Teams Win League Titles
Avon has had a long tradition of strong spring sports, but 2012 will be remembered as one of the best ever with eleven of the thirteen competitive teams having winning seasons. A recap of the varsity teams’ seasons follows:
Varsity Baseball (20-2) recorded another banner season by securing both the Founder’s League and Colonial League championships. Seniors taking their offensive and defensive skills to the next level include Dan Palazzo (Bryant), Nick Quattro (Endicott), AJ Zarozny (Bryant), Jack Sundburg (UConn), Dom D'Antonio (Bentley), Travis Mistretta (Iona), Mitch Leeds (Lafayette), Jed Robinson (UConn), and Owen Solberg (George Washington).
Varsity Golf (22-4) played at the top of the league, led by Captain Zach Rubenstein ’12 along with Patrick Albanesi ’14, Wayne Carter ’12, Jack Lehey ’12, Sam Ravech ’13, Taylor Stone ’13, David Szewczul ’13, and Jason Tucker ’14. Highlights included winning the Coppola Cup, placing 2nd in the Founder’s League, and winning the Kingswood Invitational at the end of the season, which is considered the Western New England Championship. With five returning lettermen and several strong players coming up from the Junior Varsity, the team will continue to be a force in New England Prep School Golf.
Varsity Lacrosse (10-5) won their second Founder’s League Championship in the last three years with dramatic wins over Westminster, Hotchkiss, Taft, and Choate. The season will also be remembered for the four-overtime win against Tabor, 10-9, and the double-overtime loss against Salisbury where Avon rallied for two goals with under a minute to play in regulation. Salisbury was ranked #2 in the nation.
Seniors looking to play in college include Paul Alberti (Union), Jack Burke (Washington College), Liam Cardon (Kenyon), Gavin Clark (Hobart), Ben Casella (University of Richmond), Tim Fox (Trinity College-CT), Jonnie Gozzo (TCU), M.J. Keady (Hobart), Dan Kinek (Michigan), Kris Molinaro (Colby), Dan McDougall (Delaware), Chris Paddock (Limestone College), Emmet Rogers (Marquette), Derek Sganga (Marist), Will Ryan (Johns Hopkins), Paul Rakoczy (McGill University), Finn Sullivan (Hofstra), Pat Wallace (Richmond), and Harrison Wasserbauer (Hobart).
Varsity Tennis (10-5) had a great season with solid wins over Loomis Chaffee, Salisbury, Kent and Westminster. The team was selected for post-season play in the New England tournament and faced #2 seed Exeter in a match played at Andover. Avon played well, but did not go on to the semi-finals. The #1 doubles team of Captain Brendon Conry ’13 and senior Ben Davis won two matches in the New England Invitational Prep School Championships held at Choate and lost in the finals to St. Paul’s.
Varsity Track (3-10) Varsity track experienced a rebuilding year with several younger runners and field athletes making good progress throughout the season. Avon finished 6th at the Founder’s League Championships with impressive performances from Jeremy Campbell ’12, with a 2nd place in the High Jump and Petey Parker ’12, earning a 3rd place in the 300IH, 4th place in the 110HH, and 6th place in the High Jump. Other notable performances include Mickoy Nichol ’14 finishing 5th in the Triple Jump, Nnamdi Amilo ’12 finishing 6th in the 300IH, Joe Colton ’12 finishing 5th in the Javelin, and Luke Tiedemann ’13 finishing 6th in the Javelin, and our 4x100m relay finishing 5th.
At the end of the year Spring Sports Assembly held on Thursday, May 24th, Avon’s Athletic Director John Bourgault ’80 noted that eleven seniors played three varsity sports in 2011-2013. Major Bourgault, a strong advocate for Avon students playing multiple seasons in an era of sports specialization, believes that part of the success of our teams this entire year can be attributed to students making a commitment to play more than one team sport.
