Immaculate High School’s strong athletic program has nurtured many accomplished student-athletes, and several of them will play in college. At the third signing ceremony of the year, student-athletes represented ten sports at colleges and universities, including D1 and D2 schools.
Mikey Basile of Bethel will play basketball at Washington and Lee University, where he will major in Business. A starting player on the Immaculate boys basketball team that won last year’s CIAC Division II State Championship, Basile is a 2016 and 2018 Boys Basketball State Champion. While at Immaculate, he was named to the All-State and SWC First teams for basketball his junior and senior years, to the All-Patriot Team for soccer and was captain of the basketball, soccer and tennis teams.
Emma Baughman of Brookfield will play midfield on the Ave Maria University’s D2 women’s lacrosse team. An Immaculate lacrosse player for four years, she ran cross country for three years and indoor track one season. Baughman will major in Psychology while on a pre-med track and plans to be an ER physician.
Christina Carboni of Danbury will run D1 cross country and track for the University of Maine, where she will major in Business. Carboni ran cross country and track while at Immaculate and was a member of its championship teams.
Morganne Cartee of New Milford will play D2 soccer as a mid-fielder at Concordia College and is enrolled in the nursing program. Cartee played both midfield and outside defense for the Immaculate girls soccer team and ran indoor/outdoor track as a sprinter. Cartee was a member of the soccer team that won a Class 'M' State Championship in 2016 and the SWC Conference Championship in 2017, and the team finished as the Class 'S' runners-up in 2018 with Cartee as their team captain. Named to the All-SWC Indoor Track First Team and the All-State Indoor Track Second Team for both her sophomore and junior years, as well as All-SWC her sophomore year, Cartee also received an All-State Second Team recognition for outdoor track and competed at the New Balance Nationals Meet.
Matt Christe of Brookfield will play for the Norwich University football team where he will major in Political Science. Christe was running back for the Abbott Tech-Immaculate co-op football team (ATI) and was named an All-Conference player twice.
Hailey Dubbioso of North Salem, NY will play soccer, forward and outside midfield positions, for Salve Regina University where she will major in Early Childhood and Special Education. Dubbioso was a forward on the Immaculate girls soccer team, which won the 2016 Class M State Championship and the 2017 SWC Championship and finished as the Class 'S' runners-up in 2018.
Madison Halas of Danbury will play D2 field hockey at Bentley University, where she will play midfield and major in Business. Halas played the midfield position for both the Immaculate field hockey and lacrosse teams. She was named All-State First Team and All-Conference player three years in a row, CIAC Class S State Championship Player of the Game and to the NFHCA All-Northeast Region Second Team for field hockey. Halas was a lead player for the Immaculate field hockey team that won the 2018 Class S State Championship. She served as captain for the Immaculate field hockey team since 2016 and as captain of the girls lacrosse team in 2019.
Natalie Kennedy of Ridgefield will play D1 women’s ice hockey at Sacred Heart University where she will be a nursing student in the honors program. Natalie has played as a center on the Brewster Lady Bulldogs ice hockey team, where she has been a captain for the last three years, but will most likely play wing at Sacred Heart. The Bulldogs won the New York State Amateur Hockey Association U16 Championship last season and attended the USA Hockey Nationals. At Immaculate, Natalie played defense on the girls lacrosse team and is one of the senior captains.
Taylor Mascetta of Danbury will run for the Fordham University D1 track team, where she will be a mid-distance and cross country runner. She will study Communications and Journalism at Fordham. At Immaculate, Mascetta ran cross country and track and field. She ran the 5K and specialized in the 4x800m, 1600m, 3200m and 800m for track and earned All-SWC and All-State honors multiple times. For this school year’s indoor track season, Mascetta was a SWC, State, State Open and New England Champion in the 4x800m and also medaled at New Balance Nationals twice in the Emerging Elite DMR. Mascetta was named MVP during her senior year for the cross country and indoor track seasons and was named a SWC Scholar Athlete. She was part of the 2018 girls cross country team that won both the SWC and the State Class SS Championship titles.
Sophia Pilla of Ridgefield will attend the University of Georgia’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, where she will be a part of their D1 equestrian team. She will study to become a large animal veterinarian. Pilla had top finishes in the equitation, hunters and jumpers divisions at premier shows across the country. In 2018 she won the Overall Washington Equitation in Lake Placid (N.Y.) and the Maclay in Wellington (Fla.), which qualified Pilla to compete in the George Morris Equitation Championship. Among other honors, she also won multiple titles in the Junior Jumpers in 2018, qualifying for the US Jumper Championship in Washington finishing second in the speed round, and won the $10,000 Junior Jumper Classic at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington.
Anna Richards of Ridgefield will major in Nursing at Sacred Heart University, where she will also be a member of its D1 varsity cheerleading squad. A captain of the Immaculate cheer team her senior year, Richards was named to the SWC All-Patriot cheerleading team. She also played lacrosse at Immaculate her junior and senior years.
Allen Riego De Dios of Danbury will run cross country at Western Connecticut University, where he will major in Nursing. While at Immaculate he ran cross country and the 4x800 relay for indoor and outdoor track, and received All-State 2nd Team honors for indoor track and was named Rookie of the Year for cross country. Riego De Dios was a valued member of the 2018 Immaculate boys cross country team that won the State Class SS Championship, the first time the team won that title in school history.
Danielle Sekelsky of Bethel will be a varsity D1 cheerleader at Pennsylvania State University, where she will major in Business Finance. While at Immaculate, Sekelsky was a varsity cheerleader who earned Top All-American honors from the National Cheerleaders Association and was a 2019 World Champion with the World Cup Shooting Stars.
Lin Marie Vitarbo of Newtown will play on the girls soccer team at Mount Saint Mary’s College, where she will major in Biology, pre-veterinary track. At Immaculate Vitarbo was a member of the girls soccer team and was a sprinter for the track teams.
Jack Woods of Danbury will play D1 golf at Bryant University, where he will major in finance. While at Immaculate, Woods was named to All-Conference and All-State teams for golf during all four years of school. He played varsity basketball at Immaculate and was named to the All-SWC First Team. Woods was a leader of the Immaculate Golf Team that won the SWC Championship in 2018 and was a player on the 2018 basketball team that won the State Championship.
Immaculate High School is a private, non-profit Catholic college-preparatory institution serving students from 28 communities in Connecticut and New York. Founded in 1962, Immaculate High School allows students to focus on academic excellence, spiritual development, personal commitments and service to others. Located in Danbury, CT, Immaculate High School is part of the Diocese of Bridgeport’s parochial school system.
In the photo: Taylor Mascetta, Christina Carboni, Jack Woods, Allen Riego De Dios and Madison Halas