FOUR MEMBERS OF THE NRHS girls varsity basketball team have been chosen Cape Ann League All Stars. From left: sophomore Kat Hassapis, senior captain Adrianna Flanagan, senior captain Frankie Elliott (also voted All League), and junior Jess Lezon. (John Friberg Photo)
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — The coaches, friends and families of 302 Hornet athletes were recognized for their contributions to a very successful winter sports season at NRHS during Winter Sports Awards Night March 10.
This event is sponsored by the high school’s Athletic Department and honors all Hornet athletes at the freshman, junior varsity and varsity levels.
In addition to awarding varsity letters and junior varsity and freshman certificates to the athletes, the coaches presented special awards to those athletes earning recognition as the MVP, Unsung Hero or Unsung Heroine and Coach’s Award recipients of each varsity team. Also, JV and freshman awards were presented in the Most Improved and Coach’s Award categories. There was one exception. Special team awards to boys’ hockey players were not announced because team’s banquet had not taken place prior to Awards Night.
Special awards
The 2014–15 winter varsity team MVP awards were presented to the following athletes: basketball – Justin Dorosh, Carly Swartz and Francesca Elliott; swimming Andrew Shedd and Nicole Shedd; indoor track – Alex Brown and Cole Godzinski; and cheering – Lucy March. It marked the third consecutive MVP award for Godzinski while last year Elliott was her team’s Unsung Heroine and Swartz had earned the Coach’s Award.
The varsity Unsung Hero/Unsung Heroine awards were presented to the following players: basketball – Anthony Eldridge and Tristan Hoffman; indoor track: – John Lewis and Kerri-Ann Donovan; cheering – Isabella Mejia. It was the second consecutive Unsung Heroine award for Donovan and she earned the Coach’s Award as a sophomore.
Varsity coaches presented their respective coach’s awards to the following players: boys’ basketball – Gerard Walsh (Dan Callahan Award); girls’ basketball – Adrianna Flanagan; swimming – Alice Shaw; indoor track – Daniel Coveney and Victoria Brown; cheering – Katie Heffernan. It was the second consecutive Coach’s Award for Flanagan.
The Most Improved Player awards were presented to the following athletes: basketball – Cameron Davis, Victoria Grasso and Rachel Foster; girls’ indoor track – Jacqueline Lanzaro; JV boys’ indoor track – Jack Meaney.
The JV Coach’s Awards were presented to the following players: basketball – Michael McCauley, Sophia Paone and Megan Landers; girls’ indoor track – Johanna Walsh; boys’ indoor track – Aidan McDonald.
THE BOYS 2015 VARSITY basketball team had four seniors: Shane Bartlett, Derek Hogan, Tom Lewis and Peter Walsh. (Deanna Castro Photo)
The freshman boys’ basketball team presented its Most Improved Player award to Jack Fitzgerald and its Coach’s Award to Jared Gonzales.
CAL and state tournament recognition
The Cape Ann League (CAL) also recognized Hornets with numerous awards and several teams advanced to the state tournament.
Hockey: The boys’ ice hockey competed in the North sectional semifinals in the state tournament. Four players were named to the CAL All-League First team: Jared Potter, Corey Collins, Nicholas Ponte and Patrick Driscoll. Three players earned CAL All-Star recognition: Nicholas Day, Sean McGreal and Michael Driscoll. CAL Honorable Mentions went to Tyler Calos, Jared Valade and John Merullo.
Wrestling: The Lynnfield-North Reading co-op wrestling team won the 2015 Div. 3 North Sectional title. North Reading wrestler Joseph Morse also qualified for the All-State tournament for the second year in a row. The team also had two CAL All-League picks from North Reading: Joseph Morse and Vitaliy Andrusyshyn.
Girls’ basketball: The girls’ basketball team advanced to the first round of the MIAA Div. 3 North state tournament. Senior Francesca Elliott earned CAL All-League First team recognition while three players, Jessica Lezon, Katerina Hassapis and Adrianna Flanagan, were named to the CAL All-Star team.
Boys’ basketball: Captain Justin Dorosh, a junior, was named to the CAL All-League First team for the boys’ basketball team.
Indoor track: The Cape Ann League selects its All-League and All-Star indoor track honors based on the results of the girls’ and boys’ CAL Open championship meet. The champion in each event at that meet is named to the CAL First Team All-Star team (formerly CAL All-League champion)
For the 2014-15 Lady Hornets, Cole Godzinski earned this title in the 55-meter hurdles while the 4x200m relay team of Kerri-Ann Donovan, Anna Tayas, Payton Conway-Baker and Jenna Raffael also earned the title for winning this event.
Godzinski was also named the CAL Athlete of the Year in the Kinney Division among the league’s large schools. An all-around track athlete who particularly excels in the 55M hurdles, Godzinski improved upon her school record in the event again this year at 8.58 seconds. Her former record of 8.72 seconds, set in 2014, broke the 1992 record of 8.78 held by Theresa Henchey. In addition to the league championship and school record in the event, she finished her career as the Division 5 state champion, took sixth overall at All-States and 11th (8.87) at the New England Championships in her final indoor race at the high school level. Last year she finished 14th at New Englands.
The boys’ indoor track team won the CAL Sportsmanship Award for the Kinney large school division.
The CAL All-Star award is presented to track athletes placing second through sixth at the CAL Open and thus contributing to the team score. Seven boys earned CAL All-Star status in three individual events and one track relay: Nick Copelas (300M), Dan Coveney (600M), Brendan Carter (2-mile) and the 4x400M relay team of Alex Brown, Ben Hui, George Giunta and Ryan McAneny.
