Waterford High School’s Brielle Kenney throws a pitch during a softball game against East Lyme on April 10. Waterford is the defending ECC Division I tournament champion and will serve as the top seed once again when this year’s tournament begins Tuesday. The ECC will crown tournament champions this week in eight sports beginning Monday with track and field. (Sarah Gordon/The Day) Buy Photo Reprints
NFA’s Chris Amy competes in the shot put during the ECC Division I indoor track championship. Amy is the top seed at this week’s outdoor championship in the shot put and discus. (Dana Jensen/The Day) Buy Photo Reprints
Waterford’s Sarah Hage returns a serve during the 2023 Eastern Connecticut Conference tennis championships. Hage, a senior, will vie for her fourth straight championship this week. (Sarah Gordon/The Day) Buy Photo Reprints
First up is track and field.
That begins a jam-packed week in which eight Eastern Connecticut Conference sports will crown champions, from track and field Monday, boys’ and girls’ tennis Wednesday, boys’ and girls’ lacrosse and softball Thursday and baseball Friday.
Following is a sneak peak:
Track & field
The ECC Division I-II track championship will be held beginning at 2:30 p.m. Monday at East Lyme High School, while teams from Divisions III-IV will square off at 2:30 p.m. in the inaugural season of the new Griswold High track.
The Woodstock Academy girls and East Lyme boys will defend their team titles in Division I-II, while the Montville girls and Windham boys are the defending champs in the Division III-IV field.
New London’s Darielys Arnold, The Day’s 2023 All-Area Girls’ Track Athlete of the Year, was a triple-winner at last year’s Division I-II meet, taking the 100 meters, long jump and running a leg on the winning 4x100 relay. She is the top seed once again this year in the 100 (12.24) and the long jump 17-8. Woodstock’s Juliet Allard is the No. 1 seed in the 200 (25.94), 300 hurdles (45.77) and as a member of the 4x100 relay.
East Lyme scored 142 points to claim last year’s boys’ title in Division I-II, while Stonington’s Josh Mooney, now competing at UConn, was the star of the meet as a triple-winner.
East Lyme’s Sean McCauley, the ECC cross country champion, is the top seed in the 1,600 (4:20.04) and 3,200 (9:21.92), while Waterford’s Elliot Childs is ranked first in the 110 hurdles (14.44) and 300 hurdles (39.14) and Norwich Free Academy’s Chris Amy is the top-rated athlete in the shot put (61-10.5) and discus (167-2).
In the Division III-IV meet, Griswold’s Tycen LaBelle is seeded first in the boys’ 1,600 (4:27.57) and 3,200 (9:45.78), with Killingly’s Jeremiah Smith first in the 110 hurdles (14.64) and the long jump (23-0).
In the girls’ portion of the meet, Lyman Memorial’s Emily McKelvey is seeded first in the 100 (12.84) and the 300 hurdles (48.44), Montville’s Kamryn Plikus in the high jump (5-0) and pole vault (11-0) and Plainfield’s Neveah Dailey in the shot put (31-6) and discus (114-10).
Boys’ tennis
Unbeaten Stonington earned the top two seeds in the ECC singles bracket, senior Tucker Callahan at No. 1 and sophom*ore Brady O’Neil at No. 2. A new champion is guaranteed with Fitch’s Will Albrikes now playing for Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
East Lyme’s Jiarui Peng is seeded third and Waterford’s Christos Matsas fourth, with the first round of the tournament scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday at East Lyme. The boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles championships will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Stonington.
The top-seeded doubles teams, all of which received byes into the quarterfinals, are Stonington’s Sam Lund and Chase Donnarummo, No. 1, No. 2 Morgan Fisher and Nick Sousa of Fitch, No. 3 Louis Dhervilly and Adam Balfour of Waterford and No. 4 Josh Payne and Eric Lovering of East Lyme.
