Lebanon’s Zach Gaudet competes for the Whaleback Core Team at the Eastern Freestyle Young Gun Championships at Killington earlier this month.
Lebanon’s Zach Gaudet competes for the Whaleback Core Team at the Eastern Freestyle Young Gun Championships at Killington earlier this month. Credit: Courtesy photograph

Daegu, South Korea — Already one of the Upper Valley’s top masters track and field competitors, Katrina Geurkink took her act overseas and came home with five medals — two of them golds — from the indoor World Masters Athletics Championship last week in South Korea.

Geurkink, 56, of Lebanon, won while competing in the women’s 55-59 age division. The former University of Vermont track standout spread her performances out over the weeklong competition, winning the shot put and discus to go with her three other podium finishes.

The discus victory came on March 23 with a toss of  94 feet, 7.5  inches. She grabbed gold in the shot two days later, throwing 33-4.75. In between, Geurkink took second in the hammer (107-7), third in the javelin (59-7.75) and second in the 16-pound weight throw (38-0.75).

Geurkink competes for the Lebanon-based Thor’s Stone Athletic Club. She was part of a third-place team effort for the United States, whose 108 total medals trailed only Australia (124) and Great Britain (118).

On the Ice

U12 Wild Wins Regionals

Orono, Maine — After two straight years of runner-up finishes, the Hanover Wild U12 girls took the next step and earned a New England District championship at the regional tournament at the University of Maine’s Alfond Arena on March 17-19.

The Wild rolled through group play, beating Team Rhode Island (3-1), Vermont’s Barre Blades (4-1) and West Hartford, Conn. (3-1) to make the semifinals. After a 4-2 defeat of Maine’s Casco Bay Mariners, Hanover erased a 2-0 deficit to beat Barre in the finals, 5-3. The New England title is the first ever by any Hanover girls team.

The roster: Gail Morse, Rory Seelig, Kali McDonnell, Mo McBride, Katie Smith, Liv Emerson, Addi Hubert, Ella Maher, Rachel Site, Lily Seeling, Hannah Vogel, Grace Bazin and Kate French.

On the Snow

Gaudet Wins Young Gun

Killington, Vt. — Lebanon’s Zach Gaudet, competing for the Whaleback Core Team, won two events and the individual overall title at the Eastern Freestyle Young Gun Championships at Killington on March 17-19.

Gaudet opened the competition by winning the boys slopestyle on March 17, scoring a division-best 89.6 points on the first of his two runs. Gaudet came back 24 hours later and won the aerials with 112.28 points, one of just two competitors to top 100 points on the day. A 12th-place result in moguls (44.09 points) on the final day clinched the championship.

To be eligible for Young Guns, skiers must compete in each of the three disciplines twice during the regular season within their specific region. Gaudet competes in the Eastern region of Eastern Freestyle, which encompasses athletes from New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

Purcell Leads at LaFoley

Henniker, n.h. — Alex Purcell zoomed to a second-place finish at Pats Peak on Sunday to highlight Ford Sayre Academy skiers during the season-ending LaFoley Spring Series races around New Hampshire.

Purcell’s success came in a slalom at Pats, one in which FSA teammates Ethan Ross (26th) and Matty Siegel (30th) also cracked the top 30. Evan Schiffman (15th) led the Ford Sayre girls, with Ellie Stannard coming in 27th.

The series hit Loon Mountain for a giant slalom on Saturday, where Purcell took 11th and Mal Flynn was 32nd for FSA. Combined with the Pats result, Purcell is expected to land in the top five when series standings are updated.

LaFoley GS racing also took place in trying conditions at Mittersill on March 18. Schiffman was 31st and Frans Luttmer took 37th for the boys for FSA’s best results. Poor weather and a power outage kept some boys from getting in their second runs, and organizers had to finish the event using hand timers.

In the Pool

A Dozen Golds for UVAC

White River Junction — Upper Valley Aquatic Club athletes won 12 gold medals and nearly 40 medals in all as part of a third-place team finish at last weekend’s New Hampshire Swimming Association state championship meet at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center.

The UVAC’s Jack Wadsworth and Kristian Hansen set meet records as part of victorious swims. Competing in the boys ages 13-14 category, Hartland’s Wadsworth set marks in the 200 individual medley (1 minute, 57.99 seconds) and 100 backstroke (53.04). Hansen, of Hanover, continued his excellence in long distances by winning the 500 freestyle for boys ages 17-19 in a meet-best time of 4:35.74. Hansen added a second gold in the 200 free (1:44.13).

