winter sports section 2014

sportsSection C

WINTER 2014–2015ADDISONINDEPENDENT

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WINTERWINTERWINTERWINTERWINTERWINTER 2014–2015 2014–2015 2014–2015 2014–2015 2014–2015 2014–2015 2014–2015

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FEATURING • team rosters • schedules • pictures and stories

C — Addison Independent, Thursday, December 18, 2014

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Good Luck Middlebury Tigers!

By ANDY KIRKALDYMIDDLEBURY — Last winter,

the Middlebury Union High School boys’ basketball team won 11 times and earned the No. 7 seed in the Di-vision I playoffs.

Now, Coach Chris Altemose is optimistic the Tigers, after returning most key players and adding talent, could do better.

“We’re in a better spot than we were last year, and have some nice additions to our team, some athletic kids,” Altemose said. “They’re all great guys, all working hard, getting along well.”

A half-dozen key rotation players from a year ago return. Altemose during the preseason projected that senior point guard Bobby Ritter, senior center Sam Holmes, senior forwards Bryce Burrell and Con-nor Quinn, and junior guard Oakley Palmer would start, while senior guard Cullen Hathaway would come off the bench to provide an offensive spark.

Three newcomers could be the top subs: senior forward Austin Robin-son, who has returned to the sport; junior Nicholas Holmes; and sopho-more forward Trey Kaufmann.

Also seeking minutes in the front-court are juniors Jonathan Fitzcharles and Wilder Perera, while juniors Nick Coe, Jackson Hounchell and Liam Smith provide backcourt depth.

Middlebury Union High School Dance TeamCoach: Jessica MartorellaName GradeSamantha Foote 12Andie Guran 12Alyzza Odell 12Victoria Provost 12Carolyn Balparda 11Brynna Riche 11Jennie Staret 11Alexandra Whipple 11Destinnie Wilke 11Brittany Baker 10Dace Eaton 10Marissa Freegard-Rougier 10Anne Garner 10Channler Gendreau 10Briana Hanley 10

Shelby Monica 10Bethany Orvis 10Hannah Williams 10Josie Abbott 9Sarah Broughton 9Rebekah Chamberlain 9Walter Duncanson 9Lauren Greig 9Brynna Kearns 9Sophie Lefkoe 9Taylor Miller 9Bethany Palmer 9Pine Ross 9Meilena Sanchez 9Alexandra Tellier 9Hunter Washburn 9

Middlebury Union High SchoolVarsity Dance Team

Date Opponent/Event Time1/10 @ Colchester 1 p.m.1/24 @ Mt. Anthony 5 p.m.1/31 @ South Burlington 1 p.m.2/6 Middlebury Host 7 p.m.2/14 NVAC @ BFA-St. Albans 1 p.m.2/21 State Champs @ Vergennes Noon3/7 New Englands @ Braintree, MA 1:30 p.m.

Tiger boys’ basketball optimistic for success

Altemose plans to use that depth this winter to ask the Tigers to play high-energy basketball.

“We’re trying to run. We’re try-ing to get after the ball a little bit, see if we can play up-tempo,” he said. “We want to be really aggres-sive. We have to work really hard on the boards and start everything with some good defense.”

That defense will be primarily

man-to-man to take advantage of team quickness.

“So far what we’ve worked on is trying to play some good, solid man-to-man defense,” Altemose said.

Exactly how good the Tigers can be Altemose described in the pre-season as “hard to say,” but he said their potential is “pretty high.”

“My hope is that it all comes to-gether at the right time and we’re

playing our best ball at the end of the season,” he said, “and I think we can do that.”

He is sure about his team’s atti-tude.

“It’s a fun group of guys. I know they are going to work hard, and they’re going to compete,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a fun season.”

Middlebury Union High SchoolBoys’ Basketball Team

Coach: Chris AltemoseAssistant Coach: Keith CollinsName GradeBryce Burrell 12Cullen Hathaway 12Samuel Holmes 12Connor Quinn 12Bobby Ritter 12Austin Robinson 12Nick Coe 11Jonathan Fitzcharles 11Oakley Gordon 11Nicholas Holmes 11Jackson Hounchell 11Wilder Perera 11Liam Smith 11Trey Kaufmann 10

Middlebury Union High SchoolBoys’ Varsity Basketball

Date Opponent/Event Time12/13 @ Harwood 1 p.m.12/18 @ Colchester 7 p.m.12/20 Montpelier 12:30 p.m.1/3 Rutland 12:30 p.m.1/6 Otter Valley 7 p.m.1/9 Fair Haven 7 p.m.1/13 @ Fair Haven 7:30 p.m.1/17 @ Burr & Burton 2:30 p.m.1/20 Milton 7 p.m.1/23 @ BFA-St. Albans 7:30 p.m.1/29 @ Missisquoi 7:30 p.m.1/31 @ Milton 11:30 a.m.2/3 Vergennes 7 p.m.2/6 @ Mt. Abraham 7 p.m.2/9 BFA-St. Albans 7 p.m.2/12 Missisquoi 7 p.m.2/17 Mt. Abraham 7 p.m.2/19 @ Vergennes 7 p.m.

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Addison Independent, Thursday, December 18, 2014 — PAGE 3C


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By ANDY KIRKALDYMIDDLEBURY — This past

winter, the Middlebury Union boys’ hockey team came up just short of a Division II title, falling to Stowe in the championship game.

Several key contributors gradu-ated, but Coach Derek Bartlett be-lieves the Tigers have the talent and drive to contend again this season, although they are young — defen-semen Justin Stone and Nathan Lalonde are the only seniors.

“We have a great opportunity to compete for a state title with what we have,” he said. “They had a taste of what it takes last year, and want to get back.”

The Tigers will again use a three-back, two-forward system, with a sprinkling of veterans on most units, at least as they were drawn up in the preseason.

The No. 1 group in the back will include Stone, sophomore veteran Andrew Gleason and freshman Krys-

tian Gombosi. Next up are Lalonde and juniors Morgan Huestis and Riv-er Payne, and Bartlett can spell them with sophomores Erik Sherman and Brett Viens.

Juniors Tyler Crowningshield and Colton Leno form the top duo up front, with juniors Jerry Niemo and Seamus Eagan right behind. Next up will be sophomores Eli Tucker and Josh Girard, followed by sophomore Marty Niemo and freshman Jack Do-nahue, with junior Ken Caul also in

the mix.Bartlett said he is confident in the

Tigers’ ability to score, but it will be vital to develop their ability to tran-sition cleanly out of the back and avoid costly turnovers in their own end.

“I think we can put the puck in the net,” he said.

Bartlett is also confident in the ability of veteran junior goalie Saw-yer Ryan and improving sophomore Doug DeLorenzo to keep the puck

out of the net at the other end. “They’ll both see time this year,”

he said.Bartlett was also pleased with how

quickly the team’s newcomers were picking up the system.

“They grasp what we’re trying to do,” he said.

Success, and maybe a win in that last game, Bartlett said, will come down to a fundamental.

“We just need to compete every night,” he said.

By ANDY KIRKALDYMIDDLEBURY — Following up

a championship season can often be tough, but for the Middlebury Union High School girls’ hockey team it might be even more difficult.

This past winter, the Tigers complet-ed a steady rise over the past few sea-sons by claiming the program’s first title, the Division II championship.

But with strong numbers and tal-ent in the program, co-coaches Tim Howlett, Matt Brush and Derek Bartlett, with the backing of school administrators, petitioned to com-pete in Division I this winter.

“We decided to go up,” Bartlett said. “We’re really excited about that. We feel like the skill set is there with the players.”

At the same time, the coaches know it won’t be a walk in the park for what is still a young team, with only five seniors and nine freshmen on its roster of 22. Bartlett said “de-veloping confidence early” will be key, as well as adapting to the “much faster pace” of D-I.

“We know we’ll have to rise to the challenge every time we step on the ice,” he said. “It’s just going to be competing at a high level.”

It helps that, although three key players graduated, many return to play the two-forward, three-back Middlebury College system the Ti-gers will use.

The first group of backs, at least to start, includes junior veterans Lauren Bartlett and Emma Best (who returns after missing last winter with an in-jury) and sophomore Molly Wet-more, and the second group includes senior veteran Angela Carone and junior veterans Tajah Marsden and Sara Kelley. Freshmen Abby Glea-son, Satchel McLaughlin and Ra-ven Payne comprise a third group of

blue-liners, with senior Erika Carroll also in the mix.

