Thomas McGrath, a graduate of The Hopkins School in New Haven., was selected from a near-record 174 applicants for this year’s scholarship in the amount of $20,000 per year for four years each at Vanderbilt. 

 

McGrath was actively involved in his school’s newspaper, The Razor, serving as assistant entertainment editor and assistant sports editor. He served as Director of Content for the Crispus Attucks Clothing and Lifestyle Blog, writing and shaping content for the summer lifestyle blog targeting students at the country’s top colleges and prep schools. He has been a volunteer at the Connecticut Food Bank and also founded Captain’s Practice, LLC, a service that provided local families with an alternative to higher-priced private sports lessons and academic tutoring.

 

He was point guard for four years on his school’s basketball team and was named captain of the varsity squad as a senior. He also was second baseman on the baseball team, which recently won its league’s regular season and tournament titles.

 

            Named in honor of two legendary sports writing alumni of Vanderbilt,  alumni Grantland Rice and Fred Russell, two of the greatest sports writers of all time.  the scholarship has an extraordinary record of producing prominent and successful writers and television personalities, including Roy Blount, Jr., Bill Livingston, Skip Bayless, John (Joe Bob Briggs) Bloom, David Sheinin, Tyler Kepner, Lee Jenkins, and Daniel Wolken.

 

The Seymour High sports hall of fame committee will hold an induction ceremony on Nov. 2 at the Colonial Tavern.

The following will be inducted to the school’s hall of fame: Mark Allen (Class of 1970), Maria Conlon (2000),  Vic Cweklinsky (1962), Les Dahn (1957), Jen D’Amato (1996), Ed Esson (1981), coach Joe Gesek , coach Dan Heffernan, John “Chick” Henry (1954), Dennis Rozum (1970), Ed Shay (1968).

Tickets will be on sale at the Armands Service Center, Seymour Town Hall and Seymour High School, or from any of the committee members. Interested persons can leave a message at SHSSHOF@yahoo.com or by calling Paul Sponheimer at 203-734-0233 or Anthony LoPresti at 203-888-4461.

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which governs high school athletics, has announced changes in the high school swim and diving championship postseason, specifically with changes for the location and times for next season's high school diviing championships. The CIAC Class S and LL meets will be on Nov. 6 at Middletown High and Bulkeley High, respectively. The Class M and L meets will be Nov. 7 at Middletown and Bulkeley, respectively. For the meets at Middletown, warm-up will begin at 4 p.m. with competition starting at 5:30 p.m. At Bulkeley, warm-up begins at 3 p.m. with competition beginning at 4:30 p.m. There will now also be a coaches meeting 30 minutes before the start of the meet. The State Open diving championships will be November 15 at Middletown with warm-up beginning at 4 p.m. and competition at 5:30 p.m.

Haddam-Killingworth field hockey coach Patsy Kamercia

When Patsy Kamercia retired as physical education teacher after 41 years, there was speculation the founder of the storied field hockey program would retire as the Cougars' coach as well.
On Wednesday Kamercia put that speculation to rest.
"I'm coming back to coach field hockey at HK," Kamerica said. "I almost have to come back with one win shy of (career win) 400."
Last season, Kamercia finished her 36th season as head coach and led the Cougars (17-2-1) to their third CIAC Class S state championship with a 2-0 win over Stonington. The Cougars also won the Shoreline Conference regular-season title with an 8-1-1 record.
For her effort she was named Register All-Area Field Hockey Coach of the Year last season.
Kamercia has a 399-159-81 career record. She was also selected Area Coach of the Year in 2005, was inducted to the CHSCA Hall of Fame last November and in 2009 was a finalist for national coach of the year.
The 2012 championship was H-K’s second outright state title, and third including a shared title with Lewis Mills in 2005. H-K’s previous outright state title was in 1994. The Cougars finished the 2012 season on a 12-game winning streak.

From US Lacrosse:

US Lacrosse today announced the final group of high school boys’ lacrosse players to be named a US Lacrosse High School All-American, All-Academic honoree or Bob Scott Award winner. A total 327 players in this group were recognized for their efforts on and off the field.


The breakdown of players includes 206 All-Americans, 101 All-Academic honorees and 20 Bob Scott Award winners were selected from 33 areas within the US Lacrosse system.

US Lacrosse uses a calendar-based recognition process to accommodate for the different time frames of high school lacrosse seasons across the country.

A US Lacrosse All-American is a player who exhibits superior skills and techniques and possesses exceptional game sense and knowledge. A US Lacrosse All-American is one of the best players in the United States, while also embodying excellent sportsmanship.
Here are Connecticut's selections for All-America:

Brett Baker, A (Ridgefield HS, 2013)


Zack Bartolo, A (Brien McMahon HS-Norwalk, 2013)

Kevin Brown, A (Fairfield Prep, 2013)

Zach Cattaruzza, D (Guilford HS, 2013)

Conn Curry, D (Joel Barlow HS-Redding, 2013)

Cal Dearth, M (Ridgefield HS, 2013)

Tim Edmonds, A (Fairfield Prep, 2013)

Andrew Hatton, D (Fairfield Prep, 2013)

Mitch Kezer, D (Stonington HS, 2013)

Grant Limone, G (Weston HS, 2014)

Josh Miller, G (Brien McMahon HS-Norwalk, 2014)

Ted Ottens, M (Wilton HS, 2013)

Eric Persky, D (New Canaan HS, 2013)

Puck Richardson, A (New Canaan HS, 2013)

Graham Savio, M (Greenwich HS, 2013)

David White, M (Fairfield Prep, 2013)

Joey Zelkowitz, M (Staples HS-Westport, 2013)

Here are Connecticut's selections for Academic All-America honors: A US Lacrosse All-Academic honoree is a player who exhibits exemplary lacrosse skills, good sportsmanship on the field, and represents high standards of academic achievement in the classroom. This player also should have left his mark beyond the lacrosse field and the classroom by making significant contributions of service to the school and/or community.

Alexander Borkowski, D (Branford, 2013)


Bryan Davis, M (Southington HS , 2013)

Thomas Dupont, A (Cheshire, 2013)

Timothy Gephart, M (New Fairfield, 2013)

Sam Gravitte, D (Ridgefield, 2013)

Matthew Macoy, M (Ludlowe , 2013)

Michael Semancik, G (Fitch, 2013)

Zach Psaras, D (St. Jospeh HS , 2013)

Connecticut's Bob Scott Award winner:   A US Lacrosse Bob Scott Award winner is a senior player recognized by each area chairman who truly honors lacrosse, is invested in the development of the game in his community, is an exceptional player who continually strives to improve his game, and is an exemplary member of his team. He exemplifies the spirit of the game, on and off the field.

David White, M (Fairfield Prep, 2013)

With the new design almost a month old in the New Haven Register, the way the All-Area and All-State teams will be presented has changed as well.

All teams still should be presented in color, and the numbers of players on each team won't change too much, but the look has. We hope you like it.

Debuting Wednesday is the All-Area softball team. The MVP story and bios of all the team members, as well as slideshows, can still be found at www.nhregister.com.