FCIAC teams were still playing through state tournaments during Week 13 of Connecticut's winter sports season. While the FCIAC's season is done, many of its athletes are not finished with hoops, hockey and track.
The HAN Network's sports editors and broadcasters have nominated 19 male and female athletes for the Winter Week 13 HAN-FCIAC Athletes of the Week. Check out the nominees and vote for your male and female picks below.
Last week's winners were Stamford basketball's Tiana England and Greenwich hockey's Mike Mozian.
This week’s winners (voting is open until Sunday at 11:59 p.m.) will be announced during HAN’s Nutmeg Sports show on Tuesday, March 22, live at 2 p.m. You can watch Nutmeg Sports with Rob Adams, Donald Eng and Dave Stewart Mondays through Wednesday at 2 at live.HAN.Network.
The HAN Network spent Winter Week 13 preparing, behind the scenes, for our Spring FCIAC Tour to visit all 17 schools in the league and interview spring sports captains and players. Keep up to date with our Twitter and Facebook feeds for the latest on the tour.
You can also watch all of our winter season coverage of the FCIAC's winter postseason at our HAN On Demand page.
Below are the male and female nominees and the poll to vote.
HAN-FCIAC Female Athlete of the Week Nominees
Tiana England, Stamford Girls Basketball
Tiana England scored a team-high 25 points as the Stamford Black Knights defeated South Windsor, 66-57, in the CIAC Class LL semifinals at Kennedy High School on Friday. England, a senior, also had a career-high 41 points in the Black Knights’ 74-60 win over No. 5 Norwich Free Academy in the quarterfinals on March 7. In that game, she had four 3-point baskets, was 15-for-16 on free throws, and scored 15 of the Knights’ 17 points in the third quarter. Stamford will play Greenwich for the state championship this weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Hannah DeBalsi, Staples Track & Field
DeBalsi was fourth in the 5,000 meter run at the New Balance Indoor Nationals at the Armory in New York on March 11. DeBalsi ran a 16:32.26 in her first indoor try at that distance. Weini Kelate of Leeburg, Va., set a national record with a time of 16:08.33. DeBalsi’s time broke the old Connecticut record of 16:51.88, set in 2010 by Glastonbury’s Lindsay Crevoiserat.
Abbie Wolf, Greenwich Girls Basketball
Wolf had a pair of double-doubles to help lead the Greenwich Cardinals into the CIAC Class LL final. The senior had 16 points and 10 rebounds as the tenth-seeded Cardinals’ defeated No. 2 Warde, 64-46, in the quarterfinals on Monday. Wolf then added 19 points and 19 rebounds in a 69-60 win over E.O. Smith in the semis on Friday. Greenwich will play Stamford for the state championship next weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Emily Anderson, Greenwich Basketball
A junior, Anderson scored 21 points and hauled in 10 rebounds to lead Greenwich to to 64-46 victory over No. 2 Fairfield Warde in the quarterfinal round of the Class LL tournament. That win advanced the 10th-seeded Cardinals into the semifinals.
HAN-FCIAC Male Athlete of the Week Nominees
Eric Van der Els, Brien McMahon Track & Field
Van der Els captured the 5,000 meter national championship at the New Balance Indoor Nationals at the Armory in New York on March 11. He ran a 14:42.41 to better runner-up Aaron Groff (14:43.10) from Cherry Hill, N.J. Van der Els broke the old Connecticut 5K record of 14:44.16, set back in 2008 by Glastonbury’s Donn Cabral. Van der Els, who earned All-America status, is only the third runner from Connecticut to win the 5K at the Nationals.
Ryan Johnson, Staples-Weston-Shelton Ice Hockey
Johnson scored three goals when the Staples-Weston-Shelton team defeated Masuk High, 7-3, in a Division III first-round game. Johnson gave SWS a 1-0 lead in the first period made it 3-1 in the second and concluded the scoring in the third.
Jake Fuss, Fairfield Ice Hockey
Fuss scored three goals to lead second-seeded the Mustangs, now 16-5-1, over their 15th-seeded rivals (7-13-1) from Watertown-Pomperaug, 6-2, in its Division II tournament opener at the Wonderland of Ice. Fuss had two more goals to help Fairfield defeat Cheshire 3-1 and advance to the semifinals.
Nick Rich, Stamford-Westhill Boys Ice Hockey
Rich had a hat trick to lead the Stamford/Westhill co-op team to a 5-2 over Hall/Southington in the CIAC Div. III quarterfinals on Thursday. No. 5 Stamford/Westhill will face No. 1 NFI in the semis at Ingalls Rink at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday.
Kevin Bradley, Norwalk-McMahon Diving
Bradley captured the CIAC Class LL diving crown on Wednesday at the Hamden High pool. A freshman who broke the Bears’ scoring record this season, Bradley scored 457.75 points to edge Greenwich’s Devon Satir for the top spot.
Marcus Fox, Danbury Basketball
Fox led the Hatters in scoring twice as they knocked off Staples and Brien McMahon in the first two rounds of the CIAC Class LL tournament last week. He scored 14 in a 65-31 win over Staples on Tuesday, and followed that with 15 points in a 53-44 win over McMahon on Friday.
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