Up front, the Tigers could run as many as five duos. In the preseason, the coaches were planning to pair sophomore veteran Julia Carone with freshman Helen Anderson, senior Alli White with sophomore Monroe Cromis, freshmen Andi Boe and Tulley Hescock, senior Harper Smith with junior Mikayla Humis-ton, and senior CareyAnne Howlett with freshman Jesslyn Hounchell.

Bartlett said the coaches hope to be able to deploy all the groups.

“Our plan is to use them as much

as possible,” he said.In goal, senior Baily Ryan returns

for her fourth year, with sophomore Rowan Hendy also in the mix to start games and freshman Katie Billings providing depth.

Many of the younger Tigers are coming off successful youth hockey careers, and the coaches were look-ing forward to a competitive blend.

“We have a talented group of kids coming in to join with the players that have returned from last year’s state championship team,” Coach Bartlett said. “We’ve been able to reload, if you will.”

Girls’ hockey team moves to D-I after winning D-II title

Boys’ hockey motivated after falling in D-II title game

Middlebury Union High SchoolGirls’ Varsity Ice Hockey

Date Opponent/Event Time12/13 @ U-32 2 p.m.12/15 @ Saranac Lake, N.Y. 6:15 p.m.12/17 @ Missisquoi 6 p.m.12/20 So. Burlington 7 p.m.12/29 Spaulding 5 p.m.12/30 Northfield 5p.m.1/3 North Country 7 p.m.1/7 @ Rutland 4:15 p.m.1/9 @ Essex 7:45 p.m.1/17 Rice 5 p.m.1/21 Burr & Burton 5 p.m.1/23 BFA-St. Albans 5 p.m.1/28 @ So. Burlington 5:20 p.m.2/4 Rutland 7 p.m.2/7 Essex 7 p.m.2/11 @ Spaulding 5:30 p.m.2/14 @ Burr & Burton 7:30 p.m.2/18 @ BFA-St. Albans 7 p.m.

Middlebury Union High SchoolGirls’ Hockey Team

Coaches: Derek Bartlett, Matt Brush& Tim HowlettName GradeErika Carroll 12Angela Carone 12Carey Anne Howlett 12Baily Ryan 12Harper Smith 12Allison White 12Lauren Bartlett 11Emma Best 11Mikayla Humiston 11Sara Kelley 11Tajah Marsden 11Julia Carone 10Monroe Cromis 10Rowan Hendy 10Molly Wetmore 10Helen Anderson 9Katie Billings 9Andrea Boe 9Abby Gleason 9Tulley Hescock 9Jesslyn Hounchell 9Satchel McLaughlin 9Raven Payne 9

Middlebury Union High SchoolBoys’ Varsity Ice Hockey

Date Opponent/Event Time12/13 @ Rutland 3 p.m.12/27 Harwood 7 p.m.12/29 Lake Placid 7 p.m.12/30 NCCS 7 p.m.1/3 @ Lyndon Institute 4 p.m.1/7 @Mt.Mansfield 8:15p.m.1/10 Stowe 7 p.m.1/17 Brattleboro 7 p.m.1/21 Burr & Burton 7 p.m.1/23 St. Johnsbury 7 p.m.1/28 @ Woodstock 5:40 p.m.1/31 Burlington 7 p.m.2/4 @ Hartford 6 p.m.2/6 Lake Placid Tournament 5:30 p.m.2/7 Lake Placid Tournament TBA2/11 @ U-32 7 p.m.2/14 @ Missisquoi 2 p.m.2/18 Northfield 7p.m.

Middlebury Union High SchoolBoys’ Hockey Team

Coach: Derek BartlettAssistant Coaches: Jim Derosia& Chase GoodrichName GradeNathan Lalonde 12Justin Stone 12Kenneth Caul 11Tyler Crowningshield 11Seamus Eagan 11Morgan Huestis 11Colton Leno 11Gerald Niemo 11River Payne 11Sawyer Ryan 11Elijah Tucker 10Douglas Delorenzo 10Joshua Girard 10Andrew Gleason 10Martin Niemo 10Erik Sherman 10Brett Viens 10Jackson Donahue 9Krystian Gombosi 9

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By ANDY KIRKALDYMIDDLEBURY — Middlebury

Union wrestling coach Ethan Ray-mond had a couple things to be hap-py about in the preseason: Almost 20 wrestlers signed up for his program, including eight freshmen, and some of his athletes could fare well on the state stage.

Raymond wished more wrestlers didn’t tip the scales in the same weight ranges — seven started be-tween 133 and 138 pounds, and three are heavyweights. The most of the 14 weight classes the Tigers can cover is probably nine, but he was still pleased with the interest in the sport.

“Our numbers are up higher than

they’ve been in years. Yes, they’re in similar weights, but at least they’re up,” Raymond said, adding of the many freshmen, “Eight is the biggest class we’ve had in a while.”

Two New England qualifiers re-turn, but unfortunately one suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the early going this winter, senior Christopher Gobbi, a finalist at 220 pounds in the state meet a year ago who was set to wrestle again at that weight. Raymond said a year of ex-perience and the seasoning of this past winter’s state tournament could have helped Gobbi win his final match this time around.

Junior Nathan Gebo took third at 106 pounds this past winter and will

move up to 113 this season. Ray-mond is optimistic Gebo will con-tinue to excel.

“It’s only one weight class, but the kids will be a little bigger, a little stronger. Hopefully he will be, too. He’s done a lot of summer work, put in a lot of offseason work,” he said.

Two juniors who had solid seasons a year ago could also be ready to blossom, Raymond said, pointing to Nick Beauchamp at 195 and James Whitley at 138.

“Like I always tell the kids, you’ll find the biggest growth is between the sophomore year and the junior year,” Raymond said.

Probable starters at other weight classes were:

• Freshman Ben Murray at 120. • Freshman Dustin Davio at 126.• Junior Kyle Desabrais, who fin-

ished strong a year ago, at 132.• Freshman Tyler Hotte at 182,

assuming Hotte recovers from an in-jury.

• Either senior Benn Lussier or ju-nior Wyatt Laberge at 275, although Laberge is fighting a knee injury.

“We’re a little banged up,” Ray-mond said.

Over the year, Raymond said he expects his other freshmen not only to emerge, but also to start filling the empty weight slots in the Tiger lineup.

“As they mature down the road they’ll start to spread out,” he said.

“The holes I have now, which are between 152 and 182, that’s where those kids are going to be as seniors.”

He is pleased with the young new-comers’ work ethic.

“What I like the most is they just come in every day and just work re-ally hard. They push each other,” Raymond said.

Overall, the coach said he likes what he sees.

“We’re feeling good. Dual meets we’re going to have a little rough time again. Although we have 20 kids almost, we can only fill a cer-tain number of weight classes,” Ray-mond said. “But I’m liking where things are headed. We’ve had a posi-tive outlook so far.”

Middlebury Union High SchoolVarsity Wrestling

Date Opponent/Event Time12/18 Spaulding, Randolph 6:30 p.m.12/20 Granville Lions Invitational 9:30 a.m.12/30 Hubie Wagner Invitational 9:30 a.m.1/6 Vergennes @ Mt. Abe 7 p.m.1/10 Mt. Anthony Invitational 9:45 a.m.1/12 Host St. Johnsbury, Essex 6:30 p.m.1/16 Peru Invitational TBD1/17 Peru Invitational TBD1/22 Keene @ Bellows Falls 5:15 p.m.1/24 Bob Benoure Invit’l @ Vergennes 10 a.m.1/28 CVU @ MMU 6 p.m.1/31 Corinth Invitational 9:30 a.m.2/4 Randolph Union @ Spaulding 6 p.m.2/10 Host Vergennes, Mt. Abraham 6:30 p.m.2/11 Mt. Anthony/OV @ Mill River 5:30 p.m.2/14 NVAC Dual @ CVU TBD2/27 Host State Championships TBD2/28 Host State Championships TBD3/6 New England Championships TBD3/7 New England Championships TBD

Middlebury Union High SchoolWrestling Team

Coach: Ethan RaymondAssistant Coaches: Jon Ashley & John WhitneyName Grade Christopher Gobbi 12Benn Lussier 12Felicia Baslow 11Nicholas Beauchamp 11Kyle Desabrais 11Nathan Gebo 11Wyatt Laberge 11James Whitley 11Josef Langevin 10Julia Baslow 9Dustin Davio 9Tyler Hotte 9David Many 9Ryan Morgan 9Ben Murray 9Robert Pike 9Joe Whitley 9

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MIDDLEBURY UNION HIGH SCHOOLYouth movement for MUHS gymnasticsBy ANDY KIRKALDY

MIDDLEBURY — There was plenty of good news for the Middle-bury Union gymnastics team this pre-season.

