For the second straight year, Bellows Falls used their depth and their talent to sweep the state Division III track & field championships at Green Mountain Union High School in Chester on June 3.
The Terrier girls won their second straight Division III title with 144 points. Oxbow was second with 97 points and Thetford was third with 94.
The BF boys were just as dominating in winning their fifth consecutive state title, winning with 177 points. Thetford was a distant second with 116.66 points and Enosburg was third with 65.33.
• In the girls' meet, Keri Ticino won the pole vault for the second straight year, clearing the bar at 9 feet.
Michelle Marchica had a pair of wins as she was first in the 300 meter hurdles (50.38) and won the triple jump (34-0.50) for the second straight year.
It was a BF sweep in the discus as Savannah Bradbury also defended her title with a throw of 91-10. Ticino was second (87-10) and Emma Lawrence was third (87-2) for a 1-2-3 finish. Tess Kinney was sixth (72-3).
Lawrence was second in the shot put (28-8.75), while Ticino (102-7) and Macie Streeter (89 feet) were fourth and sixth, respectively, in the javelin.
In the 100 meter hurdles, Bridgid Hodsden (17.46), Abby Cravhino (18.04), and Marchica (18.21) finished 3-4-5, respectively.
Molly Kelly was third in the high jump (4-8), while Cravhino was third in the long jump (15-0.75) and Dani Marchica was sixth (14-2). Jasmine Boucher was third in the triple jump (31 feet), while Dani Marchia was fifth (30-6).
Cravhino (63.63) and Jasmine Boucher (63.69) were fourth and fifth, respectively in the 400. Reaghan Baldasaro was fourth in the 800 (2:33:32) Jaden Luebbert was sixth in the 100 (14.05), and Lia Clark was sixth in the 3,000 (12:04.7).
The BF relay teams had a solid day, with a win in the 4x800 as Megan Banik, Meagan Kelly, Streeter and Alice Salter-Roy won in 10:47.13. The 4x100 team of Hodsden, Boucher, Luebbert, and Cravihino was second in 53.49, and the 4x400 team of Baldasaro, Boucher, Michelle Marchica, and Streeter also came in second in 4:35.79.
• DJ Snide dominated in his four events for the BF boys. He won the 100 in 11.27 seconds, the 110 hurdles in 15.61, the 300 hurdles in 42.61, and the triple jump in 40 feet, 9 inches. It was the second straight year that Snide won both hurdle events as well as the triple jump.
Reno Tuttle was the shot put champ, with a toss of 46-4.25, and took the discus title for the second straight year with a throw of 146-6.
Shane Clark successfully defended his state javelin title with a throw of 152-02. Clark was second in the 110 hurdles (16.55), with teammates Caleb Lisai (18.56) and Hunter Smith (19.41) coming third and fourth, respectively. Clark also had seconds in the pole vault, clearing 10 feet, and the triple jump (40 feet).
Gabe Hakimoglu came in second in the high jump (5-6), while Lisai (5-4) was third. Lisai also had a fourth in the javelin (129-9). Sawyer Reis was fifth in the 400 (54.46), while Nicolas Potter was fourth in the 1,500 (4:21.51) and fifth in the 800 (2:10.82). Ian Wallace was third in the 1,500 (4:32.91).
The BF relay team of Sawyer Reis, Hakimoglu, Connor Smith, and Cameron Joy won the 4x100 in 45.91, while the 4x400 team of Joy, Ryan Kelly, Reis, and Connor Smith was second in 3:47.19, and the 4x800 team of Joy, Keenan Lowe, Jackson Purdy, and Tim Salter-Roy was second in 9:12.08.
• Brattleboro finished fifth in the boys' meet and sixth in the girls' meet in the Division I championships at Burlington High School on June 3.
Jasper Reed led the Colonel boys with wins in the long jump (21 feet), the 100 meter dash (11.56 seconds), and the 200 meter dash (23.13). He came in third in the triple jump (43 feet, 5 inches).
Evan Koch was fourth in the 110 hurdles in 16:05 and was fourth in the 300 hurdles in 43.46.
The Colonel girls had one winner, as Kai Boyd took the javelin event with a throw of 118 feet, 8 inches.
Maggie Lonardo was second in the 100 in 13.13, while Danielle Wood was fifth in 13.47. Dory Abdallah was fourth in 300 hurdles in 49.45, and Sarah Gallagher was fifth in the 800 on 2:26.74.
The 4x100 relay team of Abdallah, Kharisma Boyd, Lonardo, and Wood finished second in 51.49, while the 4x800 team of Liz Morse, Emilia Dick-Fioria Del Fabro, Ellery Loggia, and Gallagher came in fifth in 10:25.4.
