The Vermont State Track and Field Championships will take place next Saturday, and the Brattleboro and Bellows Falls track teams are busy getting ready for them.
The two teams participated in the Connecticut Valley Conference Championships in Windsor on May 14. Brattleboro's girls placed ninth out of 15 teams, while the boys were fifth out of 15. The BF girls came in 12th, while the boys finished in 11th.
Brattleboro's Jacob Ellis had personal bests in all four of his events, winning the 1,600-meter run in a school record-breaking time of 4:23.16. He was also second in the 800 at 1:59.57, had a 40 feet, 3 inches mark in the triple jump, and anchored the 4 X 400-meter relay team with a split time of 50.85. The second-place relay team was comprised of Abadi Kerlin-Smith, Alec Silver, Greg Reuter and Ellis.
Austin Lester recorded a personal best time of 4:58.13 in the 1,600 meters, and Reuter is also within range of the 400-meter record with his third-place finish in 51.99. Colin Owen came in third in the high jump, equaling his personal record of 5 feet, 8 inches.
Paxton Reed triple-jumped to a fourth-place finish with his best jump of 40 feet, 6.5 inches. Anthony Burdo continues to improve in the 110 high hurdles as he finished in fourth with a personal best time of 18.15.
Will Parker, Trenton Fletcher, and Nate Shippee all posted personal bests in the pole vault. Shippee reached 8 feet, 6 inches while Parker and Fletcher both cleared 9 feet.
For the Brattleboro girls team, Halie Lange placed second in the 800 with a season-best time of 2:29.31 and anchored the both the 4 X 800 and 4 X 400-meter relay, which finished third and fourth, respectively. Paige Bailey, Linnea Jahn, and Hannah Reichel joined Lange on the 4 X 800, while Paige, Jahn, and Eliza Reynolds ran in the 4 X 400.
Reichel ran the 1,600 in a personal best 5:48.45, while Paige and Jahn finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 800 finals, and Ursula Casey registered a season-best 31 feet, 3 inches in the triple jump.
The Bellows Falls girls were led by Enny Mustapha, who was fourth in the girls shotput (30 feet, 9 inches) and the javelin (91 feet, 9 inches). Kayla Gilchrist was fifth in the high jump with a height of 4 feet, 6 inches. For the BF boys, John Punger finished fifth in the 800 (2:07) and reached a height of 10 feet to come in fifth in the pole vault. Joe Aslin was fifth in the javelin (136 feet, 7 inches), and the 4 X 100-meter relay team of Ryan Hayward, Aslin, T. J. Bernier and Will Bourne finished third with a time of 46.02 seconds.
• Lange, Reichel, and Casey continued their outstanding performances at a three-team meet against Bellows Falls and Burr & Burton in Brattleboro on May 16. Lange finished first in the 200 and 400, Reichel was first in the 800 and 1,500, and Casey won the long jump and triple jump to give the Colonel girls 94 points for a team victory over BF (60) and Burr & Burton (12).
Reed led the Colonel boys with wins in the triple jump and long jump. Other winners included Anthony Burdo, 110 hurdles; Ellis, 400; Jonathon Burdo, 300 hurdles; Fletcher, pole vault; Owen, high jump; Reuter, 200; Matt Clark, discus; and Lester, 1,500. Brattleboro compiled a team score of 121 to win the meet, followed by BF (55) and Burr & Burton (6).
• The Brattleboro girls and boys placed first and second, respectively, in a three-team meet at Fall Mountain on Thursday. Bellows Falls took third in both meets.
Lange again finished first the 200 and 400 to lead the Colonel girls. Other winners included Helen Manning in the high jump, Reichel in the 1,600, Bailey in the 800, and Analiz Jazmine Cancel in the 100. The 4 X 400 relay team of Jahn, Bailey, Manning, and Reynolds also finished first.
Reed again had wins in the triple jump and long jump for the Colonel boys. Also in the winners circle were John Asigbekye in the 100, Reuter in the 400; Connor Chisholm in the 300 hurdles, and the 4X 400 relay team of Kerlin-Smith, Pletcher, Silver, and Reuter.
• Twin Valley participated in a five-team meet at Mount Anthony last Tuesday.
Alex Kennedy led the Wildcat girls with a win in the 400 and was second in the 300 hurdles, while Sammy Cunningham-Darrah was third in the 100 and 200. Jennifer Jones was fourth in the 100, and she, Kennedy, Cunningham-Darrah and Emily Furton took second in the 4 X 100 relay. For the boys, Xavier Wiseman was second in the long jump, and fourth in the 100.
Lacrosse
• The Brattleboro boys are closing in on their first Marble Valley League title as they improved to 6-1 in MVL play and 12-2 overall last week.
