The Brattleboro and Bellows Falls cross-country teams got a dress rehearsal for the state championship meet on Oct. 5 when they journeyed to Thetford Academy for the annual Woods Trail Run.
Traditionally held on the first Saturday in October, the Woods Trail Run takes place on the same course used for the state meet on Oct. 26. It gives competitors a chance to run the 5-kilometer course and have some race experience on it against top-level runners before the big show.
In the girls' race, BF's Abby Broadley finished seventh in 19 minutes, 47.6 seconds. She was the second fastest Vermonter in the race, behind second place finisher Alicia Veronneau of Champlain Valley (19:21.83). Ninth-grader Rylee Shunnee of East Greenwich, R.I. won the race in 19:21.78.
Other BF finishers included Stephanie Ager (68th, 22:04.73), Ashley Bartlett (179th, 23:51.84), and Molly Hodsden (240th, 24:51.00).
Brattleboro had three girls in the race. Caitlin Robinson was 282nd in 25:24.90, Hazel Wagner was 374th in 26:49.98, and Lizzy Wright was 411th in 27:31.34.
Mill River junior Brogan Giffin won the boys' race with a time of 16 minutes, 25.27 seconds. U-32 was the boys' team winner.
The Bellows Falls boys finished 35th as a team. Tim Salter-Roy led the BF runners with a 94th place finish in 18 minutes, 51.1 seconds. Collin Robertson was 141st in 19:19.59, followed by Quin Farmer (192nd, 19:48.39), Jacob Howard (576th, 24:01.75), Jared Atkins (650th, 25:50.74), and Logan Comstock (681st, 27:10.82)
The Colonels were 30th in the boys' team scores. Brattleboro's Finn LaMorder was 134th in 19.14.17. Bram Tabachnick was 139th in 19:18.45, followed by Ben Berkson-Harvey (248th, 20:24.64), Logan McKay (281st, 20:37.12), Jonah Bingham (324th, 20:57.34), Tenzin Mathes (412th, 21:47.79), Brinkley Woodcock (577th, 24:02.19), Cullen O'Hern 605th, 24:37.38), and Ernie Brunton (703rd, 28:39.45).
• Earlier in the week, the Colonels hosted a meet at Fort Dummer State Park, the first time they've had a meet there. The Brattleboro runners certainly liked the new course, as they swept both meets against Mount Anthony.
Tabachnick covered the 5-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 25 seconds, with LaMorder a close second in 19:33. Brattleboro had five of the top six boys' finishers with Reis Perotti (third, 20:20), Bingham (fifth, 20:42), and Berkson-Harvey (sixth in 20:53) completing the team scoring.
Mount Anthony's Sarah Umphlett won the girls' race in 21:50, and her teammate, Maggie Payne, came in second. After that, it was all Brattleboro as the Colonels took the next five spots. Robinson was third in 25:32, Bella Takacs was fourth in 26:03, and Alexandra Miskovich (fifth), Wright (sixth) and Wagner (seventh) rounded out the team scoring.
Football
• The Brattleboro juggernaut rolls on. The latest victims are the Spaulding Crimson Tide, who lost to the Colonels, 56-16, in a Saturday night game in Barre on Oct. 5.
Against Spaulding, the Colonels put on a master class in what coaches call “complementary football,” or when the offense, defense, and special teams all put points on the board.
On the second play of the game, defensive back Aaron Petrie intercepted a pass from Spaulding quarterback Jackson Pearson at the Spaulding 35. Three plays later, Colonels quarterback Tyler Millerick threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Howard. Reed Sargent made the first of his eight point-after kicks for a 7-0 lead just 98 seconds into the game.
After Spaulding's next drive stalled at midfield, it only took two plays for the Colonels to get to the end zone as Chris Frost scored on a 40-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 with 8:40 left in the first quarter.
