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01/29/2022 11:00 PM

North Haven’s Track Teams Compete at West Sectionals; Boys’ Hockey Makes it Seven-Straight Wins


Junior Alex Petersen and the North Haven boys’ ice hockey team picked up a big victory against West Haven last week and have now won seven-consecutive games. File photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier

Boys’ Indoor Track

The North Haven boys’ indoor track team turned in a solid showing when the Nighthawks competed at the SCC West Sectional Championship at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Jan. 27. Led by a first-place performance from senior Cole DeCusati in the shot put, North Haven came in fourth place by scoring 44 points as a squad at West Sectionals.

DeCusati launched a throw of 45 feet-2 inches on his way to winning the shot put at the sectional meet. Junior teammate Ethan Anderson finished in second place with a toss of 44-7.

Senior Matthew O’Connell finished third in the pole vault (11-6) and placed fifth in the long jump (18-11) for the Nighthawks. Junior Kyle Fitzgerald took fifth place for the pole vault (9-0).

In the 55-meter hurdles, sophomore Jake McCreven finished third (8.92) in the preliminaries, and junior Matthew Crispi placed fifth (9.62), advancing both athletes to the finals. McCreven finished third (8.68) in the finals with Crispi taking fifth place (9.42) for North Haven.

Senior Nico Boyle finished seventh in the 3,200 (10:33.50), while junior Tyler Wurm took 10th place in the 1,600 (5:00.24). Senior Luca Boyle finished ninth (36-9) in the shot put, and fellow senior Rolanyander Pizzaro claimed 10th place (34-11) in the event.

North Haven’s 4x800 relay of senior Luke Nugent, Nico Boyle, senior Michael Rubano, and Wurm came in third place (9:25.23) at the meet. The 4x400 relay of senior MJ DeVilliers, junior Daniel-Mark Thomas, sophomore Daniel Malone, and junior Blake Butler finished in fifth place (3:57.03); the 1,600 sprint medley relay of freshman Christopher Cretella, McCreven, freshman Russell Collins, and Nugent finished sixth (4:19.58); and the 4x200 relay of DeVilliers, senior Kevin Rourke, senior Ty Rooney, and Thomas came in eighth place (1:43.89).

Girls’ Indoor Track

The North Haven girls’ indoor track team finished in 10th place with 8 points scored at last week’s SCC West Sectional Championship meet.

Senior Emily Cocco turned in North Haven’s top individual performance by claiming sixth place in the shot put with a toss of 27 feet-9 inches. Senior Mikayla Greene finished seventh in the high jump with a height of 4-8. Sophomore Anna Mortali finished 10th in the 1,000 by running a time of 3:46.57.

North Haven’s 4x800 relay of sophomore Rebecca Ford, Mortali, junior Payton Orosco, and freshman Grace DeNardis finished in fourth place (11:24.69); and its 1,600 sprint medley relay of senior Brooke Waldron, junior Aisling Prety, senior Grace Finch, and senior Ada Forbes finished in fifth place (4:52.39).

The Nighthawks’ 4x200 relay of sophomore Jade Lewis, Finch, Waldron, and Forbes came in sixth place (1:59.84) at sectionals. The 4x400 relay of freshman Daniella Rapuano, freshman Amalia Morizio, junior Payton Orosco, and Finch finished in seventh place (5:04.75).

Boys’ Swimming and Diving

The Greater New Haven (GNH) Warriors boys’ swimming and diving team hosted Amity for a contest at Walter Gawrych Community Pool on Jan. 28. The Warriors claimed a 96-85 win against the Spartans to improve to 5-1 for the season.

North Haven junior Christian Butler finished first in the 1-meter diving (233.50) for GNH in the victory. East Haven junior Brendan Conners took first place in the 200 individual medley (2:03.34) and the 100 backstroke (54.15) for the Warriors. Guiilford senior Finn Henry finished first in the 200 freestyle (1:50.30) and the 500 freestyle (4:50.91), while East Haven senior Hethon Foster won the 100 butterfly (54.65).

The Warriors’ 200 medley relay of Conners, Henry, Foster, and Guilford junior Aiden Cohen claimed first place (1:42.70) in the meet. GNH’s 200 freestyle relay of Conners, Cohen, Foster, and Henry also earned a first-place finish (1:31.40).

Boys’ Ice Hockey

The North Haven boys’ ice hockey team picked up its seventh-straight victory when the Nighthawks defeated West Haven on the road last week. On Jan. 26, North Haven traveled to Bennett Rink to face West Haven and claimed a 3-1 victory to improve to 9-2 on the season.

The Nighthawks grabbed a 1-0 lead when junior Alex Petersen scored from sophomore Ben Gilbert and sophomore Nolan Cole during the first period. The Blue Devils came back with a goal in the second period to tie the game at 1-1 through two.

North Haven scored two goals during the third period to come away with the win. First, junior Thomas Guidone scored from Petersen and Cole to give the Nighthawks a 2-1 advantage. Petersen went on to assist senior Jake Hines for an insurance goal that finished off a 3-1 victory for North Haven. Senior Jared Anderson earned the win in net for North Haven.

Girls’ Ice Hockey

The Amity-North Haven-Cheshire (A-NH-C) girls’ ice hockey team lost two games last week and is now 2-10 this year.

On Jan. 24, the Blades took a 4-1 road loss against Trumbull-St. Joseph at the Sports Center of Connecticut. Two days later, A-NH-C was on the road to face Stamford-Staples-Westhill and took a 9-2 defeat at Terry Conners Ice Rink.

Boys’ Basketball

The North Haven boys’ basketball team took two defeats last week to move to 1-13 on the season.

North Haven took an 81-56 loss to Hamden in a home game on Jan. 25. Junior Dante Velez scored 20 points for North Haven in the contest. Sophomore Matt Bosticco scored 13 points for the Nighthawks. Senior Matt Cocco had 8 points, and sophomore Adam Pandolfi added 6 points.

Two days later, the Nighthawks hosted Xavier and lost the contest by the score of 53-47. Pandolfi was North Haven’s leading scorer with 13 points in the game. Velez scored 10 points, while Bosticco and sophomore Brendan Grudberg added 6 points apiece.