Fans - UCHOOSE! Vote online each week for your favorite Connecticut student-athlete. Winners are posted on CPTVSports.org each Monday afternoon. Follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook to be notified when voting begins.
CPTV Sports editors select nominees for merit (based on each week's performance as completed by 8 p.m. Saturday.) Fan input is encouraged, and nominations submitted via social media will be considered.
July 24, 2015
CPTV Sports In Focus journeyed to Wilton to speak with track star Spencer Brown. It was for the second week in a row that the school was the beneficiary of the UChoose Student Athlete of the Week vote (June 10, 2015) which meant that Erika Wachter once again visited the school to tape scenes for In Focus!
July 24, 2015
CPTV Sports In Focus traveled to Wilton to speak with star pitcher JT Morin. The “Warrior Tribe” community was the beneficiary of the UChoose Student Athlete of the Week vote for June 3, 2015 which meant that Erika Wachter visited the school to tape scenes for In Focus!
July 24, 2015
CPTV Sports In Focus journeyed to Redding to speak with star pitcher Mark Raymond. Joel Barlow High School was the beneficiary of the UChoose Student Athlete of the Week vote for May 27th, 2015 which meant that Erika Wachter visited the school to tape scenes for In Focus!
July 24, 2015
CPTV Sports made it to Middletown to speak with slugger Kelsey White. The home of the Blue Dragons was the beneficiary of the UChoose Student Athlete of the Week vote for May 20th, 2015 which meant that Erika Wachter visited the school to tape scenes for In Focus!
July 24, 2015
U voted Lauren Cenci of Northwest Catholic girls lacrosse the CPTV Sports UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week for May 12, 2015! We traveled to the school in West Hartford to film CPTV Sports In Focus as a result. Vote on the UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week every Saturday until Tuesday at noon and we may come to your school!
Visit CPTVSports.org to catch other episodes. Watch In Focus Wed
July 24, 2015
U voted Lindsay Golia of North Branford softball the CPTV Sports UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week for May 5, 2015! We traveled to the land of the T-Birds to film CPTV Sports In Focus as a result. Vote on the UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week every Saturday until Tuesday at noon and we may come to your school!
Visit CPTVSports.org to catch other episodes. Watch In Focus Wednesday nights at 7!
June 23, 2015
Mike Cowell, a senior pitcher on Shelton High baseball team, has been voted our UChoose Student-Athlete of the Spring for the 2014-15 school year!
The Fordham-bound righthander went 8-1 this season with a 0.93 ERA and 101 strikeouts with just 12 walks in 68 innings. He was the spring’s first UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week after pitching a no-hitter and striking out 15 against Branford. He was nominated a second time after pitching another no-hitter May 26 in the first round of the SCC tournament, shutting out eventual Class L champion North Haven 3-0 in the SCC quaterfinals, and was named the SCC player of the year. Mike was no slouch at the plate either: he hit .406 with three homers and 16 RBI.
We featured Mike during the spring on a Best in Connecticut Sports Spotlight (above).
Our other spring honorees: Amity softball player Katie Koshes, New Milford girls lacrosse player Marisa McLaughlin, North Branford softball player Lindsay Golia, Northwest Catholic girls lacrosse player Lauren Cenci, Middletown softball player Kelsey White, Joel Barlow-Redding pitcher Mark Raymond, Wilton High pitcher JT Morin, Wilton High runner Spencer Brown and East Lyme pitcher C.J. Leindecker.
Our UChoose Student-Athletes of the Week for winter 2014-15:
Greenwich boys basketball player Conor Harkins, Holy Cross-Waterbury girls basketball player RaShana Siders, Fairfield co-op boys hockey player Jake Fuss, Northwest Catholic boys hockey player Anthony Ceolin, Northwest boys basketball player Christian Thomas, Masuk-Monroe boys basketball player Bryan Acevedo, New Fairfield/Immaculate hockey player Peter Masi, Simsbury boys basketball player Rayon Christie, Greenwich boys hockey Matt Lodato, Wilbur Cross runner Danae Rivers and Notre Dame-Fairfield girls basketball player Kayla Croswell, Simsbury boys hockey player Ben Levin and Canton girls basketball player Emily Briggs. Our athlete of the winter was Branford boys hockey player Tyler Criscuolo.