Swimming: The co-ed swim team had participants qualify for both the state sectional and All-State meets. Three swimmers were named to the CAL All-Star team: Kimberly Bockley, Andrew Shedd and Nicole Shedd. It marked Nicole Shedd’s second consecutive All-Star award.
Gymnastics: The Danvers-North Reading co-op gymnastics team finished second overall out of 13 teams at the 2015 MIAA North Sectional tournament with 141.355 points. Andover (142.325) gained the slight edge to win the sectional title. The team improved its standing at the tournament significantly over last year when they finished 10th.
The sectional score earned the team a fifth seed in the State Tournament a week later. The team finished eighth overall at states with 136.975 points.
Julia Valenti finished 14th in the state All-Around competition with 34.350 points. Rachel Hill took 22nd (26.425) and Alyson Kelleher was 32nd (25.125) in the field of 78 gymnasts. At states, Hill tied for 10th overall on the beam (9.100), Kelleher was 26th (8.450) and Valenti tied for 40th (7.850). Valenti (9.000) tied for 14th on vault while Hill took 21st (8.775). In floor exercise, Valenti tied for 15th (8.750), Hill was 19th (8.550) and Kelleher tied for 33rd (7.900). Kelleher (8.775) and Valenti (8.750) finished 16th and 17th on the uneven parallel bars.
The following athletes were awarded their varsity letters by their coaches, which were presented at Sports Awards Night:
Hockey
Varsity letters: Capt. Jared Potter Capt. Corey Collins, Nicholas Ponte, Michael Driscoll, Patrick Driscoll, Tyler Calos, Jared Valade, Sean McGreal, Nicholas Day, John Day, John Merullo, Justin Bruzzese, Zachary Herman, Joshua Rameriz, Matthew Correiri, James Doran, Jason Tannian, Griffin Paine, Tyler Collins, Nicco Pastore, Christopher Onanian, Brian Cotter, Kevin Murphy, Jackson Schille, Justin DiPlatzi, Sean Buckley and Ray Baumgarten.
Co-op wrestling with Lynnfield
Varsity letters: Capt. Joseph Morse, Austin Bradley, Jacob Mullin-Bernstein, Jared Curran, Michael Reardon, Vitaliy Andrusyshyn, Aaron Gautreau, William Glover, Christopher Reardon, John Reardon, Adam Rossetti, Connor Stead and Andrew DiPietro.
Girls’ basketball
Varsity letters: Capt. Francesca Elliott, Capt. Adrianna Flanagan, Capt. Carly Swartz, Tristan Hoffman, Julia McDonald, Kristen Bradley, Katherine Welch, Carli Eldridge, Gabrielle Lanzaro, Katerina Hassapis, Lindsey Carroll, Jessica Lezon, manager certificate: Elizabeth Carlson.
Boys’ basketball
Varsity letters: Capt. Shane Bartlett, Capt. Justin Dorosh, Capt. Nicolas O’Connell, Gerard Walsh, Derek Hogan, Thomas Lewis, Sean Castro, Nathan Dionne, William Brandano, Patrick Riley, Adam Goldstein, Anthony Eldridge, manager letter: Cullen Mastascusa, manager certificate: Michael Fialli.
Girls’ indoor track
Varsity letters: Capt. Victoria Brown, Capt. Kerri-Ann Donovan, Capt. Cole Godzinski, Capt. Karah Gravallese, Payton Conway-Baker, Monica Ferrazzani, Jessica Finnegan, Jacqueline Lanzaro, Sophie Warren, Alexa Capozzoli, Olivia DeMonico, Elizabeth Flett, Jenna Raffael, Anna Tayas, Kristina Copelas, Haley Nathan, Marissa Zarella, Tara Driver, Olivia Esposito, Meredith Griffin, Lauren Gulbicki, Jerlin Kaithamattam, Jillian McCullough and Julia Tatone.
Boys’ indoor track
Varsity letters: Capt. Daniel Coveney, Capt. Jacob Intorcio, Capt. Gregory Landry, Capt. Jake O’Connell, Alex Brown, Brandon Hong, John Lewis, Adam Sapp, Peter Audier, Brendan Carter, Nick Copelas, Angelo DiSanto, Jackson Hastings, Benjamin Hui, Ryan McAneny, David Smith, Noah Spicer, George Giunta and Kyle Bythrow.
Co-ed swimming
Varsity letters: Capt. Nathaniel Furst, Capt. Nicole Gallant, Capt. Tyler Stansbury (hardest worker), Julia Miele, Julien Beauregard (hardest worker), Noah Belinowitz (hardest worker), Kimberly Bockley, Patrick Davis, Aidan O’Connor (milestone winner), Caleb Pelmas, Andrew Ressler, Andrew Shedd (inspirational swimmer), Nicole Shedd, Carly Sponzo, Scott Valenti, Natalia Vasquez, Owen DeCleene (Rookie of the Year, milestone winner) and Anna Jones.
Cheering
Varsity letters: Lucy March, Allyssa McDonough, Olivia Senneville, Devyn Dyer, Katie Heffernan, Victoria Angelesco, Yllara Maia, Sarah Wilson, Alexandra Colella, Alyssa Costantino, Julia Costantino, Veronika Fortin, Felicia Frammartino, Isabella Giacalone, Kasey Kavanaugh, Juliana MacAdams, Isabella Mejia, Samantha Sturdevant; manager certificates: Mikayla DiPlatzi, Mackenzie Sturdevant.
Co-op gymnastics with Danvers
Varsity letters: Alyson Kelleher, Julia Valenti, Erika Beherrell, Ariana Romeo, Alexa Galuppo and Rachel Hill.
Co-op girls’ hockey with Peabody & Lynnfield
Varsity letters: Laura Miele, Isabella Piscatelli and Cassandra Mirasolo.
