Overtime with Kyle Brennan

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Kyle Brennan
Kyle Brennan

Chorus of Boos

CJ Ross is a name you probably don’t know. She is a boxing judge. Actually, she “was” a boxing judge. I don’t watch much boxing — I’ll tune into Floyd Mayweather’s and Manny Pacquiao’s fights, and that’s about it — because mixed martial arts has become a much more satisfying form of combat entertainment. One of the reasons for that is the consistent awful judging in boxing that generally isn’t apparent in MMA. Mayweather dominated young Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night — most judges in the media, and even this untrained eye saw it as a totally lopsided fight. Somehow, Ross scored it a draw. This comes a little more than a year after Ross inexplicably scored the Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight in favor of Bradley. Ross is stepping down as a judge — she should have been fired first — for whatever reason. But folks like her are the reason boxing is a shell of its former self. What a shame.

Naugy Notes

Volleyball

Naugatuck has rebounded from a season-opening loss to Torrington and has reeled off four sweep victories in a row, including wins over Terryville and Kennedy to start this week. Against the Eagles, Ashley Whitney led the way with four kills, four blocks and two aces. The Greyhounds spread around setting duties with Kara Klimaszewski contributing six assists and Stef Barry adding eight. Kait Barry (eight digs) and Erika Andreoli (nine digs) chipped in on defense while Ana Castelao recorded a team-high five kills. Naugatuck hosts Wilby on Friday before making visits to Crosby on Tuesday and Ansonia on Wednesday.

Girls Swimming

The Greyhounds started their season on a strong note with a 96-70 victory over Kennedy last Friday. Event winners for Naugatuck included the 200 medley relay team (Cara Rotatori, Erica Spino, Barbara Martins, Elizabeth Walsh), Rachel Fox (200 free, 100 free), Rotatori (200 IM, 100 back), Tattiana Serrano (50 free), Spino (100 fly), Walsh (500 free) and Martins (100 breaststroke). Naugy jumps back into the pool Friday at Watertown.

Cross Country

The Naugatuck boys and girls cross country teams got off to perfect starts with three victories in Tuesday’s opening quad-meet at Holy Cross. The Greyhounds knocked off the Crusaders, Torrington and Crosby at the competition. Dan Schumacher set a boys course record as he won the race in 16:42 — almost 45 seconds faster than anyone else. Brody Hale finished third (17:32), Graden Beasley placed fifth (17:58) and Tyler Hayward finished seventh (18:16) to pace the ‘Hounds. A sweep of the top two places led the Naugy girls to victories over the same three teams. Madison Beasley won the race in 22:02, a minute and a half faster than second-place finisher Courtney Morin, who finished in 23:32. Lauren Stankiewicz was sixth (24:25), Heyi Chong placed seventh (25:03), Elizabeth Trumbley finished eighth (25:27) and Mercedes Desousa crossed 10th (26:19). The Greyhounds will compete in Saturday’s Stratton Brook Invitational before competing in another quad-meet at Bucks Hill Park in Waterbury against Kennedy, Wilby and Sacred Heart.

Word from the Woods

Volleyball

After a shaky opening-night performance against Ansonia, Woodland (3-0) has settled in to record two sweep victories in a row. The Hawks beat Watertown 3-0 in their home opener last Thursday and knocked off Wolcott 3-0 on Tuesday. Against the Eagles, Brianna Pacileo led the charge with 15 kills and three aces. Samantha Lee added 27 assists and three aces, while Abbey Rosato tacked on three blocks and two aces and Hannah Deegan recorded 10 digs and seven kills. The Hawks face a major early test Friday night against Seymour at home before visiting St. Paul next Tuesday.

Girls Swimming

The Hawks won their first meet of the season last Friday at Holy Cross, beating the Crusaders 97-82. Event winners for Woodland included Emma Sardinskas (200-yard freestyle), Anna Boris (100 butterfly), Brianna Christiano (100 free), the 200 free relay team (Christiano, Lisa Thrasher, Chloe Ariola, Sardinskas) and Sarah Bryden (100 backstroke). The Hawks were also scheduled to host Suffield on Tuesday, but no results were reported as of press time. Woodland stays in its home pool Friday against Torrington and Tuesday against East Haven.

Cross Country

The Woodland girls cross country team remained perfect on the young season, while the Woodland boys improved their record to 5-1 in a five-team meet Tuesday in Beacon Falls. The girls knocked off Watertown, Sacred Heart, Derby and Wilby while the boys beat everyone but the Indians. In the girls race, the Hawks took the top two spots and placed five total runners in the top 10. Mary Sardinskas won the race in 21 minutes, 5 seconds, just two seconds ahead of teammate Clara Drozdowski (21:07). Steph Kiley placed sixth (21:35), Bianca Poehailos was eighth (22:41) and Kelsey Mitchell finished ninth (22:58). Watertown ran away with the boys competition, but the Hawks placed two runners in the top eight to earn three wins. Jeff Giusto was Woodland’s top finisher in 18:49, good for fifth, and Brian Sardinskas finished eighth (19:09). The Hawks girls are 5-0 while the boys are 5-1. Woodland will host another meet Tuesday against Wolcott, Holy Cross and St. Paul.