October 4, 2013 - Southingtonlibrary.org

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The Step Saver/ The Observer
Friday, October 4, 2013
Our Athletes
Membrino: 2013 SK Light points champion
From page 36
ing. With minor adjustments,
Membrino climbed
up to third place at the start
of his heat race to earn a
seventh place finish in the
20-lap feature. They fixed a
stearing issue in the practice
rounds, made a few
slight adjustments in the
heat race, but Membrino
needed to finish at least
three spots ahead of Chase
Dowling to catch up in the
standings on the final race.
Membrino said that he felt
good about his chances at
the starting line of the feature
race.
“Winning the race was
my only objective,” he said.
“I knew that the points
would take care of themselves.
I had a ton of people
there to support me. My
grandfather made his first
appearance at the track this
year, along with a bunch of
family members and a ton
of my friends. There were
probably around 20 people
just at our pit before the
race started, let alone all the
other family and friends
that were in the stands for
the race.”
From the drop of the
green flag, Membrino had
his hands full. Going into
Turn 3, the car in front of
him made a three-wide
move and tangled up into a
melee right in front of
Membrino. Luckily, he saw
it unfold. Membrino
squared his front bumper
with the tangle ahead, stood
on the gas, and pushed
through it to claim fourth
place as the caution flag fell.
On the restart, it
became a two-man race
with Membrino and Tyler
Hines as caution flags
began to fall on the group
behind them like a parade
at the United Nations. Hines
and Membrino survived the
multiple restarts, including
a 20-minute cleanup on lap
13 that cooled the tires
before the final push to the
finish. Suddenly,
Membrino’s steering issues
returned.
“There was just something
I wasn’t liking with the
right rear tire,” he said. “The
car wasn’t sliding or pushing.
It just felt like it wanted
to take the wall down off the
corners, but it was actually
better with longer green flag
laps than it was on restarts.
So when it was time to go
back to green with seven
laps to go, with cooler tires
and speedy dry all over the
track, I didn’t know what to
expect.”
He was able to hold
onto the lead as Hines continued
to challenge him
from behind. With two laps
remaining, the two were
locked in a dogfight at the
front of the pack. Membrino
protected the bottom of the
track to try to force him to
pass him on the top, and
the gamble paid off. Hines
tried to pass him on the
right. The two raced sideby-side
into the final two
turns, but Membrino pulled
away at the end to win by
half a length.
“It was one heck of a
race, and one heck of a
win—not an easy one by
any means,” Membrino
said. “Tyler kept me on my
toes. He’s a hockey player
and those guys go all out, so
I knew he wasn’t going to
make it easy on me.”
It wasn’t until Dowling
pulled up alongside him
and flashed the thumbs-up
sign that Membrino realized
that he’d regained the
points title. Dowling finished
fifth overall.
Membrino captured the
checkered flag. When the
dust settled, Membrino
scored the points victory by
a slim, four point margin.
“It was just pandemonium
from there. All those
people that were at our pit
earlier were all around me
screaming, cheering, clapping,
and throwing water all
around,” he said. “It was
unreal…It just overwhelmed
me. I thought to
myself, ‘All this for me?’ It’s a
feeling I can’t describe, but I
wish everyone could experience
just once.”
Although the Stafford
season is finished,
Membrino still has one
more race before he hangs
up his gloves. He’s currently
ranked fifth in the NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series
Division III national standings,
and he’s ranked second
in the NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series state
standings. Now, Membrino
will try to improve his overall
rankings with a final
regional race.
“While we don’t know
what lies ahead of us for
next year just yet, we have
one more stop in our schedule
this year,” he said.
“We’re going to try and wrap
the year up with another
win at the World Series of
Speedway Racing at
Thompson International
Speedway on October 19.”
For now, Membrino will
celebrate his victory with
his local sponsors:
Equipment Services,
CWPM, Richards
Corporation, TD Homers,
Napa Valley Auto Supply, Jay
Pahl Auto, Steve Greer, JMW
Construction, Embroidery
Works, and Membrino
Electric.
To comment on this
story or to contact sports
writer John Goralski, email
him at jgoralski@
southingtonobserver.com.
Scoreboard
From page 26
Southington 2
(Overtime)
Friday, Sept. 27
At Southington
Farmington 1 1/1 — 3
Southington 1 1/0 — 2
First half—1, Lauren Zazzaro,
SHS, 26:22; 2, Jenny Bruzik (Caroline
Berkowski), FHS, 16:39.
Second half—3, Joan Bosma,
FHS, 20:30; 4, Gaby Baker, SHS, 3:33.
Overtime—5, Rachel Andreanna,
FHS, 1:09.
Shots—FHS, 11. SHS, 6.
Saves—Emily Hogan, FHS, 4;
Val Szmurlo, SHS, 8.
Corners—FHS, 6. SHS, 10.
Records—FHS, 6-0. SHS, 1-4-
0-1.
Girls Soccer
Southington 0,
Simsbury 0
(Overtime)
Tuesday, Sept. 24
At Simsbury
Southington 0 0/0 — 0
Simsbury 0 0/0 — 0
First half—no scoring.
Second half—no scoring.
First overtime—no scoring.
Second overtime—no scoring.
Shots—SoHS, 9. SiHS, 16.
Saves—Margaret Mellitt and
Janelle Mangassarian, SHS, 9. Carly
Heintz, SiHS, 3.
Corners—SoHS, 3. SiHS, 6.
Records—SoHS, 2-3-1 (1-3-1).
SiHS, 3-2-2 (2-2-2).
Newington 1,
Southington 0
Friday, Sept. 27
At Newington
Southington 0 0 — 0
Newington 1 0 — 1
First half—1, Madison Lewicki,
NHS, 30 mins.
