ANNOUNCEMENTS OF INTEREST

     The Starter "Family" is more than just basketball! We all watch daughters and teammates develop life-long friendships, learn to share and survive independently "on the road" and mature to college age young adults. We watch our coaches work with our daughters, share the "ups and downs" of athletic competition, gain experience, get married and move on to new opportunities. As parents, we get the opportunity to cheer for all the girls, provide words of support for a daughter whose parent(s) couldn't attend, and make our own new friendships.
     If you have a special announcement you would like to share, please e-mail us or fax us using the information at the bottom of this page.

Announcements:

• March 2, 2010
  *** Congratulations to the following 8 CT Starters alumnae, as their teams all made the 2010 NCAA Division III Tournament.
  -- Julia Baily and Maggie Riddle (Tufts University)
  -- Lindsay Brown (Ithaca College)
  -- Nicole Coombes and Colleen Sweeney (Bowdoin College)
  -- Sarah Herlihy (University of Chicago)
  -- Taylor Nkonoki and Melissa Teel (Western CT State University)
  -- Kristyn Wright (University of Rochester)
  They all begin play in the 64-team tournament on Friday March 5. The tournament homepage can be viewed at:
  http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-baskbl/champpage/w-baskbl-div3-index.html
   
  
• February 18, 2010
  *** Congratulations to former Starters coach and player (and current St. Joseph College women's coach) Kim Martin, on her recent engagement to Dave Sciascia.
   
  
• February 15, 2010
  *** Congratulations to former Starters player (and Siena alumnus) Laura Menty on her recent engagement to Michael Menges.
  *** Congratulations to Caldwell College junior guard Kirsty Leedham, who scored her 1,000th career point in a game against Nyack College on January 28. Leedham is just the 12th player in school history to achieve this milestone.
  *** Congratulations to Canton HS junior Sarah Benedetti, who scored the 1,000th point of her high school career in a win over Coventry on February 4.
   
  
• January 25, 2010
  *** Congratulations to former Starters player Christie (Williams) Diedrich. She and her husband Dave are the proud parents of their first child, Aidan Fox Diedrich, born Sunday January 17. According to current Starters coach Fred Williams, his grandson is blonde, 6 lbs 7 oz and "as cute as his grandfather".
   
  
• January 11, 2010
  *** Congratulations to Platt HS junior Damika Martinez on scoring her 1,000th career point in a win over Bulkeley on January 8.
   
  
• January 10, 2010
  *** Congratulations to former Starters player Courtney Upshaw. She is featured on the cover of the Holiday 2009 edition of Gladys Magazine, a national women's magazine. The cover can be viewed at www.gladysmagazine.com.
   
  
• January 7, 2010
  *** Congratulations to Eastern Connecticut State University freshman forward Tanisha Carter (East Hartford), named Rookie-of-the-Week by both the New England Women's Basketball Association (NEWBA) and by the Little East Conference for her play in two games last week. The 5-foot-11 inch Carter averaged 11.5 points and 9.0 rebounds and shot .500 percent from the floor last week when the Warriors won two games. In a 75-41 home win over Clark University last Wednesday, Carter had ten points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes and in a 52-49 victory over host Williams College Sunday in the opening round of the Williams College Winter Classic, she had 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in 36 minutes and scored the go-ahead basket with just under one minute left. The NEWBA honor is the first in the career of Carter, who was named conference Rookie-of-the-Week in the first report through games of Nov. 22. Through ten games for the 7-3 Warriors, Carter leads the team in rebounding (8.5) and field goal percentage (.471) and is second in scoring (10.8) and tied for second in minutes per game (32.3). Carter leads all freshmen in the conference in rebounding, is eighth overall in field goal percentage and tied for 15th overall in scoring.
   
  
• November 30, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Johannah Leedham of Franklin Pierce College, older sister of former Starters player Kirsty Leedham, who set two Northeast-10 Conference career records on November 21 in just the 2nd game of her senior season. Leedham is now the career scoring leader with 2,202 points, as well as the league's career leader for made free throws with 550 for the 2nd ranked Ravens.
   
  
• November 20, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Scott Medeiros for being named varsity girls basketball coach at Wilcox Tech in Meriden.
  *** Congratulations to Alexys Vazquez (Starters 16 Red-Berlin HS) on signing a National Letter of Intent to accept a full scholarship at Fairfield University.
   
  
• October 30, 2009
  *** Congratulations to former Starters player Meghan (Phelps) Martelli on the birth of her first child on October 20, an 8 pound, 11 ounce boy named Philip Stephen Martelli. Meghan's father is Steve Phelps, former Starters coach and current boys coach at St. Paul HS and her husband, Phil Martelli, Jr. is an assistant men's coach at Niagara.
   
  
• September 14, 2009
  *** Congratulations to former Starters coach (and current Middletown HS coach) Rob Smernoff on his September 13 marriage to Kate Nichols.
   
  
• July 27, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Alison Berman, who was a member of the USA Junior Girls Basketball team at the recent World Maccabi Games in Israel. The team won the Gold Medal at the Olympic-style competition and was coached by Rich Slater of the Long Island Lightning AAU Girls Basketball Club.
   
  
• July 02, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Kat Woods, named Female Athlete of the Week by the Waterbury Republican American!
   
