Season marked by improvement

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Naugatuck’s girls golf program takes giant step forward

Naugatuck’s Nick Fox keeps his eyes on a shot during the NVL championship June 2 at the Watertown Country Club. –REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Naugatuck’s Nick Fox keeps his eyes on a shot during the NVL championship June 2 at the Watertown Country Club. –REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck golf team continued to improve this season and head coach Bob Clark helped to put Greyhounds golf back on the map by laying the foundation for a girls team.

After compiling three wins in 2015, the second year head coach guided the ‘Hounds to a 5-11 record this season.

The Naugatuck boys were led by team captain, senior and All-Copper Division player Jake Alcorace, along with fellow seniors Nick Fox and Ethan Maxwell. The Greyhounds showed continued growth with the emergence of sophomore Rithvik Rajkumar and freshman Eli Rachiele.

The Greyhounds finished eighth at the Naugatuck Valley League championship June 2 at the Watertown Country Club.

Alcorace led the way with an 85. Maxwell shot a 101, junior Colin Sheedy shot a 110 and Fox shot a 115.

Naugatuck will look to next year’s team captains, Sheedy and Kody Butler, to lead the way. Rachiele and Rajkumar will return along with freshman Ryan Brink to fill out the lineup.

The sea

Naugatuck’s Mia Rotatori finished second in the first NVL Girls Invitational with a round of 58 June 2 at the Watertown Country Club. –REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Naugatuck’s Mia Rotatori finished second in the first NVL Girls Invitational with a round of 58 June 2 at the Watertown Country Club. –REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

son was also marked by the emergence of a girls program in the NVL. Clark and a few other coaches are pushing to get a girls league started in the NVL next season.

The first ever Greyhounds Girls Invitational was held at Hop Brook in May. Five NVL girls team participated in the event, with St. Paul coming out on top.

The Naugatuck sophomore duo of Samantha Royka and Madison Brink finished third with a score of 54. Freshman Francesca Spino teamed up with Torrington’s Aubrie Dell’Agnese to post a fourth-place score of 55. Naugatuck’s tandem of sophomore Abigail Pruchnicki and freshman Mia Rotatori finished sixth with a 58.

That led to the NVL holding its first nine-hole girls division championship along with the NVL boys championship last week.

Rotatori was the NVL runner-up with a solid round of 58, two shots off the winner. As a team, the Greyhounds finished third with Pruchnicki shooting a 64 and Spino coming in with a 74.

The Greyhounds will have Royka, Rotatori and Pruchnicki as captains next season. Junior Kaylea Misiewicz, sophomores Hannah Butler and Madison Brink, along with freshmen Spino, Hannah Biondo and Katie Brown give Clark a full girls squad heading into next season.