Spaulding sputtered again on their third drive of the night and punted the ball away. Frost fielded the ball at the Spaulding 46, and ran it back for a touchdown with 4:12 left in the first.
The Tide looked like they were going to score at the end of the quarter, but Millerick intercepted the ball to set up the Colonels for another touchdown. On the first play of the second quarter, Millerick threw a 40-yard TD pass to Trinly Warren.
Once again, the Tide put together another good drive as they had great success running the ball against the Colonels. Passing the ball? Not so much. With a third-and-1 from the Colonels 6, Pearson threw the ball and Petrie picked him off for the second time of the night.
Brattleboro wasted no time turning the interception into points as a 54-yard run by Frost was followed by a 41-yard running TD catch by Petrie for a 35-0 lead at the midpoint of the second quarter.
Spaulding broke up the shutout when Grady Chase scored on a 4-yard-run and Brandon Brunner caught a 2-point conversion pass to make it 35-8 at the half.
The second half was for entertainment purposes only. Millerick finished a 70-yard drive on the first series of the third quarter with a 2-yard sneak. Frost then picked off Pearson at midfield on Spaulding's first drive, and Warren turned it into his second touchdown of the night when he caught a 49-yard pass from Millerick.
Spaulding got its second score on a Pearson touchdown pass with 1:44 left in the third. The final quarter was played under the mercy rule with a running clock and the Colonels sitting down most of their starters. With backup quarterback Henry Thurber at the controls, Brattleboro scored on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 2-yard run by Frost.
How dominating were the Colonels on offense? They only had one punt in the game, with 4:15 left in the final quarter. The pass defense was nearly perfect, and the run defense bent, but didn't completely break down when it mattered.
Now 5-0, the Colonels host Fair Haven on Friday night at 7 at Natowich Field. A win would clinch home field for Brattleboro for the first two rounds of the Division II playoffs.
• Bellows Falls took an early lead and withstood a rally by Springfield as the Terriers beat the Cosmos, 19-8, to retain “The Trophy” in the 100th game between these two teams since 1914.
It was the 10th straight victory this series for BF, which now has a 58-42 record against the Cosmos in one of the longest-running football rivalries in Vermont. It was played before more than 1,200 people at Springfield's Brown Field.
The Terriers took a 13-0 lead on a 52-yard run by running back Jed Lober and a 40-yard pass from quarterback Griffin Waryas to running back McGregor Vancor. Jeb Monier kicked the extra point on the second score.
Trailing by two touchdowns with about 10 minutes left in the first half, the Cosmos responded with a 65-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Presch to Kaleb Chambers. Anthony Steele caught the two-point conversion pass to cut the BF lead to 13-8 with 7:15 left.
BF had a couple chances to get that touchdown back, but were unable to do so until late in the game, when Lober scored his second TD of the night on a 6-yard run with 1:19 left in the final quarter. He finished with 159 yards of rushing.
The Terriers, now 4-2, head north to Newport this Friday night at 7 to face North Country.
Field hockey
• This has been a payback year for Bellows Falls, as teams that the Terriers beat up on in previous seasons now get a chance to avenge those losses.
While the Terriers' long unbeaten streak and three straight state titles are now just a happy memory, BF is still capable of making life miserable for opponents.
An example of this came on Oct. 2 in Manchester, as BF's Meagan Kelley scored off a penalty corner as time expired for a 2-1 win over Burr & Burton.
Kelly also assisted on the first goal of the game, by Maya Waryas, which also came off a penalty coner with 23:29 left in the second half. That tied the game at 1-all.
The BF defense and goalie Jaia Caron (seven saves) bought time and kept the Bulldogs from getting the go-ahead goal, setting up Kelly's last second heroics.
The win was definitely sweet for the 5-6 Terriers, since it came after a pair of losses earlier this season to the Bulldogs.
• Woodstock needed overtime to beat Brattleboro, 3-2, on Oct. 2 at Tenney Field.
