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NCHS Recognizes Student-Athletes Who Will Play Division 3 Sports in College

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New Canaan High School on Monday recognized more than one dozen seniors who will play Division 3 sports in college starting next year. 

NCHS Athletic Director Jay Egan said the school’s annual ceremony is a way to mark and celebrate an achievement for the student-athletes as well as their families, asking those in attendance to recognize the parents who “make this all possible.”

“A lot of car rides and check-writing,”  he told those gathered in the Wagner Room at NCHS for the short ceremony, including the student-athletes, their families, close friends and coaches. Egan also reviewed some statistics regarding Division 3, which came into being 50  years ago, saying it makes up 40% of the total NCAA membership. “Division 3 members provide a well-rounded collegiate experience that involves a balance of rigorous academics, competitive athletics and the opportunity to pursue the multitude of other co-curricular and extracurricular activities offered,” he said. We asked the student-athletes why they chose their future schools, and put their responses next to photos where provided (students not present include Ben Maden):

Abigayle Bleil

Middlebury College
Swimming

“I wanted to go there, regardless of whether I was going to be able to swim or not. So I reached out to the coach about a year ago.

Bo Hickey

‘That Is a Guy That I Love’: Friends and Colleagues Remember New Canaan’s Bo Hickey

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Jay Egan, New Canaan High School’s athletic director, was about 15 years old when he first got to know fellow Stamford native Bo Hickey. Ten years his senior, Hickey had been a standout multi-sport athlete at Stamford Catholic High School—earning all-county and all-state honors in football his senior year—who would go on to become the starting running back at the University of Maryland and played in the NFL. Hickey was “a larger-than-life sports guy,” Egan recalled. In those days, there weren’t many weight training facilities around, and the only place you could go locally was the Stamford Y, Egan said. One day, after his parents dropped him off—Egan and his pals weren’t yet old enough to drive—the group went to an old-fashioned leg press machine in the corner of the facility.

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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.

Ellie Gusitsch

Six NCHS Student-Athletes Sign Letters of Intent To Play Sports in College

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Six New Canaan High School seniors signed commitment or “likely” letters Wednesday to play Division I sports in college starting next year. 

NCHS Athletic Director Jay Egan said the school’s annual ceremony is a way to mark and celebrate an achievement for the student-athletes as well as their families. “How many hours have you all spent in the car driving your sons and daughters places and holidays being at tournaments?” he told those gathered in the Wagner Room at NCHS for the short ceremony, including the student-athletes, their families, close friends and coaches. 

“This is really a culmination of the athletes’ and the families’ efforts,” he said. “It’s a special day.”

We asked the student-athletes why they chose their future schools, and put their responses next to photos where provided. 

Ellie Gusitsch

Central Connecticut State College
Lacrosse

“My dad went there. He swam there. I love Connecticut.