Eleven Avon High athletes earn All-State honors this spring

Eleven Avon High athletes earned All-State honors this spring.

Eleven Avon High athletes earned All-State honors for their play this spring.

Jackie Pengel and Amanda Hasler were recognized in softball, girls tennis player Reb Barton earned All-State honors, Liam Hovorka, Ali Rivzi and Amaan Baweja earned All-State honors in boys tennis while Carver Morgan, Paul Netland, Jevonte Eaves, Adarsh Rajamanickam and Isaiah Adams earned All-State honors in boys track and field.

Pengel and Hasler helped Avon softball put together one of their best seasons in team history. The Falcons went 19-6 and advanced to the Class L semifinals for the first time since 1978.

Hasler, who will attend North Carolina State next fall, was the catcher and hit .676 with 15 home runs and 45 RBI. She scored 48 runs.

Pengel, who will attend Syracuse next season, led the state in strikeouts (322) over 141.1 innings. She was 17-5, had a .0.69 ERA, threw a no-hitter and eight one-hitters. She was also a threat at the plate, hitting .636 with 14 home runs, 39 RBI and 35 runs scored.

Pengel and Hasler each made GameTime CT’s All-State team – one team for the entire state instead of multiple teams for each division (Class LL, L, M and S).

Barton advanced to the quarterfinals of the CIAC girls tennis tournament in singles and helped the girls tennis team got 15-3 on the year and advance to the semifinals of the Class L tournament.

Liam Hovorka, Avon’s No. 1 singles player, and the Falcons top doubles team of Ali Rivzi and Amaan Baweja earned All-State honors. They helped the Falcons go 21-0, win the CCC West championship and capture a second straight Class M state title with a 6-1 win over Joel Barlow.

Morgan and Netland earned All-State honors for winning individual events at the Class MM championship meet while Morgan, Isaiah Adams, Adarsh Rajamanickam and Jevonte Eaves were named to the All-State team for winning the 4×400 relay.

Morgan won the 800 meters by 0.42 of a second with E.O. Smith’s Jack Mattingly taking second in 1:57.96. In the 1,600 meters, Morgan had a more comfortable margin of victory, winning with a time of 4:23.22. Hand’s Daniel Hilmer was second in 4:25.79.

Avon’s 4×400 relay didn’t match the time they ran a week earlier at the CCC West championship meet but it was good enough to win a state championship. The Falcons won the race with a time of 3:27.55 with Guilford (3:29.14) and Branford (3:29.83) finishing second and third, respectively.

Netland broke his own school record that he set at the CCC West championship meet with his winning time of 14.93 seconds at the Class MM meet in the 110 high hurdles.

BASEBALL
Coach:  Jon Yolles
Record: 7-13, 1-6 CCC West
All-CCC West: Emmett Borenstein
All-State: none
CCC Tournament:  No tournament
CIAC state tournament: Did not qualify

SOFTBALL
Coach:  Michael Mihalek
Record: 19-6, 4-3 CCC West (fourth)
All-CCC West:  Jackie Pengel, Amanda Hasler
All-State (CHSCA, GameTimeCT): Jackie Pengel, Amanda Hasler
CCC Tournament:  Lost in quarterfinals to Southington, 8-2
CIAC state tournament: Lost in Class L semifinals to Waterford, 8-0
Of note: Mihalek is a first-year coach. Pengel and Hasler were selected All-State by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association and GameTimeCT. Nineteen wins in a single season is a team record breaking the old mark of 16 set in 1976 and 1978

BOYS LACROSSE
Coach:  Adam Cost
Record: 11-8, 2-4 CCC Central (tied fourth)
All-CCC Central: Ryan St. Onge, Keegan Nyman
All-State: none
CCC Central Tournament:  Did not qualify
CIAC state tournament: Lost Class M quarterfinals to Notre Dame-West Haven, 10-5
Of note: Cost completed his third season behind the bench.

GIRLS LACROSSE
Coach:  Olivia Donahue
Record: 2-10, 0-7 CCC North
All-CCC North: Lily Woods
All-State: none
CCC Tournament:  no tournament
CIAC state tournament: Did not qualify
Of note: This was Donahue’s first-year as head coach of the Falcons.

BOYS TRACK and FIELD
Coach:  David Zlatin
Record: 3-4, 3-4 CCC West
All-CCC West:  Carver Morgan, Paul Netland, Isaiah Adams, Jevonte Eaves, Adarsh Rajamanickam
All-State: Carver Morgan, Paul Netland, Jevonte Eaves, Adarsh Rajamanickam, Isaiah Adams and Paul Netland-
CCC West championships:  Fourth of 8, 98 points
CIAC state tournament: Fifth at Class MM championships (54 points); 21^st at State Open (10 points)

GIRLS TRACK and FIELD
Coach:  Al Dadario
Record: 1-6, 1-6 CCC West
All-CCC West:  None
All-State: None
CCC championships:  7^th out of 8 (18 points)
CIAC state tournament: 17^th at Class MM championships (10 points)

BOYS TENNIS
Coach:  Vinnie Costello
Record: 21-0, 7-0 CCC West (champions)
All-CCC West: Liam Hovorka, Will Mathias, Ryan Hovorka, Vishant Kandipilli, Ali Rizvi
All-State: Liam Hovorka, Ali Rivzi, Amaan Baweja
CCC Tournament:  No tournament
CIAC state tournament: Defeated Joel Barlow, 6-1 to win Class M championship

GIRLS TENNIS
Coach:  Kim Moretti
Record: 15-3, 5-2 CCC West (third)
All-CCC West: Ren Barton, Lucy Belval
All-State: Ren Barton
CCC Tournament:  No tournament
CIAC state tournament: Lost in semifinals of Class L tournament to Guilford, 4-3

GIRLS GOLF
Coach:  Jenna Aylsworth
Record: 8-7, 6-5 CCC West
All-CCC: Riley Seaburg
All-State: none
CCC Tournament: Ninth at CCC championships (442)
CIAC state tournament: Tied ninth at CIAC Division II championships (434)

ULTIMATE (FRISBEE)
Coach:  Jim Murray
Record: 8-8
State tournament: Finished fifth at Division I state tournament

CREW
Coach:  John Kostal (boys) and Chip Saccoccio (girls)
CPSRA state tournament: Avon was eighth in Emerson Bowl (team competition among Varsity 8 shells); Avon was second in Perry Bowl (team competition among Varsity 4 shells).
Boys Varsity 4 shell, first; Girls Varsity 4 shell, 2nd