Last Tuesday night, the Colonels won an 8-5 game over Hartford in the rain at Natowich Field. Goals by Sam Finnerty, Alex Phomath, and Colin Campbell gave the Colonels a 3-2 lead at the half.
Finnerty and Travis Elliott-Knaggs scored in the third quarter, but Hartford rallied with three unanswered goals to get back into the game. Campbell and Finnerty then slammed the door shut with a goal each in the final quarter. Logan George had 7 saves in goal.
On Thursday, Woodstock avenged its May 7 loss in Brattleboro with a 12-10 home victory over the Colonels. The Wasps built up a 7-1 lead, but the Colonels rallied in the second half to pull within a goal.
Unfortunately, two penalties in the final four minutes derailed the comeback try. Finnerty had 5 goals and an assist, while Travis Elliott-Knaggs had 3 goals and 3 assists. Campbell and Conner Elliott-Knaggs scored the other Colonel goals, while Nik Rancourt finished with 2 assists and goalie Romello Lindsay made 6 saves.
• The Brattleboro girls qualified for the playoffs on Wednesday with a 13-5 win over Belchertown, Mass., at Natowich Field. Mariah Lesure filled up the net with 6 goals. Shelby Davis-Lane scored 2, as did Becca Bird and Karly Fortier. Carli Gossard also scored, and goalie Kali Roberts had 10 saves.
They followed up with a 10-8 win at Woodstock on Friday. Lesure had 5 goals, Fortier scored 3, and Maddie Rollins and Ava Mayette also scored a goal each. Roberts made nine saves for the 5-9 Colonels.
Baseball
• Bellows Falls keeps rolling along. They picked up their 10th win on Thursday, a 3-1 win over Otter Valley. Cooper Long needed just 75 pitches for a complete game victory. He walked 2 and struck out 3 in tossing a three-hitter. Mike LaBeau hit a solo home run in the third, and RBI doubles by Long and Jeremy Kilburn in the fourth accounted for the other runs.
• Sawyer Olson threw an efficient complete game four-hitter as the Colonels shut down Rutland, 5-1, at Natowich Field on Friday. Olson needed only 77 pitches to get through his seven innings, with no walks and only one strikeout. Travis Beeman-Nesbitt and Soren Pelz-Walsh each had 2 of their team's 6 total hits.
On May 16, Hartford scored all their runs in the fourth inning and held on for a 4-3 win over Brattleboro. The Colonels got a good start from Olson, but in the fateful fourth, the Hurricanes got 5 hits off him. Brattleboro also stranded 12 baserunners in the game. The Colonels finished the week at 6-7.
• Leland & Gray crushed West Rutland, 26-1, in a five-inning game cut short by the 15-run rule. James Crowther went 5-for-6 at the plate with 3 singles, a double and a triple. Colin Nystrom was 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs, while Tyler Miller went 3-for-4. Crowther, Drew Barnum, Zach Wilkins and Robbie Litchfield shared the pitching chores for the 4-2 Rebels.
Softball
• Leland & Gray has been scoring runs in bunches all season, but on May 16 at Bellows Falls, they put up a result that looks like a football score - a 35-11 Rebel win.
The Terriers gave up 20 hits and 19 walks in the loss. Chelsea Cox had 4 hits to lead the 11-1 Rebels, while Aly Marcucci, Nicole Sherman, Michaela Tietz and Kiara Wilhite each added 3 hits. Wilhite and Tietz teamed up to drive in 9 runs, and Marcucci scored a team-high 6 runs. Megan LaBeau led BF with 3 hits, including a double and a triple, and 5 RBIs.
On Friday, the Rebels beat Windsor, 3-0, on the road in a rain-shortened five-inning game. Marcucci had 2 hits and scored 2 runs; Sherman and Cox also had two hits. Sherman struck out 7, walked 1, and gave up 3 hits in earning the win.
• A two-out, seventh-inning RBI single by Brattleboro's Taylor Kerylow scored pinch runner Amy Murphy in a dramatic 1-0 win over Rutland at Sawyer Field on Friday. Pitcher Kayla Wood scattered 3 hits for the complete game victory for the 12-1 Colonels. Wood, Kerylow, and Kaylee Graham each had 2 hits, while Sydney Santor and Kelsey Patterson also had a base hit each.
• Bellows Falls lost to Otter Valley, 16-2, on Thursday. LaBeau and Emma Shaw each had two hits for the Terriers.
Tennis
• The Brattleboro boys swept the doubles matches and won the first four singles matches to top Hartford, 6-1, at the BUHS courts on Friday and improve to 6-0 on the season.
