Symon Races to Victory at State Meet for North Haven; Girls’ Soccer Gets in Class L Bracket
Girls’ Cross Country
Senior Elise Symon crossed the finish line with a time of 19 minutes and 52 seconds to take first place for North Haven at the Class MM Girls’ Cross Country State Championship. Symon’s time was three seconds better than runner-up Meredith Bloss, who posted a mark of 19:55 at Wickham Park on Oct. 29. By virtue of placing in the top eight, Symon collected All-State honors. She also advanced to the State Open Championship for the second-straight season. That meet will take place at Wickham at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4. Symon had previously recorded a mark of 19:54 at the SCC Championship to make All-SCC for the third-consecutive year and the First Team for the second year in a row.
As a team, the Indians finished in 10th place out of 23 clubs at the state meet. Freshman Reagan Forbes placed 63rd with a time of 23:32 and she was followed by junior Macey DiCarlo in 75th (24:04), senior Hillary Hoyt in 77th (24:12), sophomore Clare Connell in 78th (24:12), sophomore Shannon Reilly in 91st (24:48), and senior Olivia Hoyt in 120th (26:28).
Boys’ Cross Country
Gabe Durante was the Indians’ top finisher at the Class L State Championship as the sophomore took 45th place by running a time of 18:07 at Wickham Park. North Haven came in 19th place as a squad among the 26 teams at the meet.
Senior Jordan Tong was next line for the Indians by finishing 114th with a time of 19:24. Also running for North Haven were sophomore Jonathan Opramolla (115th, 19:27), junior Corey Reilly (118th, 19:30), sophomore Jackson Frank (140th, 20:01), senior Josh Bryson (171st, 21:46), and sophomore Alex Savenelli (174th, 22:29).
Girls’ Soccer
North Haven clinched a spot in the Class L State Tournament by posting a 2-1 road victory over Cross-Hillhouse-Career in New Haven on Oct. 24. The following day, the Indians hosted West Haven and took a 1-0 defeat. Had the Indians lost to or even tied Cross-Hillhouse-Career, they would have missed making states by a single point. Instead, North Haven’s regular season record of 6-9-1 earned them a spot in the Class L bracket in the team’s first campaign with Head Coach Rocco Christiana.
Boys’ Soccer
North Haven hosted Foran on Senior Night on Oct. 24 and dropped a 1-0 contest. The game was scoreless at halftime before the Lions netted the lone goal in the second half. The Indians finished the year with a record of 1-13-2.
North Haven’s Players of the Game, as voted by the team, were the five members of its senior class, who are captains Matt Iovanne and Steve Pugliese, along with Jon Goodrich, Ryan Harvey, and Ben Kuru. Head Coach Federico Fiondella thanked his senior athletes for putting their hearts into playing for North Haven boys’ soccer.
“This has been a tough year in terms of wins [and] losses and these young men have never given up and have led by example at all times,” Coach Fiondella said. “We thank them for their loyalty, dedication, and for mentoring the younger members of the team. We are certain that they will go very far in life and be successful in future endeavors.”
Volleyball
The Indians took a 3-1 loss at Law on Oct. 25 and a 3-0 defeat at home versus Sheehan the following night to finish the year with a record of 5-15.
Against Sheehan, Jess McInnis had 22 assists with 10 digs, Bella DelVecchio recorded 20 digs and added one kills, plus Laurissa Amaker posted 10 kills, 12 digs, and an ace for Head Coach Brianna Kleckner’s squad.
Field Hockey
The Indians concluded their season by taking a 9-1 loss at Sacred Heart Academy on Oct. 24 and a 4-0 home loss versus Hamden on Oct. 26. North Haven finished with a record of 3-13 for the year.