The FCIAC awards Exemplary Scholar-Athlete honors to athletes from its 16 member schools every season. Each week, the league will be announcing several of those award winners with bios and photos on FCIAC.net.
Here are the fourth weekly honorees for the Spring, 2024-25 season from New Canaan, Ridgefield, Staples and Wilton.
Lauren Smith – New Canaan
This senior captain with a 3.9 GPA has been a thrower and pole vaulter for New Canaan High School’s girls track and field program for four years.
Lauren finished in sixth place at New Balance Nationals in the javelin with her throw of 133 feet, one inch last year, earning her the title of All-American. She is also an All-FCIAC and All-State athlete, having won FCIAC and state championship titles in the shot put and javelin over the past few years.
Active in her school community, Lauren is the Secretary of the Red Cross Club where she has earned over 100 hours of community service, president of the Irish Cultural Club, co-president of the Buddies Club, a Peer Mentor and a member of the National Honor Society.
Lauren is also heavily involved in Youth Navigate which aims to research and reduce child suicide by creating ways to better children’s access to mental health resources across the country. She plans to continue this research as an intern at the Yale Child Study Center this summer.
Lauren will be attending Cornell University this fall.
Robert Frangione – New Canaan
This senior has been an Honor and High Honor student in mostly Honors and AP classes.
Rob has been a member of the boys’ indoor and outdoor track and field teams for all four years, being a captain for both teams during his senior year.
He has been selected to the All-FCIAC Boys Track and Field Second Team twice in the pole vault, has placed in the top three in the Class L State Championships multiple times and has qualified for the CIAC State Open twice.
Rob also set the New Canaan High School indoor pole vault record at 12 feet, seven inches at a state championship meet when he placed third at the 2025 CIAC Class L Boys Indoor Track and Field Championships.
He is very versatile in the field events during the spring outdoor season as he is a consistent scorer in the triple jump, long jump, and javelin and he had helped lead New Canaan’s Rams to an undefeated season in dual meets heading into the homestretch of the regular season.
Rob is heavily involved in his school’s TV Broadcasting club and is the recipient of two first place Access Awards for the News Category.
He will be studying Sports Media at Indiana University.
Owen Dulecki – Ridgefield
Owen achieved a 3.9 unweighted GPA and has consistently been a High Honor Roll student while taking mostly AP and honors classes.
She has been accepted into the National Honor Society.
Owen has been a member of the girls’ varsity tennis team since her freshman year, and she has served as co-captain for the Tigers in both her junior and senior seasons.
Last spring Owen and her doubles partner Ava Treat teamed up to have a very successful season and were consequently selected to the 2024 All-FCIAC Girls Tennis Second Team Doubles.
Outside of athletics, she is the president of the RHS Interact Club, and vice president of the Molly Ann Tango Memorial Foundation.
Owen is also a nationally certified EMT, and she works at Sammy and Nat on the weekends.
This fall she will be attending Syracuse University as a Biology major, on a pre-med track.
Peter Karloutsos – Ridgefield
Peter has achieved a 4.1 weighted GPA and maintained High Honors while taking AP and honors level courses.
He has played on the varsity baseball team for the past three years and was named captain in both his junior and senior seasons. Peter received All-FCIAC Honorable Mention recognition in his sophomore and junior seasons.
Peter is also very involved in the RHS choir, where he has performed at many prestigious places such as Carnegie Hall.
Peter has accepted an appointment to the United States Coast Guard Academy, where he will continue his academic journey and compete as a member of the baseball team.
Sadie Vincini – Staples
This four-year varsity softball player and a two-year team captain has maintained a 4.0 GPA and consistently earned First Honors.
Sadie has been honored with the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for the past two years and she is receiving the Scholar-Athlete Award this year.
She’s been an active volunteer for the past four years with Builders Beyond Borders, a non-profit organization dedicated to service near and far. As a student advisor for one year and a member of the advisory board for three, Sadie has traveled to Guatemala, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica to support community development and help improve quality of life.
Locally, Sadie volunteers weekly at the Westport Book Shop, a non-profit that provides employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
Additionally, she has earned the Seal of Biliteracy.
Sadie will be attending the University of Connecticut this fall as an Allied Health Sciences major on the pre-dental track.
Noah Saed – Staples
Noah’s current course load is mostly AP and honors classes, he has been a First Honors student each year of high school and has achieved a 4.10 GPA.
He is also a member of the National Honor Society and Rho Kappa (Social Studies Honor Society).
Noah has been a varsity member of the Staples baseball team for three years and last spring he made All-FCIAC Honorable Mention after his strong junior season.
Off the field, Noah is a member of SLOBs (Service League of Boys) where he does community service around Westport, and he also volunteers for Challenger Baseball which allows people with physical/mental disabilities to play baseball.
Noah will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison this coming fall.
Courtney Allen – Wilton
Courtney Allen has achieved a 4.0 unweighted GPA while taking all Honors and AP courses.
During her time at Wilton High School, she has been a four-year member of the girls’ tennis team and is a senior captain this year.
In school, she is co-president of Debate, Key Club, and Model UN as well as a member of National Honor Society, French Honor Society, and Link Crew.
Outside of school Courtney enjoys mentoring young girls with the Ms. President organization and assisting adults with disabilities at the Westport Book Shop. Courtney will be attending Dartmouth College in the fall.
Jack Schwartz – Wilton
This senior with the 3.9 unweighted GPA is a leader who has excelled in the classroom and on the playing fields.
Jack is a two-sport varsity captain – football and lacrosse.
Last spring Jack was selected to the All-FCIAC Boys Lacrosse Tier One First Team for the second consecutive year, and he also made the All-State Second Team after his successful sophomore and junior seasons.
Jack was having such a good football season for most of this past fall season that he was eventually selected to the 2024-25 All-FCIAC Football First Team. Unfortunately for Jack, he had a terrible season-ending injury which caused him to miss the last couple games of the football season and then be sidelined for all his senior season in lacrosse.
But this gritty and resilient youngster is recovering and moving forward with a bright future, and he has committed to play Division I college lacrosse at Loyola-Maryland next year.