Two UVAC girls also produced two wins at states. Lebanon’s Catherine Gavell proved victorious in the 50 free (24.73) and 100 free (54.03) among girls ages 17-19. Woodstock’s Isabelle Hiller also took two races, winning the 200 IM (2:14.33) and 100 breaststroke (1:07.46) among girls ages 13-14.

A list of all of UVAC’s medal-winners can be found on this page.

On the Mats

NLG Trio Runners-up

Westminster, Vt. — Three members of Northern Lights Gymnastics competed to runner-up finishes during the Vermont state championship meet at Bellows Falls Union High School on March 18-19.

Norwich’s Shaylee McBride earned her finish among Level 9 competitors ages 15 and older with 32.475 all-around points. McBride won the bars (8.4) and was second in the other three implements.

Taftsville’s Olivia Johannensen and Hartland’s Clare McFeeley both placed second in XCEL-level action, in both cases among ages 15-18. Johannensen scored 30.925 points for runner-up in the Silver division, while McFeeley’s 32.15 points were good enough for second in the Gold division.

Norwich’s Molly Coates and Hanover’s Abby Feyrer performed well in Level 8 competition for Northern Lights and qualified for regionals in their division. The Level 4 and Level 6 teams came in third place,

On the Diamond

Hartford Co-ed League

White River Junction — The Hartford Parks and Recreation Department will hold a mandatory meeting for teams interested in playing in its summer co-ed slow-pitch softball league on April 6 at 6 p.m. at the Hartford Town Hall.

Hartford Rec has begun accepting team registrations for the coming season, at a cost of $500 per team. Registration can be done online at www.hartfordrec.com, with full payment due by May 5 at 5 p.m. Players must be at least 18 years of age to join a team.

Games will be played at Ratcliffe Park in White River Junction and/or Clifford Park in West Hartford, depending on the number of teams in the league. At least one team representative must attend the April 6 meeting.

Call Hartford Rec at 802-295-5036 for more information.

For a Good Cause

Mayos Work SO Worlds

Lebanon — Longtime Special Olympics volunteers Gary Mayo, of Lebanon, and his son Rob Mayo, of Plainfield, recently completed their risk management work at the Special Olympics Winter World Games in Austria.

The event features more than 2,700 athletes from ore than 100 nations. Outdoor events were staged at the Schladming-Ramsau resort, while indoor events took place two hours away in the city of Graz.

This is the second World Games for the Mayos, who worked at the Summer World Games in Los Angeles in 2015. Both men are also scheduled to be on the staff at the next Summer Games in Abu Dhabi in March 2019.

Spinathon Raises $20K

Lebanon — With the tally still in creasing, the River Valley Club’s annual four-hour Spinathon fundraiser on Saturday has brought in more than $20,000 for WISE’s domestic abuse and sexual violence programs.

RVC has held the event for 17 years and collaborated with WISE for the past five. Fitness enthusiasts worked as teams or rode solo during the event, which was staged in the fitness club’s Spinning studio under the guidance of lead instructor Jennifer Karr.

With pledges still coming in, Karr said in an email this week that the tally from last week’s Spinathon has topped last year’s $15,000 total.

Bethel Rec Fundraiser

Bethel — The Bethel Recreation Committee will hold a black-tie fundraiser featuring the Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s string quintet, along with a dinner by Willy Walker, on May 13 at the Bethel Town Hall.

The evening kicks off fundraising efforts directed toward the second phase of the committee’s master plan project at the Bethel Recreation Center. Participants have two options to join the event: a $100 ticket including dinner and the music program or a $25 balcony seat to the concert. A silent auction will take place during the evening as well, with offerings from several Bethel-area businesses.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Dietre Feeney at 802-234-6407 or Corey Stearns at 802-316-1062. Ticket sales end on April 30.

Correction

Lebanon’s Katrina Geurkink tossed the discus 94 feet, 7.5 inches to win the women’s 55-59 age division gold medal at the indoor World Masters Athletics Championship last week in Daegu, South Korea. An earlier version of this story listed the incorrect distance for Geurkink’s winning throw.