Linked Up – Fall Championships 2014

St. Joseph celebrates its class M – Small title. Autumn Driscoll – Connecticut Post.

On October 25th the CIAC fall championships began with cross divisional championships as 12 teams earned trophies. Forty-nine days later the season concluded on a sunny and brisk Saturday in December with seven championship football contests. CIACsports.com provided its own complete coverage of the football championships but for the sake of completing a task, Linked Up Fall Championships 2014 now includes stories on every championship team. Congratulations to all the student-athletes and coaches that earned titles this fall, and thank you to all the competitors for providing such memorable tournaments.

Football:

From the Meriden Record Journal: Southington left a legacy with a convincing class LL – Large state title win.
From GameTimeCT: A coaching decision not made paid off as Xavier pulled out an overtime win in the class LL – Small title game.
From the Stamford Advocate: In a game of role reversals New Canaan edged rival Darien to capture the class L – Large crown.
From the Hartford Courant: After winning the class L – Small title, the coach was overwhelmingly thankful.
From the Danbury News-Times: One defensive stop represented an entire game of stout defense as Brookfield earned the class M – Large championship.
From the Connecticut Post: After a big early play St. Joseph never looked back en route to a class M – Small victory.
From the New London Day: Valley Regional/Old Lyme’s comeback to win the class S – Large title defied explanation.
From the Hartford Courant: The class S – Small title game saw Capital Prep/Achievement First conclude its quest for a first title.

Daniel Hand celebrates its class M field hockey championship. Pete Paguaga – New Haven Register.

Field Hockey:

From the Hartford Courant: Inches were the difference as Glastonbury and Darien shared the class L championship.
From GameTimeCT: Daniel Hand’s fifth trip to the field hockey final proved much more fun as the Tigers earned the class M crown.
From Litchfieldcountysports.com: The cliche that defense wins championships proved true for Lewis Mills in the class S tournament.

Glastonbury holds aloft the Class LL championship plaque after prevailing in overtime. Michael McAndrews – Hartford Courant.

Boys Soccer:

From the Hartford Courant: Glastonbury’s efforts on re-starts improved, and the result was a class LL title.
From GameTimeCT: Neither Avon or Branford gave in as the two teams earned a co-championship in class L.
From the Hartford Courant: Practice paid off for an Ellington junior as he converted the winner for his team in the class M final.
From the Hartford Courant: In a physical battle that came down to the final seconds, East Hampton and Somers each came away with the class S title.

A pile-up was the response from Immaculate after earning the class L girls soccer crown. Christian Abraham – Danbury News Times

Girls Soccer:

From the Hartford Courant: Glastonbury reversed its championship game history while earning the LL championship.
From the Danbury News Times: Disappointment from last season drove Immaculate to capture the class L state title.
From the Hartford Courant: East Catholic’s class M championship was many years in the making.
From the Middletown Press: Portland had the class S title all to themselves after a late game winner.

Haddam-Killingworth poses with the class S girls volleyball championship plaque. New Haven Register

Girls Volleyball:

From the Stamford Advocate: Darien kept its eye on the prize and came away with the class LL girls volleyball title.
From the Hartford Courant: The class L final saw Farmington take care of some unfinished business and win a thrilling title match.
From the Hartford Courant: Granby capped off its best season with a class M state championship.
From GameTimeCT: Haddam-Killingworth sent its coach out on an incredible note with the class S volleyball championship.

Darien celebrates a third-straight State Open title. -Steve Buono – Darien Tims.

Girls Swimming & Diving:

From the Darien Times: It was a triple crown and a third trip to the winners circle for Darien which earned the State Open title.
From the New Canaan Advertiser: Kylie Towbin ended her high school career with an exclamation point at the diving State Open.
From the Greenwich Time: Greenwich kept a firm grip on the class LL title with a fifth-straight championship.
From the Darien News: The fourth time remained the charm for Darien in earning a fourth-consecutive class L title.
From GameTimeCT: A new conference member led a dominant conference effort as Lauralton Hall earned the class M championship.
From the Norwalk Hour: After narrowly missing a record last year, a sophomore set one this year as Weston repeated as class S champions.

Hayley Collins helped Tolland to an historic class M title. Catherine Avalone – New Haven Register

Girls Cross Country:

From the Hartford Courant: Posting a remarkable team time, Tolland topped its divisional effort and claimed the State Open title.
From the Hartford Courant: Glastonbury repeated as the LL champions.
From the Darien Times: By an exceedingly narrow margin, a team effort helped Darien capture the L championship.
From the Collinsville Press: A full team effort carried Avon to the MM crown.
From the Hartford Courant: Tolland wasn’t satisfied with just a class M title, the team made some history.
From GameTime CT: Coginchaug outlasted some conference rivals earn its first SS title since 2001.
From GameTime CT: Two top 10 runners paced Portland in earning the class S championship.

David Baird helped Haddam-Killingworth to the SS crown. Gary Komoroski – The Source.

Boys Cross Country:

From the Danbury News-Times: A narrow miss last week motivated Danbury to capture the State Open crown.
From GameTime CT: Amity made the most of its shot and earned the LL boys cross country title.
From the Danbury News-Times: A special postseason continued for New Milford which won the class L meet.
From the Hartford Courant: The runner-up announcement sparked celebration for E.O. Smith after capturing the MM championship.
From the Hartford Courant: In class M, Ellington claimed its first title since 2005.
From the Shoreline Source: Consecutive runner-up finishes motivated Haddam-Killingworth to earn this year SS title.
From the Waterbury Republican-American: The Shepaug Valley team’s class S championship capped a remarkable turnaround.