Our fall 2014 winners:
Fairfield Warde girls soccer player Taylor Gabrenas, Cheshire girls volleyball player Jillian Haberli, Torrington boys soccer player Kevin Vaca, Cheney Tech-Manchester quarterback Rafael Lebron, Maloney-Meriden soccer player Ricardo Lopez, Danbury boys soccer goalie Ian Shannon, Northwest Catholic-West Hartford running back Delano Robinson, Derby’s Ben Slowik, Norwich Free Academy’s Jawaun Johnson, Valley Regional’s Andrew Tuscano, Windsor’s John Nolan.
Click here on our guidelines for the award.
June 17, 2015
Our nominees for CPTV Sports’ UChoose Student-Athlete of the Spring for 2015! Voting ends Tuesday at noon , so choose your favorite now and tell your friends and fellow fans to vote, too!
* Please note: Vote totals do not immediately update in our database. Check back every 5 to 10 minutes and refresh your screen to see the latest vote totals.
This week's voting for UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week has closed. We'll announce the winner later Tuesday. CPTVSports UChoose is brought to you by Hartford Healthcare #ChooseHHC
•Lauren Cole - Hand-Madison girls lacrosse
The Fairfield University-bound senior attacker scored 128 goals with 32 assists for the SCC champions. She had eight goals in Hand’s 18-6 win over Guilford in the SCC title game streamed LIVE on CPTVSports.org and three in the Tigers’ 13-7 loss to New Canaan in the Class M final that premieres Thursday June 18 at 7:30 p.m.
•Mike Cowell - Shelton baseball
The Fordham-bound righthander went 8-1 this season with a 0.93 ERA and 101 strikeouts with just 12 walks in 68 innings. He was the spring’s first UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week after pitching a no-hitter and striking out 15 against Branford. He was nominated a second time after pitching another no-hitter May 26. He also shut out eventual Class L champion North Haven 3-0 in the SCC quaterfinals. Mike was no slouch at the plate either: he hit .406 with three homers and 16 RBI.
•Ashley Guillette – -Oxford softball
The Coastal Carolina-bound senior righthander pitched 21 shutouts this season, including three in a row in the Class M tournament as the Wolverines won their second title in three years. Ashley capped off her season by scattering three hits, striking out 10 and hitting a three-run double to lead Oxford to a 4-0 win over previously unbeaten St. Joseph-Trumbull in the Class M final. It capped off an impressive tournament run for Ashley, who pitched a perfect game in a quarterfinal win over Rocky Hill and a no-hitter in the semifinals against Tolland. St. Joe’s entered last Friday’s final averaging 8.8 runs hile going 26-0. Ashley is a three-time Student-Athlete of the Week nominee this spring.
•Karl Liapunov – Ridgefield boys volleyball
The three-time All-State senior outside hitter’s outstanding 2015 campaign (204 kills, 172 digs, and 57 aces in 171 service attempts) helped Ridgefield win its second consecutive CIAC Class L title. The Tigers finished 23-1 and closed the year with a victory over Darien, which defeated Ridgefield in the FCIAC tournament. He was the player of the match in his two appearances on CPTV Sports this season (May 25 vs. Shelton and June 12 vs. Darien in the state final).
• Colin Minicus – Darien boys lacrosse
The junior attacker had 57 goals and 45 assists this season, including a goal and two assists as the Blue Wave edged Ridgefield 6-5 in the Class L title game. Colin was named an All-American along with 17 other state players and was first-team All-State and All-FCIAC as Darien (20-3) won its 11th state title and ninth since 2005.
• Jason Seidman – Amity boys tennis
The Northwestern-bound seinor was 22-0 this season and won the CIAC State Open Boys Tennis title with a 6-1, 6-0 against Norwalk’s Seji Hosokowa in the final. Seidman only lost two sets all year. The Spartans also won the Class LL team title. “He had to make the players on the team better every day during practice in order for us to win a state championship,” Amity coach Chris Raffone told Joe Morelli of the New Haven Register. “He will go down as one of the greatest tennis players in Amity history, right up there with (former ATP Tour pro) Lou Gloria.”
