Sports
5 Super Athletes With Ties To Branford
From a brand partner: Meet five standout athletes with ties to the area whose accomplishments have made their mark on the sports world.
Sports have a way of teaching invaluable life lessons — building character, fostering teamwork and strengthening the bonds within a community. In the Branford area, these values have shaped some truly remarkable athletes from different eras, whose accomplishments continue to inspire.
Patch is celebrating five standout athletes whose achievements have left a lasting mark on our community. This list is just a snapshot, with countless other athletes helping shape the rich sports culture in our area.
1. Alex Deibold (Snowboarding)
A Branford native, Alex Deibold spent four years as a wax technician on the U.S. Olympic snowboard team, watching from the sidelines after failing to qualify for the 2010 Vancouver Games. He earned his own spot four years later and won bronze in snowboard cross at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, edging a teammate in a photo finish to reach the final.
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2. Jen Toomey (Track & Field)
A 1989 Branford High School graduate, Jen Toomey didn't take up competitive running seriously until her late 20s, after training for the Boston Marathon. She went on to break the American indoor record in the 1000m and became the first woman to win both the 800m and 1500m at the same U.S. Indoor Championships, a feat she pulled off in 2004.
3. Mike Olt (Baseball)
A four-year varsity shortstop at Branford High School, Mike Olt helped the Hornets win the state championship in 2006 before starring at UConn, where he left as the program's all-time home run leader. The Texas Rangers made him a first-round pick in 2010, and he went on to play parts of four seasons in the majors with the Rangers, Cubs and White Sox, homering for both Chicago teams in the same season.
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4. Lauren Kaczynski Anderson (Field Hockey & Basketball)
A 1993 Branford High School graduate, Lauren Kaczynski Anderson earned All-League and All-State recognition in field hockey while also starring on the basketball court for the Hornets. She was later inducted into the Branford Sports Hall of Fame for her two-sport career.
5. Remo Guarnieri (Football)
A 1990 Branford High School graduate, Remo Guarnieri was an All-Housatonic League and All-State lineman, becoming the only lineman in program history to be named New Haven Register Player of the Year. He went on to play football at Villanova, where he was twice named to the Yankee Conference All-Academic Team.
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