Local Roundup: Hanover girls crew racks up medals at NEIRA Regatta
WORCESTER, Mass. — An extraordinary performance by the Hanover High School girls crew team on Saturday resulted in a silver and two bronze medals at the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Regatta.
“This has never happened in Hanover High School history,” said Julie Stevenson, who has coached the team since 1998. “We have only ever won one medal a year. The first boat has never won a medal at New Englands. We have had excellent fast crews in the past but not as fast as we did today.
“All six Hanover boats that could qualify for New Englands qualified,” she added. “This is a huge honor.”
Competing against 18 private and public school crews from throughout New England, the Hanover girls’ first boat of eight finished in 5 minutes, 19.711 seconds for silver honors, less than a second faster than Concord’s St. Paul’s School (5:20.678). Exeter won the 1,500-meter race in 5:12.706.
Lily Versteeg served as coxswain of a first eight that consisted of Molly Hackett, Eleanor Press, Lyra Bornholdt-Collins, Meg Frost, Lily Clapp, Gwyneth Munroe, Britta Arvold and Eliza Daigle. Hannah Boone didn’t compete due to injury.
Hanover’s girls second boat took third in 5:46.45, fighting hard to come back from a fourth-place position over the last 500 meters, Stevenson said. Meghan O’Hearn coxed a crew that included Greta Schutz, Ava Winchester, Stella Pinto, Ada Callaway, Freddie Tagupa, Alisa Halchenko, Sofia Consentino and Anne Rightmire.
The Bears’ third girls finished in 5:46.672 for their bronze, less than a half-second behind Connecticut’s Kent School. Olivia Phipps coxed a group of Rebecca Berger, Ella Mayo, Caroline Healy, Ava Holthoff, Kate McCaull, Sydney Sandor, Zoe Chamberlain and Bella Johnson.
Hanover’s first boys boat was sixth, the second boat claimed fifth and the third boat was eighth.
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MANCHESTER, Vt. — The Hurricanes found themselves down, 3-0, after two innings but rallied for a run in the fourth and two each in the fifth and sixth innings to win the morning half of a two-foe, two-site, season-ending, away-and-home doubleheader.
Marina Grassi relieved Logan Evans, who allowed three runs, with two out in the second inning and shut down the Bulldogs the rest of the way, giving up one run with six strikeouts.
“Overall, it was a solid game,” said Hartford coach Danielle Tenney. “Hartford had solid fielding, but (Burr & Burton) made some good catches on hits and a couple good heads-up plays on running.”
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Hurricanes had a successful end to the regular season, beating Windsor under the lights at Maxfield Sports Complex to complete a Saturday sweep.
Marina Grassi went the distance against Windsor, striking out six to reach 100 Ks for the season. Grassi also went as 4-for-5 at the plate.
The Canes’ Becca Keelty had four hits including a double and triple, and Logan Evans had three singles and a double. Hallie Defabiis and Bella Murphy had two hits each for Hartford, which finished the regular season at 10-6. Windsor concluded its season at 3-12.
WOODSTOCK — Sophomore Trevor Lagrow had two hits and three RBIs and threw three scoreless innings in relief for the Yellowjackets.
Maison Fortin and Lee Bevis had two hits each for Windsor, which was up, 4-0, after three innings and 5-1 after four before tacking on two more in the sixth. Adam Dufour got the start for Windsor and pitched four innings, giving up two runs. Wyatt Begin took the loss, pitching 5⅓ innings.
Windsor finishes the regular season at 6-9 and Woodstock at 6-8.
MANCHESTER, Vt. — Two costly errors in the bottom of the sixth inning allowed Burr and Burton to score the tying and winning runs.
Hartford was ahead, 2-0, in the second on a Joey Beggs single. After Burr and Burton tied it in the third, the Hurricanes scored in the top of the sixth on a Noah Arsenault sac fly to lead, 3-2.
Hartford had eight hits, with Zach Johnson leading the way with two.
The Hurricanes finished 7-8 (6-1 in the Southern Vermont League) and now head to the VPA Division II playoffs ranked sixth in the division.
WOODSTOCK — Senior Hannah Reed and junior Isabel Konijnenberg had three goals each, and Lily Gubbins and Kellan Johannensen a goal each for the Wasps.
“It was an amazing game overall — the best game we played all season,” Woodstock coach Tammy Myers. “It’s a bummer we didn’t walk away with a win, but we closed the gap compared to the last time we played Rutland (13-9).”
The Wasps finished the regular season at 7-5 and will wait to see their seeding in the VPA playoffs.
ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. — Windsor senior Janiah Young took first in the 100- and 200-meter dashes as well as the long jump at the New England qualifier at Essex High School, giving her spots at the New England Championships on June 11 in New Britain, Conn.
The Yellowjackets’ Madelyn Durkee and Charlize Brown finished 1-2 in the 400-meter dash. Thetford’s Tobin Durham was fifth in the boys 1,500. The top six finishers in each event in the four divisions qualified for New Englands.
Others making the standard from Vermont Division III:
Oxbow: Sophia Hayes (javelin).
Thetford: Finn Linehan (pole vault), Uly Junker-Boyce (long jump, triple jump); girls 4x400 relay (Brown, Jada Rich, Maya Dixon, Durkee).
Sharon: Jaxon Nichols (110-meter hurdles).
White River Valley: Jillian Barry (long jump, triple jump).
Windsor: Ben Gilbert (discus); Tydus Percy (javelin); Travis McAllister (triple jump); boys 4x100 relay (Jonathan Dexter, Gilbert, McAllister, Keegan Batchelder); girls 4x100 relay (Kiara Wildgoose, Rhaiven Essense-Kellogg, Sophia Rockwood, Young).
Hartford competed in Division II, with Jordan Davis (discus), John Cassell (pole vault) and Olivia Chase (discus) making New Englands.