Tilton, n.h.
Thibault produced a winning effort in the shot put of 46 feet, 6.5 inches to top Wilton-Lyndeborough’s Samuel Bailey by less than a foot. Thibault’s winning margin in the discus was more comfortable, a shade less than 12 feet after a victorious throw of 147-2.
His 20 points accounted for close to half of the Tigers’ 43, good for fourth as a team behind Campbell (70.5), InterLakes (64) and Belmont (50).
Mason Martell scored in both hurdle races, taking second in the 110 meters (15.65 seconds) and fourth in the 300 (42.76). Freshman Jagger Lovely added a point by finishing sixth in the 110.
Ethan Houde was fifth in the javelin (142-7). He also joined Martell, Dylan Palmer and John Thibault in a second-place finish in the 4×100 relay (46.02).
Mascoma and Stevens both scored team points. The Royals’ Jordan Peck was fifth in the 400 dash (53.48). The Cardinals’ Drew Grenier claimed sixth in the 1,600 run (4:39.46).
Selena Coronis accounted for all six of the Newport girls’ team points by taking third place in the long jump (15-7). Stevens’ Audrey Puksta was fifth in the triple jump (31-6), and she teamed with Alyssa Alberto, Leeanne McCarthy and Julia Tursky to take fifth in the 4×100 relay (54.15).
Suzanne Rickard scored for Sunapee with a fifth place in the javelin (99-9). White Mountains (59 points) outdistanced Gilford (50), Campbell (49.5) and InterLakes (48) for girls team honors.
Trio Wins at Essex
Essex Junction, Vt.
Oxbow senior Izzy Giesing again backed up her claim to 800-meter supremacy by winning in 2 minutes, 13.66 seconds, topping Rice’s Dina John by more than 6 seconds. Woodstock’s Grace Vollers logged a dominant win in the javelin, her throw of 118 feet, 7 inches was a good 10 feet better than second place. Thetford’s Grace Davis also came home a winner, nipping St. Johnsbury’s Hannah Wescott in the high jump at 5-1.
Hartford girls posted a bunch of top-fives. Kennedy Mullen led the way with third-place finishes in the 400 dash (1:00.10) and triple jump (35-11.5) that were both school records. Ileana Sirois (second, 100 hurdles; fourth, long jump), Morgan White (fourth, shot put) and Maliya Sinclair (second, discus) also hit the top five.
Oxbow’s Hannah Giesing was fourth in the 400 dash, and teammate Kelly Daigle took fifth in the shot put; all will join Izzy Giesing at next month’s New England meet. Thetford’s Meaggie Balch took fifth in the 3,000 meters.
On the boys’ side, Rivendell’s Owen Pelletier hit the top five (and qualified for New Englands) in all four events he entered: fourth in the 100 dash, second in the high jump, third in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump (in a VPA D-IV state record of 42-8.5). Hartford’s Abayomi Lowe competed in three sprints with a third in the 200 and a fourth in the 400. South Royalton’s Connor Lambert grabbed fifth in the javelin.
Oxbow’s Jarret Rock set a school record of 19-5 in the boys long jump.
Wasps’ Biele in Finals
Burlington
Moving indoors to avoid inclement weather, Josephs took advantage of a faster surface to claim her third straight individual crown. Biele held her own early, stretching the first three games of the first set through multiple deuces that took 22 minutes to complete. The first two days of the tournament had been held on outdoor clay at the Burlington Racquet Club.
“Not that the court made it different, but Momo didn’t play badly,” Woodstock coach Tom Hopewell said. “This girl was on fire.”
As it is, Biele is the first Woodstock athlete to make the state girls singles tennis finals since Lynne Frates in 1990, according to Hopewell. “I’m taking that as a huge plus,” he said.
Woodstock opens defense of its VPA Division II team title this week.
Softball
Whitcomb-Rochester 29Mount St. Joseph 1 (5)
Rutland
Chelsie Trask took a star turn for Whitchester. Trask struck out six of the 10 batters she faced over three innings, walking one and not allowing a hit.
She also included two home runs as part of a 4-for-4 day at the plate, scoring five runs and driving in seven.
Jordan Galluzzo drove in six on a 4-for-6 day with two runs, and Fiona Vaillancourt was 4-for-6 with six runs and two RBIs. Whitchester will likely have a first-round bye in the D-IV draw.
Blue Mountain 21Thetford 6 (6)
Wells River, Vt.
The Panthers had just four hits on the day. Alexis Rich went 2-for-3, Harlee Gray doubled and had two RBIs, and Shannon Hayes singled. Lily Vaughan was in the circle, allowing five walks with a strikeout. Blue Mountain slapped 19 hits in the six-inning affair.
Thetford could still host a first-round game in the VPA D-III tourney this week.
Chelsea 7, Sharon 6
Chelsea
As they have in other sports seasons in the school’s final year, Chelsea organizers turned Saturday into a full-day baseball celebration. The Red Devils (8-5) capped it with the win as Dylan Kuban singled, moved to second base on an error, advanced to third on a Logan Brinkman sacrifice bunt and scored on Lucas Gilman’s RBI single.
The Devils held a three-run lead after four innings, but Sharon (5-8) — which played its home games in Chelsea during this inaugural varsity season — mounted a comeback. Tommy Bissaillon’s two-run triple in the fifth cut the gap to one, and Sam Knoerlein leveled things with a run-scoring sac fly to plate Aidan Trimble with the tying run in the seventh.
Shawn King picked up the win in relief of Kuban (six innings, 10 strikeouts) despite allowing the tying run in the top of the seventh. Bissaillon worked into the sixth for TSA, fanning nine. Bissaillon and Trimble both went 3-for-3. Sharon pitchers also limited Chelsea to just three hits.
Both teams await seeding in this week’s VPA Division IV state tournament.
Rivendell 9Whitcomb-Rochester 4
Orford
Charlie Bradley put his fingerprints on all manner of Rivendell success. The junior contributed an RBI single to the big rally, finishing the day with two hits in three at-bats, including an RBI triple in the fourth. Bradley also worked two innings of relief on the mound, fanning two with two hits, one run and no walks for the win.
Ryan Woodbeck contributed a two-run single to the sixth-inning offense for Rivendell, which could hold down the fourth seed in the VPA D-IV tourney.
Damian Burbano and Zach Rhoades both were 2-for-3 for Whitchester, with Rhoades adding a steal and a run batted in. Timber Russell, Rhoades and Triston Irish shared the pitching load, allowing five earned runs on six hits. The Mountaineers will open the postseason on the road.
Blue Mountain 6, Thetford 5
Wells River, Vt.
Woodstock 13, BBA 7
Manchester, Vt.
Cullen McCarthy contributed three goals and an assist for Woodstock. Patrick Potter and Field Willis both scored twice, Jed Astbury set up three goals and scored one, Lucas Piconi scored and assisted, and Micah Schlabach added an assist. The Wasps built a 7-3 halftime lead and maintained comfortable distance on the Bulldogs the rest of the night.
Gabe Marsicovetere made 12 saves in the Woodstock goal.
Hanover at NEIRAs
Worcester, Mass.
Hanover’s third entered their girls race seeded seventh but charged to a fourth-place finish. The girls second varsity was fifth, as was the first varsity.
Hanover ended up as one of five schools — and the only public one — to put all of its boats in grand finals. The Marauders posted the best public school finish in all three events.
Hanover’s boys wound up third in the petite final with their first varsity boat.