Lily Quintaro and Rachael Rooney each scored for the Colonels in regulation time. Jessica Tatro was credited with an assist.
Makenzie and Sophie Yates each scored a goal for the Wasps in the first 60 minutes. Makenzie Yates then got the game-winner with 5:56 left in OT. The Colonels are now 3-6.
Girls' soccer
• Ellie Longo scored two goals as Leland & Gray shut out Rivendell, 2-0, on Oct. 4 in Townshend. Longo got her first goal off a Bay Holmes free kick from midfield that Arin Bates gathered and chipped over Rivendell goalkeeper Lauren Hair, who came off the goal line. Longo was there to pounce on the loose ball and put it in the net.
Longo was also on clean-up duty for the second, as she knocked in the rebound of an Abby Towle shot. Rebels goalkeeper Sydney Hescock made two saves for the shutout, while Hair finished with 22 saves.
Earlier in the week, Sydney Hescock made 12 saves to lead Leland & Gray to a 3-1 home win over Windsor on Oct. 2.
Bates, Longo, and Izzy Ameden were the Rebels goalscorers; Towle set up Ameden's tally with a corner kick. Adi Prior made 28 saves for Windsor. The lone Windsor goal came from Olivia Rockwood.
The Rebels finished the week at 8-2 and the fourth spot in the Division III rankings.
• Mount Anthony shut out Brattleboro, 3-0, on Oct. 1 at Spinelli Field. Antonia Pelton scored all three goals for the Patriots as Brattleboro fell to 2-8-1.
• Sadie Boyd scored two goals to lead Twin Valley to a 3-2 victory over Black River on Oct. 1 in Ludlow. Olivia Dick also scored for the Wildcats, who withstood a late rally by the Presidents to come away with the win.
On Oct. 5, the Wildcats lost to Stratton Mountain School, 5-1, to finish the week at 3-6-1.
• Bellows Falls got shut out twice last week, a 3-0 road loss to White River Valley on Oct. 2 and a 2-0 home loss to Green Mountain on Oct. 4. The Terriers ended the week at 2-6-2.
Boys' soccer
• Owen Grinold scored two minutes into overtime to give Twin Valley a 4-3 victory over Rivendell on Wednesday.
Aidin Joyce, Aaron Soskin, and Grinold all scored goals during regulation time, with Colin McHale and Finn Fisher credited with assists. Wildcats goalkeeper Jack Kehoe made eight saves in the victory.
• Brattleboro beat Fair Haven, 5-0, on the road to improve their record to 7-2. They are ranked seventh in Division I.
• Leland & Gray played to a 1-1 tie against Woodstock on Oct. 1 in Townshend. The Rebels are 3-6-1.
• Bellows Falls lost at home to Arlington, 7-0, on Oct. 1 and lost at Green Mountain, 5-0, on Oct. 4 to drop their record to 3-7.
Senior bowling roundup
• Team 1 (22-3) had a 5-0 week to vault into first place after Week 5 of the fall season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl.
Team 10 and Team 5 (18-7) are now tied for second place, followed by Team 11 (15-10), Team 4 (14-11), Team 3 (12-13), Team 9 and Team 2 (both 11-14), Team 6 (10-15), Team 7 (both 9-16), and Team 8 (8-17).
Doris Lake had the women's high handicap game (251), while Beverley Middlestadt had the high handicap series (652). Al Dascomb had the men's high handicap game (242) and series (683). Team 6 had the high team handicap game (910) and Team 10 had the high handicap series (2,449).
In scratch scoring, Robert Rigby rolled a 234 and a 201 to lead the men with a 601 series, while Gary Montgomery had games of 182 and 180 as part of his 540 series. Marty Adams rolled a 198 in his 517 series and Warren Corriveau Sr. (505) once again had a 500-plus series. Charles Marchant had a 182 game.
Josie Rigby once again had the women's top scratch game score (189), while Lake rolled a 178 game and Bunny Fogg had a 170.