Fall 2023 Sports Recap | Avon Old Farms News | About Us | Avon Old Farms

Since arriving on campus for pre-season in August, our fall athletes have dedicated their effort and energy toward self-improvement and team success. As always, our athletes and fans also made sure to uphold our core value of sportsmanship.

There were high expectations for the varsity soccer team this year. As usual, the team proved to be one of the best in the Founders League. Over the course of the season, they beat Hopkins, Westminster, Kent, and Kingswood Oxford by a combined score of 27-0.

At the annual NXT LVL Invitational in Albany, the boys won both of their games giving them a 3-0-1 record to start the season. From there the boys continued to fight hard, but this season proved to be the most competitive in recent memory when it came to making the playoff tournaments. Despite a 9-4-4 final record, the team was not selected for post-season play.
 

Of course, there were still plenty of successes on the season—including individually. Senior student Shikhar Motupally, who was featured in the latest edition of the Avonian, earned All-New England honors. He was also selected to play in the WNEPSSA All-Star game alongside teammates Teddy Lister ’25 and Tobin Walsh ’25.

For Head Coach Carl Stensland, who was named Outstanding Prep Coach of the Year by the Connecticut Soccer Coaches Association, the most enjoyable part of coaching is his time spent with the players, “I'm really grateful for the guys we've had the last few years because every day I look forward to training them. It's also a lot of fun to see them reach their college aspirations and I’m looking forward to following along as they have success at the collegiate level.”

Our varsity cross country team continued their upward trend, building on success from the past few years. In their opening meet, the team placed first over Trinity-Pawling and Salisbury. They followed that up with another first place in the Gordy Glover Invitational, this time triumphing over Suffield Academy, Pomfret, and Canterbury.

First-time runners and returning athletes continued to improve throughout the season. In their meet against rival Westminster, the team not only placed first, but the first seven runners to cross the finish line were all Avonians.
 

The team finished top three in the Founders League and had an impressive performance at the NEPSAC championship. Senior Donovan Crowley, who was a standout performer last year, finished in the top 10 of that race with a personal best time of 16:22. He would go on to race in the Footlocker Northeast Regional championship where he placed 42nd out of more than 150 runners and was the eighth fastest from Connecticut.

Head Coach Will Lea says the best part about the season is seeing each runner improve. “The team motto is ‘everybody grows together.’ Cross country is unique that way. You can really see as an athlete how you improve. Seeing their times go down, seeing their fitness increase, and seeing them feel good about themselves improving, it’s great.”

The varsity football team began their season with devastating news; senior captain and Stanford University commit Benedict Umeh had been diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma in July and spent much of the summer undergoing treatment. The team decided to dedicate their upcoming season to him.

The team would do their brother proud, winning their opening game 35-0, and starting the season 6-0. In their final game of the season against Salisbury, Umeh surprised his teammates by joining the captains for the coin toss, and was able to cheer his teammates on from the sidelines, cancer-free.
 

The team would go on to win that game, qualifying them for the Drew Gamere Bowl game away at Cheshire Academy. Although the boys lost in heartbreaking fashion, it was still a season full of positives, and many students received recognition for their play. Connor Cronin ’24 was chosen as the Founders League Defensive Player of the Year, and quarterback Ryan Puglisi ’24 was named Founders League Offensive Player of the Year.

Several Avonians achieved notable status as well:

• First Team All-NEPSAC: Jack Hines ’24, Ryan Puglisi ’24, Connor Cronin ’24
• Second Team All-NEPSAC: Zach Gluckman ’24, Owen Moreland ’25, KeShawn Adams ’24
• First-Team All-Founders League, Offense: Ryan Puglisi ’24, Kharon “Buck” Craig ’26, Connor Cronin 24’, Brandon Hutchison ’24, Kristian Strong ’24, Jack Hines ’24, and Zach Gluckman ’24.
• Second-Team All-Founders League, Offense: Rafferty McSweeny ’25, Owen Aliciene ’25, Wyatt Scarritt ’25.
• First-Team All-Founders League, Defense: Duncan McPherson ’25, Owen Moreland ’25, KeShawn Adams ’24, and Rayshon Andrews ’25.
• Second-Team All-Founders League, Defense: Florian Lietz ’24, Derrick Brown ’24, Bennett Della Valle ’24, Carson Klein ’24.

Most of our fall athletes jumped right into their winter sport commitment, with the rest ready to cheer on their brothers to another successful season.
 

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