  
• June 16, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Damika Martinez of Platt HS (and our 16 Red team), the only New England player listed in the ESPNU Top 100 list; also rated as one of the top 25 PG's nationally in her class!
   
  
• June 15, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Sarah Benedetti (15 Red); she was the starting first baseman for Canton HS, which won the Class S state softball championship on June 13 with a 4-2 win over Coginchaug.
   
  
• June 10, 2009
  *** Congratulations to former CT Starters player and Bryant University graduate Lindsay (Hermann) Lacey, on the birth of her first child. Lindsay gave birth to a daughter, Cameron Jayden, on June 5th.
   
  
• June 5, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Kat Woods (Northwestern Regional HS) for winning the long jump and 4 x 100 relay at the recent Class M state championship meet! She also finished 2nd in the 100 meter race.
   
  
• May 18, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Audra (Spremullo) DiBacco. Catholic Central High School of Albany, NY has named former CT Starters player Audra (Spremullo) DiBacco as girls’ basketball coach. DiBacco, who played her HS played basketball at Bridgeport Central and her college basketball at Siena, served the past three seasons as assistant coach under Chris LaBombard. She previously was coach at Bishop Gibbons and has spent the last six years coaching with the Albany Capitals.
   
  
• April 25, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Samantha Riccio (Avon HS), who will be attending and playing basketball next year at Eastern CT State University.
  *** Congratulations to Dayshima Jackson (Manchester HS), who will be attending and playing basketball next Fall at Western New England College in Springfield. Community Center.
  *** Congratulations to Paxton Thornton and Tanisha Carter, who will both be playing in the JCC Schoolgirl Classic on Saturday April 25 at 6:30 PM at the Bridgeport Jewish Community Center.
   
  
• April 20, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Kristyn Wright. Click Future Fitness Athlete of the Month information.
   
  
• April 13, 2009
  *** Congratulations to CT Starters 12 Red assistant coach Krisyn Wright, who will be awarded The Rocky Hill Athletic Hall of Fame's Rachel Carey Spirit Award at their dinner on June 6 at the Rocky Hill Marriott. The award is named in honor of Rachel Carey, who was a Suffield Academy student from Rocky Hill who died in a car crash in 2003 at the age of 16. According to the Hall of Fame, the award annually honors a HS athlete who is "a good teammate, a good sport and works hard in every aspect of their life."
   
  
• April 1, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Chelsea Blake (CT Starters 2006), who was accepted as one of two interns, out of an applicant pool of over 100, with the New York Liberty this summer. She will be working at Madison Square Garden in the areas of marketing and event management. Chelsea is a sophomore at New York University.
   
  
• March 28, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Lindsey Henry (16 Blue), the recipient of the Suffield High School 2008-2009 Girls Basketball Coaches Award. She also was named MVP for the Suffield High School Girls Varsity Basketball Captains Game, where she scored 21 points.
   
  
• March 23, 2009
  *** Congratulations to the following CT Starters players and coaches on their selection to the CHSCA All-Star Game:
  CLASS M-S: Emily Savino, Paxton Thornton, Coach Fred Williams
  CLASS LL-L: Taylor Nkonoki
   
  
• March 22, 2009
  *** Congratulations to former 16 Red (2008) player and Middletown HS Senior Taylor Nkonoki, who has been selected to play in the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game this Monday, March 23rd at North Branford HS at 7:30 PM. She also will be participating on Friday, March 27th in the Middlesex Rotary Classic All-Star Game at 5:30 PM with the game being held at Middletown High School.
   
  
• March 11, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Starters alumna Christie (Vincent) Garrett, and husband Phil. New baby boy Christian Phillip Garrett, 9 pounds, 2 ounces, was born at 10:02 PM on Tuesday March 10. Mom, baby and Dad are all well.
   
  
• March 9, 2009
  *** Congratulations to Emily Savino (Ellington HS), who will be attending and playing basketball next season at Western New England College (MA).
  *** Congratulations to Laura Neff (Waterford HS), who will be attending and playing basketball next season at Rhode Island College.
   
  
• March 5, 2009
  - Congratulations to Paxton Thornton of Housatonic Valley Regional HS. On March 4, she broke the school's all-time scoring record (boys and girls) of 1,430 points in a CIAC Class S First-Round win over Coginchaug. The school's previous record holder was Angel Martin, who was also a former CT Starters player.
   
  
• March 1, 2009
  - Congratulations to Kelly McCormick (Manchester, CT) honored Wednesday (Feb. 25) as the Western New England College Male and Female Athletes-of-the-Week. McCormick, a forward on the women’s basketball squad, averaged 12.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in a 1-1 week. She had 17 points and five assists (both career highs) along with six rebounds over Anna Maria that gave the Golden Bears a five-game winning streak, and pulled down a career best 12 rebounds against Colby-Sawyer. McCormick is an Education/Psychology major.
  - Congratulations to sophomore Colleen Sweeney and freshman Nicole Coombes, both members of the Bowdoin women's basketball team, which defeated defending champion Amherst 49-46 on March 1 in the NESCAC final to gain the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
   
  
• February 20, 2009
  - Congratulations to Platt sophomore guard Damika Martinez, who set the school record for most points scored by a sophomore; she currently has 381 points this season and broke the record of 362, set by Kelly Penwell 21 years ago. Last year, Martinez set the school's freshman scoring record.
   
  

   

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