June 16, 2015
C.J. Leindecker , a senior righthander on East Lyme High’s baseball team, has been voted our final UConn Student-Athlete of the Week for the 2014-15 school year!
Wednesday, we’ll release our ballot for the UChoose Student-Athlete of the Spring, which will cap off our UChoose balloting until next fall.
C.J. earned two wins and two saves in the state Class L tournament for East Lyme, whose title bid fell just short in a dramatic 3-2 loss to North Haven in the Class L final seen LIVE on CPTV Sports Saturday night. Taking the mound in the fourth with East Lyme trailing 3-1, he pitched four scoreless innings, allowing one hit with four strikeouts to keep the Vikings in it.
He struck out eight in last Wednesday’s semifinal victory over Bunnell-Stratford (GameTimeCT.com game story by Jim Fuller here). Also, C.J. was selected to play for the District IV team in the CHSCA All-Star games played Tuesday in Plainville.
New London Day columnist and Beyond the Beat panelist Mike DiMauro wrote about C.J.’s postseason following Saturday’s game. Here’s part of the column:
“It’s amazing what he did,” East Lyme coach Jack Biggs said. “Big game pitcher. He locked it down for us all tournament.”
Leindecker, who pitched seven innings Wednesday, wanted to start Saturday’s game. He tried to talk Biggs into it. Biggs, who would like Leindecker to stay healthy beyond his time in high school, kept him in the bullpen. Leindecker entered in the fourth with the Vikings down 3-1.
“I lost my voice,” Leindecker said after the game, alluding to the emotions of the night.
This was C.J. Leindecker’s final sporting act at East Lyme. He graduates later this month and furthers his baseball education at the best place to do so: UConn-Avery Point. This proves, once again, that the great Roger Bidwell (longtime Avery Point coach) knows a good player when he sees one.
“He’s got a good arm and he’s got talent,” Bidwell said. “He’s been overlooked because he’s not a big kid. Scholarship programs want those 6-2, 200-pounders. For a non-scholarship program like ours, we have to identify kids like C.J. They fit our profile.”
Which is to say this: Avery Point players are 1) good; and 2) not prone to bouts of unnecessary emotion. And Leindecker does calmness from habit, not reaction. In the semifinals, teammate Matt Spang made an error in the bottom of the seventh with the Vikings protecting a one-run lead.
Leindecker’s reaction?
“I knew Matt would get the next one,” he said. “I don’t like to show emotions. It just affects the team negatively. I try to stay as positive as I can. I’ve played on teams with kids who were like that and it just brings the whole team down.”
Our previous spring honorees: Shelton pitcher Mike Cowell, Amity softball player Katie Koshes, New Milford girls lacrosse player Marisa McLaughlin, North Branford softball player Lindsay Golia, Northwest Catholic girls lacrosse player Lauren Cenci, Middletown softball player Kelsey White, Joel Barlow-Redding pitcher Mark Raymond, Wilton High pitcher JT Morin and Wilton High runner Spencer Brown.
Our UChoose Student-Athletes of the Week for winter 2014-15:
Greenwich boys basketball player Conor Harkins, Holy Cross-Waterbury girls basketball player RaShana Siders, Fairfield co-op boys hockey player Jake Fuss, Northwest Catholic boys hockey player Anthony Ceolin, Northwest boys basketball player Christian Thomas, Masuk-Monroe boys basketball player Bryan Acevedo, New Fairfield/Immaculate hockey player Peter Masi, Simsbury boys basketball player Rayon Christie, Greenwich boys hockey Matt Lodato, Wilbur Cross runner Danae Rivers and Notre Dame-Fairfield girls basketball player Kayla Croswell, Simsbury boys hockey player Ben Levin and Canton girls basketball player Emily Briggs. Our athlete of the winter was Branford boys hockey player Tyler Criscuolo.
