When The Day held its inaugural Athlete of the Year Awards banquet in 2019, little did we know our second banquet would not take place again until 2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, silenced the games our high school athletes played for an entire academic year, then limited attendance and social gathering for a second season.

The return to normalcy also led to the resumption of our banquet, as more than 150 people gathered on June 28 at Lake of Isles to celebrate the accomplishments of 26 student-athletes from 10 different schools in The Day’s coverage area who were honored as All-Area athletes of the year from their fall, winter and spring sports.

Erik Dobratz and John Pierson of WTNH (Ch. 8) served as emcees for the evening, which culminated with the presentation of The Day’s four major awards. Fitch’s Rita Sefransky was selected Female Athlete of the Year, Stonington’s Josh Mooney was named Male Athlete of the Year, Old Lyme’s Lauren Rahr was honored as Coach of the Year/Female Sport and Stonington’s Paul deCastro was named Coach of the Year/Male Sport.

Sefransky was an all-state pick in two sports and The Day’s All-Area Athlete of the Year in girls’ lacrosse, Mooney was a multiple indoor and outdoor track and field state champion and The Day’s All-Area Athlete of the Year in boys’ outdoor track and field, Rahr guided Old Lyme to its second straight Class S girls’ tennis title and second straight unbeaten season, and deCastro coached Stonington to 21 straight wins and its second straight Class M boys’ soccer championship.