Windham’s Crudden to receive a Gold Key
Southington — Former Windham High School wrestling and football coach Brian Crudden was selected as one of five Gold Key recipients by the Connecticut Sports Media Alliance and will receive the award Oct. 20 at the Aqua Turf Club.
Other honorees are former Daniel Hand and Yale University football coach Larry Ciotti, retired Pomperaug High field hockey coach Linda Dirga, award-winning sportscaster George Grande and Wesleyan University women’s basketball coach Kate Mullen.
Crudden served as the Whippets wrestling coach from 1977-98, winning seven state championships as well as the 1992 New England title. He was the Connecticut High School Coaches’ Association Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1993 and was inducted into the Connecticut chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1993.
Crudden’s football teams qualified for the playoffs five times during his tenure from 1985-2015, including two championship game appearances. He was the CHSCA Football Coach of the Year in 2011 and was elected as a member of the CHSCA Hall of Fame in 2014. He has 543 career victories, including 371 in wrestling.
Tickets for the Gold Key Dinner are $75 and are available by contacting CSMA president Tim Jensen at (860) 394-5091 or tim.jensen@patch.com.
College honors
• Paige Bueckers, a redshirt junior for the UConn women’s basketball team, was selected as one of five finalists for the 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award. In its seventh year, the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award honors the top shooting guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. Bueckers is averaging a career-high 20.7 points per game this season and has notched 20 20-point games. Against top-25 opponents this season, Bueckers is averaging 22.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.8 blocks and 2.7 steals while shooting 51.3% from the field and 51.9% from 3-point range.
• Mitchell College junior Chris Gibbs was named Great Northeast Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week and freshman Chas Terni Jr. of Montville was named Rookie of the Week for the sport of baseball. Gibbs, a right-handed pitcher, turned in a pair of quality performances for the Mariners (3-1) over the first four games of the season, posting a 2-0 record with a 1.00 ERA across nine innings of work (two starts). Gibbs recorded eight strikeouts, surrendered just one walk, and posted a WHIP of 1.00. Terni Jr. hit .438, going 3-for-5 with a double, home run, three RBI and two runs scored in the Mariners’ home opener against Brandeis.
• Conn College junior Alex Moncada was named second team all-league by the New England Small College Athletic Conference. After joining the Camels midway through the season, Moncada took over the No. 1 spot and won all six individual matches in which he appeared. The Camels finished the season at 8-12, the most wins for the program since 2019-20. Conn advanced to the finals of the CSA Walker Cup.