Girls’ Indoor Track

Bridget Wirtz recorded her first career postseason victory while setting a school record in the process when she won the pole vault for the Branford girls’ indoor track team at the SCC West Sectional Championship. Teammate Liante Claude also broke a school record with her second-place performance in the 600-meter run for the Hornets.

Wirtz, a junior, cleared a height of 11 feet-6 inches to break the previous pole vault mark of 10-6. Wirtz had shared the school record with Valerie Milici after reaching 10-6 earlier in the season. Fellow juniors Taylor Brown (8-6) and Leah Pendl-Robinson (7-6) finished second and fourth, respectively, in the vault.

Meanwhile, sophomore Claude had a great day on behalf of Branford by placing second in a pair of events. Claude took second in the 300-meter dash with a time of 42.78 seconds and was also runner-up for the 600-meter run at 1:42.61. Claude’s time in the 600 broke the program record of 1:44.5 that had been held by Adele Zocher.

“Liante Claude and Bridget Wirtz stole the day. They had been having good seasons so far, but today, they smashed two school records,” Head Coach Kevin Connell said. “Together, they have moved themselves near the top in the state. Two outstanding performances by underclassmen.”

As a team, Branford totaled 50.50 points to place fifth out of 10 squads the West Sectionals, which were held at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Jan. 25. Senior Courtney Cosgrove scored points in two events for Branford. Cosgrove finished fourth in the 1,600 at 5:55.74 and placed sixth in the 3,200 by running 12:55.55. Branford saw two athletes qualify for the finals in the 55-meter hurdles as Wyntre Fries took fourth place (10.40), while Pendl-Robinson finished sixth (10.54). Senior Keira Integlia claimed sixth place in the shot put behind a throw of 29 feet-11.5 inches. Additionally, Branford’s 4x200 relay of Claude, Brown, Wirtz, and freshman Molly Zaffino posted a mark of 1:56.17 to finish in fifth place.

Coach Connell noted some other strong showings from the meet, including Fries (6th place, 6-6) and Zaffino in the pole vault (8th, 6-6), Emily Borst in the 1,600-meter run (15th, 6:28.01), Kayla Pollard the 300 (18th, 47.30), Rose Lockery in the preliminaries of the 55 (22nd, 8.19 seconds), plus Kathryn Pollard (24-3.5) and Alexis Falcigno for the shot put (23-3).

“This was a very good meet by a small team. We lost a lot to graduation and this bunch just stepped in and scored points in new areas,” said Connell. “Some of the girls who didn’t place are going to do something big for us in the future. Rose Lockery, Molly Zaffino, and Kayla Pollard are near state qualifying. We have a good distribution from the different grades. A good group of freshmen have revitalized the ranks and there is much to be excited about heading into the championship season.

Boys’ Indoor Track

The Hornets were led by a trio of third-place finishes at last week’s SCC West Sectional Championship that took place at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Jan. 25.

Sophomore Aiden Kropiwnicki turned in Branford’s best individual performance by reaching 10 feet to take third place in the pole vault. Kropiwnicki had prevailed in the 600 at the SCC Novice Meet in the previous week.

Additionally at the sectional meet, the Hornets’ 4x800 relay of senior Andrew Byrne, junior Matt Daley, and sophomores Glenn Iacovetti and Marzio Mastroianni finished in third place by running a time of 9:00.24. Also placing third was Branford’s 1,600 sprint medley relay of sophomores Matt Alexander, Carlos McCaay, Kropiwnicki, and Mastroianni, who ran a time of 3:54.16. The 4x400 of juniors Harrison Troidle and Shane Dostie, Iacovetti, and sophomore Justin Dombrowski finished in sixth place at 4:20.53.

Alexander was seventh in the high jump (5-2), while Dombrowski placed seventh in the pole vault (8-0) for the Hornets, who scored 19 points to place eighth out of nine teams at the sectional meet.

Head Coach Rich Biondi also noted improvements from athletes in the following events: McCaay in the 55-meter dash (7.23 seconds), Daley (3:02.36) and Kadir Sahin (3:07.40) in the 1,000; Ryan McCarthy (5:22.09) and Troidle (5:23.23) for the 1,600; plus Alex Rode (7-6) and Sean Jansen (7-6) in the pole vault.

“Overall, the coaches were pleased with the effort of the athletes. Perhaps, as a team, we could have scored more points. However, the kids have worked hard, they continue to improve, and they are tremendous young men,” Coach Biondi said. “The relays were comprised of mostly sophomores. I am very excited about the future of the team because of our youth.”

Girls’ Basketball

Adrienne DiGioia scored 34 points to lead Branford to a 69-65 double overtime home victory over North Branford in a non-conference contest on Jan. 27.

DiGioia, a senior, hit 12 shots from the floor en route to netting 34 for the Hornets, who outscored North Branford 8-4 in the second overtime session for their fifth win of the year. Autumn McHenry scored nine points, while Emma Pierson and Victoria Raffone added eight and six points, respectively, in the victory.

The following night, Branford hosted Wilbur Cross and took a 67-52 defeat to drop to 5-9 on the year.

Boys’ Basketball

Branford stands at 6-6 after beating Hand and losing to Cheshire in last week’s action.

On Jan. 23, the Hornets posted a 54-44 home victory over Hand. The game was tied entering the fourth quarter, which Branford won 22-12 to emerge triumphant. Jake Sullivan’s 24 points led the Hornets, while Trevor Brown and Ryan Sember added 10 and nine points, respectively.

Against Cheshire, Branford was down 37-26 heading into the fourth and then won the final frame 17-8, but came up two points shy of pulling off the win. Sullivan scored 16 points for the Hornets. Sam Roach scored eight, Brown had seven points, and Sember scored six.

Boys’ Ice Hockey

Scott Klouda and Zach Withington both recorded hat tricks when Branford defeated Lyman Hall/Haddam-Killingworth/Coginchaug by a 7-1 final at home on Jan. 25.

Klouda scored two goals in the first period and then capped his hat trick by netting his third during the second. He also had two assists in the win. Withington converted all three of his goals in the second period and he also assisted on Zachary Jones’s goal during the frame. Spencer Engstrom had two assists for Branford, while Liam Deane and James Cunningham added one apiece.

Three days later, Branford was back at Northford Ice Pavilion to face SCC/SWC Division II rival North Branford and lost 9-6 to drop to 5-5 for the year.

Girls’ Ice Hockey

Branford-East Haven-North Branford played four recent games and came away with a pair of victories to move to 6-7-1 on the season. The Wings notched an 8-1 home win against Lauralton Hall at DiLungo Rink in Jan. 21, lost 2-0 to West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy at Bennett Rink on Jan. 24, posted a 2-0 victory versus Hand at Northford Ice Pavilion on Jan. 26, and then wrapped up the week by losing 1-0 against Simsbury at home on Jan. 28