Boys lacrosse 

Coach Paul Deon is looking forward to this season. He said that the team’s rising stars from last year are Jake Kozlowski, Tommy Quiles, John Zimmerman, Liam Pickett, and Anthony Stone. Coach Deon brought up that only one player as of right now has committed to a college, which is Jake Kozlowski who plans to go to Colgate. There are some changes from last year since Coach Deon is the new lacrosse coach this year and he has brought a new staff with him, which include August Stewart and Kyle Cardoza. The expectations this year are high.  He said “we have some young hungry players ready to step up and prove themselves. After a slow start last season and a strong finish we are ready to hit the ground running.” The Boys’ Lacrosse team had their first game of the season on April 2nd at home against Rham.

Girls’ lacrosse 

Girls’ Lacrosse makes its season debut on Tuesday April 5th with the team traveling to Woodstock Academy. The team is led by Coach Christine Dulin, with assisting coach Joe Mooney returning as well as the new addition of assistant coach Jeff Sturm. The team is composed of many returning stars after only losing two seniors from the previous season. The key returnees include: Captain Aidan Swansen (Sr), Captain Emily Gates (Sr), Captain Ilyanna Rivera (Sr), Annie Seltzer (Sr), Kylie Hopkins (Sr), Maddy Gates (Sr), Sofia Folino (Sr), and Marvin (Jr). Two seniors, Emily Gates and Ilyanna Rivera, committed to play lacrosse in college for University of Hartford and Felician University. As for upcoming athletes, there are a lot of players returning and ready to have more time on the field as well as more girls than ever on the team starting for the first time. Coach Dulin stated, “We have more girls than ever before, so it’s exciting to see numbers and enthusiasm for the sport.” The expectations for the team are high with the number of experienced players and the team hopes to go far in ECC and the state tournament. 

Softball 

Coach, Andrew Walker, is looking forward to this season. Walker is looking forward to seeing this year’s returning stars: Seniors, Maddie Burrows, Emma Marelli, Lily Marelli, Anna Donahue, Tori Kiefer, Abby Maynard, Junior, Anna Dzcienny and Sophomore, Emilia Podeszwa. The team captains are Emma Marelli, Lily Marelli and Maddie Burrows. Maddie Burrows has committed to Villanova University and Abby Maynard committed to University of South Carolina. Walker points out that the Freshmen and Sophomore classes are very talented and he is excited to have them this year. Some changes from last year are the loss of 4 seniors to graduation, so this year will be a year of rebuilding the team with the new additions. Some expectations Walker has for this season are for the players to be very competitive in the ECC and Class L State Tournament. Their first game was against Woodstock Academy at home, Saturday, April 2nd at 12:00 pm.

Golf

The 2021-22 golf season will kick off on April 5 at Great Neck Country Club in a match against Bacon Academy. The head coach of the team, Mrs. Pesko, is excited for the season to start. She will be joined by her father, Kevin Grobsky, as he takes over for the old assistant coach, Tommy Ryan, who moved over to freshman baseball. There will be some familiar faces this season with returning varsity players Zach Beardsley, Drew Zanghetti, Owen Lanuza, and possibly Danny Torres. If Danny does return, he will be coming back from being a co-champion in the state tournament last year. Nick Pisani, Jacob Beardsley, Noah Cable, and Andrew Pafias are a couple players who Mrs. Pesko is eager to see perform after big improvements towards the end of last season. New faces will also be on the team including three of the four girl members. Mrs. Pesko says she expects the team “to build on the skills the players have to show improvement throughout the season as well as instill confidence, patience, and integrity into them.” This goal will be worked towards under the direction of Zach, Owen, and Drew, the three co-captains of the team who each bring a different aspect of leadership to the group. 

Baseball

The returning players for Waterford Baseball are Sean Salvador P/IF, Evan McCue 1B, Colby Arnold P, Jackson Long, Preston Tabor OF, Bryan Wielachowski C/DH, Jack Lathrop P/OF, Quinn Sylvia P.C. Several players have committed to play at the next level at this time. They are Justin Saad 2B, Brian Ingraham IF, Anthony Jessuck OF/P, Matt Reilly OF/P, Matt Ory OF/P, Roberto Kiefer IF/P, and Zachary Ruest IF/OF. We had six starters grad-

uate from last year’s team, including CT Gatorade Baseball Player of the year Connor Podeszwa. Mr Peluso has high expectations for the season including being competitive within our conference and state division.  We will need to play well defensively and use team speed to score runs. They opened their season at Woodstock Academy on Saturday April 2nd at 11:00AM

Boys’ Tennis

Lancers Boys’ tennis is looking forward to another successful season. Led by Coach Bell the program is fast growing as players have risen from 10 to 14. Seniors include co-Captains Enzo Guarnieri & Gabe Parent,  Max Whitlock and Corey Sammataro. Sophomore Ian Balfour a key returner playing his second season leading the Lancers in #1 singles. Also Returning is #1 doubles pair, senior Max Whitlock & sophomore Noah Westkott. The first regular season match is scheduled for April 11 vs. Fitch at Fitch high school and the season officially begins April 2.

Unified swimming 

Unified swimming is a new venture here at WHS. Coach Murphy states “Coach Arnold and I are excited to have junior Maddy Stewart planning practices for her capstone project.” Senior Bella Diglio is a member of the varsity swim team so she will bring great knowledge and experience to the pool. If anyone is interested in joining Unified swim they should see Mr. Arnold, Ms. Murphy, or Maddy Stewart. We will practice on Tuesdays afterschool in the pool. Ms Murphy would also like to note that Mr. Arnold has many many years of experience coaching Special Olympics swimming!!

Track

The returning stars this season for track include: Evan Childs, Dan Giard, Jordan Dunkerly, Derek Rivera, Evan Piotrowski, and Jermey Gibbs for boys. The returning stars for girls include: Maddie Myers, Emma Devito, Bella Kimball, and Gabby Brennan. Maddie Myers is planning to hurdle in college. There are a lot more events this season which provide a lot of teaching opportunities. The coaches say it is nice to be outside with no mask, less covid restrictions, and a full season ahead of them. The team and coaches are looking forward to the invitational that they get to attend this year and their first game of the season begins on April 6th at Killingly.

Girls’ Tennis

Coach Ed Kolanski and The girls tennis team is looking forward to another successful season. The Lancers are being led by Senior captains Joyce Mak, Autumn Brothers, and Maria Molina. The Top returning players are Sophomore Sarah Hage, Senior Captain Autumn Brothers, Sophomore  Michelle Liu and Sophomore Maple Siu. After Graduation Captain Autumn Brothers is going to play club tennis at Ole Miss! The team’s top newcomer is Freshman Hazel Sui, sister of Maple Sui. The team has grown to 32 girls, the largest team ever with lots of enthusiastic beginners.The Lancers are expecting a great season after their successful season last year and are excited for what this season has to offer. Their next match is on April 6 against Lyman Memorial at home.