Second half—no scoring.
Shots—SHS, 3. NHS, 19.
Saves—Margaret Mellitt and
Janelle Mangassarian, SHS, 16. Abby
Benner, NHS, 3.
Corners—none.
Records—SHS, 2-4-1 (1-4-1).
NHS, 5-2 (4-2).
Girls Swimming
Southington 93,
Manchester 82
Tuesday, Sept. 24
At Manchester
200 med relay—1, SHS (Aly
Schroeder, Aly Baribault, Sam
Sagnella, Laurel Dean), 2:05.13; 2,
MHS; 3, SHS. 200 free—1, Rosie
Mendynski, MHS, 2:07.5; 2, Marisa
Matthews, SHS; 3, Bailey Potter, SHS;
4, Ashley Christensen, SHS; 5, Sam
Valentine, MHS. 200 IM—1, Dean,
SHS, 2:27.7; 2, Alex Sanchez, MHS; 3,
Kristen Loose, SHS; 4, Sagnella, SHS;
5, Rachel Morris, MHS. 50 free—1,
Schroeder, SHS, 28.32; 2, Jorgia
Wittaker, MHS; 3, Bethany Greenlaw,
SHS; 4, Lexi Segueira, MHS; 5, Joy
Blanchet, SHS. 100 fly—1,
Mendynski, MHS, 1:06.66; 2,
Sagnella, SHS; 3, Loose, SHS; 4,
Baribault, SHS; 5, Brenna Crockwell,
MHS. 100 free—1, Matthews, SHS,
59.82; 2, Whittaker, MHS; 3, Kerry
Buchanon, SHS; 4, Christensen, SHS;
5, Taylor McCoy, MHS. 500 free—1,
Schroeder, SHS, 6:03.7; 2, Potter,
SHS; 3, Sam Valentine, MHS; 4,
Sheriden Meek, MHS; 5, Shannan Hill,
MHS. 200 free relay—1, SHS
(Matthews, Loose, Greenlaw,
Baribault), 1:52.07; 2, MHS; 3, SHS
(Tia Jones, Jen Monte, Becca
Tsangarides, Sagnella). 100 back—
exhibition. 100 breast—exhibition. 400
free relay—exhibition.
Record—SHS, 3-1.
Stafford
Motor
Speedway
SK Light Division
Carquest Fall Final
Saturday, Sept. 28
20 Laps at Stafford Motor Speedway
Race 18 of 18
1, Tony Membrino, Jr., CWPM/
Equipment Services, Cadillac; 2, Tyler
Hines, Hines Motorsports, Chevrolet;
3, Glenn Griswold, Kimmer Racing,
Chevrolet; 4, Bob Charland, Shark
Cycle, Pontiac; 5, Chase Dowling, S&S
Asphalt Paving, Chevrolet; 6, Ronnie
Williams, Advice One, Chevrolet; 7,
Jay Goff, Goff Motorsports, Chevrolet;
8, Joey Ferrigno, Brothers Pool,
Oldsmobile; 9, Rich Hammann,
Tolland NAPA, Chevrolet; 10, Dave
Nordman, Shark Cycle, Chevrolet; 11,
Dylan Campbell, Campbell Racing,
Chevrolet; 12, Wesley Prucker,
Prucker Motorsports, Chevrolet; 13,
Pete Lopuch, Lopuch Motorsports,
Chevrolet; 14, Fred Nees, Jr., LaJoie’s
Scrap Metal, Chevrolet; 15, Nick Salva,
D&D Autoworks, Chevrolet; 16, Dylan
Menditto, Darrin’s Electrical Services,
Chevrolet; 17, Tony Santangelo, Jake’s
Way Burgers, Chevrolet; 18, Payton
Henry, Johnson Motorsports,
Chevrolet; 19, Robert Palmer, Palmer
Motorsports, Chevrolet; 20, Jason
LaFayette, CT Hometown Realty,
Chevrolet; 21, Rick Dyer, Dyer Racing,
Pontiac; 22, Todd Douillard, Flamingo
Motorsports, Ford; 23, Geoff Boisjolie,
Industrial Heating Systems, Chevrolet;
24, Troy Talman, Digital Federal Credit
Union, Chevrolet.
SK Light Final Standings
Effective Saturday, Sept. 28
Driver Pts +/-
1, Tony Membrino, Jr. 780 —
2, Chase Dowling 776 -4
3, Troy Talman 678 -102
4, Jay Goff 670 -110
5, Bob Charland 648 -132
6, Ronnie Williams 642 -138
7, Joey Ferrigno 596 -184
8, Payton Henry 552 -228
9, Rich Hammann 552 -228
10, Dylan Menditto 536 -244
11, Glenn Griswold 502 -278
12, Tyler Hines 480 -300
13, Geoff Boisjolie 430 -350
14, Wesley Prucker 374 -406
15, Dylan Campbell 368 -412
16, Fred Nees, Jr. 366 -414
17, Rick Williams 312 -468
18, Todd Douillard 306 -474
19, Tony Santangelo 212 -568
20, Jason Lafayette 206 -574
21, Pete Lopuch 148 -632
22, Rick Dyer 136 -644
23, Cam McDermott 130 -650
24, Shayne Prucker 120 -660
25, Nick Salva 118 -662
26, Rit Dulac 102 -678
27, Mike Parolo 80 -700
28, Robert Palmer 78 -702
29, John Studley 46 -734
30, Dave Nordman 32 -748
31, Victoria Bergenty 24 -756
*50 points are awarded for first place, and
points decrease by 2 points per position.
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