Tolland High School Recognizes Its Athletes

The Tolland Athletic Department wrapped up its year and honored its standout athletes at an awards ceremony held Monday night at the high school.

Senior Bryan Fowler and junior Kristin Schatzlein were awarded Male and Female Athlete of the Year, while golf coach and former athletic director Augie Link was honored as Coach of the Year.

Track coach Brandon Elliott presented Fowler with his award and reminisced on Fowler’s less than promising start on the track team. He recalled how, as a freshman, Fowler showed up to practice one week into the school year, having missed the summer practice runs, and without sneakers or a change of clothes.

“He had some humble beginnings as an athlete,” Elliott said. “I said to myself, ‘I’ll give this kid a week.’”

Fowler proved Elliott wrong over the years, winning first overall in the Class-M Boys Track Championship and first overall in the State Open varsity race his senior year. He has also set school records in the 1600-meter, 3200-meter and 2-mile races, amongst others.

While Fowler was surprised to win the award, he said he was very proud to have represented Tolland for the last four years.

“I’m really happy that I decided to try running,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to run for any other team.”

Fowler, however, will be running for another team this fall, when he attends the University of Connecticut.

“I’m astounded at how well he’s done,” Fowler’s father, Charles Fowler III, said. “He's an amazing kid.”

Female Athlete of the Year Kristin Schatzlein is also proud of her time at Tolland and has set high goals for her senior year.

“I want to bring our basketball team to the state finals,” she said. 

Schatzlein, who excels at three sports, has already made her mark at the school. She is the first Tolland student to score 1,000 points in basketball before her senior year and is in the running to become the all-time high scorer by the end of her senior year.

Considered a “dominating” player, she has already made a verbal agreement with Fairfield University to play basketball at the Division I school.

The awards night also recognized outstanding faculty member Augie Link who has coached soccer and golf and has officiated for basketball. He has previously served as the school’s athletic director and recently won his 600th career match.

“Our kids are fortunate to have you,” current Athletic Director Patrick Cox said to Link during the ceremony.

Students who qualified for all-conference, all-state and scholar athletes were also recognized at the ceremony and coaches recognized the graduating seniors and presenting them with flowers.

Cox said that this year’s seniors are particularly special because of their hard work during the department’s transformation for the last four years.

“It’s a significant group in that they’re the ones that took the school from old conferences to new,” Cox said. “They were certainly up to the challenge.”

According to Cox, the Tolland High School athletic department has only continued to grow and flourish. In fact, the school has one of the largest numbers of student athletes in the region.

“We had 606 athletes this year, which is unheard of,” Cox said. “That’s 150 more than ten years ago. Our extracurricular participation rate is through the roof.” Approximately 975 students attend Tolland High School, according to Cox.

The large number of athletes has also contributed to a great year of accomplishments, including a state championship for the Boys Cross Country Team, a move to the Class L tournament for baseball, which featured a against the number one seeded team, a Class M title for tennis and many other triumphs too numerous to mention.

The students are also taking little time to relish in a year well spent, but are focusing instead on going further next year.

“We’re going to take states,” sophomore softball player Ashley Clawson said.

Awards distributed Monday night include:

Scholar Athlete Honorees: Olivia Hodina and Jesse Aldin

All-Conference athletes, according to the Central Connecticut Conference Web site:

Boys Cross Country: Bryan Fowler, Trevor LaFontaine, Matt Mensher, Ryan Possardt, Connor Becz, and Colin Sauter

Football: Eric Sentochnik, Joe Chagnot, Mike Crinity and Chris Byam

Girls Cross Country: Erin Connelly, Amber Morrone, Emmily Howard and Melissa Caron

Boys Soccer: Tom Moran, David Ferris, Eric Venezia and Jon Moser

Girls Soccer: Dakota Gagliardi, Allie Gallo, Kristen Carr, Hannah Fay, Kristen Tetreault and Brittany DeCarl

Girls Volleyball: Kristin Schatzlein, Kelsey Hannington, Erika Koiva and Kelsey Lewis

Boys Basketball: Andrew Roussey

Girls Basketball: Kristin Schatzlein and Sarah Anischik

Boys Indoor Track: Ryan Possardt, Matt Mensher, Trevor LaFontaine and Bryan Fowler

Girls Indoor Track: Emily Howard, Erin Connelly, Kristin Carr, Amber Morrone and Katie Sprout

Baseball: Corey Keane, Nick Cassarino

Softball: Jess Olson, Allison Whitlock and Kelsey Lewis

Golf: Bryan Dunham

Boys Lacrosse: Kevin Kilguss, Patrick McManaman

Boys Outdoor Track: Trevor LaFontaine, Matt Mensher, Dan Thompson, Ray Tetreault, Adam Boucher, Josh Reinert, Bryan Fowler and Ben Hutton

Girls Outdoor Track: Allison Gallo, Emily Howard, Rachel Gedansky, Kristin Carr, Kate Sprout, Megan Lester, Taylor Hammeke, Kristin Schatzlein, Carly Dedominikis and Heather Kittredge

Boys Tennis: Eric Venezia and Dylan Roman

Girls Tennis: Sarah Anischik, Jessi Rhodes and Katie Rhodes 

Boys Swimming: Colton Bridge, Darrin Melendy, Jesse Aldin, Brendan Perra

Hockey: Bryan Dunham

All-State athletes courtesy of Athletic Director Patrick Cox:

Boys Soccer: Tom Moran, Eric Venezia

Girls Soccer: Dakota Gagliardi and Allison Gallo

Boys Cross Country: Bryan Fowler, Matt Mensher, Ryan Possardt and Trevor LaFontaine

Girls Basketball: Kristin Schatzlein

Boys Indoor Track: Bryan Fowler, Matt Mensher, Ryan Possardt and Trevor LaFontaine

Boys Tennis: Eric Venezia and Dylan Roman

Girls Outdoor Track: Chelsea Domian, Carly DeDominicis, Kristin Carr, Emily Howard, Allison Gallo, Katy Sprout and Megan Lester

Boys Outdoor Track: Bryan Fowler and Adam Boucher

Girls Swimming: Dory Miller