Lauren Wasikowski, St. Joseph
This four-year starter and senior captain of the softball team is a National Honor Society member with a 4.0 GPA who is a President’s Honor Roll student taking mostly Honors and AP classes.
Lauren was selected to the 2021 All-FCIAC Softball First Team, All-State Class L First Team, GameTimeCT All-State Softball First Team, and the CHSCA Junior Select All-Star Team. Her several more honors included being named NFCA National Player of the Week, Athlete of the Week-UConn Health Institute, and she was nominated for the state’s softball Gatorade Player of the Year.
Lauren also received the LeMoyne College Heights Award.
She is a volunteer at ASD Fitness in Orange and gives back to her sport by volunteering at youth camps throughout the year run by her high school and travel team softball programs.
Ansh Suryawanshi, Ridgefield
After serving as Class President for three years, Ansh is now his school’s Student Body President. He is also a member of the National Honor Society and a High Honor Roll student, holding a weighted GPA of 4.5.
Ansh has played both volleyball and basketball at Ridgefield. He is the team captain in his fourth year as a varsity player for the boys volleyball team. Last year, as a junior, Ansh earned the “Most Improved Player” award in volleyball.
He is an appointed member of the Ridgefield Youth Commission, the vice president of the Full Court Peace Club, and is a No Place for Hate ambassador.
Ansh plans on studying neuroscience at the University of Michigan.
Sydney Katz, Ridgefield
Sydney has been a member of the Ridgefield volleyball team all four years and was a varsity starter from sophomore to senior year. She was named 3rd Team All-FCIAC her senior year this past fall.
Sydney also is a varsity track runner and an FCIAC and State qualifier in the 100-meter hurdles. She also participated in varsity basketball her freshman and sophomore year, and was a part of the FCIAC Championship team in 2020.
Sydney is a member of the National Honor Society, was on High Honor Roll all four years, and was awarded a Junior Book Award from JMU. She volunteers at the Ridgefield Thrift Store.
Sydney will be attending Lasell University to play volleyball and will be majoring in Psychology.
Jackson Ciccone, Danbury
This National Honor Society member has accumulated a weighted 4.3 GPA throughout his four years, and he has been a tutor to fellow students at Danbury High School.
Jackson has played four varsity sports – baseball, basketball, golf, and football – and he is serving as the baseball team captain for the second year.
Last spring Jackson was selected to the 2021 FCIAC All-West Baseball Team and the Connecticut High School Coaches Association All-State Class LL Baseball Team.
Jackson has committed to play baseball at the University of Hartford next year.
Sean Ferris, Trumbull
Sean has obtained a 4.471 cumulative GPA while taking a mixture of AP and Honor classes throughout his four years of high school.
It took him not making the golf and basketball teams for him to become a four-year member of the boys volleyball team.
Sean has volunteered and helped his mother out with the after-school snack program at Trumbull High School, and at the Celebration of the Arts at his elementary school, Daniels Farm.
Paola Pereira, Bridgeport Central
This co-captain of the tennis team has made Honor Roll throughout high school and achieved a 3.9 GPA while taking AP and ECE classes as well as Honors and magnet classes.
Paola volunteered at the Fairfield Museum summer camp and at the immigrants and refugees summer camp for kids and teenagers.
Paola will attend Southern Connecticut State University as a nursing major with a direct acceptance to the nursing program.
Vandan Patel, Norwalk
Vandan, who has maintained a 4.54 cumulative GPA while taking so many AP and honors classes throughout high school, has been selected as a finalist to speak at graduation.
This three-season runner for all four years has competed in many FCIAC and state championship meets for the cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field programs and has been named a senior captain for all three teams. Vandan received the Coach’s Award at the end of his final season of cross country.
Vandan is a member of Keep Norwalk Beautiful (KNB), and a co-president of the buildOn club which volunteers around Norwalk.
Joseph Adzima, St. Joseph
Joseph has been accepted into the National Honor Society with a GPA of 3.9 which he achieved while taking a plethora of honors and AP classes.
He has been a football and baseball player all four years for the Cadets, having won a state championship in football and attained the title of team captain in baseball. He plans on continuing his baseball career at Saint John’s University.
Joseph volunteers within the community through his service projects during his time as a Boy Scout.
Briana Gilliard, Danbury
Briana, who has a 3.51 GPA, has been a key contributor as a long sprinter for Danbury’s successful girls track and field program. She has been a team member all four years of high school and a team captain during her junior and senior years.
