Girls’ Swimming Shines in Preseason Meet, Football Wins Big
Girls’ Swimming and Diving
The newly formed Shoreline Co-Op girls’ swimming team (with swimmers from Haddam-Killingworth, Valley Regional, Lyme-Old Lyme, and Old Saybrook) won four of eight relays in a pre-season relay meet held at Windsor Locks High School on Sept. 6. Shoreline girls raced against swimmers from Suffield, Windsor Locks Co-Op, and Hartford Co-Op/Bulkeley/HMTCA.
Shoreline swimmers who competed in the relay meet were Aria Cummings (freshman, H-K), Bethany Erkkila (junior, Valley Regional), Claire Johnson (freshman, Valley Regional), Elsa Shatraw (sophomore, H-K), Emma Wakelee (junior, Old Saybrook), Kinsley Grenier (freshman, Lyme-Old Lyme), Lauren Thebeau (freshman, H-K), Maggie Miller (junior, H-K), Olive Forristall (sophomore, H-K), Olivia Campo (senior, H-K), Olivia “Liv” Macaluso (senior, H-K), Phoebe Spallone (freshman, Valley Regional), Rose Dimmock (junior, Lyme-Old Lyme), Sasha Dziebel (junior, Old Saybrook), Sofia Campo (senior, H-K), Sophia Langer (sophomore, H-K), Veronica Pypa (senior, H-K) and Zi Abbott (sophomore, H-K).
Medals were awarded to first-place finishers. The winning relay teams for the Shoreline squad included the 800-yard freestyle relay team of Thebeau, Shatraw, Olivia Campo, and Miller. Also winning was the 400 freestyle relay squad of Spallone, Olivia Campo, Forristall, and Macaluso. The 200 medley relay of Spallone, Sofia Campo, Johnson, and Macaluso, grabbed a first place finish, as did the 200 freestyle relay team comprised of Miller, Spallone, Sofia Campo, and Johnson.
Football
H--K football hosted Weaver on Sept. 27 and earned a big 56-6 victory. Six different Cougars scored touchdowns, led by Tyler Napierkowski (a two-yard rushing touchdown and a 36-yard interception return) and Josh Frith (rushing touchdowns of one and 14 yards).
Joe Slane had a pick-six for 54 yards, while Jamien Evans and Ryan Rafferty also recorded interceptions. Evans, Jacob Lamarre, and Gunnar Howes added rushing touchdowns for the Cougars, and Howes also blocked a punt. John Moyher kicked three extra points in the win, improving HK's record to 2-1.
“The game was a tale of three quarters,” said Head Coach Tyler Wilcox after the game. “We came out strong in the first quarter, we let down in the second quarter, and we regrouped and took control of the game in the third quarter. We'd obviously like to play to our ability throughout the entire game, but I do like how the kids came out of halftime fired up and took care of business right away.”
Cross Country
On Sept. 28, the Haddam Killingworth boys’ and girls’ cross country teams traveled to Montgomery, New York (NY) to compete in the NY Night Time Showcase in a meet under the lights at night.
The boys’ team won its first invitational of the year, as the Cougars scored a mere 29 team points to easily outdistance the other teams in the field. They were led once again by senior co-captain Jack Cozean, who placed third in the race with a time of 12:59 for the 2.5 mile course. Following him was junior Alex Frederickson in fifth (13:43), then a pack of Cougars within one second of each other: junior Cash Smigel in sixth (13:48), sophomore Evan Berardino in seventh (13:48), and junior Anthony Frederickson in eighth (13:49). The boys’ junior varsity team also came away with the team victory, as the Cougars scored 39 points and were led by freshman Fischer Norton, who placed second in a time of 14:55, and sophomore Paul Birkmeyer, who placed third (14:59).
The girls’ team once again ran well as a team to place second in the varsity race with 43 points. The girls were led by junior Grace Mitchell, who placed fourth in a time of 15:45. Next for H-K was sophomore Charlotte Behnke, who crossed the line in a time of 16:06 to place seventh in the race. She was followed by junior Julia Downing in 10th (16:39), junior Amelia Riggs in 13th (16:52), and senior Keira Sehl-Albert in 14th (16:58) to round out the team scoring.