Boys’ Cross Country

Senior Shane Henderson raced his way to a first-place finish for the Old Saybrook boys’ cross country team at the Class S State Championship last week. The Rams finished in third place as a team in the state meet, which was held at Wickham Park in Manchester on Oct. 26.

Henderson turned in a time of 16 minutes and 37 seconds to outpace runner-up Chris Deforest of Terryville (16:46) and take first place in the 5K at states. Sophomore Jacob Schneider came in sixth place for the Rams by running a time of 17:36.

Sophomore Jack Wiley (15th, 18:24), junior Ian Mason (33rd, 19:07), and Noah D’Ambrosie (48th, 19:29) also competed for Old Saybrook at the Class S State Championship. Sophomore Nate Taylor (51st, 19:31) and senior Lance Sigersmith (78th, 20:03) rounded out the Rams’ pack.

Girls’ Cross Country

One week after winning a Shoreline Conference title, Old Saybrook competed the Class SS State Championship last week. The Rams saw three runners finish in the top 20 on their way to a sixth-place performance at Wickham Park on Oct. 26.

Junior Aliana Castro and freshman Caitlin Wiley both clocked in at a time of 20 minutes and 44 seconds to earn 15th and 16th place, respectively, for Old Saybrook. Senior Tehra Givehand took 21st place with a time of 21 minutes flat. Freshman Lilly Sigersmith crossed the finish line in 55th place with a time of 23:26. Junior Autumn Szucs came in 79th place behind a time of 24:19 on behalf of the Rams.

Boys’ Soccer

The Old Saybrook boys’ soccer team completed its regular season last week and then posted a victory in its opening game of the Shoreline Conference Tournament.

On Oct. 23, the Rams took a 5-0 defeat versus Morgan in their regular-season finale. Old Saybrook finished with a regular-season record of 10-3-3.

The Rams earned the No. 4 seed in the Shoreline Conference Tournament and matched up against No. 5 seed Coginchaug in the Shoreline quarterfinals on Oct. 26. Old Saybrook earned a 1-0 victory over the Blue Devils in a home game.

The Rams (11-3-3) will play No. 1 seed Morgan in the Shoreline Conference Tournament semis at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at the Indian River Complex in Clinton. With a win in that contest, Old Saybrook would move on to the final to face either No. 2 seed Valley Regional, 3rd-seeded Haddam-Killingworth, or No. 6 seed Cromwell on Friday, Nov. 2.

Girls’ Soccer

The Rams played two games during the final week of their 2018 season. Old Saybrook lost both contests and finished with an overall record of 2-12-2 this fall.

On Oct. 22, the Rams had a road game against East Hampton, where they dropped a 1-0 decision to the Bellringers. Three days later, Old Saybrook was back on the road to face non-conference opponent North Haven and took another 1-0 defeat.

Football

The Old Saybrook-Westbrook (OS-W) football team earned a 14-0 road victory against Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton in a Pequot Conference Sassacus Division matchup last week. The Rams improved to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in the division with their win over the Blue Devils (3-4, 1-4) at Coginchaug High School on Oct. 27.

The Rams’ relentless rushing attack proved one of the biggest factors in their victory. Senior Landis Twomey carried the ball 25 times for 89 yards and punched the ball into the end zone twice for OS-W. Jack McDowell (9 carries, 34 yards), Danny Almada (5 carries, 52 yards), and Devon Moshier (4 carries, 18 yards) also contributed to the ground attack. The Rams’ defense played a big game by notching its first shutout of the season. Cooper Pavlovich kicked a pair of extra points for Old Saybrook-Westbrook.

OS-W scored its first touchdown with a 4-yard run from Twomey, after which Pavlovich booted home the extra point to make it 7-0. The score remained that way until the fourth quarter, when Twomey got back into the end zone on a 2-yard TD run. Pavlovich hit his second extra point to bring the final score to 14-0.

This week, the Rams will host divisional opponent North Branford (2-5, 1-4) at Old Saybrook High School at noon on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Field Hockey

The Rams finished up the 2018 regular season by playing two games last week and came away with a split. Old Saybrook dropped a contest against Westbrook, before picking up a win against Waterford in its regular-season finale. Head Coach Nancy Gatta’s squad finished the regular season with a record of 10-5-1 and earned the No. 4 seed in this week’s Shoreline Conference Tournament.

On Oct. 22, the Rams took a 1-0 home loss versus Westbrook in a Shoreline Conference matchup. Junior goalkeeper Wendy Bowden gave an outstanding effort in net by making 13 saves in the game.

Two days later, Old Saybrook picked up a 2-1 home victory against Waterford in a non-conference game. This was the second victory that the Rams earned against Waterford this year—the first one coming via a 2-1 road win on Oct. 11. In this one, both of Old Saybrook’s goals were scored by sophomore Kayla Holt, with senior captain Mandy Beck and senior Megan Wieland getting the assists. Bowden had 12 saves for the Rams.

After a 1-3 start to the year, the Rams went 9-2-1 the run of the way to get the No. 4 seed in the Shoreline Conference Tournament. Old Saybrook plays No. 1 seed Westbrook in the semifinals at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at the Indian River Complex in Clinton. With a win in that contest, the Rams would move on to the final to face the winner of 2nd-seeded North Branford and No. 3 seed Valley Regional at the Indian River Complex at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1.