Girls’ tennis
Waterford senior Sarah Hage looks to make it four straight singles championships as she closes the books on her career in the ECC. Hage is the top seed and will open the tournament with a first-round matchup against Woodstock Academy’s Wynter Worth.
Stonington’s Grace Duggan, last year’s ECC runner-up, is the No. 2 seed, followed by Fitch’s Julia Mielguj at No. 3 and Stonington’s Marcella Hamm at No. 4.
The first round and quarterfinals will be played beginning at 3 p.m. Monday at Stonington. The first round will feature eight-game pro sets, while the quarterfinals will move to the traditional best-of-three sets format.
The semifinals are slated for Tuesday and the championships will take place Wednesday.
In doubles, the top four seeds received a bye into the quarterfinals. Those teams are No. 1 Katya Snegovskikh and Lauren Buckley of Stonington, No. 2 Gwen McGugan and Angelina Williams of Stonington, No. 3 Hazel Siu and Sophia Sit of Waterford and No. 4 Ada Ellis and Izzy Ash of Fitch.
Boys’ lacrosse
With East Lyme and Fitch deadlocked in the ECC Division I standings, the league tournament set to take place at Waterford High School will also determine who wins the division title for the regular season.
And that outcome will be determined quickly as the two are set to face off in the semifinals at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.
No. 1 seed Bacon Academy will face No. 4 St. Bernard/Wheeler in the first semifinal at 5 p.m., with the East Lyme-Fitch matchup to follow. The championship game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
East Lyme is 10-6 overall, 7-1 in the division, while Fitch is 14-2 overall, 7-1 in the division. East Lyme defeated Fitch 13-12 on April 2, while Fitch topped the Vikings 13-12 on May 7 to even the score.
Girls’ lacrosse
The girls’ tournament features a different format from the boys’ tournament, with six teams qualifying. The top two seeds, No. 1 Waterford (12-0 on its league-generated schedule) and No. 2 Wheeler (7-1), received byes into the semifinals.
A quarterfinal doubleheader will take place Monday at Fitch High School, with games at 4 and 6 p.m. No. 4 Fitch takes on No. 5 Killingly in the first game, followed by a matchup between No. 3 East Lyme and No. 6 Ledyard.
The teams will be reseeded after the quarterfinals.
East Lyme is the three-time defending tournament champ.
Baseball
The ECC baseball tournament will be played in two divisions for the first time, with the championships scheduled for Friday at Dodd Stadium in Norwich. The finals will be played at 4 and 6:30 p.m., but the times are not preset for a particular division.
While the complete pairings will not be set for the tournaments until after Monday’s games, the top seed in Division I will be ECC Division I champ Woodstock Academy and the top seed in Division II will be Division IV winner Lyman Memorial.
The tournaments will begin Tuesday with three play-in games, followed by the quarterfinals Wednesday and semifinals Thursday. On Tuesday, No. 8 New London meets No. 9 Ledyard in the play-in round at New London in Division I and No. 8 Plainfield hosts No. 9 Windham and No. 7 Putnam hosts No. 10 Tourtellotte in Division II.
East Lyme defeated Woodstock 9-3 for last year’s title.
Softball
Waterford will be the top seed in the Division I and Wheeler is No. 1 in Division II as the ECC softball tournaments are set to begin Tuesday. Complete pairings will not be available until Monday’s games are completed.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday at the home fields of the higher seeds, with all four semifinals set for Wednesday at Griswold High School (11, 1:30, 4, 6:30). The finals are Thursday at Griswold, with the Division II game at 4:30 and the Division I game at 7.
Waterford won last year’s ECC Division I title and Stonington captured the Division II championship.
Also on the horizon
The ECC Unified Track championship will be held at NFA at 3 p.m. Wednesday. ... The league will hold its girls’ golf tournament noon, Wednesday, May 29, at Quinnatisset Country Club and the boys’ golf tournament at noon Thursday, May 30, at Great Neck Country Club.
v.fulkerson@theday.com
