Season Recap: Bobcats Earn All-Conference Honors

Boys Basketball:

A season that saw the Bobcats go from a 3-win season a year ago to a 13-win season this year led to Brookfield earning post-season award recognition.

Senior captain Nick Paez, who averaged 15.7 points per game, was named to the All-Colonial Division team for his stellar performance.  Paez was one of the most consistent deep threats in the SWC, connecting on 43 three-pointers on the season.  Paez, topped the 20-point mark six times this season, going for a season high 25 against Joel Barlow.  In post-season play, he scored a game high 23 points against Kolbe Cathedral.

Junior Danny Burkhart also made the All-Colonial Division team.  Through the season, Burkhart proved to be a dangerous scoring threat, complementing Paez's outside game with a slashing attack game as he was able to break down defense's by penetrating in the lane to score off the dribble.

Brookfield's remaining three starters all earned All-SWC Honorable Mention. Senior captain Austin Yusko scored in double-figures with regularity for the Bobcats, giving them three viable scoring threats throughout the season.  Junior center Ralph Schatz and sophomore forward Ryan Korb provided strong defense for the Bobcats with Schatz averaging over five blocks per game.

Girls Basketball:

The Lady Bobcats run to the Class M State championship game as the No. 1 seed a season ago kept the building program's expectations high this season.  The loss of the school's all-time leading scored Brittany Martelle and the defensive leader Jackie Brown tempered those expectations somewhat, but the girls forged a new identity this season to bounce back with another strong year that helped garnish post-season awards.

Senior captain Jamie Bickelhaupt was named to the All-SWC First Team for her dominating play at the center position.  Bickelhaupt capped her strong regular season with her best play of the year in the post-season.  Facing one of the state's top players, Kolbe Cathedral's Cherelle Moore who is heading to play NCAA Division I basketball, Bickelhaupt scored 23 points while grabbing 16 rebounds to help the Lady Bobcats win an overtime thriller in the SWC playoffs.

Fellow senior captain, Krista Melchione, who started the season in street clothes due to an injury, recovered to play well enough to earn All-Colonial honors as she teamed up with Bickelhaupt to present a formidable low-post duo for opposing teams to deal with.  Facing another of the states top post-up players, Melchione finished her career by grabbing 14 rebounds against No. 1 seed E.O. Smith.

Perhaps the biggest reason the Lady Bobcats were overcome the loss of Martelle was the performance of sophomore Julia DePoi.  DePoi, who was voted the SWC breakout player of the year by her peers, earned All-Colonial Division honors.  Much like Bickelhaupt, DePoi came up big in the post-season, averaging 19.8 points per game including a season high 25 points in the second round of the state tournament.

Boy's Hockey:

The IceCats season didn't end they way they wanted it too, with tough losses in the both the SWC and State playoffs, but that didn't mean they didn't have a monster season worthy of post-season awards.  Their 17-5 campaign won them the regular season SWC championship and earned them the No. 1 seed in the Division III playoffs.

Senior captain Justin Sullivan headed up the strong defensive unit for BBD, earning Division II/III First Team honors.  Sullivan helped the stingy BBD defense hold the opposition to  two goals or fewer 16 times.

Junior captain Steven Segiet was the teams leading scorer on the season which led to him being named to the Division II/III Second Team.  Segiet, a forward, netted 25 goals while collecting 13 assists.  Segiet registered two hat tricks on the season, scoring three goals against Newtown and Joel Barlow.

The IceCats also had five players named to the Honorable Mention team.

Senior captain Andrew Creaturo was second on the team with 15 assists.  Junior Nick Melvin scored 8 goals and had 12 assists from the forward position.  Junior forward Stephen Hallock scored 14 goals with four assists.  Freshman defender Nick Blaszka stood tall behind the blue line in his first season and sophomore goalie Luiz Dibble had a strong follow up to his breakout freshman season in net.

It is worth noting that sophomore forward Trevor Kurjiaka was the second highest point scorer on the team, registering a team high 23 assists while scoring 14 goals.  Somehow he was overlooked for any post-season honor.

Wrestling:

Another Brookfield team on the rise this season after recent seasons of struggle, the Bobcat grapplers became a team to be reckoned with this season as they were led by the senior and junior combo of Mike Delvalle and Jack McKeever both of whom notched their 100th career wins on the same night during.

Senior DelValle and junior McKeever were named to the All-SWC First team for their strong performances.

DelValle won the SWC 135-pound championship before advancing to the Class M State Championship where he finished as runner-up.

McKeever also won the the SWC championship, doing so in the 140-pound weight class.  Like DelValle he finished runner up at the Class M State Championship and then followed that up with a runner-up trophy winning performance at the State Open championship.

Junior Joel Wamser was named to the Honorable Mention team in the 189-pound weight class.

Boy's Swimming & Diving:

 A 13-1 overall regular season record, a runner-up finish at the SWC Championship, a third place finish at the Class M State Championship and an eighth place finish at the State Open Championship led to what head coach Brian Reiff deemed a proud coaching moment.  Reiff was named the CIAC "Coach of the Year" at the All-State Banquet.

The Bobcat squad that helped Reiff earn the prestigious award not surprisingly earned numerous all-conference honors and all-state honors.

Senior captain Janco Cornelius, juniors Jeff Magin and Jack Dunn, and sophomores Luciano De Souza and Matt Moen were named to the All-State teams.  The 200 Medley Relay team of De Souza, Cornelius, Magin and Dunn took home the gold medal at the Class M Championship, the State Open Championship.  De Souza, Cornelius and Magin were also part of the record breaking SWC Championship relay win.

Cornelius, Magin, De Souza and junior Drew Krensta were all named to the All-SWC First Team while Moen and Dunn were named to the All-SWC Second team with freshman Nick Miller.

Senior captain, diver Kevin Farrell was named to the All-SWC Third team.

Boy's Indoor Track & Field:

The Bobcats had another strong season, winning the Class M State Championship while taking home the runner-up trophy at the SWC Championship.  Their performances on the year earned them post-season honors to go along with their trophy's.

Junior captain Colin Burke and senior Jack Gernert were both named to the All-SWC First team.  Burke and Gernert both took home gold medals at the SWC Championships with Burke breaking a school record in winning the the 300 Meter Dash and Gernart topping six feet for victory in the High Jump.

Senior captain Christopher Ackell and senior Kirk Gardner were both named to the All-SWC Second team.  Ackell took runner-up in the Shot Put at the SWC Championship and Gardner was out-pointed in the Pole Vault to take runner-up.

Four other team members earned Honorable Mention team honors.  Senior's Dan McArdle and Ryan Murphy as well as junior Noah Adams were recognized for the their third place finish in the 4x400 Meter Relay at the SWC Championship. Senior Sam Grainger's third place finish in the high jump earned him the honor.

Girl's Indoor Track & Field:

The Lady Bobcats sixth place finish at the SWC Championship earned their team post-season honors.

Junior Wendi Westmark's runner-up finish in the Shot Put placed her on the All-SWC Second team.  Westmark broke her own school record with a throw of 31-09.75.  Junior Meghan Heron placed third in the event which placed her on the Honorable Mention team.

Senior captain Aileen Tobin made the Honorable Mention team with her third place finish in the 1000 Meter Run and sophomore Djenne Parris' school record breaking run in the 300 Meter Dash earned her a third place finish and Honorable Mention team honors.