Briana has been an Honor Roll student while taking an AP class and all Honors classes during her junior and senior years.
She achieved a scholar award during her junior year, and a sportsmanship award as a freshman.
Briana volunteers her time and gives back to the youth in her community as a junior coach for the local Danbury Youth Track and Field Club.
She will attend Southern Connecticut State University.
Rachael Boone, Norwalk
This National Honor Society member has achieved a cumulative GPA of 4.37 as of her junior year, and she is president of both the French Honor Society and French Club.
Rachael is a four-year member of the girls lacrosse team and she was also a distance runner for the girls indoor track and field team this past winter.
She volunteers with the peer tutoring organization at Norwalk High.
Rachael will attend Fordham University this fall.
Molly Liles, Staples
Molly, who has achieved a 3.95 GPA while taking nine AP classes, has been a runner for the cross country, indoor and outdoor track teams all four years and she’s a captain of the indoor and outdoor track teams.
She was selected to the 2021 All-FCIAC Girls Outdoor Track and Field First Team last spring and this past winter she was again so honored by making the 2021-22 All-FCIAC Girls Indoor Track and Field First Team. Molly competed at the indoor track Nationals and was awarded MVP for the indoor season.
Molly is a member of the National Chinese Honor Society, National Science Honor Society, National English Honor Society, and Roe Kappa (Social Studies Honor Society).
She volunteers through the National Charity League, her Girl Scout Troop, and the local library, where she teaches computer science to middle schoolers.
Molly will attend Wake Forest University this coming fall.
Michael Colbert, Wilton
Michael has achieved an unweighted 3.95 GPA while taking most AP and Honors courses.
Last year he was accepted into the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society, and he was also awarded the Connecticut Seal of Spanish Bileteracy.
Michael is involved in Peervention, Buon Amico, LETS, and many other high school activities.
Michael works as a paraprofessional during the summer, helping children with disabilities at summer camp.
He has been on the boys track and field team since his freshman year and was elected captain during his sophomore year.
Michael will attend Villanova University in the fall, studying Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience.
Justin Zych, Greenwich
Justin, who has a cumulative 4.86 weighted GPA (4.05 unweighted), is a team captain and starting third baseman for the baseball team.
He was selected to the 2021 FCIAC All-West Baseball Team after having a very good year last spring when he was a key contributor who helped the Cardinals advance to the FCIAC championship game and then the semifinals of the Class LL state tournament.
Justin is a member of the National Honor Society, Student Policy Initiative Club, and Student Government at Greenwich High School. He was the recipient of a National Merit Commended Student Award this year.
Justin, who also was a member of the freshman and junior varsity boys basketball teams at GHS, has been a volunteer and counselor for many local youth baseball programs and camps.
He will attend the University of Notre Dame.
Steven Ditelberg, Fairfield Ludlowe
Steven is a high school national champion pole vaulter.
This four-year member and three-time captain of Ludlowe’s boys indoor track and field team achieved that when he won the pole vault at the 2022 Nike Indoor Nationals and improved his own indoor school record with his winning vault of 14 feet, 11¼ inches.
Steven is a National Merit Commended Scholar who earned All-State First Team and Academic All-State honors for the 2021-22 indoor track season. He is a two-time FCIAC champion and All-FCIAC First Team selection who also was the state Class LL and State Open pole vault champion this past winter.
Steven enjoys teaching pole vault to new and less experienced vaulters and watching their improvement.
He will attend Emory University in the fall and plans to study business administration while competing on the track and field team.
Ceci Stein, Darien
Ceci has a 4.1 GPA with mainly honors and AP classes. In 2021, she received the William & Mary Book Award for outstanding leadership and academics.
She was a three-sport varsity athlete as a freshman – playing ice hockey and lacrosse all four years and soccer for two.
She was a captain of the ice hockey team her senior season and is currently a captain of the lacrosse team.
Last year as a junior, Ceci was All-FCIAC First Team in both ice hockey and lacrosse, and All-State First Team and All-American in lacrosse.
As a senior, she was All-State First Team in ice hockey and selected to the 2022 GameTimeCT All-State Girls Ice Hockey Team. Ceci was named to the USA U18 Select lacrosse roster in 2021.
