St. Paul senior Pierce Piana had a huge day on Saturday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven.
Piana won the shot put not once, but twice. How did he do it?
Piana competed in the Shoreline Conference Coaches Invitational at the beginning of the day and won the shot put with a throw of 44 feet, 7.5 inches.
In the evening, Piana took part in the Elite Field Invite. Out of eight competitors in the shot put, Piana again had the best throw, this time hurling the shot 44 feet, 8 inches.
Bristol Eastern took part in the McReavy Invitational on Friday at Wesleyan University in Middletown, and a 13-year-old Lancer record fell.
Senior Chris LeBeau ran a 4:36.80 in the 1,600 meters, good for third place. In the process, LeBeau broke the old record.
At the same meet, the Bristol Eastern girls 4×400 relay of Mikayla Lewandoski, Kailey Laprise, Megan Perry and Maggie Santacroce claimed sixth place.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
The St. Paul girls basketball knocked off Kennedy 50-37 and Oxford 47-24.
The Falcons improved to 9-0 and play Ansonia on the road next Tuesday before a road showdown with Holy Cross next Friday.
In the Kennedy game, three players scored in double figures. Janessa Gonzalez tallied 13 points, followed by 12 from Amelia Sanchez and 10 from Brigid Johndow.
Against Oxford, Johndrow and Sanchez had nine points apiece. Johndrow passed out six assists while Sanchez collected five steals.
Bristol Eastern began the week with a loss to Glastonbury, but followed it up with a 71-65 win over Wethersfield on Thursday and a 66-57 victory over Weaver on Saturday. The Lancers (8-4) have qualified for the state tournament in all but two seasons since Tony Floyd became the head coach in 1979, according to a tweet from Eastern statistics guru Michael Letendre. Hannah Maghini has had the hot hand of late for the Lancers.
Bristol Central (1-9) continues to struggle with losses to Newington and Conard.
WRESTLING
Bristol Eastern, ranked third in the latest coaches’ poll, improved to 9-0 (3-0 division) with a strong 44-24 win at Middletown on Wednesday.
Bristol Central lost a close 38-35 dual meet to Berlin, but did better on Saturday at the Art Powers Duals in Berlin.
Both the Lancers and the Rams have some strong momentum entering Monday’s Bristol Central Invitational.
Bristol Eastern went to the John D. Gorman Memorial Tournament in Rhode Island on Saturday and finished third as a team. Anthony Lozier (2nd at 145), Mikey Barrett (3rd, 160), Trinidad Gonzalez (3rd, 170), Bryce Beebe (3rd, 106), Zach Marquis (3rd, 182), Jordon Champagne (3rd, 113), Carson Sassu (4th, 120), Ethan Pearson (6th, 160) and Noah Corliss (6th, 126) all placed for the Lancers.
Bristol Central traveled to the Art Powers Duals in Berlin on Saturday and came in second place. The Rams won Pool B by beating Manchester (39-36), East Catholic (40-30) and Terryville (49-29). Central lost to RHAM 40-27 in the championship. Jeremy Ganavage, Chris Trelli and Mike Guzman all won four matches.
St. Paul lost on the road at Terryville on Wednesday by a score of 48-30. The Falcons picked up wins from Adam Ward (pin at 113), Elliott Garcia (pin at 138), Matt Spar (pin at 160), Jordan Silva (pin at 182) and Matt Gray (forfeit at 285).
BOYS BASKETBALL
It was a rough start to the week for St. Paul. The Falcons dropped a non-league home game to Capital Prep on Monday, then were defeated on the road by Kennedy on Wednesday.
St. Paul needed a win to salvage the week, and it got that victory in a big way on Friday night at home against Oxford. The Falcons won 88-47 behind 21 points and six assists from Mike Palmieri. Will Arndt scored 15 points, Austin Jones tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, and Donovan Symes had eight points. St. Paul improved to 5-3 and snapped its two-game losing streak in the process.
Bristol Central (4-5) dropped a close game to Newington at home on Monday, 45-44, then lost on the road to Simsbury and Glastonbury. The Rams have lost four straight games and hope to get back on the winning track Tuesday at home against Platt.
Bristol Eastern (3-7) is also looking to rebound this week after losing all three games it played. The Lancers were defeated by Manchester and Southington on the road with a loss to Wethersfield in between. Eastern plays at Maloney on Tuesday.
Central and Eastern face off for the first time on Friday at 6:45 p.m. at Bristol Eastern.
