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NCHS Senior Shawna Ferraro Breaks School Record in 1600

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Shawna Ferraro knew that the New Canaan High School record in the 1600 meter run was 5:14.40, and that she’d missed it by five one-hundredths of a second during a Feb. 19 qualifier for the New England Indoor Track and Field Championships. “I was incredibly disappointed and upset, because it’s been a goal of mine for so long to break the record, and to be that close was frustrating,” the NCHS senior recalled Monday. 

Immediately after finishing the race, Ferraro said, she thought to herself, “There is no way I’m walking away from my senior season coming that close to breaking it and not breaking it.”

But there was a problem: Finding a sanctioned track-and-field meet where she’d have another chance. Ferraro and NCHS Girls Track and Field Coach Jeffrey Brentson searched for one, and eventually she found a meet to be held Sunday, Feb. 26 at Boston University.

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‘I Feel Very Blessed’: NCHS ‘16 Grad Lucas Niang Wins Super Bowl with KC Chiefs

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Twenty thousand residents of the town, 40 players on the New Canaan High School Football team. A handful of Rams move on to play football at the college level each year, and just 1.6% of college football players make it to the NFL. 

Yet against all odds, the residents of New Canaan on Sunday saw one of their own playing on the sport’s biggest stage. New Canaan High School class of 2016 alumnus Lucas Niang has defied the odds his whole career, and saw his hard work pay off when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII. 

“Playing in the Super Bowl is what I have dreamt of since I was playing PeeWee football in third grade,” Niang told NewCanaanite.com when asked what the Super Bowl means to him. “It is an unbelievable experience and I feel very blessed to get to this point.”

Niang is a 6’6”, 315-pound offensive tackle for Kansas City, and is in his second year playing in the NFL. He was drafted 96th overall in the 2020 draft, yet sat out his first season due to COVID-19.

Danny Melzer

‘We Aren’t Just Teammates, We Are A Family’: A Senior Class Looks To Leave Its Mark

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It’s that time of the year again. Cold winter air and slippery streets. Piles of snow and early sundowns dampening the moods of many. Swirling flakes making every kid’s dream of a snow day come true. 

In this time of hibernation, something beautiful is born: Athletes push into their high school gyms that, no matter their condition, are made magnificent by the game of basketball. 

“The amount of work this team has put in throughout the offseason is incredible,” New Canaan Rams basketball senior captain Jack Hladick said of the team. “Every day we come to work hungry, building bonds and respect through the common goal of victory.

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‘A Storybook Ending’: New Canaan Football Wins Class L State Championship

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When New Canaan High School’s offensive linemen bent down to place their hands in the dirt for the final time last weekend, the center reached down to grasp the worn-out football, and the quarterback prepared to take the final snap of his high school career, everybody in the stadium knew that the Rams had done it. 

Quarterback and senior co-captain Ty Groff snapped the ball on the cold Saturday afternoon of Dec. 10, placed his knee on the ground, and the celebration began. 

“There was no team that deserved it more than us,” Groff said following New Canaan’s 16-13 victory over the Maloney Spartans. “I could not be more proud of every single player on the team, as everyone always put their best foot forward and helped us get better.”

New Canaan’s coaching staff, led by legendary Head Coach Lou Marinelli, could finally breathe a sigh of relief and move past last year’s deflating loss to Darien in the state semifinals. New Canaan had won their 13th CIAC championship. 

The game began as a defensive battle, with New Canaan taking a 6-0 lead behind a pair of field goals from star kicker and quarterback Ty Groff. However, Maloney returned a kickoff 95 yards for a 7-6 lead, then followed that up with another touchdown, this one via the air, and had a 13-6 lead heading into the 4th quarter. 

It seemed the Rams’ miraculous season was coming to an end, that they were all out of gas. 

Then a switch flipped. 

As he has all season, senior running back Hunter Telesco kickstarted a fight in his teammates and punched it in for six on the ground.