Delany Bullock of The Putney School won the 1,500 in 4:50.36 and was second in the 3,000 in 10:35.12.
• In the Division IV state track meet in Chester on June 2, the Twin Valley boys finished third, while the Twin Valley girls came in eighth.
In the boys' meet, the 4x100 relay team of Chad Bernard, Cooper Pell, Luis Guerra, and Logan Park was second in 47.42, while the 4x400 team of Chad Bernard, Jack Kehoe, Dylan Rowe, and Iker Rodriguez was sixth in 4:18.16.
Pell (39-8) and Park (38-7.75) finished 1-2 in the triple jump. Pell was also fourth in the long jump (18-7). Park came in third in both the 100 (12.29) and the high jump (5-8), while Rodriguez was sixth in the 110 hurdles (20.91),
The Twin Valley girls 4x100 relay team of Karlee Walkowiak, Makayla Boyd, Tatyanna Bowman, and Caitlin Hunt won their event in 56.96. The 4x400 team of Bowman, Boyd, Franny Pozzi, and Walkowiak was second in 5:10.93. Walkowiak finished third in the high jump (4-4), while Hunt was fourth in the triple jump (28-10.75).
Softball
• In Division III, Leland & Gray made the finals in 2013 and 2015, while Green Mountain played in the championship game in 2014. So, it isn't surprising that these two teams will be playing each other this week in Townshend with a trip to the title game in Poultney on the line.
“This team's goal is to go all the way,” said Rebels coach Tammy Claussen.
Second-seeded Leland & Gray punched their ticket to the semifinals with a 7-1 home win over No. 10 Windsor in a quarterfinal on June 2.
It was the Rebels' first game in a week, having beaten Green Mountain in the regular season finale on May 27. The Rebels showed no signs of rust as they pounded out 15 hits, played great defense in the field, and got another great pitching performance from Olivia Brown.
Brown struck out 4, walked 2, hit 2 batters, and gave up 5 hits in the complete-game victory. Windsor got its only run in the second inning on an RBI single by Ava Sutton.
Claussen praised the way that Brown and her catcher, Jesse Stockwell, have worked together. “ Olivia and Jessie are so nice to watch. Olivia did what she needed to do, but I also think she knows she is capable of a little better.”
Stockwell did her part by throwing out two basestealers in the game. On offense, Jessica Madore and Emma Lane each had three hits.
“Both teams were putting the ball in play, Claussen said. “Offensively, we got the key hits when we needed them.”
• Brattleboro and BFA-St. Albans have faced each other often in the Division I playoffs in recent years, and their games have usually been taut nail-biters.
However, on May 30, fans got a slugfest instead as leadoff hitter Meghan Connor hit a grand slam and a double in a 15-10 victory by the No. 9 Comets over the No. 8 Colonels in a first-round game at a rain-soaked Sawyer Field.
The game turned in the Comets' favor in the fifth inning. Trailing 6-5, they drew 7 walks and scored 9 runs to take the lead for good. The only hit in the inning was Connor's grand slam over the center field fence.
BFA-St. Albans' hitters finished with a total of 8 hits and 19 walks as Brattleboro pitchers Jocelyn Aither and Hailey Derosia split the pitching duties. They combined for 6 strikeouts.
Winning pitcher Alexa Ross struck out 6, walked 2 and gave up 10 hits in the complete game victory.
Mariah Powers and Jamie Mahoney each finished with three hits for the Colonels, finished the season at 12-5 mark. The Comets were the only Vermont team other than Mount Anthony (twice) to beat the Colonels this season. Keene, N.H., and Wahconah, from Dalton, Mass., were the other teams who were victorious against Brattleboro.
• As the 15th seed in Division II, Bellows Falls was supposed to take its lumps and get swept aside by the second-seeded Randolph Galloping Ghosts. Instead, the Terriers showed they still had some bite and made Randolph work for their 4-3 first-round victory on May 30.
Jenna Sprague's base hit in the bottom of the seventh drove in Becky Johnson with the winning run.
Sprague was the winning pitcher scattering 7 hits with 9 strikeouts and 1 walk. Bellows Falls ends the season at 2-15.
Baseball
• When Brattleboro needed its pitching ace Leif Bigelow to be brilliant, he delivered.
Bigelow threw a no-hitter as the No. 12 Colonels shut out fifth-seeded Mount Mansfield, 3-0, in a Division I first round game in Jericho on June 1. He struck out 7 and walked 2 batters. He also helped his cause in the fourth when he doubled and ultimately scored on a Tommy Carroll sacrifice fly.
Dan Petrie later drove in a pair of runs with a fifth-inning single. The Colonels managed only 6 hits off losing pitcher Shea Fitzgerald.
