Sports
Spectacular Day For Stonington Sports
Softball Upsets of Waterford, Track Throwers Win Titles, Tennis, Baseball Advance
June 1, 2011 could rank as the most glittering day in the history of Stonington High athletics. While we realize Stonington has won a smattering of state titles over the years, rarely, if ever, have five different sports achieved as much notoriety on the same day as was the case June 1.
Headlining the Bears' banner day was the softball team's 1-0 upset of No. 1 ranked Waterford in the Class M state tournament second round. The Lancers were gunning for their third straight state title and had beaten the Bears, 8-0, less than a week ago in the ECC Tournament. Fifteenth-ranked Stonington (16-6) now gets a quarterfinal home game Friday against No. 23 Sacred Heart.
In boys' track and field, SHS senior Ryan Bolduc pulled off an impressive double victory, winning the shot put (53-feet-4) and discus (139-0) in the Class M championship meet. They were Bolduc's first state titles.
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In girls' track and field, Megan Rose Chapman, the defending State Open discus champ, won her signature event with a Class M record toss of 140-6.Stonington's girls' tennis team continued its march through Class S with a 6-1 quarterfinal win on 6-1 over St. Paul's to reach Thursday's semifinal at Old Saybrook. The Bears (17-2) are gunning for their fifth straight state final appearance Friday with three-time defending champ Weston still alive.
Not to be upstaged, a surprising SHS baseball team won its second straight Class M state champ in northwest Connecticut, topping Nonnewaug, 7-6. The Bears (13-9) play No. 1 St. Joseph in the quarterfinals 3:30 Saturday at Quigley Field in West Haven.
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Stonington's boys' lacrosse team awaits to make its own headlines. The Bears, who completed their best regular season ever with one loss, open Class S play Saturday at home.
The SHS golf team also lost just one regular season match, winning the ECC Small, and finished third in the ECC in one of its best seasons in over a decade.
For many years, some town and area sports followers believed Stonington offered too many spring sports (10) for a medium-sized school. There weren't enough athletes to fill all the sports, the critics claimed. This spring season and the events of June 1 form a powerful argument against dilution. The Bears boast quantity and quality.
