Haggerty, Etess capture club titles

Jack Stabach (17th year)

Sr. Megan Opsahl, Sr. Victoria Chen, Sr. Chara Proud, Sr. Abby Bessire, Jr. Taylor Gray, Jr. Maeve Counter, Jr. Kate Orefice, Jr. Emma Vlaun, Jr. Amelia Kozlowski, Jr. Mary Kathryn Taylor, Jr. Anna Johnson, Jr. Katherine Wyatt, So. Katie Keating, Sr. Hannah Yousaf, So. Atena Mendez, So. Hiruni Jayawickre.

Grace Vlaun, Alissa Lee, Ashwini Sahasrubude, Erin Munch, Soleil Demars.

The Vikings have won all 17 ECC championships since the turn of the century, and will be favored to add an 18th title this fall after going 13-2 overall, 10-0 in the ECC, winning the ECC championship meet and placing third in the Class M state meet in 2016. They did lose some key swimmers, including Class M state champion Gretchen Stelter in the 50-yard freestyle, but return five All-Area athletes, including last year's ECC championship swimmer of the meet (Gray), the All-Area 200 medley relay team of Gray, Chen, Counter and Orefice, and Taylor in the 100 butterfly.

Brandon Biondi (1st year)

Sr. Danielle Millerick, Sr. Holly Conlon, Jr. Hope Sowle, Jr. Paulomi Sardar, So. Alyson Lowney, So. Fiona Lemay.

Fr. Kylie Heard, Fr. Emily Tarinelli, Fr. Katie Shaughnessy.

Biondi replaces the veteran Ken Berg, who retired after 16 seasons of leading the Falcons. Seniors Millerick, Conlon and Drury are all proven performers while Sardar is the reigning ECC champion in the 200-yard freestyle, earning All-Area honors as well. Fitch probably doesn't have the overall depth to challenge East Lyme for the title, but the Falcons always have quality swimmers.

Alan Opsahl (8th year)

Sr. Madison Sanborn, Sr. Elizabeth Dudda, Sr. Aubrey Moser, Jr. Olivia Strelevitz, Jr. Madeline Johanson, Jr. Ellie Shea, Jr. Gabby Schaufler, So. Erin Lyons, So. Katy Truncale.

Fr. Aubrie Lozior, Fr. Tesse Finnegan, Fr. Paige Booth.

The Colonels must replace six seniors, but there is certainly plenty of experience, even though Opsahl said overall numbers a bit down this fall. Strelevitz won an ECC championship in the 100-yard backstroke last year and is also strong in the 100 butterfly. Sanborn, Dudda and Moser bring experience to the freestyle races while Johanson, Schaufler and Lyons are multievent performers.

Cory Tubbs (17th year)

Sr. Michelle Agular, Sr. Madlyn Bell, Sr. Angela Chong, Sr. Elizabeth Graves, Sr. Ashley Lac, Sr. Ciara McDonough, Sr. Emily McKenzie, Sr. Katie Provost, Sr. Kayla Rosengren, Sr. Zilin Yang.

The Wildcats did suffer some graduation losses, but Tubbs welcomes back 10 seniors and is really excited to have 15 newcomers join the program. "Our team continues to grow and improve," Tubbs said.

Brett Arnold (17th year)

Sr. Carolyn Keatley, Sr. Molly Reagan, Sr. Zora LaBonte, Sr. Sophia Podeszwa, Sr. Erin Patten, Sr. Chloe Rubin, Sr. Megan Wyatt, Sr. Alex Charles, Jr. Jayne Darras, Jr. Elizabeth Hawkins, So. Elyse Gathy.

Fr. Ella Dyjak, Fr. Viviana Martinez, Fr. Tallah Ryan, Fr. Sarah Johnson.

Arnold is excited about his 2017 Lancers, and who can blame him? For starters, a pair of ECC champions and All-Area performers — Podeszwa (diving) and Gathy (500-yard freestyle) — return along with Darras, one of the program's top freestyle athletes. Freshmen Dyjak and Martinez are expected to add depth, making Waterford one of the more competitive teams in the ECC this fall and a threat to finish among the top 10 schools in Class S.

Waterford — Tim Haggerty wore a recent birthday gift during the Great Neck Country Club men's championship final on Monday.

Call it his Payne Stewart look, complete with stylish knickers. The outfit was a good luck charm, as well, considering his impressive title run in the championship flight.

Haggerty captured the crown in his first title appearance, beating Andrew Cavasino, 2-up, in the well-played 36-hole match.

He had the same clothes on in Saturday's semifinal upset of Eric Bergstrom, who had won four of the previous five championships.