To start with, former coach Meg Harris’s job situation changed to al-low her to return to co-coach the team with Terri Phelps, who took over in her absence, and both are happy to be able to team up to teach the athletes.

“Terri and I are excited to be co-coaching this year,” Harris said.

The team also returns two senior captains who should provide both points and leadership, Emma Snyder-White and Hannah Stoll, and three sophomores, Leah Raymond, Mikay-la Robinson and Isabella Williams, who the coaches expect to become regular point-scorers.

And the team welcomes a club-level sophomore gymnast, Ida Mae Danforth, and seven freshmen, at least two of whom, Aly Chione and Chloe Kane, the coaches believe are capable of stepping right up and scor-ing points.

Only Stoll and Snyder-White are not either sophomores or freshmen on the regular 14-strong roster of a team that has been consistently competitive with its peers among other schools out of the Chittenden County club loop.

“We have a pretty young team, so it will be a growth year, but I think it will be a really exciting growth year,” Harris said. “There’s some new talent with Ida coming in and some of our

freshmen, too, that we’re looking for-ward to working with.”

Four MUHS boys are also practic-ing with the team and can participate in most meets in a non-scoring capac-ity, senior Michael Gyukeri, sopho-mores Ian-Tor Bright and George McKeever-Parkes, and freshman Nick Scott. Three Mount Abraham freshmen, Abby Perlee, Casey Sher-win and Isabel Lucarelli, are also practicing with the Tigers as indepen-dents. Harris said because the team is large enough to compete without them they were not allowed to offi-cially join on a member-to-member basis.

The Tigers should cover all the dis-ciplines well, thus helping them com-pete in dual meets this winter. Snyder-White will specialize on the beam and in the floor exercises; Stoll, on the vault, parallel bars and floor; Dan-forth, on the vault and beam; Ray-mond, in the all-around; Williams, on the beam, bars and floor; Chione, on the bars; and Kane, on the vault. Rob-inson was dealing with an injury in preseason, but the coaches hope she can recover and help on the beam.

Harris and Phelps are excited about the future, however.

“We have good numbers this year, and we also have good numbers on the middle school team this year, so we have a good feeder program right now,” Harris said. “You can see that by the number of freshmen we have coming in.”

Middlebury Union High SchoolVarsity Gymnastics

Middlebury Union High SchoolGymnastics Team

Coaches: Terri Phelps & Meg Harris Name Grade Michael Gyukeri 12Emma Snyder-White 12Hannah Stoll 12Ian-Tor Bright 10Ida Mae Danforth 10George McKeever-Parkes 10

Leah Raymond 10Isabella Williams 10Olivia Beauchamp 9Anna Buteau 9Aly Chione 9Chloe Kane 9Mary Lynch 9Nick Scott 9Laura Whitley 9

Date Opponent/Event Time12/13 So. Burlington Invitational Noon12/17 @ Randolph 6 p.m.12/23 CVU 6 p.m.12/30 So. Burlington 6 p.m.1/10 St. Johnsbury 1 p.m.

1/21 @ Milton 6:30 p.m.1/30 @ Essex 7 p.m.2/7 @ U-32 1 p.m.2/11 Harwood 6 p.m.2/21 State Champs. @ Essex 2 p.m.

Good Luck, Tigers!

Young Tiger girls eye taking step forwardBy ANDY KIRKALDY

MIDDLEBURY — In seeking to get the Middlebury Union girls’ basketball program back on the upswing after a few down years, second-year coach Jen Heath is looking to something of a youth movement: Four of her nine varsity players are sophomores, and a fifth is a freshman.

All nine are going to see action this winter, Heath said, and the team’s four newcomers may earn more time as the season progresses.

“I’m expecting to play everyone,” she said. “As time goes on and some of the newer players get used to the varsity game and what we’re trying to do, I think their minutes will in-crease.”

At least to begin with, however, Heath plans to start her five return-ing veterans: senior forward Lejla Mahmuljin, senior forward/guard Krisandra Provencher, and three sophomores, guards Payton Buxton and Riley Fenster and guard/for-ward Ally Larocque.

The newcomers are junior for-wards Hannah Buttolph and Jesse Trudeau, sophomore guard Lily Smith, and freshman guard Keagan Dunbar.

Heath will look for her veterans to set the tone.

“We’re very young overall,” Heath said. “We’ll get leadership from KP (Provencher) and Lejla, who have been on varsity for a while and obviously saw a lot of playing time last year.”

The Tigers played better down the stretch last year despite winning

just once, and Heath said they have “picked up where we left off” from this past winter.

“That’s a good starting point for us. We still have further to go, but that gives us a good base to start from,” she said.

The team has quickness, and they will look to run, but Heath said the Tigers still must gain experience, such as in making decisions on when to push transition and when to pull up, and even in more basic areas.

“Offensively (we need to) find that fine line of when to shoot and when to drive, how everything fits together,” she said.

Defensively, Heath believes the Tigers are athletic enough to thrive, but also need more seasoning there. She spoke about some issues that cropped up in their opening game.

“We saw a lot of things we need to work on, our defense, and know-ing what we have to do every defen-sive possession,” Heath said. “One of the big things we need to focus on in defense is communication.”

Overall, she is encouraged the Ti-gers will meet their central goal.

“We’re trying to get better every game,” Heath said. “What we’ll continue to talk about is tweaking little things that will make a big difference. The great thing is that as we talk about those things, they recognize that. So that’s the first step in getting better, them recog-nizing it. Now it’s them going out and doing those things, working on them in practice and doing them in games.”

Middlebury Union High SchoolGirls’ Varsity Basketball

Date Opponent/Event Time12/12 Burr & Burton 7 p.m.12/16 @ Winooski 7 p.m.12/23 @ Mill River 7:30 p.m.1/2 @ So. Burlington 6 p.m.1/5 Missisquoi 7 p.m.

1/7 @ Mt. Abraham 7 p.m.1/10 Colchester 12:30 p.m.1/12 @ Milton 7 p.m.1/19 @Mt.Mansfield 7:30p.m.1/21 Vergennes 7 p.m.1/24 So. Burlington 12:30 p.m.1/27 @ Missisquoi 7:30 p.m.

1/30 Mt. Abraham 7 p.m.2/2 @ Colchester 7 p.m.2/5 Milton 7 p.m.2/7 @ Fair Haven 3 p.m.2/10 Mt.Mansfield 7p.m.2/13 @ Vergennes 7 p.m.

Middlebury Union High SchoolGirls’ Basketball Team

Coach: Jen HeathAssistant Coach: Laura Emilo Name GradeLejla Mahmuljin 12Krisandra Provencher 12Hannah Buttolph 11Jesse Trudeau 11Payton Buxton 10Riley Fenster 10Ally Larocque 10Lilia Smith 10Keegan Dunbar 9

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By ANDY KIRKALDYMIDDLEBURY — When Matt

Trueheart moved on after coaching the Middlebury Union Nordic team for a couple winters, MUHS Ac-tivities Director Sean Farrell knew whom to call — Chas Lyons, who between Tiger Nordic, cross-country and track teams has logged about two-dozen seasons coaching MUHS sports.

“It’s getting up there,” Lyons said, joking he’s at the “top of Sean Far-rell’s list.”

Lyons said Farrell asked him if he would be interested when Trueheart stepped down, and Lyons said he “could be talked into it.”

Then Farrell got some persuasive help.

“I didn’t actually agree to it until some parents started calling me,” Lyons said.

Lyons inherits a team that returns seven boys who competed at the state meet as the Tigers finished fifth in Division II last winter, plus four girls who competed from a fourth-place group.

And, Lyons said, the boys received significant reinforcements with the arrival of sophomore Nick Wilker-son and freshman Sam Hodges.