At No. 1 doubles, Cuyler Cunningham and Senou Lynn prevailed 6-4, 6-1. The No. 2 doubles team of Seth Marcil and Jose-Diego Silva won 6-0, 6-3. Chris Brewer, Isiah Ungerleider, Matt Dunn and Jordan Davie-Stefanik all won their singles matches.
• Haste made waste for the Brattleboro girls in Hartford on Friday. With showers on the way, the Colonels rushed through their warm-ups to get the match in, and the result was a 4-3 loss.
The 4-6 Colonels took the top two singles matches, as Caroline DiNicola-Fawley won 6-1, 7-5, and Lauren Mabie won 6-2, 6-4. At No. 2 doubles, Brattleboro's Aiden Earley and Katie Tsukamoto won 7-6 in a match that was cut short due to the weather.
• Ruth Rowell and Lee Parslow each won a singles match in the Terriers' 5-2 loss to Springfield on Thursday.
Guilford road race celebrates town's 250th
• As part of the town of Guilford's yearlong celebration of its 250th anniversary, there will be a 5K road race on Saturday, May 28. The race begins and ends at Broad Brook Grange in Guilford Center. The entry fee of $10 covers the cost of presenting the event, with other proceeds going to support the Guilford 250th celebration.
Final registration is at 9 a.m. at the Grange, and the race begins at 10 am. The race, developed by Guilford runner John Majonen, features a scenic course that winds its way past quiet woods, open fields, dairy farms, and one-room schoolhouses. There will be prizes and refreshments at the finish. Prizes include a 250th anniversary medallion keyring, Franklin Farm maple syrup, pottery by Shari Zabriskie, and other goodies.
The Grange is four miles from the Guilford Country Store on 3940 Guilford Center Rd. An entry form and a route map are both posted at guilford250.com.
Tour de Heifer still open for registrations
• On Sunday, June 5, Strolling of the Heifers offers the inaugural Tour de Heifer, a trio of scenic farm-to-farm bicycle rides tailored to all levels of cycling ability, with routes ranging from 6 to 60 miles. The routes feature incredible views, farm and woodland terrain, New England villages (one with a covered bridge) and much more.
This event will raise funds for the Strolling of the Heifers Farm & Food Giving Fund, a new program of direct grants to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in farm and food enterprises. Cyclists who sign up as part of teams or groups will be able to raise funds for both Strolling of the Heifers and any charity of your choice, with race proceeds shared on a 50-50 basis. Or, you can just come and ride.
The 6 and 16-mile loops start at the Gaines Farm, on Route 5 in Guilford, with the 16-miler starting at 10 a.m. and the 6-miler at 11 a.m. The 60-mile Heifer Challenge starts at 8 a.m. at the Lilac Ridge Farm in West Brattleboro. Registration is available online until 5 p.m. Friday, June 3, and will be available at the starting locations prior to the announced start times. More information and a registration link can be found at www.strollingoftheheifers.com/tour-de-heifer.
Girls on the Run seeks volunteers for June 11 event
• Girls on the Run is having its annual 5K run/walk event on Saturday, June 11, at 10 a.m., at Brattleboro Union High School. This non-competitive, family-friendly event where everyone is a winner is the climax of each season, and usually draws about 2,000 runners and walkers from all over southern Vermont.
Girls on the Run is a nonprofit program that encourages girls in grades 3-8 to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. The curricula address all aspects of girls' development - their physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being - and is offered in schools in Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Dover, Dummerston, Grafton, Guilford, Jamaica, Marlboro, Newfane, Putney, Saxtons River, Vernon, Wardsboro and Wilmington.
Volunteers are needed on the June 11 event. Send an email to [email protected] for more information.
Take a hike in Putney
• The Putney Mountain Association (PMA) is raising funds to cover the group's expenses with a Hike-a-Thon on Saturday, June 11, at 10 a.m. (rain date is June 12).
Meet at the PMA Parking Area off Putney Mountain Road. The total distance is 4.4 miles (2-4 hours hiking time) along the beautiful West Cliff Trail, but you can hike whatever distance suits you.
If you can't make the hike, you sponsor a participating board member with a pledge (Emily McAdoo, Margot Torrey, Abby Jones, Steve Anderson, Jackie Walker, Claire Wilson, Tom Prunier, Travis Slade, Betsy Gray, Pat Shields), or pledge in the name of the board as a whole.
If you can, you may participate in the hike with your own sponsors. Pledge sheets are available from Jackie Walker (802-387-5387 or [email protected]). Or just sponsor yourself; join the hike and make a pledge of any amount you wish. Mail pledges to Putney Mountain Association, P.O. Box 953, Putney, VT 05346. or just bring them to the mountain the day of the hike.
Whether you pledge or not, all are invited to hike and show their support for Putney Mountain as valuable natural habitat and a public recreational resource.