"My Dad said, 'if I buy you knickers for your birthday, will you wear them for the club championship?' " Haggerty said. "I said, 'absolutely.' So I wore them Saturday and beat Eric Bergstrom in one heck of a match and then I had to wear them again Monday."

Coming off the 18th green after his victory Monday, Haggerty received his share of hugs and handshakes from the sizable crowd of fellow members watching the tournament.

"I'm on Cloud Nine right now," said Haggerty, who's from Waterford and shared the special day with his brother Richard serving as his caddy.

The victory was a bit bittersweet because he defeated Cavasino, a good friend and frequent playing partner. They played a practice round together on Friday before Saturday's semifinal matches.

"It was great being out here with him," Haggerty said. "We both went out there saying we're going to have fun. And we both had fun today. Andrew had some good shots and I had some good shots. He's one hell of a competitor.

"If he had won, I would have been happy for him."

The match remained tight throughout the day. In the morning round, Haggerty had a birdie on the 18th hole to carry a 1-up lead into afternoon play.

Trailing by one, Haggerty went on a minitear, winning holes 13, 14 and 15 to take a 2-up lead. Chances for Haggerty to close out the match on No. 16 and No. 17 fell short.

"I had a hard time getting the putter back straight, I was that nervous," Haggerty said.

Cavasino, 28, kept the pressure on by sinking a clutch 15-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to pull within one. But his second shot on No. 18 found the greenside bunker and he never recovered.

"We both played pretty solid," said Cavasino, who's from Waterford and lost in his only other final appearance in 2015. "I played just a little tight. I didn't hit enough balls close to the hole. Timmy played great, though. His long iron play was as good as I've seen him play."

Both Haggerty and Cavasino appreciated the support of their fellow members, the course staff and Great Neck owners Dave and Ann Mortimer. "It was awesome," Haggerty said. Haggerty won more than bragging rights with the victory. Club champions earn a prime parking spot at the club for a year.

A probation officer for the state of Connecticut, Haggerty also is looking forward to collecting a prize from one of his co-workers, Robert Amanti.

"My buddy told me that if I won the club championship, he would buy me a set of irons," Haggerty said. "He's here today."

There also was plenty of drama in the women's club championship. Sue Schmidtknecht defeated Karen Anderson on the first playoff hole to win her first Great Neck title since 2012. It was Anderson's fourth straight appearance in the final, winning the event in 2013 and 2014.

"We had a great match," Schmidtknecht said. "It's not the first time we've competed with each other. She's a great competitor. I love playing with her. We play on the weekends in friendly matches."

The match went back and forth until Anderson grabbed a 2-up lead heading into the 17th hole. Schmidtknecht battled back to win the next two holes, taking advantage of a few mistakes to force a playoff.

Schmidtknecht, who's from Groton, is no stranger to comebacks. Last week, she rallied from a five-hole deficit through eight holes to win a match. "That was crazy," Schmidtknecht said. Going back to the New London Country Club days, Schmidtknecht has captured nine titles overall. She won seven straight from 1999 to 2005.

Other Great Neck champions were: Jim O'Neill (Super Senior) Tony Siragusa (Senior Club), Kevin O'Reilly (Senior), Bill Mayo (First Flight), Marty Guinn (Second Flight), Jim Williams (Third Flight), Debbie Cook, Kristin Harkness (women's flight winners).

Top newcomers: Outlook: Fitch Coach: Key returnees: Top newcomers: Outlook: Ledyard Coach: Top newcomers: Outlook: Norwich Free Academy Coach: Key returnees: Outlook: Waterford Coach: Key returnees: Top newcomers: Outlook:

Etess ends drought

• Mitchell Etess avenged last year's defeat in the Old Lyme Country Club men's final, beating two-time defending champion Ken Sweitzer, 3 and 1. It was far from easy. Etess could never let down playing Sweitzer. He didn't even feel comfortable after winning No. 15 with a par and No. 16 with a birdie to go 2-up.

"I was very cautious to take it one shot at a time having learned from what happened in previous matches," Etess said. "I wasn't comfortable until the last putt. He's a super competitor and I was constantly aware of that. He hit a long birdie putt on 12 to tie it.

"It was very mentally taxing. It was a grind. I had to really stay focused."

Etess won the first hole and never trailed in the match. He played even par golf the last 13 holes.

The victory ended a long drought for Etess, who last won a title about "10 or 12" years ago and been runner-up several times.

"It definitely felt really good for me to get over the hump and get this one," Etess said. "It was something I was hoping to do. I've been playing pretty well this year. It's been fun." g.keefe@theday.com