“They’ve been participating with the Frost Mountain Club Nordic program and are very strong com-petitors, and I think they are going to be the top two performers on our team this year,” Lyons said. “Not to take anything away from the athletes we have returning, but these kids have chosen to have private coach-ing with a club and are targeting national-level events.”

Lyons said senior Bo Tran and junior Haven Tate have also gained Frost Mountain experience, and are “coming in stronger than they were last year,” while senior Bob Avery, also a top-four finisher in both classic and freestyle events at last winter’s state meet, is “right on the heels of those guys there, so we’re going to have a strong front group of guys.”

Added to that crew are four more 2014 state meet competitors, junior David Dregallo and sophomores Harlow Punderson, Ross Crowne and Henry Ganey, plus another ex-perienced newcomer, freshman Ju-lian Schmitt.

The girls’ side probably doesn’t have the same depth, Lyons said.

“On the ladies’ end, we have a younger, less experienced squad,” Lyons said.

But the team’s top two skiers from a year ago, seniors Emily Kiernan and Julia Rosenberg, both return.

“Emily Kiernan and Julia Rosen-berg are probably going to be the leaders on that team, both as senior members of the team and the best athletes on the team,” Lyons said.

He also believes senior veteran Michelle Peterson, a state meet com-petitor last winter, is ready to emerge as a scorer.

“The work she has put in is going to pay off this year, he said.

Junior Signi Livingstone-Peters also competed at the 2014 state meet, and Lyons expects a number of young skiers to contribute, in-cluding sophomore Amelia Ingersoll

Nordic teamsboast strong returners, newcomers

and freshmen Ella Nagy-Benson and Isabel Rosenberg.

“I think we’re going to have a re-ally strong group,” he said.

Regardless of the results, Lyons expects an enjoyable time with what a calls “a great group.”

“These are some of the best-na-tured kids that you’ll come across,” he said. “They’re good students, so you never have to worry about aca-demics. They’re well-behaved, so you never have to worry about dis-cipline.”

Middlebury Union High School Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity Nordic Skiing

Date Opponent/Event Time12/23 Mt. Anthony @ Prospect 2:30 p.m.12/30 No. Country @ Mt. Hor Hop 10:30 a.m.1/2 BBA Classic @ Wild Wings 11 a.m.1/24 U-32 Free @ U-32 10 a.m.

1/31 Essex Classic @ Rikert 9:30 a.m.2/7 BHS/SBHS @ Sleepy Hollow 10 a.m.2/26 States @ Craftsbury Free 10:30 a.m.3/3 States @ Rikert Classic 10:30 a.m.

Middlebury Union High School Nordic Ski Team

Coach: Chas LyonsName GradeRobert Avery 12Emily Kiernan 12Michelle Peterson 12Julia Rosenberg 12

Bo Tran 12David Dregallo 11Matthew Ferguson 11Gretta Groves 11Nora Keathley 11Signi Livingstone-Peters 11

Haven Tate 11Tobias Broucke 10Ross Crowne 10Henry Ganey 10Amelia Ingersoll 10Charlotte Keathley 10

Kate Oster 10Harlow Punderson 10Douglas Sandler 10Maria Wiles 10Nicholas Wilkerson 10Sam Hodges 9

Katherine Koehler 9Ella Nagy-Benson 9Isabel Rosenberg 9Julian Schmitt 9

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MOUNT ABRAHAM UNION HIGH SCHOOL

Mount Abraham Union High SchoolBoys’ Basketball Team

Coaches: Mike Estey and Chad EsteyName GradeTy Combs 12Tyrus Keith 12Joey Payea 12Tyler Willey 12Kyle Barrows 11Finn Clements 10Payton Keith 10Colman Russell 10Ryan Thompson 10Jack Willis 10Jackson Counter 9

Mount Abraham Union High SchoolBoys’ Varsity Basketball

Date Opponent/Event Time12/9 Randolph 7 p.m.12/17 Mill River 7 p.m.12/20 Winooski 12:30 p.m.12/23 @ Randolph 7:30 p.m.12/27 @ BFA-Fairfax 2:30 p.m.12/30 @ Winooski 7 p.m.1/3 Otter Valley 12:30 p.m.1/7 @ Mill River 7:30 p.m.1/16 @ Otter Valley 7:30 p.m.1/20 Vergennes 7 p.m.1/23 @ Missisquoi 7:30 p.m.1/28 @ Milton 7 p.m.1/30 @ Vergennes 7 p.m.2/3 BFA-St. Albans 7 p.m.2/6 Middlebury 7 p.m.2/9 Milton 7 p.m.2/17 @ Middlebury 7 p.m.2/20 @ BFA-St. Albans 7 p.m.

By ANDY KIRKALDYBRISTOL — The past three years

haven’t been the kindest to the Mount Abraham boys’ basketball team, with the Eagles’ four wins in 2014 equaling the program’s combined victory total from 2012 and 2013.

But Coach Mike Estey believes there is light at the end of the tunnel, and not just from the talented sopho-more and freshman classes that are just now beginning to filter up to the varsity program.

“I like the team. We’re excited again,” Estey said.

He said the team’s four seniors — Ty Combs, Tyrus Keith, Joey Payea and Tyler Willey — have helped set the right tone.

“The seniors have come in working hard,” Estey said.

In a preseason scrimmage vs. Col-chester as well as in the Eagle gym, Estey said he has seen an encouraging commitment on the defensive end.

“In the past we’ve had kids who could defend, but we didn’t defend well as a team. And we saw good signs of that against Colchester, and practices are more competitive,” he said.

The Eagles will still lack for experi-ence, as only a couple of the seniors, Keith and Payea, saw significant min-utes for the Eagles a year ago, and the team is blessed with quickness, but not size.

“We’re young, and it’s going to

By ANDY KIRKALDYBRISTOL — One thing is certain

for Coach Connie LaRose’s Mount Abraham girls’ basketball program: Four starters from the team that dominated Division II for the past two years have graduated.

The Eagles have a different look this winter after steamrolling to con-secutive D-II titles.

“We’re going to be a team with a whole new identity,” LaRose said in a preseason interview. “We’re prob-ably not going to have that kind of success, but the jury is out on how far we can go. We do have some strengths.”

One of them is size. Six-foot se-nior center Isabel Brennan returns, and Brennan has often played her best in big games. Senior Jen Gor-don, another six-footer, contributed vital moments off the bench last win-ter, and LaRose said freshman Emma Carter could play a key role inside this winter, with senior Angela Du-poise and junior Dani Forand round-ing out the frontcourt rotation.

“Certainly, our height in the post,” was LaRose’s first response to a question about the team’s pluses.

There will be competition for min-utes in the backcourt among three

show some nights,” Estey said, adding, “We’re going to get banged around a little bit.”

Mount Abe will rely on Payea and Willey in the backcourt, with sopho-more swingman Jack Willis seeing plenty of time. Junior Kyle Barrows, sophomore Payton Keith and fresh-man swingman Jackson Counter will also look for backcourt minutes.

Keith will start in the middle, and Estey is looking for good results there.

“We hope for some real good stuff from him, because he’s put in the work,” he said.

Sophomore Colman Russell will step in for Combs at forward while Combs works his way back from a football injury, and sophomores Ryan Thompson, at forward, and Finn Cle-ments, the team’s tallest player, at center or forward, will see time, Estey

said.Estey will run deep into his bench to

allow the Eagles to play up-tempo on offense and to allow his younger play-ers to develop at the varsity level.

“The plan is to play kids, make sure that younger group gets plenty of time,” Estey said. “We’ll benefit from it down the road.”

In all, Estey said he was optimistic “about the way they come in here and work” and hopeful the Eagles will take a step in the right direction this winter.

“This program right now has no-where to go but up,” he said. “We’re trying a lot of stuff, and they work hard.”

Eagle girls get new look, seek three-peatseniors, Ashley Boise, Steph White and Keegan Jackman; two juniors, Jesse McKean and Stacie Sabourin; and freshman Emma LaRose.

Coach LaRose said she would make her decisions on playing time based on which guards best “take care of the ball” and “get the ball into the post,” as well as find their shooting range.

And, she said, defending will be critical as the Eagles attempt to learn to compensate for some inexperi-ence by making life difficult for their opponents.

“Defensively, we’ve got a lot of work to do,” she said.

