WOODBURY — Three Nonnewaug athletes earned All-State recognition this fall: senior soccer player Ellie McDonald, senior soccer player Gavin Sandor, and sophomore cross country runner Luke Lodice.
McDonald was the center defensive midfielder for the girls soccer team. Junior midfielder Ella Quinn felt McDonald was well deserving of this award.
“I think she deserved the All-State award because of the work that she put in this season; she always tried her best to improve herself and the team during practices and games, ”said Quinn. “She was really coachable and adapted to change really well, and was really successful during the season.”
McDonald said the award came as a surprise.
“It feels great. I never expected it,” McDonald said. “I wouldn’t have been able to get it without my team or coach. Soccer is a team sport, so it wasn’t just me who got me All-State. I couldn’t believe it when I found out. When I think of All-State, I think of these extraordinary players, just knowing that every game I worked hard and my team pushed me during practice. This year was just a great year for us and I would make sure to play hard for my teammates.”
Also making the All-State team was Sandor, a forward who was a key player in the boys’ big-moment games.
Liam Sandor, his brother and teammate, believes having strong players in stressful moments are what make up a great player.
“I think Gavin deserves all the attention because beyond the surface athleticism that he has he always comes up in big moments,” Liam Sandor said. “Having those big-time players is what really pushes you over the edge sometimes. Those game-winning goals against Housy and Lakeview and countless other goals is what helped us get to our record only having one loss. I think ultimately sometimes that’s what separates good players from great players is handling pressure and showing up in those big-pressure moments.”
Gavin Sandor said he appreciates the recognition for his work ethic.
“I feel proud because I was able to put in the work and got the award to show for that work,” Gavin Sandor said. “It’s a good way to end my last year of high school soccer. To earn this award, it took a lot of hard work during games and practice in season. However, I think what helped me achieve this the most was the work in the offseason. The extra runs, practices, and drills are what helped me most during the season to play well.”
The final All-State athlete was Lodice, a sophomore cross country runner. In his first year at Nonnewaug, he made an impact on the team.
Boys cross country coach Deborah Flaherty is proud of Lodice’s achievements and believes he has much more to come in the future.
“At the State Open meet, he was 72nd out of 190 runners, and that doesn’t sound as outstanding until I took out every junior and senior runner, and he was fourth in the state,” Flaherty said. “So it really puts a perspective on not only how well he did this year, but what his future looks like.
“He earned it,” Flaherty continued. “He trained over the summer. He came over from Oxford, so he ran cross country for the first time last year, realized he was pretty good at it, and put the work in over the summer so when he came in for the season, no pun intended, we were able to hit the ground running. He always put in 110% and always worked really, really hard, and it paid off time and time again over the season. So he definitely earned All-State.”
Lodice felt it was rewarding to see his hard work pay off.
“It definitely feels good, and although it was an off race, it still felt very rewarding of all of the hard work I put in all summer while nobody was watching and to just see it pay off,” Lodice said. “It took a great level of discipline. It took saying no to any excess in my life that might affect my performance. I had to learn how to tune out and ignore everybody else – ignore and outperform. [It took] high-mileage weeks, a whole lot of weightlifting, sleep, nutrition, water. I didn’t only have to train the body, but the mind, too. I learned to love the pain and pressure the sport puts on you.”
