Ridgefield Scores and Standings: Aug 10

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Two Ridgefield swimmers qualified for the finals Tuesday in their respective events at the U.S. junior swimming national championships in Palo Alto, Calif.

Faith Martin finished 22nd in the women's 400 IM with a time of 4:51.63 and Brian Bollerman placed 29th in the men's 400 IM with a time of 4.32.08.

On Monday, Bollerman posted a 10th-place finish in the men's 200-meter breaststroke.

Ridgefield has four swimmers - Bollerman, Andrew Klutey, Grayson Smith and Martin - taking part in the junior national championships which continue through Friday.

A few years ago, the CIAC introduced an option allowing football teams in the state to forego traditional spring practice to start their summer practice a week earlier.

Teams could chose one or the other but not both. A total of 69 schools, including Ridgfield, opted for the latter. That means the Tigers will start conditioning on Tuesday and conduct their first formal practice on Aug. 22.

Interestingly, however, Ridgefield and Stamford were the only FCIAC schools to take that route.

Here is a list of the 69 schools, according to the CIAC, who will get things going on Monday:

(The teams that went the tradition route won't be able to begin conditioning until Aug. 22 and their first practices until Aug. 27):

Here is the complete list of schools that decided to start early the fall:

Abbott Tech

Avon

Bacon Academy

Bloomfield

Bulkeley

Bullard Havens Tech

Canton

Capital Prep/Classical Magnet

Cheney Tech

Conard

Derby

E.O. Smith

East Catholic

East Hampton/Vinal Tech

East Hartford

East Haven

Ellington/Somers

Fermi

Fitch

Foran

Gilbert/NW Regional

Glastonbury

Granby Memorial

Griswold

Haddam-Killingworth

Hall

Hartford Public

Housatonic/Wamogo

Immaculate

Joel Barlow

Jonathan Law

Killingly

Maloney

Middletown

Morgan

New Fairfield

New London

Nonnewaug

North Branford

Northwest Catholic

Norwich Free Academy

Notre Dame-Fairfield

Notre Dame-West Haven

Plainfield

Plainville

Pomperaug

Putnam/Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech

RHAM

Ridgefield

Rockville

Sacred Heart

Seymour

Simsbury

SMSA/University

South Windsor

Southington

St. Bernard/Norwich Tech

Stamford

Stamford Academy

Stonington

Stratford

Waterford

Watertown

Wilby

Wilcox Tech

Windsor

Windsor Locks/Suffield/East Granby

Wolcott Tech

Woodstock Academy

Swimming for the Ridgfield Aquatic Club, Brian Bollerman finished 10th Monday in the men's 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. junior national championships. He posted a time of 2:20:23, which actually was a bit slower than his qualifying mark of 2:19.46, which was fifth-best.

Andrew Klutey was 91st in the men's 200 butterfly (2:07.40) on Monday.

Ridgefield has four swimmers - Bollerman, Klutey, Grayson Smith and Faith Martin - taking part in the junior national championships which continue through Friday at Palo Alto, Calif.

For the first time in the history of the regatta, a U.S. women’s double sculls crew recorded a top 10 finish in the world junior rowing championships in Eton, England.

Hannah Solis-Cohen (New York, N.Y.) and Maria Maydan of Ridgefield finished third in the B final for a ninth-place finish overall on Sunday in the final day of competition.

The race was tight the entire way down the course, as all six crews sat within just over three seconds of each other entering the final 500 meters. Solis-Cohen and Maydan crossed the 1,500-meter mark in sixth place but passed Romania, Brazil and Sweden to finish third. The Netherlands won the race in a 7:28.91, with Norway finishing second, 1.65 seconds behind. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:33.03.

Southport's Lucy Grinalds won a silver medal in the women's four at last year’s world junior rowing championships. A year later, she did even better than that.

The team of veterans Chandler Lally (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), Grinalds and Jessica Eiffert (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and rookie Mia Croonquist (Vashon, Wash) led wire-to-wire Saturday in winning the goal medal in the women's four

It marked the first time the United States has won gold in the event since 2000.

“I’m ecstatic right now. I can’t believe it all came together. I’ve been nervous about it for the past month, but I’ve been visualizing it every day,” Grinalds, a four-time junior national team member, told USrowing.org

"When we started, I was like, ‘Is this actually starting.’ After we crossed the first 500 and saw that we were up, we were so happy. We just kept pushing it and pushing it, and we had open water going into the last 500. It just feels like my four years have paid off.”

In the heat, the crew used a strong first 250 meters to establish its lead, and Saturday’s race was no different. Once again, the U.S. grabbed an early lead on the field and continued to build on its margin through the 1,500-meter mark.

Holding nearly a three-second advantage going into the final 500 meters, the U.S. watched both Great Britain and New Zealand try to mount challenges down the stretch, but the crew was able to maintain a safe lead and came home with a 1.76-second victory over the host nation.

In the end, the U.S. finished with a time of 6:48.77, with Great Britain taking silver in a 6:50.53. New Zealand won bronze in a 6:51.36.

While the women’s four was the only medal of the day, the women’s quadruple sculls just missed the podium, finishing a best-ever fourth, only 0.56 seconds behind Romania.

The crew of Nancy Miles (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), Lizzy Youngling (Westport), Erin Reelick and MacKenzi Sherman (Los Alamitos, Calif.) got off the line in sixth position and was still trailing the field as it entered the second half of the race.

That’s when the U.S. boat made its move, clocking the fastest third 500 meters of the field and moving into a virtual dead heat with The Netherlands for third as the crews entered the final quarter of the race.

The Dutch boat and the U.S. continued to battle each other and push Romania for second place through the final 500 meters. At the line, The Netherlands took silver, while Romania held off the U.S. for bronze. Germany controlled the race from start to finish, winning gold in a time of 6:31.07. The Netherlands finished in a 6:34.48, with Romania clocking a 6:35.23. The U.S. boat finished with a time of 6:35.79.

The U.S. men’s eight of coxswain Max Blumenthal (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Alex Perkins (Westport, Max Meyer-Bosse (Westport), Patrick Eble (Fort Washington, Pa.), Zach Hershberger (Los Gatos, Calif.), Harry Holroyd (Piedmont, Calif.), Stephen Podwojski (Cincinnati, Ohio), Greg Schneiter (Latham, N.Y.) and Hunter Leeming (Sarasota, Fla.) finished fifth in its final.

In the final of the women’s pair, Rosie Grinalds (Southport) and Corinne Bozzini (Lafayette, Calif.) finished sixth.

The men’s double sculls tandem of Graham Anderson (Weston) and Charles Campbell (New Canaan) finished sixth in the C final for an 18th-place finish overall. In a tight race, all six crews were within 2.55 seconds of each other going into the last 500 meters. Norway won the race in a 6:46.97, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:52.68.

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