By Hal Levy, Shore Line Newspapers
Special to MaxPreps.com
Three newcomers are among eight state high schools set to receive top Michaels Achievement Cup awards Sunday, April 27 at the 67th Gold Key Dinner of the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance.
Ridgefield (tied for first in Class LL), Canton (Class S) and Windham Tech (Regional Vocational Technical Schools) are the only schools which did not repeat from a year ago. Neither Ridgefield nor Windham Tech has ever been first in its division and Canton was first in 1994 but not since.
Since 1985, the Michaels Achievement Cup has been awarded to Connecticut high schools for outstanding overall athletic programs.
The six divisions are based on school enrollment, in much the same manner the CIAC determines tournament classification.
The Cup was conceived by the late Roy Michaels as a possible way to reward the state's best high school football team. That idea quickly evolved to an overall achievement award after input from the Connecticut High School Coaches Association, the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors and the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance.
It began as a wins-and-losses program, but soon expanded to fulfill other criteria experts decided was part of a well-rounded athletic program. Components were added for participation and programs in academic support, sportsmanship and substance abuse. More recent areas included a bonus for participation in non-CIAC sports, a section on medical aspects and participation in Unified Sports.
Additions have been made only after lengthy study by the Michaels Cup Committee both internally and through questionnaires sent to high schools across the state. The committee now includes representation from CHSCA, CAAD, the sportswriters and CIAC, which became involved a couple of years after the program started.
The competition is funded through Michaels Jewelers, which does a number of other community service projects, including a scholarship program and a similar Cup series for Unified Sports. Michaels CEO John Michaels serves as chair of the cup committee.
In addition to the seven first-place winners, who are in competition for the overall Cup (that winner will be announced at the Gold Key Dinner), second and third-place schools in each division will be honored with a bowl. Others who place in the top 10 in any single category also are honored with a plaque and hangers for it.
In Class LL, third went to Amity Regional-Woodbridge; in Class L, second and third were Farmington and Pomperaug Southbury; in Class MM, Berlin and Brookfield; in Class M, Holy Cross-Waterbury and Lewis Mills-Burlington; in Class SS, Housatonic Regional-Falls Village and Cromwell; in Class S, Lauralton Hall-Milford and Bolton and in the Tech School division, A.I. Prince-Hartford and Kaynor Tech-Waterbury.
The dinner will begin a 4:30 p.m. at the Aqua Turf Club and tickets are available for $75.
For tickets mail a check or money order to:
Gold Key Dinner Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance
PO Box 70
Unionville, CT 06085
Tickets or questions about the dinner can also be obtained by contacting Alliance secretary Bob Ehalt at (203) 929-6584, or by email at ehalt.b@sbcglobal.net or Alliance President John Silver at 1-800-237-3606 x 317 or via email at jsilver@journalinquirer.com.
For more information on the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance please visit www.ctsportswriters.org.
Ice Hockey
Fairfield Prep, 13-10-1, finished its storybook run through the second half of the season by finishing first in the final New Haven Register media poll. The Jesuits, who didn’t beat a Connecticut opponent until mid-January, wound up winning the CIAC Division I state title, beating four top-10 teams in the tournament.
Notre Dame-Fairfield, 15-9-1, Prep’s opponent in the championship game, finished second after that 5-3 loss. Glastonbury, 18-4-1, was third after a loss to Notre Dame-Fairfield in the Division I semifinals. Fourth was Hamden, 17-4-1, which lost to ND-Fairfield, 4-3, in the quarterfinals. East Haven, 19-3, was fifth after it lost to Prep in the quarterfinals.
Conard-West Hartford, a 4-1 loser to Prep in the semifinals, was sixth.
The voters then gave some respect to Division II by placing state champ Amity Regional-Woodbridge, 19-6-1, seventh. South Windsor, 18-3 and a loser to Simsbury in the first round of the Division I tournament, was eighth with Notre Dame-West Haven (11-9-1) and a loser to Prep in the Division I tournament ninth. Simsbury, 14-8, which lost to Conard in the tournament, was 10th.
Division III champ Rockville/Manchester (17-7) was among those also receiving votes.
