By Poody Walsh
Is the arrival of Hartford High indoor track at hand?
The Hurricanes cracked the top five among both boys and girls at last year’s VPA Division II state meet, the payoff for steady progress both indoors and outdoors the past few years. While this winter’s Canes may be young, coach Mike Perry has his largest roster in recent memory. That depth will serve Hartford well — if the Canes can avoid injuries — as it further battles D-II stalwarts such as Rice, Oxbow, Lyndon, Fair Haven and Milton, all of whom finished above Hartford at states among one gender or the other.
The Olympians have had superb results from their girls the past few years, and the boys came within 14 points of a state crown last winter. The core of last winter’s efforts — Izzy Giesing, Emily Carson, Jarret Rock — returns for another try.
Lebanon had Corinne Kennedy as a foundation the past four years, but she’s moved on to Cornell. In her place is a relatively strong squad highlighted by another college-bound athlete, distance runner Grace Furlong (D-II Notre Dame of Ohio), along with throwing siblings Kim and Kath Merchant. Marcus Roper, Zach Petrin and Ryan Sullivan will front a young Lebanon boys roster.
Back in Vermont, Thetford gets to contend for state team honors in earnest this winter. The Panthers are now an official varsity program that can compete for a state title. TA were a club program in recent winters, eligible to go to states but not to score points or accumulate medals. The sport continues to grow elsewhere; number have increased at Sharon Academy enough that the Phoenix can field relay teams, a rarity in coach Kevin Gish’s six years with the program.
Windsor will not field a squad this season because of roster and scheduling issues.
A capsule look at the teams:
Hanover
Coach: Steve McConnell (5).
Last Year: Girls 16th and boys 12th at state meet.
League: NHIAA Division II.
Returnees: Seniors — Morgan Baughman, Taigue Fullerton-Meaney, Jacob Licht, Daniel Pinigin, David Wilson. Juniors — Adam Blackburn, Dillon Bradley, Liam Collins, Jasmine Lou, Devon Martin, Sam Pych, Jack Robey, Colm Seigne. Sophomores — Christine Aman, Kyla Bouchard, Ande Chen, Kyle Doucette, Lillian Hall, Olivia Peterson, A.J. Ristino, Anna Stafford, Peiper Thomas, Abagail Wilson.
Newcomers: Seniors — Kezar Berger. Juniors — Juan Bautista-Gallino, Heather Stafford. Sophomores — Claire Abner, Sophia Nadeau, Alexander Roth, Paula Sevlecek. Freshmen — Henry Aspinwall, Eloise Davis, Ava Fitts, Daniel Frost, Jackson Lake, Soja Lippman, Wylie Lucas, Ella MacLean, Sophia May, Zoe Onyango, Kira Smith, Sophie Underwood.
Analysis: “Real happy with the numbers, and also happy with the number of young girls which bodes well for the future,” McConnell said. “Team is really enthusiastic and athletic. Struggling a little bit with injuries.”
Hartford
Coach: Mike Perry (25).
Last Year: Girls fourth and boys fifth at state meet. Ileana Sirois accounted for 28 of the Hurricane girls’ 34 points.
League: VPA Division II.
Returnees: Seniors — Ileana Sirois, Shaelyn West, Sarah Boulanger, Riley Kehoe, Natalie Charron, Maya Bolger-Chen, Kylee Beaucage, Callum Brittain. Juniors — Lucas Benson, Busara Hall, Hunter Noyes. Sophomores — Anne-Marie Schneller.
Newcomers: Senior — Michael Olson. Junior — Trevor LaBrecque. Sophomores — Angie Anderson, Annaleigh Lynch, Jessica Paterson, Daisy Phelps, Tayler Simmons, Emilia Harlow. Freshmen — Eleanor Hinckley, Gretchen Josselyn, Parker Kehoe, Remy Lambert, Ian O’Brien, Reilly Slusseer, Katie Trombley.
Analysis: “The big change this year is that we have numbers in the events as well as quality,” Perry said. “Coming off a great outdoor season, where the girls and boys each placed third in the state championship, and with most of the point scorers on this squad, it should be interesting. Practices have gone real well, but with such a young group, I’ll have to see what happens in the first two meets to make some suggestions to the kids. Sirois and Lowe lead a strong group of returning athletes that should lead the way for us. It should be a very exciting season to say the least.”
Lebanon
Coach: Kevin Lozeau (5).
Last Year: Girls placed third and the boys eighth at state meet.
League: NHIAA Division II.
Returnees: Seniors — Allison Duany, Grace Furlong, Shelby Hanks, Kim Merchant, Kate Merchant, Sophia Miller, Nate Cole, Ed Bieszczad, Jon Brennan, Peter Maslan, Zach Petrin, Marcus Roper. Juniors — Sarah Ball, Kaitlyn Merrihew, Laken Mooney, Ryan Hart, Zach Herndon, Ryan Sullivan, Noel Vorachak. Sophomores — Quinn Beek, Anna Bieszczad, Emma Herndon, Claudia Simone, Abigail Snow, Irina Stan, Madeline Wolfe, Roneet Arora, Cody Davis, Brendan Freeman, Keenan Lethauser, Michael weeks.
