A Vermonter who battled back from a serious back injury to become a six-time national ski jumping champion and compete in two Winter Olympics for Team USA will be honored at the centennial edition of the Harris Hill Ski Jump competition.
Jim Holland, who won at Harris Hill in 1995, will be inducted into the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum's Hall of Fame during the opening ceremonies on Feb. 20 at 11:30 a.m.
“We are proud to celebrate the impact Jim Holland has had on ski jumping and Nordic skiing in the U.S.,” said Museum executive director Abby Blackburn in a news release. “Vermont's Harris Hill Ski Jump, the first big hill Jim skied and jumped many times in his life, is the perfect location to recognize his accomplishments.”
Jim was raised in Norwich, just across the river from the Dartmouth ski jump in Hanover, N.H. He and his older brothers grew up ski jumping and all went on to be Olympians. Jim and his oldest brother, Mike (who also won at Harris Hill in 1990), were Olympic jumpers, while Joe was a Nordic Combined athlete.
In 1987, during a training jump at Lake Placid, N.Y., Jim suffered a massive fall when his skis hit an ice patch while approaching take-off. Breaking four vertebrae and undergoing back surgery at the age of 19, it looked like his ski jumping days were over.
Instead, Jim went on to win six National Ski Jumping Championships and compete in two Winter Olympics. Holland finished 12th in the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, which was among the top all-time performances by a U.S. jumper. He also jumped at the 1994 Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway.
After winning at Harris Hill in 1995, Jim retired from ski jumping and, after graduating from the University of Vermont, he headed west to Park City, Utah. Inspired by their passion for ski mountaineering, Holland and childhood friend John Bresee created Backcountry.com just as internet shopping was catching on. An immense success, they sold a majority interest in Backcountry.com in 2007. Jim remains involved as a minority shareholder and holds a seat on the board of directors.
In 2007, when the U.S. Ski Team abandoned ski jumping, Jim stepped in as the sport was unraveling. With no national team, Jim helped start and fund USA Nordic Sports, a nonprofit in Park City that runs men's and women's national jumping and Nordic combined programs, keeping the sport alive. Today, Jim continues to support the sport of ski jumping, including charitable support to the Ford Sayre Memorial Ski Council's jumping program.
No stranger to confronting challenges head-on, Jim now faces his toughest yet. With a Parkinson's diagnosis, Jim says he is determined to fight back and is putting resources toward research to find a cure.
Thousands of spectators will gather in Brattleboro for the two-day Harris Hill Ski Jumping competition as jumpers from the U.S. and abroad compete in the Pepsi Challenge & U.S. Cup on Feb. 19 and the Fred Harris Memorial Tournament on Feb. 20. Tickets are still available at www.harrishillskijump.com.
Girls' basketball
• Brattleboro used a strong second half to beat the Mount Anthony Patriots, 49-26, on Feb. 1 at Kates Gymnasium in Bennington.
This game started out close, and MAU led by six points midway through the second period before the Colonels responded with an 11-0 run to close out the first half and take a 26-21 lead into intermission. Three-point shooting by Emily Worden and Kaitlyn Pattison keyed the Colonels' run.
Solid defense by Brattleboro, and ice-cold shooting by MAU, marked the second half as the Colonels outscored the Patriots, 23-5, over the final two quarters to pick up their fifth win of the season.
• Maggie Parker scored 17 points as Leland & Gray topped Green Mountain, 46-37, on Feb. 1 in Townshend. Raena Sanderson and Abigail Emerson added seven points each as the Rebels led 28-15 at the half. Kim Cummings led shorthanded GM with 17 points. The Chieftains needed a trio of eighth-graders to fill out the varsity roster.
• Bellows Falls lost a close one to Poultney, 39-35, on Feb. 5. The Terriers now have a 3-11 record heading into the last two weeks of the regular season.
Boys' basketball
• Brattleboro improved its record to 4-6 after beating the Fair Haven Slaters, 55-44, at the BUHS gym on Feb. 5. Tate Chamberlin and Sam Mattocks each scored 19 points for the Colonels, who led 27-18 at halftime.
• Bellows Falls lost at home on Jan. 31 to the Rivendell Raptors, 58-48, but that wasn't a shocker because the undefeated Raptors are the top team in Division IV. Owen LaRoss led the Terriers with 21 points and 15 rebounds, while Jamison Nystrom added 11 points while Jonathan Terry pulled down 12 rebounds.
Two nights later, BF took out their frustrations on Green Mountain, and the result was a 80-53 rout for the Terriers. Terry led BF with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Jackson Goodell and Colby Dearborn scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, and Jamison Nystrom added seven points and nine assists. Everett Moser led the Chieftains with 14 points.
• Not far behind Rivendell in the Division IV standings is Long Trail School of Dorset, and the 12-1 Mountain Lions flexed their muscles in beating up visiting Twin Valley, 59-25, on Jan. 31. Tomasz Koc led Long Trail with 22 points as 10 of his teammates made it into the scoring column in the win.
Twin Valley has been playing with only six players for the past couple of weeks, and you won't be competitive in many games with those numbers. Against Mill River in North Clarendon on Feb. 2, the Minutemen rolled to a 66-31 win over the undermanned Wildcats. Ryan Smith scored 23 to lead Mill River, while Cory Magnant had 17 points for Twin Valley, who finished the game with only four players on the floor.
