Bulldogs capture Muscato All-Sports Award
By Jay Turner
The CHS volleyball team captured its first state title in the fall.
During a recent virtual celebration of CHS Class of 2020 Athletic Honors and Awards, Hockomock League President Tom Angelo proudly announced Canton High School as the winner of the 2019-20 Val Muscato All-Sports Award for the Davenport Division.
Named in honor of the late Valentine Muscato, former longtime athletic director and hall of fame coach at Oliver Ames, the award is presented annually to the school with the highest collective placement in the standings across all of the varsity sports offered. This year, that honor went to the Bulldogs, who had the top combined finish among the six Davenport schools through the fall and winter seasons (the spring season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
In a recorded video announcement, Angelo congratulated the CHS athletics community on their impressive achievements in what has “certainly been a challenging year.”
“My heart goes out to all of our Hockomock student-athletes, especially our seniors who had their school year cut short due to the current pandemic we continue to face,” he said. “During these challenging times, we look at alternative ways to recognize our student-athletes and our schools who continue to represent the Hockomock League with such strength and pride. That said, I have some awesome news to share with you … I am happy to inform the Canton High School Bulldogs that this year’s Hockomock Val Muscato Award in the Davenport Division is yours.”
According to CHS Athletic Director Danny Erickson, this marks the first year that Canton has received the Muscato Award since he became AD in 2004.
Recapping the 2019-20 year in CHS sports, Erickson noted that the Bulldogs combined for seven division titles, including four in the fall (golf, football, field hockey, volleyball) and three more in the winter (boys hockey, girls hockey, girls swimming).
“So in the two seasons of competition that made up the 2019-20 season, our Bulldogs won seven of 18 possible league championships,” he said. “Considering there are six schools in the Davenport, our fair share of championships should be three. We more than doubled that number, led by the Class of 2020!”
Three of those division title winners — volleyball and boys and girls hockey — went on to capture their respective state championship, and another, the CHS football team, came within a few wins of a Super Bowl en route to a 10-1 finish.
Several other teams also had memorable postseason performances, including the boys indoor track team, which placed third out of 36 schools at the Division 4 Championships, and the girls soccer team, which advanced to the sectional semifinals as a No. 14 seed.
Canton also had a number of individual standouts this year, including senior wrestler Eddie Marinilli, who won the 152-pound weight class for his second career state title, and junior sprinter Jonathan Chery, who raced his way to the Division 4 crown in the 55-meter dash. Several others added Hockomock individual titles, including swimmers Shauna Harney and Matt Thompson, shot putter Bronwyn Mahoney, and the boys 4×200 relay team of Junior Sainvil, Cam Sanchez, Zach Goldstein and Chery (who also won the league title in the 55m).
Also garnering league-wide recognition this year were seniors Caroline Tourgee and Nathan Quan, winners of the prestigious Hockomock Scholar-Athlete Award, as well as league MVP winners Kyle Fitzgerald (football), Taylor Harris (volleyball) and Johnny Hagan (boys hockey). Additionally, both the boys and girls hockey programs were honored with the Hockomock League Sportsmanship Award, while several others placed second in the voting for this same award. “Thanks to these programs for setting a classy tone for the rest of our programs and fans,” said Erickson.
For a full list of award winners and senior varsity letter recipients, check out the interactive Class of 2020 Athletic Honors blog entry at chsbulldogsathletics.blogspot.com.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=68157
Posted by Jay Turner
on Jun 19 2020. Filed under High School, Sports.
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