LaRose believes the Eagles will gradually gel as the season progress-es and then “at least have a shot at some things.”

“My goal is to see if we can win 50 percent of our games and then see how we develop,” she said. “I think that’s realistic.”

Mount Abraham Union High SchoolGirls’ Basketball Team

Coach: Connie LaRoseName GradeIsabel Brennan 12Ashley Boise 12Angela Dupoise 12Jen Gordon 12Keegan Jackman 12Steph White 12Dani Forand 11Jesse McKean 11Stacie Sabourin 11Emma Carter 9Emma LaRose 9

Mount Abraham Union High SchoolGirls’ Varsity Basketball

Date Opponent/Event Time12/12 CVU 7 p.m.12/16 Mt.Mansfield 7p.m.12/19 @ Mill River 7:30 p.m.12/23 @ Fair Haven Tournament TBA12/26 @ Fair Haven Tournament TBA12/30 South Burlington 6:30 p.m.1/2 Vergennes 7 p.m.1/5 @ Colchester 7 p.m.1/7 Middlebury 7 p.m.1/10 @ CVU 12:30 p.m.1/19 Missisquoi 7 p.m.1/21 @ Milton 7 p.m.1/23 @ Vergennes 5:30 p.m.1/27 Colchester 7 p.m.1/30 @ Middlebury 7 p.m.2/2 @Mt.Mansfield 7p.m.2/5 @ South Burlington 7:30 p.m.2/10 @ Missisquoi 7:30 p.m.2/13 Milton 7 p.m.

Defense, hard work key for boys


MOUNT ABRAHAM UNION HIGH SCHOOL

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Good Luck, Eagles!

By ANDY KIRKALDYBRISTOL — The Mount Abra-

ham wrestling team will once again have small numbers, but Coach Pete Lossman is at least cautiously opti-mistic a couple of his wrestlers can reach the podium at the state tourna-ment this winter while several can achieve respectable records.

Lossman is perhaps most hopeful for se-nior Josh Roy, who will probably wrestle at 126 pounds.

“Josh Roy should be somewhere above .500,” Lossman said, adding that although Roy’s pre-season work was limited, “I would expect to see him on the podium.”

Senior captain Josh Russin will probably wrestle at the next weight class up, at 132, and Lossman ex-pects another solid campaign from his team leader.

“Based on last year, he should have a .500 year,” he said.

Junior Josh Johnson also returns after posting some competitive re-sults this past winter at 152 pounds.

“He has the potential to do good things. I would expect to see him above the .500 mark at the end of the year and perhaps making a run for the podium,” Lossman said.

Sophomore Dylan Little did not win as often as his teammates last winter, but reached the state podium in a weight class with fewer compet-itors. This season, at 152, Lossman expects Little to take a step forward

to win somewhere in the range of half of his matches.

“He did fairly well as a freshman last year, so we should see some im-provement this year. He seems to be very focused,” Lossman said.

Two freshmen signed on. One is a newcomer to the sport, Christian Lit-tle, who weighs in at the 126 range

and Lossman said will compete in dual meets and then at the JV state meet.

The other is Nick George, a former junior high state champion who should end up at 160 and acquit himself well right away, the coach said.

Depending on his var-sity record, which Loss-man said would hinge on how well George continues to add skills

to his strength, he could end up as a JV contender or as a varsity state competitor.

“He’s going to do fairly well,” Lossman said. “At the varsity level as a freshman I expect he’ll be push-ing .500.”

Lossman does not have an easy answer for the persistently low num-bers in the Eagle program. There are another half-dozen or more on the middle school team, but strong num-bers at the elementary level that just have not translated to varsity.

“I don’t know what it is,” he said. “Every school seems to have the same problem we have. They have good numbers right up until sixth, seventh grade, then they fall off.”

Small wrestling team eyes podium

Mount Abraham Union High SchoolWrestling Team

Coaches: Peter LossmanName GradeJosh Roy 12Josh Russin 12Josh Johnson 11Dylan Little 10Nick George 9Christian Little 9

Mount Abraham Union High SchoolVarsity Wrestling

Date Opponent/Event Time12/9 @ Essex 6 p.m.12/17 @ St. Johnsbury 6 p.m.12/30 @ Middlebury TBA1/3 @ Otter Valley Invitational 10 a.m.1/6 Middlebury, Vergennes 7 p.m.1/12 @Mt.Mansfield 5p.m.1/15 @EssexClassic TBA1/16 @ Essex Classic TBA1/24 @ Vergennes Invitational 10 a.m.1/27 @ Randolph 6 p.m.2/5 CVU,St.Johnsbury 6:30p.m.2/7 @Mt.MansfieldInvitat. 10a.m.2/10 @ Vergennes 6 p.m.2/14 NVACTourn.@CVU 10a.m.2/27 States @ Middlebury TBA2/28 States @ Middlebury TBA

Regardless, he expects his wres-tlers will enjoy the winter.

“We’ve had times when our clos-est kids were 30, 40 pounds apart, and one of them isn’t having a good time,” Lossman said. “This year all our wrestlers are pretty close, and we can switch it up and keep it fun and fresh.”

Mount Abraham Union High School Cheerleading Squad

Coach: Cricket GearwarName GradeJordan Cota 11Danielle Morse 11

Layla Paine 11Mercedez Shackett 11Samantha Cox 10Calista Sargent 10

Hannah Gratton 9

Have A Great Season

“Josh Roy should be somewhere above .500. I would expect to see him on the podium.”

— Coach Pete Lossman

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VERGENNES UNION HIGH SCHOOL

By ANDY KIRKALDYVERGENNES — Coming off a

seven-win season and having seen just two seniors graduate, Vergennes girls’ basketball coach Billy Waller is hopeful of at least a modest step forward this winter.

This year’s team has depth and a variety of skills, Waller said.

“There are a number of girls that could find themselves in the mix,” he said in preseason. “Our practices are very spirited and very competitive.”

Waller will stick with a three-guard, two-forward offense with an emphasis on attacking the basket,

and vary his approach on defense de-pending which players are on the floor and what the game circumstances are.

“We’re really putting a focus on getting it in-side, whether it’s passing it in there or driv-ing,” he said. “Defens ively we’re going to play a mix of stuff.”

At guard, senior veteran K.C. Ambrose will start, with

juniors Sarah Poirier-Thayer and Brianna Gebo and sophomores Shay Pouliot and Caroline Johnston vy-ing for the other two starting spots. All five will see plenty of playing time, and Waller said senior April Ambrose could bring a shooting touch off the bench, too.

Competition for time for the two frontcourt positions will be tougher, with six athletes looking for min-

utes. Waller plans to start junior veterans Nikki Salley and Tamara Aunchman, with senior Paige Coyle and junior Natalie Salley probably the first two off the bench. Waller said junior Sara Stearns was also coming on strong in the pre-season, while senior Jane Russell, the team’s tallest player, was also showing flashes.

“It’s as balanced and as quality a bench as I’ve had in some time,” Waller said.

He believes the extra practices this season’s schedule has allowed

teams has also benefitted the Com-modores.

“We’ve got more stuff in than we usually do at this time of the year,” Waller said. “The kids are smart.”

In all, Waller said the Commo-dores might still “struggle with the South Burlingtons of the world,” because of their greater experience, but believes they could otherwise hold their own.

“I think we will be competitive,” he said. “We’ll be much better af-ter Christmas than before. I think we’re much closer.”

VUHS girls’basketballlooks to be aggressive

Vergennes Union High SchoolGirls’ Basketball Team

Coach: Billy WallerName GradeK.C. Ambrose 12April Ambrose 12Paige Coyle 12Jane Russell 12Tamara Aunchman 11Brianna Gebo 11Sara Poirier-Thayer 11Natalie Salley 11Nikki Salley 11Sara Stearns 11Caroline Johnston 10Shay Pouliot 10

Vergennes Union High SchoolGirls’ Varsity Basketball

Date Opponent/Event Time 12/9 @Montpelier 7 p.m.12/12 Mill River 7 p.m.12/19 @ Missisquoi 7:30 p.m.12/23 @ Winooski 6:30 p.m.12/27 Harwood 1 p.m.1/2 @ Mt. Abraham 7 p.m.1/5 Milton 7 p.m.1/7 @ Colchester 7 p.m.1/10 @ Harwood 1 p.m.1/16 Mt.Mansfield 7p.m.

