing to undefeated Farmington. Seniors Shannon Curry, Michaela Marcus, and Olivia Welter all made the NCCC All-Conference team, while Curry was named league tournament MVP and junior Abby Laszewski was selected for the All-Tournament team.

It was a similar story on the Avon High School mats where the Wrestling team won the NCCC title and finished an impressive 20-2 with a record six NCCC All-Conference winners: Gino Bonalumi, Jameson Dlugolecki, Jonathan Oh, Kurt Ollestad, Jack St. Onge and Anthony Tripodi. Bonalumi, a senior, also finished strong in statewide competition finishing 2nd in the Classs M championships and 3rd in the State Opens.

The indoor track and swim teams were also successful in their Class and Open competitions, breaking school records and seeing broad participation across the teams. New track records were set by runners Greg Oberhausen (600M), Andrew Suter (1600M) and the relay team of Oberhausen, Suter, Brett Holtzman and Collin Pritchard. Suter was named to the NCCC All-Conference team. The girls team finished second in the NCCC and produced four All-Conference qualifiers: Gabriella Colletti, Molly Hamel, Rachel Martin and Chamiyah Rowland. Hamel qualified for the New England Championships, finishing a strong 12th.

Similarly, the co-ed Avon High School swim team saw great performances from its girls and boys, finishing 8-5 and beating all Farmington Valley competitors. The girls, a group of young and very talented swimmers, won their 9th annual Splash tournament nearly doubling the second-place team’s score, and setting three new meet and team records. Junior co-captain, Megan Foley, competed in the Boys States competition finishing 18th in the 100-butterfly; she was the only girl placing as an individual (i.e. non-relay) competitor at the meet. Megan was in good company at States, as 17 of her male teammates qualified. Highlights of statewide competition include the 400-freestyle relay team of Matt Bagley, Stephen Pang, Kyle Emery and Riley Strassner beating the school record (which they previously held) and Strassner (Junior co-captain and All-State winner) finishing second in the 200-freestyle and fifth in the 100-freestyle, setting new school records in both, as well as in the 100-butterfly. Overall, the Avon swim team placed 6th in Class M and 20th in States, beating last year’s placements of 9th and 28th – and all with no seniors and the youngest team in history.

Avon’s spring athletes are eager to begin their NCCC farewell performances now - once the snow clears!

Photos:

1 – Boys Basketball seniors, Raiq Ahmed, Tim Patton, Alex Zacchio, Zach Stirling, Cole Thompson, manager Matt Bergman, Bryant St. Jean

2 – Avon Indoor Track seniors

3 – NCCC Championship-winning AHS Wrestling team

4 – Avon swim team captains: Megan Foley, Ryley Higgins, Michael Oliver and Riley Strassner

5 – Girls Basketball seniors, Michaela Marcus, Nora Ayoubi, Jessica Woodis, Olivia Welter, Shannon Curry (back)