Ceci is a member of the Math Modeling Club. She has volunteered as a member of the Community Fund Youth Asset Team, and as a mentor at Harlem Lacrosse and Level the Field Youth Advisory Board.
Ceci will attend The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where she will also play lacrosse.
Leonora Lipson, Stamford
Leonora, who has maintained a 4.0 unweighted GPA and a 4.965 weighted GPA, is a member of the National Honor Society and Science National Honor Society.
Leonora has played varsity basketball and tennis for four years, and she is captain of the tennis team. She helped Stamford advance to the championship game of the 2021-22 FCIAC Girls Basketball Tournament.
Leonora is also a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student, Stamford High Junior Book Award recipient, and Mickey Lione Jr. Award for Youth Excellence Finalist.
Leonora is a Student Council member, volunteers as a tutor for Building One Community, and a member of the Leadership Academy, Environmental Action Committee, Students Demand Action, and debate team at Stamford High.
She has committed to attend Case Western Reserve University in the fall.
Amelia Hughes, Wilton
Amelia has a 3.97 unweighted GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society taking AP and Honors classes. She achieved a National Merit Scholar Commendation.
Her senior year she was captain of both the lacrosse and soccer teams. In lacrosse she was named All-American as a junior. A four-year member of the soccer team, Amelia helped lead the Warriors to the championship game of the 2021 FCIAC Girls Soccer Tournament and then they went on to become co-champions of the CIAC Class LL Girls Soccer Tournament after they and Staples played to a scoreless tie in the championship game.
She is president of Top Inclusion Models, vice president of American Cancer Society, a member of Safe Rides, a member of the Class Act Committee, and a youth lacrosse volunteer coach.
Amelia plans on playing lacrosse at Princeton University next year.
Avery Mui, Stamford
Avery, who has achieved a 3.94 unweighted GPA and a 4.82 weighted GPA, has been accepted to the National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, and Science National Honor Society.
He was a member of the boys cross country team for four years, and was named captain his senior year. He has also played varsity baseball as a junior and senior.
Avery was a finalist for the Mickey Lione Scholarship. He has volunteered with the Little League Challenger Division and is a member of the Cancer Awareness Club and Interact Club.
Avery will be attending the University of California San Diego this fall.
Lindsay Bull, Trumbull
This senior three-sport athlete with a GPA of 4.7 has been a member of the girls soccer and girls lacrosse teams all four years and a member of the indoor track and field team for three years.
Lindsay is currently one of the team captains for the girls lacrosse team.
She is a Peer Mediator and involved with several National Honor Societies at Trumbull High School, being recognized for success in Science, English, Social Studies, and Spanish.
Andrew Devens, Darien
Andrew has taken many AP and Honors courses and achieved a weighted GPA 4.29. He was accepted to the National Honor Society last year.
Andrew, who has been a runner for the varsity cross country and outdoor track and field teams the last few years, received the St. Michaels Book Award for Academic Achievement and Social Conscience last year.
He has worked with Darien EMS Post 53 as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician for the last four years, which has been at least 60 hours of volunteer work per month. Andrew was also appointed to the position of Officer at Post 53, which entails serving as a leader for the organization’s younger members.
Andrew will attend the University of Virginia and major in economics.
Karina McMahon, Fairfield Warde
Karina is a senior who has taken 10 AP classes throughout her high school career and achieved a 4.7 weighted GPA.
She is the Fairfield Warde senior class president, in addition to belonging to multiple honor societies, and is the recipient of the Presidential Service Award and the Harvard Book Award.
Karina has been a member of the varsity tennis team for three years. She received Warde’s Female Scholar Athlete Award.
She has volunteered for the National Charity League and written for a community magazine throughout high school.
Karina will attend the University of Notre Dame.
John Heitzman, Fairfield Warde
This senior team captain who has been on Warde’s varsity baseball team since his freshman year, has excelled in the classroom and on the baseball diamond.
John has earned Honor Roll throughout his four years at Warde and achieved a 4.0 GPA while taking mostly Honors and AP classes. He is a member of the National Honor Society and the Science National Honor Society and was selected as a Fairfield Warde representative for the CIAC’s Class Act Schools Initiative.
John helped lead Warde’s Mustangs to the FCIAC championship last spring. He had a .470 batting average and was selected to the 2021 All-FCIAC Baseball First Team, the CHSCA All-State First Team, the GameTimeCT All-State First Team, and the Junior Select Team for Connecticut.