Our fall 2014 winners:
Fairfield Warde girls soccer player Taylor Gabrenas, Cheshire girls volleyball player Jillian Haberli, Torrington boys soccer player Kevin Vaca, Cheney Tech-Manchester quarterback Rafael Lebron, Maloney-Meriden soccer player Ricardo Lopez, Danbury boys soccer goalie Ian Shannon, Northwest Catholic-West Hartford running back Delano Robinson, Derby’s Ben Slowik, Norwich Free Academy’s Jawaun Johnson, Valley Regional’s Andrew Tuscano, Windsor’s John Nolan.
Click here on our guidelines for the award.
June 14, 2015
This week’s nominees for CPTV Sports’ UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week! Voting ends Tuesday at noon , so choose your favorite now and tell your friends and fellow fans to vote, too!
On Wednesday, we’ll release the ballot for the UChoose Student-Athlete of the Spring for the 2015 season. If you think you have a worthy nominee, reach out to us on social media or at [email protected]
* Please note: Vote totals do not immediately update in our database. Check back every 5 to 10 minutes and refresh your screen to see the latest vote totals.
This week's voting for UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week has closed. We'll announce the winner later Tuesday.
•Mike Appel - Amity-Woodbridge baseball
The senior DH was 3-for-4, including a first-inning two-run homer, as the Spartans won their third consecutive state Class LL title with an 8-1 win over Staples seen LIVE on CPTV Sports Saturday. He also was 3-for-4 with two RBI in a quarterfinal win over Glastonbury and had two hits and RBI in the semis against Southington.
•Ashley Guillette – -Oxford softball
The Coastal Carolina-bound senior scattered three hits, struck out 10 and hit a three-run double to lead Oxford to a 4-0 win over previously unbeaten St. Joseph-Trumbull in the Class M final to give the Wolverines their second title in three years. It capped off an impressive tournament run for Ashley, who pitched a perfect game in a quarterfinal win over Rocky Hill and a no-hitter in the semifinals against Tolland. St. Joe’s entered Friday’s final averaging 8.8 runs a game while going 26-0. This is Ashley’s third Student-Athlete of the Week nomination this spring; and Ashley could be a contender for UChoose Student-Athlete of the Spring when voting begins later this week.
• Sarah Lawton – Holy Cross-Waterbury softball
The sophomore righthander pitched a one-hitter, struck out 15 and hit a triple pitched in on the Crusaders’ 4-0 win over Thomaston in the Class S final Saturday. It was the first state title in 23 years for the Crusaders, who ended Thomaston’s 31-game winning streak.
• C.J. Leindecker – East Lyme baseball
The senior righthander earned two wins and two saves in the state Class L tournament for East Lyme, whose title bid fell just short in a dramatic 3-2 loss to North Haven in the Class L final seen LIVE on CPTV Sports Saturday night. Taking the mound in the fourth with East Lyme trailing 3-1, he pitched four scoreless innings, allowing one hit with four strikeouts to keep the Vikings in it. New London Day columnist and Beyond the Beat panelist Mike DiMauro wrote about C.J.’s postseason following Saturday’s game.
• Krista Iwanicki – Granby girls lacrosse
The senior attacker scored the game-winning goal in overtime to give the Bears a 14-13 victory over Old Saybrook in the Class S title game Saturday for Granby’s first state girls lacrosse title. Kristin’s second goal of the day capped a great season for the Bears, who also won the NCCC title and got eight goals from Olivia Johnson Saturday. See the broadcast premiere Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. on CPTV Sports.
• Danae Rivers – Wilbur Cross-New Haven girls track
Danae set a state and meet record with a time of 2:05.86 in the 800 meters at the New England championships in Saco, Maine. Danae’s time broke the state record held for 23 years by Liz Mueller (2:07.19) and the meet record of 2:06.42. Danae, last year’s Gatorade State Girls Track Athlete of the Year as a sophomore, began the week by winning the 800 and 1,600 in the CIAC State Open in New Britain that will air several times this week on CPTV Sports, including the premiere Sunday June 14 at 8 p.m.