However, the Colonels could not keep the magic going at No. 4 Hartford in a quarterfinal game on June 3, losing 3-2.
Tanner Bell helped manufacture the first Brattleboro run when he drew a walk, took second on a balk, stole third, and came home on an error. After the Hurricanes tied the game, Bell drove Bridger Grout in with a single to right to put the Colonels up, 2-1.
Hartford then rallied to take the lead to stay in their half of the fourth as Kyle Hamilton and Riley Packard each drove in a run.
Adam Newton was the losing pitcher for the Colonels, who ended up with an 11-7 record.
• It took three days to complete, but Bellows Falls can't complain about the result. After their Division II first-round game against Woodstock at Hadley Field on May 30 was stopped by rain in the third inning, the No. 6 Terriers waited through another day of rain before the sun came out on June 1 and they were able to finish off the No. 11 Wasps, 7-0.
Before the rains came, Bellows Falls scored 2 runs in the first inning as Jake Streeter walked, stole second, and scored on Clayton Groenwold's single. Groenwold later scored on a base hit by Brady Illingworth. BF got another run in the third on an Illingworth single, an error, and a wild pitch.
Illingworth was the BF starting pitcher and had given up just one hit, an Andy Seiple single, before play was stopped. That turned out to be the only hit of the game for Woodstock, as Spencer Clark and Jake Metcalf finished up on the mound on June 1 and shut down the Wasps.
BF added another run in the completed third inning and scored three more in the fifth. The Terriers got 11 hits in all, including 3 from Illingworth and 2 each from Clark and Streeter.
Even better for BF was that they managed to preserve its pitching staff. Both Clark and Metcalf stayed within the VPA-mandated daily pitch limit of 25, so both were available for the next day's quarterfinal against third-seeded Otter Valley. Illingworth threw 49 pitches, but because of the May 31 postponement, he was also available to pitch against Otter Valley.
Unfortunately, despite having their pitching staff lined up favorably, the Terriers lost to the No. 3 Otters, 5-1, in Brandon on June 2.
Illingworth got the start, and held the Otters to just one run over the first 3 innings on a rainy afternoon. The Otters picked up two runs in the fourth inning to take the lead and got two more in the sixth to seal the win.
Payson Williams, who beat BF during the regular season, held the Terriers to just 4 hits in the complete-game victory. He struck out 6 and walked 6. Illingworth struck out 7, but walked 9 batters in taking the loss.
• Pitcher Joey Rafus struck out 12 batters in 5 innings of relief, but it wasn't enough as No. 9 Twin Valley lost to the No. 8 Thetford Panthers, 6-4, in a Division III first round game on June 1.
Thetford scored 4 runs in the first inning, and maintained the lead after that. Connor Brown and Alden Nichols split the pitching duties for the Panthers, together they struck out 7 batters.
Ethan Fox went 2-for-3 to lead the Wildcats, who finished the season at 5-8-1. Skyler Boyd hit a solo home run and James McGovern also had a base hit.
• No. 11 Leland & Gray lost to the sixth-seeded Rivendell Raptors, 10-1, in a Division III first round game that took two days to play.
Play began on May 31, but the game was stopped by rain in the first inning. When the game resumed the next day, Raptors pitcher Dashiel Fukushima was dominating as he tossed a complete-game six-hitter to get the win.
Fukushima struck out 6, walked 1 and allowed an unearned run. Sam Tilden led the Rivendell hitters, going 3-for-3 with an RBI on a bases-loaded walk to go with a two-run single to finish with three RBIs. The Rebels finished the season at 6-11.
Girls' lacrosse
• Meghan Hawley scored 4 goals and Ella King added 3 more goals as No. 8 Mount Mansfield beat No. 9 Brattleboro, 12-8. in the opening round of the Division I playoffs.
Natalie Mohn and Allison Charland each added 2 goals and an assist for Mount Mansfield.
Brattleboro's Liz Day scored 4 goals and Tobin Lonergan picked up 3 goals. Colonels goalie Eliya Petrie made four saves.
Senior bowling roundup
• There's a three-way tie for first place after Week 5. of the spring season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League. Team 4, Team 8, and Team 3 all finished the week at 18-7. Team 1 (11-14) is now in second, followed by Team 2 (10-15), Team 5 and Team 7 (both 9-16), and Team 6 (7-18).
Sally Perry had the high handicap game (232) and Edna Fletcher had the high handicap series (643) for the women, while Tom Johnson had the men's high handicap game (239) and Dick Cooke had the high handicap series (636). Team 5 had the high team handicap game (844) and Team 8 had high handicap series (2,399).
No one rolled a 500-plus series and Warren Corriveau Sr. (213) had the week's only 200-plus game.