1/19 South Burlington 7 p.m.1/21 @ Middlebury 7 p.m.1/23 Mt. Abraham 5:30 p.m.1/27 @ Milton 7 p.m.1/31 Montpelier 11:30 a.m.2/2 Missisquoi 7 p.m.2/5 Mt.Mansfield 7p.m.2/7 Colchester 11:30 a.m.2/10 @ South Burlington 7 p.m.2/13 Middlebury 7 p.m.

“We’re really putting a focus on getting it inside, whether it’s passing it in there or driving. Defensively we’re going to play a mix of stuff.”

— coachBilly Waller

Good Luck, Commodores!

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Vergennes Union High SchoolCheerleading Squad

Coach: Jenny JohnsonName GradeEricka Delisle 12Kelsey Coleman 11Kira Johnson 11Emily Lalumiere 11Megan Martin 11Arianne Wilson 11Madison Ask 10Taylor Bresnick 10Emma Duprey 10River Hoffmann 10Courtney Morgan 10Sadie Newman 10Mckenzie Warden 10Peighton Duprey 9

By ANDY KIRKALDYVERGENNES — Vergennes

Union wrestling coach Nate Kittredge did not have a huge turnout this win-ter, but the return of a couple of for-mer wrestlers to his program added to several established athletes could lead to positive results.

“I don’t have a lot of numbers,” Kittredge said, “but the positive in that is that the kids on the list have all for the most part proven themselves.”

To start with, the Commodores bring back five wrestlers, all sopho-mores and juniors, who reached the state podium this past winter:

• Sophomore Kyle Kingsley, who was fourth at 106 pounds and will wrestle at 113 this winter.

• Junior Ethan Reardon, who was fourth at 113 and is part of a logjam in the 126-132 range this season.

• Sophomore Trevon Smith, who was fourth at 126 and could end up at 132.

• Sophomore Brandon Cousino, fifth at 152 after entering as the top seed, who will bump up to 170.

• Junior Ryan Paquin, fifth in the

highly competitive 182-pound weight class, where he will remain.

Also back from a year ago for the Commodores are junior Jeb Hodsden, who will move up from 138 to 145, and sophomore Troy Provencher, part of the 132-pound group.

They are joined by two seniors who excelled as freshmen but have not wrestled since then, Anthony Smith, who was third at 126 pounds at the state meet, and Luke Stinchfield, who will wrestle at 138 this winter.

Kittredge would have liked them for four years, but is happy to see them return.

“Luke can place this year in the state tournament even taking two years off,” Kittredge. “And Anthony Smith, he’s the one who took third as a freshman. His potential is there, too.”

Also new is freshman Natalie Huestis, who Kittredge said will spot in at 182 pounds.

Of the others, he said to keep an eye on Paquin, who had many competi-tive matches with the top 182-pound-ers last winter, and Cousino, who was

VUHS wrestling teamplans on the podium

probably better than his tournament finish.

“Ryan was always in it, and he

still is,” Kittredge said, adding of Cousino, “He should be right there at the top. He can do it. And he hasn’t

stopped training.”Kittredge in the preseason was

waiting to see how the 126- and 132-pound situation would sort itself out, but also harboring what he said were realistic expectations of again seeing a number of Commodores on

the state podium. “If I can place seven kids in the top

four in the state, at least top six, we’ll be doing decent,” Kittredge said. “I’m going to do the best I can to give those kids the best chance they’ve got. They can do it.”

Vergennes Union High SchoolBoys’ Varsity Wrestling

Date Opponent/Event Time12/11 Host Spaulding, St. Johnsbury 6 p.m.12/18 @Mt.Mansfield 6p.m.12/20 Granville Tournament 10 a.m.12/30 Middlebury Invitational 9:30 a.m.1/3 Keene Invitational 9 a.m.1/6 @ Mt. Abraham 7 p.m.1/16 Essex Classic 3:30 p.m.1/17 Essex Classic 10:30 a.m.1/21 @ CVU 5:30 p.m.

1/24 Vergennes Invitational 9 a.m.1/28 @ Spaulding 6 p.m.2/4 Mt.Mansfield,Essex 6p.m.2/7 Mt.MansfieldInvitational 10a.m.2/10 Host dual meet 6 p.m.2/14 @ NVAC 10 a.m.2/18 @ Fair Haven 6 p.m.2/27 State Champs. @ Midd. 3 p.m.2/28 State Champs. @ Midd. 8 a.m.

Vergennes Union High School Wrestling TeamCoaches: Nate Kittredge,Scott BissonetteName GradeAnthony Smith 12LukeStinchfield 12Ryan Paquin 11Ethan Reardon 11

Jeb Hodsden 11Brandon Cousino 10Kyle Kingsley 10Troy Provencher 10Trevon Smith 10Natalie Huestis 9

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Good Luck, Commodores!

VUHS track team boasts a number of standoutsBy ANDY KIRKALDY

VERGENNES — The Vergennes Union indoor track and field team consists of a small, dedicated group of nine athletes, many of whom scored podium finishes at the Division II championship meet this past February.

Co-coach Jeff Kauffman said he expects more success this winter.

“It will be another quality season for us,” Kauffman said.

Senior Chris Castillo led the way last win-ter, winning the long jump at the state meet and placing in the triple jump. He will also run at 55 and 300 meters.

“We’ll look for Chris to re-

peat again in the long and do well in the triple,” Kauffman said.

Also placing for the boys a year ago was senior Sebby Crowell, sixth in the 55. Kauffman looks for Crowell, senior Chris Leach and Castillo to fare well running, espe-cially in the 300.

“We have some good 300 run-ners with Chris, Sebby and Leach. They should place well,” he said.

Juniors Xavier Provencher and Quinn D’Andrea will meanwhile look to break through at 1,000 and 1,500 meters, respectively.

On the girls’ side, seniors Paige Stolen and Ally Stearns return after each posted fifth-place finishes at the state meet, Stolen at 600 meters and Stearns in the shot put.

Stolen prepped for the season by becoming the top local cross-coun-try runner this past fall in her first season in that sport, and Kauffman

expects her to move up in her in-door specialty.

“We look for her to do even bet-ter this year in the 600,” he said.

Stearns has consistently scored points in her discipline in the past two seasons.

“Ally will be a top performer in the shot,” Kauffman said.

Rounding out the girls’ side are two sophomore runners, Alyse Beauchemin, who will run at 55 and 300 meters, and Sadie Kass,

who will focus on the 1,500.Kauffman would like to see

higher numbers, but noted many athletes graduated this past spring and the difficulty of persuading others to work out in hallways. He said also that many of his spring track athletes are playing indoor soccer, and he believes they will reinforce the team come April.

“I expect our numbers will be back up for outdoor,” he said.

In the meantime, Kauffman and

co-coach Brad Castillo are looking forward to their last indoor season with the five seniors on this year’s team. That group has been with the indoor program since its founding, Kauffman said.

“It will be the first crew that we’ve had for at least six years, starting to train in seventh grade,” he said. “We’ve brought them up all the way through, Brad and I, and we expect really good things from them.”

Vergennes Union High SchoolIndoor Track Team

Coaches: Jeff Kauffman and Brad Castillo Name GradePaige Stolen 12Christopher Leach 12Evan Myers 12Christopher Castillo 12Sebastien Crowell 12Allyson Stearns 12Xavier Provencher 11Quinlan D’Andrea 11Sadie Kass 10Alyse Beauchemin 10Ashley De Smit 9

Vergennes Union High SchoolVarsity Indoor Track and Field

Date Opponent/Event Time12/13 @ UVM 10 a.m.12/20 @ UVM 1 p.m.1/3 @ UVM 1 p.m.1/9 @ Dartmouth TBA1/10 @ Dartmouth TBA1/17 @ Norwich 8 a.m.1/24 @ Norwich 8 a.m.2/14 State Meet @ Norwich TBA

“It will be another quality season for us.”

— Co-coach Jeff Kauffman

Good Luck,VUHS!

VUHS boys’basketballplans return to The AudBy ANDY KIRKALDY

VERGENNES — With a number of veterans returning from last win-ter’s nine-win squad and what he senses as a strong team-wide com-mitment, Vergennes boys’ basketball coach Peter Quinn is expecting a step forward this season.