He also had some success for the indoor track and field team, having set the school record of 43 feet, 3¾ inches in the shot put while earning All-FCIAC Second Team and he was the recipient of the 2022 Winter Sports Scholar Athlete Award.
John volunteers for youth baseball programs in Fairfield.
John has accepted a Division I scholarship to play baseball at Quinnipiac University, where he will enroll in the Honor Program studying Engineering.
Mikaela Browning, Greenwich
Mikaela has maintained an unweighted GPA of 3.9 while being a two-sport athlete all four years, having been a member of the swimming and diving team, and water polo team.
She is a member of the National Honor Society, as well as a member of the Spanish, English, Math, Science and Social Studies Honor Society chapters at Greenwich High School.
Mikaela was named a USA Water Polo Academic All-American and was awarded the Nick Johnson Inspiration Award through USA Water Polo.
She is a member of the Connecticut All-State Choir, and a Girl Scout Gold Award recipient.
Mikaela plans to play club water polo at Dartmouth next year.
Mika Peterson, Westhill
Mika, a Brown University ’26 commit, carries a 3.99 unweighted GPA and a 5.0 weighted GPA at the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering (AITE) magnet high school in Stamford.
He is a member of the National Honor Society and Science National Honor Society.
Mika was recently a Presidential Scholar nominee based on his perfect ACT score of 36. He received the Brown University Book Award which is presented to a junior who best combines academic excellence with clarity in written and verbal communication.
Mika is a senior co-captain who helped Westhill’s Vikings advance to the championship game of the 2021 CIAC Class LL Baseball Tournament. He was selected to the FCIAC All-West Baseball Team.
As a dual sport athlete, Mika played U20 junior hockey for the Connecticut Junior Rangers team in the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC) league. For the past two seasons he was the youngest player on the CJR team and a two-time All-Star. He was also a United States Hockey League draft pick in 2021.
Mika volunteers with the Learning to Look art program and coaches Little League players.
Eleanor Donohue, Westhill
This senior two-sport captain takes mainly Honors and AP classes and is an Honor Roll student with an unweighted GPA of 3.6 and a weighted GPA of 4.5
Eleanor has been a player for the field hockey and lacrosse teams for her whole high school career and was captain for both sports this year. She was selected to the 2021-22 FCIAC All-West Field Hockey Team.
She volunteers for the Stamford-based organization called Kids Helping Kids, an interact club, and has been the club’s co-president since her sophomore year.
Eleanor will attend Penn State in the fall.
Campbell Eckert, Fairfield Ludlowe
Campbell has been inducted into the National Honor Society and has achieved a 3.9 GPA, while taking mostly AP and Honors classes.
She is a senior captain for the girls lacrosse team who was selected to the 2021 All-FCIAC Girls Lacrosse Second Team and the All-State Second Team as a junior.
Campbell is the president of the Appalachia Service Project (ASP) club at Fairfield Ludlowe High School and will travel to Appalachia for her third year this upcoming summer. She is a member of Keystone Club at her local Wakeman Boys and Girls Club and Full Court Peace at the school.
Campbell has also participated in Catwalk for a Cure for two years.
She plans on attending University of Maryland, where she hopes to play club lacrosse.
Abigail DeCesare, Brien McMahon
Abigail was a High Honor Roll student throughout high school who achieved a cumulative GPA of 4.35 while taking Honors, AP, and IB classes.
This four-year starter and senior captain of both the field hockey and girls lacrosse teams displayed her leadership abilities by running team building activities in and out of season.
Abigail also gave back to her community as a volunteer for Norwalk youth sports programs.
She will attend Texas Christian University’s Honor College in the fall.
Kyle Harrington, Staples
Kyle, who had an unweighted GPA of 4.0 and a weighted GPA of 4.2, was a nine-time varsity athlete and a senior captain of the cross country and indoor track and field team.
He was an all-state runner who placed 25th overall with a time of 17:43 over the five-kilometer (3.1 miles) Wickham Park course to help the Wreckers finish in third place at the 2021 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class LL Boys Cross Country Championships.
Kyle is also an avid volunteer. He assisted in the development of a free tutoring business, Happy Homework Helpers, which offers cost-free tutoring from high-achieving high school students.
He was a member of the Math Honors Society and will be studying Finance and Investment Banking at the University of Wisconsin.