• Leland & Gray visited Nason Gymnasium in Chester on Jan. 31 and left with a 65-41 loss to Green Mountain squad . GM took a 25-11 lead after the first quarter, and were not seriously tested after than. Everett Moser led the Chieftains with 25 points.
Girls' hockey
• The Burr & Burton Bulldogs rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the visiting Brattleboro girls, 4-3, at Riley Rink in Manchester on Jan. 31.
Brattleboro's Willow Romo started the scoring with a power play goal set up by Juliana Miskovich just 1:53 into the first period. Three minutes later, they reversed roles on the Colonels' second goal, also a power play tally, as Romo set up Miskovich. Sophia Mikijaniec then made it 3-0 with 10:13 left in the second period with an even-strength goal during a scramble in front of the Bulldogs' net.
But that would be it for the Colonels' scoring. Mia Paligo started the Bulldogs' comeback with a power play goal with 8:16 left in the second period. Lauren Barrows scored four minutes later, again on a power play and, like Paligo's goal, it was started with pressure on the Colonels' net by forward Skylar Smith, who earned assists on both tallies. Kaelin Downey then completed the comeback with a pair of goals in the third period.
Two days later, the Colonels' struggles continued as ninth-grader Alyssa Frazier scored six goals and assisted on two other goals as the U-32 Maurauders rolled to an 11-3 win on Feb. 2 at Withington Rink.
Frazier scored four goals in the first period for U-32, who outshot Brattleboro, 20-4 in the opening period. Only a great effort by Colonels goaltender Angela Jobin kept the damage from being worse.
Brattleboro fought back with goals from Miskovich and Lily Carignan in the second period, but Caitlyn Fielder and Frazier scored to give U-32 a 6-2 lead after two periods. Miskovich got her second goal of the day early in the period, before U-32 sunk the Colonels with five straight goals to close out the game. Frazier had a goal and two assists during that stretch.
Against Rice on Feb. 5, the Colonel girls lost, 3-1. Katie Craig scored a pair of goals for Rice; she and Caroline Banks both scored in the second period to clinch the victory. Carignan got Brattleboro's only goal, with Grace Szpila getting the assist. Jobin made 28 saves as the Colonels finished the week at 2-9.
Boys' hockey
• The Brattleboro boys played Stowe to a 3-3 tie on Feb. 2 at Withington Rink. All three of the Colonels' goal came on the power play as Evan Wright, Will Miskovich and Rowan Lonergan all scored.
Will Taggard finished with three assists and Alexander Dick, Brett Parsons and Miskovich each were credited with an assist, while goalie Darek Harvey made 35 saves. Brattleboro led 3-2 going into the third period before Stowe tied the game with 3:13 remaining to force overtime.
In a rematch of last year's Division II state championship game, Harwood got the better of the Colonels in a wild 6-5 win on Feb. 5. The defending state champs and Harwood combined to score five times in the third period, with Jacob Green's second goal at 10:51 clinching the win for Harwood.
Brattleboro had a penalty shot in the final minute of the game, but couldn't convert for the tying goal to force overtime. Evan Wright had two goals and an assist for the 3-8-1 Colonels. Harvey made 28 saves in goal.
Bowling
• Brattleboro came out on top in a three-team match against Windsor and Hartford at Brattleboro Bowl on Jan. 29. The Colonels' top five in individual play were Lucas Forthofer (192 and 212), Thomas Bell (194 and 210), Tucker Sargent (194 and 175), Kelton Mager (127 and 165), and Dorien Phillips (155 and 155).
Also competing for the Colonels were Elliana Galdamez (130 and 113), Reed Sargent (159 and 165), Martin Cataldo (104 and 128), Isaac Finnell (100 and 132), Mateo Lopez Course (107 and 118), Amanda Rodriquez (93 and 161), Tess Bogart (86 and 79), Andrew Berger (47 and 62), and Bobby Petrie (65 and 98).
Brattleboro exited that match with the No. 3 ranking in the state. On Feb. 5, the Colonels took on fourth-ranked Randolph and sixth-ranked Windsor at Maple Lanes in Claremont, and came away winners. The Colonels won the finals, 2-1, after sweeping Windsor, 2-0, in the Baker scoring team match by scores of 185-164 and 144-127. Brattleboro travels to Valley Bowl in Randolph this Saturday to face Hartford and Randolph in a three-team match.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 5 of the winter/spring 2022 season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Feb. 3 saw little change at the top of the standings.
Bowling Stones (18-7) had a 1-4 week but still is in first place, with A Rose/Tulips (17-8) also going 1-4 remain in second place in a three-way tie with Trash-O-Matic and Stayin' Alive (both also 17-8), followed by the 844s (14-11), The Anythings (9-16), Slow Movers (6-19), and Good Times (1-24), which returned to league play after a short absence.
Doris LaFortune had the women's high handicap game (233) and series (630), while Warren Corriveau Sr. had the high handicap game (249) and series (692). Stayin' Alive had the high team handicap game (853), while Slow Movers had the high handicap series (2,463).
In scratch scoring, Chuck Adams had the high men's game (245), and his 651 series, which also featured games of 214 and 181, also led the men. Corriveau had a 650 series with games of 235, 215, and 200. Gary Montgomery had a 537 series with a 194 game, while Robert Rigby had a 508 series with a 198 game. Jerry Dunham had a 194 game, and Pete Cross rolled a 190.
Josie Rigby had the high scratch games (178 and 170) and series (506) to lead the women. Carol Gloski had a 175 game, Pamela Greenblott had a 167, and Sally Perry rolled a 161.