“We’ve got guys invested,” Quinn said. “We’ve got better basketball players this year.”

Key returning starters are senior center Wesley Miedema, who might have added an inch or two to his six-foot-seven of the past season, and senior point guard Liam Hayes, who was still trying to shake off a balky back but was making progress in the preseason.

Quinn expects Miedema to anchor the defense and what should be a team strength, rebounding.

“We’re going to stick Wesley in the middle,” he said. “He’s a bucket denier in the paint.”

The rest of the Commodores are quick — or big — enough to allow Quinn to deploy an aggressive man-to-man look on defense.

“We’re going to play man. My guys are pretty agile,” he said.

Miedema is not the only forward with size: Juniors Josh Dam, Josh Lorraine and Tyler Kepes are all at least 6-2, and Quinn expects the of-fense to be oriented toward the paint

as well. Also set to compete for front-court minutes are senior Zach Gebo and juniors Bradley Sturtevant, Silas Mullin, Josh Newton, Levi Baldwin and Brett Woods.

“The word for us this year is size,” Quinn said. “This is by far the big-gest team Vergennes has ever had.”

In the backcourt, Hayes, senior

swingman Dylan Raymond and ju-nior guard Aaron Gaines will prob-ably all start, assuming Hayes is healthy. Junior Bassim Bunde and the team’s only sophomore, Adam Gill, will also see minutes at guard.

Quinn does expect that group to be productive.

“We have good ballhandlers,” he

said. “We really need to look in, but we have balance, though. We have outside shooters.”

Considering everything, Quinn would like to see the Commodores return to the Division II final four af-ter an absence of a year.

“We want to go to Barre,” he said. “Our goal is to get to Barre this year.”

Vergennes Union High SchoolBoys’ Basketball Team

Coach: Peter QuinnName GradeZach Gebo 12Liam Hayes 12Wesley Miedema 12Dylan Raymond 12Levi Baldwin 11Bassim Bunde 11Josh Dam 11Aaron Gaines 11Tyler Kepes 11Josh Lorraine 11Silas Mullin 11Josh Newton 11Bradley Sturtevant 11Brett Woods 11Adam Gill 10

Vergennes Union High SchoolBoys’ Varsity Basketball

Date Opponent/Event Time12/6 @ Montpelier 1:30 p.m.12/9 @ BFA-Fairfax 7:30 p.m.12/13 Peoples Academy 11:30 a.m.12/15 South Burlington 7 p.m.12/17 Montpelier 7 p.m.12/23 BFA-Fairfax 7 p.m.12/27 Harwood 4:30 p.m.12/30 Fair Haven 7 p.m.1/3 Burr & Burton 11:30 a.m.1/6 @ Fair Haven 7:30 p.m.1/20 @ Mt. Abraham 7 p.m.1/22 Milton 7 p.m.1/27 BFA-St. Albans 7 p.m.1/30 Mt. Abraham 7 p.m.2/3 @ Middlebury 7 p.m.2/6 Missisquoi 7 p.m.2/9 @ Milton 7 p.m.2/12 @ BFA-St. Albans 7:30 p.m.2/17 @ Missisquoi 7:30 p.m.2/19 Middlebury 7 p.m.

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OTTER VALLEY UNION HIGH SCHOOL

Otter Valley Union High School Cheerleading SquadCoach: Sara DonnellyName GradeMarissa Colburn 12Jenna Elliott 12Kika Johnson 12

Margaret Santell 12Callista Perry 11Alyssa Hutchins 10Nikkitta Powell 10Houston Pratt 9

Mariah Santell 9Makayla Smart 9Christina Wiles 9

Good conditioning bodes well for NordicBy JOHN S. McCRIGHT

BRANDON — Last winter the Ot-ter Valley Nordic skiing team gained some valuable experience that it hopes to use to take a couple steps forward this winter. Unfortunately, the team lost a couple of key skiers who showed promise last year but moved on: Ben Jerome went to a ski school and Maria Wiles is skiing on the Middle-bury Union team.

Coach Brian Jerome still sees the team taking a step forward this year.

“They were all young last year, we’re all soph-omores and juniors this year,” he said. “They’ve all really improved a lot.”

Part of the improve-ment is due to experi-ence. Sophie Wood led OV in the state freestyle race last year as a fresh-man; she finished just a few places a head of then-sophomores Jonna Keith and Emma Cijka, who also return this year. Sopho-more Bridgid Enright also returns, plus the girls’ team boasts a fresh-man — Brittany Danforth. Coach Jerome is excited to see a girls’ relay team this season.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing how these girls compete and improve,” Jerome said. “They’re all on the same page.”

The Otter boys’ team will not have the required four racers to make up a relay team; veteran seniors An-

drew Jerome and Isaac Roberts will be joined by freshman Colby Reyn-olds. But, like the girls, as individu-als they should see improvement this year, Coach Jerome said.

“Last year they got a lot of time on snow,” he said. “They learned to ski better and this year they’re faster.”

They’ve also got some condition-ing in. There was roller skiing, running and strength training in the fall, Jerome said, and Ci-jka ran cross country. In addition, unlike in some years, the skiers had already got onto snow before the first meet of the season, which was scheduled for Dec. 13 at the Mountain Top Inn in Chittenden.

Jerome acknowledges that Otter Valley is in a tough league and he’s realistic about how his small squad can compete.

“I’d like to see these kids finishing in the mid-

dle of the pack,” he said.But beyond their place in the fi-

nal standings, he’s happy to see the great attitudes of all the kids. He said they are all very musical, take part in school plays and regularly make the honor rolls.

“Skiing is one of many priorities for these kids,” Jerome said. Never-theless, he is happy to get them go-ing in an activity that he hopes they will continue long after high school.

“It’s a lifelong sport,” he said.

By LEE J. KAHRSBRANDON — You know that

feeling when you’ve prepared for something with a set of expectations, only to have them change at the last minute? Welcome to the world of Otter Valley varsity wrestling Coach Steve Mitchell. Now in his third year at the helm of the program, Mitchell finds himself in rebuilding mode yet again, after five seasoned wrestlers who also played football decided not to wrestle this season.

“We’re all puzzled,” Mitchell said. “They said they weren’t having fun anymore. We had really high expec-tations, and now we’re just picking up the pieces. It’s a tough one to swallow.”

The squad that remains consisted, as of last week, of five grapplers, in-cluding four returners, sophomore Tyson Cram at 132 pounds, junior Jared Felkl at 170 pounds, junior Nate Doty at 220 and senior Eric Manning at 113. The fifth member of the team is freshman Dane Bartsch.

Those four veterans do bring with them some experience at the state meeting this past winter. As a fresh-man, Cram led the Otters in Ben-nington with a fourth-place finish at 120 pounds. Doty and Manning, too, saw the podium; Doty was sixth at 195 and manning was sixth at 113 (Mitchell noted that Doty and Manning placed despite not being seeded). Felkl didn’t win either of his matches at the state meet, but he got valuable experience in the tough 132-pound class.

Despite the low numbers, Mitch-

ell said he is still excited about the season and the potential his wrestlers have to succeed.

“We feel really good about the foundation we’ve laid, and we have a lot of momentum,” Mitchell said.

In 2010, there were six boys on the OV wrestling team. In 2011, that number dropped to three, and there was concern that the program would not survive.

But as Mitchell began in the 2012 season, a healthy group of 10 var-sity and seven JV wrestlers made up the team, and that trend continued last year with 13 wrestlers, plus two eighth-graders and three seventh-graders. Both Mitchell and OV Ath-letic Director Steve Keith said the steady numbers were a result of a robust youth wrestling program that feeds the middle school and high school teams. They were hoping that the steady turnout of wrestlers would ensure the health and expansion of the program.

But it’s back to square one and re-building mode for Mitchell.

“We are unexpectedly rebuilding,” he said. “We have a good class of eighth-graders coming up. I’m ex-cited about them.”