Newcomers: Juniors — Emma Nichols, Devin Benson, Kevin Sullivan, Collin Wainright. Sophomores — Nicole Alvarez, Kyah Mekus, Jorgen Lethauser. Freshmen — Kathryn Brennan, Elizabeth Corbin, Thomas Belk, Jonathan Carrier, Alex Feliz, Deven Ferguson, James Grant, Roan Luikart, Joseph McGranaghan, Josh Nicholson, Cheri Yuan.
Analysis: “Despite losing perennial superstar Corinne Kennedy to graduation, the girls return a strong class of seniors who will be looking to continue the success they have had the past few seasons,” Lozeau said. “The team is also loaded with young talent, many of whom could surprise people by the end of the season. The boys are … predominately underclassmen and many of the upperclassmen are first-year runners, so the boys success will be dependent on how well the team can come together to support the more experienced athletes.”
Newport
Coach: Jeff Miller (6).
Last Year: Peter Thibault competed at states for the Tigers, finishing seventh in the shot put.
League: NHIAA Division II.
Returnees: Seniors — Peter Thibault, Ethan Houde, Dylan Palmer, Anna Pysz, Keagan Halleck. Juniors — Selena Coronis, Emily Guyett. Sophomores — John Thibault, Allison Howard, Isabelle Fischer, Mason Martell, Neveah Griggs.
Newcomers: Seniors — Josh Plante. Juniors — Madison Sanville, Andrew Bailey, Anika Randall. Sophomores — Bishop Wong, Selena Clough, Kaylie Clough, Kate Trombly, Natasha Trombley, Odell Bedell, Nathaniel Morel. Freshmen — Ryder Lovely, Jagger Lovely, Nick Hogan, Madison Miller.
Analysis: “This is the biggest squad we have fielded in the six-year history of the program,” Miller noted. “Fourteen are doing indoor track only, while another dozen or so are also participating in other sports. The numbers and the ability should make it an interesting year. Last year, we scored at all three Dartmouth meets with tough competition. I’m expecting we’ll do the same thing again this year.”
Oxbow
Coach: Emily Willems and Amy Cook (7).
Last Year: Both teams were runners-up at states. Rice outpointed the girls, 183-80, while Fair Haven pipped the boys, 75-61.
League: VPA Division II.
Returnees: Seniors — Emily Carson, Izzy Giesing, Sully French, Danielle Gordon. Juniors — Calvin Cook. William Douglas, Tim Hodges, Brennan Kimball, Summer Paye, Jarret Rock, Tyrus Rosten. Sophomores — Michaela LaCount, Lana Wood, Harley Wescott.
Newcomers: Senior — Brienna Robinson. Juniors — Bryce Craig, Orin Mahikoa. Freshmen — Abby Bartlett, Cameron Boardman, Kelly Daigle, Kailey Drake, Samuel McIntire, Olivia Robinson, Lorr Rosten, Dylan Shaw.
Analysis: Willems would like to have more numbers but realizes the indoor season is not as intense and is good, fun way to get through the winter. “We may have to practice running in the halls, but we are lucky to have Leverone Field House for our meets,” she said. Willems also enjoys the fun rivalry with Thetford: “They get my competitive hackles up.”
Sharon
Coach: Kevin Gish (6).
Last Year: Phoenix didn’t post team points at states. Aiden Trimble and Dillon Buttner represented TSA at the meet.
League: VPA Division II.
Returnees: Seniors — Dillon Buttner, Aidan Trimble. Sophomores — Sophie Chesnut, Laila Reimanis.
Newcomers: Senior — Joseph Campbell. Junior — Margeurite Souligny. Sophomore — Georgia Quackenbos. Freshmen — Novah Conway, Leland Pelletier, Erik Younce.
Analysis: Word of mouth seems to be the Phoenix’s best weapon — it’s brought coach Kevin Gish one of his largest rosters to date. “It’s just exciting to have more kids,” he said. “You’ve got to start somewhere. … We have a few core kids that are just getting other students to try track.”
Thetford
Coaches: Charlie Buttrey and Joel Breakstone (7).
Last Year: Competed at states as a club team. TA boys would have qualified as state champ for the second time in three years if they’d have been permitted to accumulate points.
League: VPA Division II.
Returnees: Seniors — Meaggie Balch, Emma Bauer, Grace Clement, Gabrielle Curtis, Hannah Davis, Ellenor Koppers, Morgan Lavoy, Ian Barker, Clifford Ransom, Malcolm Silver-Van Meter. Juniors — Anabel Reining, Hannah Schwarz, Eli Kaliski, Ian Spellman. Sophomores — Morgan Gaffney, Macy Lawson.
Newcomers: Seniors — Alex MacVeagh. Juniors — William Bugg, Gabe Gaetz, Ramon Graham, Frank Loveland, Jason Wolstenholme. Sophomores — Alexis Gaetz, Tad Darrah. Freshmen — Layla Hanissian, Samara Spellman, Nate Brooker, Knute Linehan.
Analysis: “The athletes are very excited about competing as a varsity program,” Buttrey said. “The Rice girls are prohibitive favorites to win the state meet, but we expect to compete for a second-place finish. To pull that off, we have to outperform a very talented team from Oxbow, with whom we have had a very friendly rivalry for years. Meanwhile, while most boys are new to the program, they have shown an eagerness to work hard and we think hey will make some noise in the state meet.”