By Hal Levy, Shore Line Newspapers
Special to MaxPreps.com
Things continue to look up for Branford boys lacrosse captain Greg Barron.
"I was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in January of 2006," Barron told Shore Line Newspapers' correspondent Jim Bransfield. "So I couldn't play for a year. There were times I thought I might never play lacrosse again."
Barron was hospitalized at Yale-New Haven that January and went into remission within a month. The battle with his cancer continues as he continues on a chemotherapy regimen under the direction of Dr. Joe McNamara of Guilford Pediatric Oncology.
The heavy doses of the drugs are over, but he continues oral medications with occasional intravenous treatments.
"My body really deteriorated, and I'm not all the way back," he said. "But I'm getting there and I'm able to play."
Barron, who was the starting center on the football team, was unable to resume that position. But he turned to kicker and in a game last fall, he kicked a field goal.
"We went crazy," said Mike Mortali, who was a member of the Hornets' football team, as well as a lacrosse captain. "We jumped all over him. After what he's gone through, to see that was amazing."
But that was topped just a few days ago.
Cleared to play lacrosse full-time, Barron scored his first goal in two years against William Hall High of West Hartford.
"My heart was full of excitement for him," said Mortali. "I was the one who threw him the pass and to see him score made me feel so great. It meant a lot to all of us."
Another lacrosse captain, Billy Alessi, said it well.
"When I saw that goal go in, I was filled with joy for him," he said. "It was great just to see him on the field after all he went through. But to see him score a goal was just extraordinary."
Barron himself was a bit more subdued.
"I wasn't sure it went in," he said. "But my teammates all came screaming at me and jumping around me. It was amazing to score that goal."
"It was a great moment," said Branford coach Brian Adkins. "Just a great moment."
Barron said he has a different view of things as he fights his cancer.
"It makes me appreciate what I have in life," he said. "As I said, I didn't think I would play again and when it happened, I was at the top of my athletic career. Then that all went away. Now that it's coming back, I really appreciate what I do have. Thing are going really well now."
Barron has been accepted at Bucknell and Lafayette, but he won't be able to play at college right away.
"My illness means I'm not going to be able to play," he said. "So I plan to be a manager and then someday, I'll try to be a walk-on player."
Barron's fight has been noticed in places far from the Connecticut shoreline.
"The coach at Ohio State University established an award in memory of his son who was killed in an accident," said Adkins, referring to the Michael Breschi Memorial Scholarship Award. "It's given through U.S. Lacrosse and Greg is the first recipient. It goes to a son of a coach and the Barrons qualify on both counts; Greg for his fight and his dad is an assistant coach."
In a press release on the US Lacrosse web site, Ohio State coach Joe Breschi is quoted as saying, "On behalf of the Breschi family, we would like to thank US Lacrosse, Mike Murphy and John Kennedy for making the Michael Breschi Scholarship possible. We are thrilled that Greg Barron is the inaugural winner of Mike's scholarship and we wish him tremendous success in both the classroom and on the playing field. Greg has overcome many of life's challenges and has persevered with great enthusiasm by giving back to the community and helping others."
The New Haven Tap-Off Club has honored high school scholar-athletes along with its distinguished service award winner.
That award went to radio broadcaster George DeMaio, who has aired a plethora of games in many sports.
Scholar-athletes included: William Mooney and Jacklyn Wojciechowski, Ansonia; Megan Barbessi, Amity Regional-Woodbridge; Trip Fernandes and Kelsey O'Reilly, Branford; Taryn Belowsky Kelly Flood, Cheshire; Otis Poisson, Cheshire Academy; Joe Davis, Jr. and Jon Sawicki, Coginchaug-Durham; Stacy Sobieski, Derby; Jessica Moriarty, East Haven; Kayle Naposki, Foran-Milford; Jaci Daigneault, Guilford; James Sasso, Hamden; Mady Gobrecht, Hamden Hall; Becky Jablonski and Maria Picone, Daniel Hand-Madison; Tim Brady, Chelsea Cracco and Nick Hogrefe, Holy Cross-Waterbury; Morgan Dudley, Alison Flynn, Karen Grunwald and Justin Keogh, Lyman Hall-Wallingford; Stephen Meier, Morgan-Clinton; Julie Piroscafo, Naugatuck; Michael Roth, Notre Dame-West Haven; Jon Carlson, Sara Ferrantelli and Matt Pierson, Old Saybrook; Ashley Taylor, Platt Tech-Milford; Jon Ciriello, Kayla Kennedy and Sarah O'Brien, Sacred Heart-Waterbury; Michael Papale, Sheehan-Wallingford; Andrew Wilson, Westbrook; Kaycvee Baransky and Kemal Zahirovic, West Haven and Jessie Madormo, Woodland-Beacon Falls.
In the milestone department, Daniel Hand-Madison girls lacrosse coach Pat McCahill recorded her 200th career victory in 21 seasons and the win was doubly sweet because it came against arch-rival Guilford, 14-2. McCahill has a 200-78-9 and is off to a 6-0 start this year.
Southington golf coach Ed Malczyk earned his 400th career win as the Blue Knights opened their season 4-0. Malczyk, in his 24th year, coached Southington to a second place finish in the CIAC Division I state tournament last spring at Crestbrook in Watertown. This year's Division I event is at Timberline in Berlin, a course Southington players know well.
That tourney is June 4, as are the Division II (Crestbrook) and Division IV (Chipanee in Bristol) events. The Division III event is June 5 at Fairview Farms in Harwinton and the state girls tournament is June 5 at Blue Fox Run in Avon where Suzy Whaley, the first woman to qualify for a men's PGA Tour event is the head professional. She won the Connecticut Section PGA to gain entry to the Buick Championship - now the Travelers Championship - three years ago.