And the boys that showed up this season will benefit from some of the best coaching the school has ever of-fered, Mitchell said. In addition to himself and OV alum and champion wrestler Jesse Bilodeau, Mitchell has also added Cole Mason. New to the area and a teacher at Rochester High School, Mason wrestled for Cornell College in Iowa, where he coached

Small number of wrestlers have big hopes

Otter Valley Union High SchoolVarsity Wrestling

Date Opponent/Event Time12/17 @ Burr & Burton, MVL Duals 6 p.m.12/20 @ Granville TBA12/27 @ Slater Duals TBA12/30 Middlebury Tournament TBA1/3 Otter Valley Tournament TBA1/7 @ Fair Haven, MVL Duals 6 p.m.1/10 Mt. Anthony TBA1/13 Otter Valley, MVL Duals 6 p.m.1/16 Essex Classic TBA1/17 Essex Classic TBA1/24 @ Vergennes (Colch. Tourn.) TBA1/31 @ Mt. Greylock TBA2/7 @Mt.Mansfield TBA2/11 @ Mill River, MVL Duals 5:30 p.m.2/14 @ Mt. Anthony Jamboree TBA2/27 States @ Middlebury TBA2/28 States @ Middlebury TBA3/6 New Englands @ N. Andover, MA TBA

as well.“We’re really fortunate to have

him on board,” Mitchell said. As for the football players who

chose not to wrestle this year, Mitch-ell said as the coach, he naturally looked inward for an explanation.

“My first thinking is to blame my-self,” he said. “But I’ve been asking around and have been getting a lot of positive feedback. The school is be-hind us. I’m not bigger than the pro-gram. I love it, but I don’t want to get in the way of anything.

“I guess we just have to figure out how to make it more fun,” the coach said.

Otter Valley Union High SchoolWrestling Team

Coach: Steve MitchellName GradeEric Manning 12Nathan Doty 11Jared Felkl 11Tyson Cram 10Dane Bartshe 9

Otter Valley Union High SchoolVarsity Nordic Skiing

Otter Valley Union High SchoolNordic Skiing Team

Date Opponent/Event Time12/23 @ Mt. Anthony 2:30 p.m.1/2 @ Burr and Burton 11 a.m.1/6 Host (at Mt. Top) 2:30 p.m.1/9 @ Woodstock 6 p.m.1/23 @ Burr and Burton 6 p.m.1/28 @ Brattleboro 2:30 p.m.

2/5 @ Rutland 3 p.m.2/11 @ Mt. Anthony 3 p.m.2/18 @ Brattleboro 11 a.m.2/26 Free Statte meet States @ U-32 10:30 a.m.3/3 Classic States @ Woodstock 10:30 a.m.

Coach: Brian JeromeName GradeAndrew Jerome 12Isaac Roberts 12Emma Cijka 11

Jonna Keith 11Bridgid Enright 10Sophie Wood 10Colby Reynolds 9Brittany Danforth 9

“They were all young last year, we’re all sophomores and juniors this year. They’ve all really improved a lot.”

— CoachBrian Jerome


OTTER VALLEY UNION HIGH SCHOOL

By LEE J. KAHRSBRANDON — Strength and

power, plus a little more versatility — those are the qualities that OV varsity boys’ basketball coach Greg Hughes hopes will put the team over the .500 mark this season.

Graduation was kind to the Otters, who did not lose any starters. Led this year by seniors John Winslow,

Connor Galli-po, Derek Bas-sette and Josef Scarborough, Hughes is look-ing to improve on last year’s 9-10 record.

There is also a little more size under the rim this season

in the form of 6-foot, 2-inch junior Carson Leary and 6-foot, 1-inch ju-nior Collin Eugair. And while that may not be tall by many school’s standards, it’s good size for OV. Hughes said that Leary and Eugair, along with junior Tyler Allen also possess great strength on both of-fense and defense.

Add sophomore standout guards Kai Norwood and Derek Aines, plus floaters Will Ross, Connor Mack-ey and MacGregor Shannon, and Hughes is optimistic.

By LEE J. KAHRSBRANDON — The Otter Valley

varsity girls’ basketball team may have lost some players to gradua-tion, but the system is working, and Coach Steve Keith is pleased.

There are 10 girls on the varsity squad, and the future looks bright with 13 on the junior varsity team.

The Otters only have two seniors on the team this season, Laura Beth Roberts and Kylee Bissette, but ex-perienced underclassman, including five juniors, give Keith a versatile team that he says can be competitive.

“We’re pretty happy, numbers-wise,” Keith said. “We have five re-turning players and five that are new to varsity.”

Juniors Amy Jones, Hannah Wil-liams and Maia Edmunds round out the returning varsity players. Keith said in previous years his team has been guard-heavy, and with Jones and Bissette and sophomore Sophia Bloomer, the Otter girls are now more spread out around the key.

“We definitely have some post

players who can score,” Keith said. “We can play inside and outside basketball. We’re a little more bal-anced.”

One of this team’s greatest strengths is the players’ tenacity, the coach said.

“They’re tough under the basket,” Keith said. “They battle. That’s the biggest thing. They fight. We’re go-ing to defend you and we’re going to score.”

Last season, the Otters won their last four games in the regular season to get into the playoffs then lost to Mount Abe in the first round of the playoffs and ended with a record of 9-10. This season, Keith said, he just wants his girls to feel like they’ve improved.

“I’d be happy with being better than when we started,” he said. “We try not to say we want to win 10 games or 20 games. If we can just get better and get to the playoffs, that’s what we’d like to do. They’re all re-ally good athletes and really good kids.”

Big group of boys return toOtter hoop

“It seems like we’re a very, very well-rounded team,” he said.

As the season got under way, the Otter boys started out 1-1 after a tough season opening loss to Mill River, then a big win over Poultney. Hughes said his team had some ad-justments to make after that loss.

“We have to share the ball more, and that speaks to our youth on the team,” he said. “We have to work

the ball down low and get it to the post players. We’re open, but we tend not to see that.”

The coach said he is confident this team will hit its stride in the com-ing weeks and play some exciting basketball.

“They just have to get into a groove with each other,” Hughes said. “But I have good confidence in this team.”

Otter Valley Union High School Boys’ Varsity Basketball

Date Opponent/Event Time12/16 Poultney 7 p.m.12/22 West Rutland 7 p.m.12/30 @ Green Mountain 7 p.m.1/3 @ Mt. Abraham 12:30 p.m.1/6 @ Middlebury 7 p.m.1/9 @ Mill River 7 p.m.1/16 Mt. Abraham 7 p.m.1/21 @ Leland and Gray 7 p.m.

1/24 Twin Valley 2:30 p.m.1/27 @ Woodstock 7 p.m.1/30 @ Bellows Falls 7 p.m.2/2 Proctor 7 p.m.2/5 Leland and Gray 7 p.m.2/11 Woodstock 7 p.m.2/13 Arlington 7 p.m.2/16 Bellows Falls 7 p.m.2/20 @ Proctor 7 p.m.

Otter Valley Union High SchoolBoys’ Basketball Team

Coach: Greg HughesName GradeDerek Bassette 12Connor Gallipo 12Josef Scarborough 12Emmett Thurston 12John Winslow 12Tyler Allen 11Collin Eugair 11Carson Leary 11MacGregor Shannon 11Derek Aines 10Conor Mackie 10Kai Norwood 10William Ross 10

“It seems like we’re a very, very well-rounded team.”

— coach Greg Hughes

OVUHS girls ready to take a step forward

Otter Valley Union High SchoolGirls’ Varsity Basketball

Date Opponent/Event Time12/15 Leland & Gray 7 p.m.12/17 Proctor 7 p.m.12/20 @ Burr & Burton 1:30 p.m.12/23 Hartford 7 p.m.12/30 @ Mt. Anthony 7 p.m.1/2 @ Leland and Gray 7 p.m.1/6 Rutland 7 p.m.1/8 Fair Haven 7 p.m.1/16 @Springfield 7p.m.

1/20 @ Mill River 7 p.m.1/23 Windsor 7 p.m.1/27 @ Hartford 7 p.m.1/31 @ Arlington 1:30 p.m.2/2 @ Windsor 7 p.m.2/4 @ Brattleboro 7 p.m.2/6 Springfield 7p.m.2/9 @ Fair Haven 7 p.m.2/12 Mill River 7 p.m.

Otter Valley Union High School Girls’ Basketball Team

Coach: Steve KeithName GradeKylee Bissette 12

Laura Beth Roberts 12Maia Edmunds 11Lexi Hedding 11

Amy Jones 11Isabelle Kingsley 11Hannah Williams 11

Sophia Bloomer 10Cortney Bushey 10Meghan Hallett 10

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