The FCIAC, as is seemingly the case every year, had much success during the spring season of regarding the accomplishments of its many participating teams in their respective state tournaments or state championship meets while concluding the 2018-19 school year for high school sports.
The conference had 12 teams win state championships in various classes.
Staples High School had four of its teams crowned state champions – the baseball team, boys tennis team, girls tennis team, and boys volleyball team.
Darien had its boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse and boys tennis teams capture state titles.
The St. Joseph baseball team and boys lacrosse team, Greenwich’s boys golf team, New Canaan’s girls golf team, and Danbury’s girls outdoor track and field team also won state championships.
Chad Knight fired a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts to lead fifth-seeded Staples to a 3-0 victory over third-seeded Southington in the championship game of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament. The Wreckers also won the Class LL championship two years ago.
St. Joseph’s baseball team dominated en route to capturing the Class M crown. The 11th-seeded Cadets outscored their five opponents by a 61-4 margin with three shutout victories. Their last four wins were over higher-seeded teams, culminating with a 6-3 victory over top-seeded Wolcott.
Staples and St. Joseph each went 5-0 in their respective tournaments as the FCIAC had a combined 16-12 record. The 13 conference teams in the Class LL tourney had a combined 11-12 record.
The conference softball teams had a combined 9-11 record.
Darien’s boys lacrosse team won a state championship for the fifth time in the last six years when it defeated Wilton, 13-3, in the Class L final. Last year Ridgefield nipped Darien, 9-8, in the Class L championship game. The Blue Wave won the Class M crown in 2014 and followed that with three consecutive Class L championships from 2015-17.
The FCIAC had a combined 16-10 record in the Class L Boys Lacrosse Tournament and the conference was 20-10 in all tournaments with St. Joseph’s 4-0 record in the Class S tourney added in. The eighth-seeded Cadets outscored their four foes by a 64-21 margin and won the title with a 9-3 victory over third-seeded Bacon Academy in the final.
The conference’s 12 girls lacrosse teams combined for an 18-11 record – highlighted by Darien going 4-0 in the Class L tournament and winning the title with a 12-6 victory over New Canaan. Eleven FCIAC girls lacrosse teams combined for a 15-10 record in the Class L tournament while St. Joseph went 3-1 in the Class M tournament and made it to the championship game, where the Cadets were beaten by East Lyme, 10-6.
New Canaan’s girls golf team won the state championship for the third straight year with a combined team score of 320 at Tashua Knolls Golf Course in Trumbull. Greenwich was runner-up with a 349. Greenwich’s Sydney Nethercott fired a 2-under-par 70 to become individual champion and New Canaan’s Meghan Mitchell was runner-up with a 76.
New Canaan’s Rams now have won the most state championships as this is their fifth one since they won the first girls state golf tournament in 2003. New Canaan and Berlin were tied with four state championships apiece going into this year’s tournament.
Greenwich won the CIAC Division I Boys Golf Tournament at Timberlin Golf Club in Berlin with a team score of 301. Darien placed second with a 311 and New Canaan was third with a 317.
Greenwich and Darien placed 1-2 for the second straight year. Jackson Fretty placed fourth with a 74 to lead the Cardinals to the crown. Darien’s Alexander Gu tied for second with a 73 and Gu would then win the State Open, a tournament for individuals only, when he shot a 74 at Black Hall Club in Old Lyme.
The Staples tennis team was crowned the Class LL champion for the fourth consecutive year. The Wreckers tallied 23 points and Greenwich placed second with 21. Staples and Greenwich were co-champions in 2016 and during these last three years Staples was the champion and Greenwich the runner-up.
Tighe Brunetti and Robert Daus of Staples teamed up to win the Class LL doubles championship with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Tyler Pomerance and Rohan Suryawanshi of Westhill. Trumbull’s Andrew Ilie won the LL singles championship with a 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 victory over Westhill’s Jordan Soifer.
Darien won the Class L Boys Tennis Tournament with 28 points, four more than runner-up New Canaan.
Darien’s Michael Karr defeated Wilton’s Nicholas Condos, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) in the singles final while Chris Calderwood and Roman DeCaprio teamed up to win the doubles championship to lead the Blue Wave to the team title.
The State Open in boys tennis is for individuals only, with no team scores calculated, and Ilie defeated Karr, 6-3, 6-3, in the singles final.
Staples defended its CIAC Class L Girls Tennis Tournament title with a 5-2 victory over Wilton. It was the third state Class L crown in the last four years for the Wreckers as they also won in 2016.
Second-seeded Alyssa DiMaio of Staples became State Open girls singles champion when she defeated top-seeded Alexis Kubas of Ellington, 6-3, 6-3.
Staples won the CIAC Class L Boys Volleyball Tournament championship with a thrilling 3-2 victory in the final over Darien by the scores of 25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 15-25, 17-15.
The Danbury girls outdoor track and field team won a pair of state championships – first copping the Class LL crown in convincing fashion and then winning the State Open.
Danbury’s fabulous speedy freshman, Alanna Smith, won the 100-meter dash in 12.47, the 200 in 24.98, and 400 in 55.56 in the Class LL meet to score 30 individual points. The Hatters racked up 154 points and Greenwich was runner-up with 60. Greenwich sophomore Mari Noble led the Cardinals with victories by comfortable margins in the 1,600 (4:59.25) and 3,200 (10:42.58).
The Hatters won the State Open with 58 points, 15 more than runner-up Windsor. Smith scored 22 of their points as she won the 400 and placed third in the 100 and 200.