Boys Tennis

Lebanon finishes strong
in NHIAA tournament play

In Sunday’s NHIAA doubles tournament, Lebanon’s Kyle Hines and Lucas Graham defeated Portsmouth’s Charlie Anderson and Matias Navarro-Manchego, 8-1, in the first round. In the second and most exciting round, they almost knocked off the No. 1 seed of the tournament, Hanover’s Sam Ames and Ian Holmes, ultimately dropped a 8-6 decision despite a valiant comeback attempt. The Raiders’ Augie Church-Cole and Lavi Halwawalla lost, 8-1, to Londonderry’s of Neel Chakravarthy and Connor Lord in the first round.

In the singles tournament, Lebanon’s Hines defeated Londonderry’s Lord, 9-7, to come from behind in the first round. In the second round, he lost his lead to Exeter’s Owen Russell, ultimately falling 9-7. Church-Cole drew a very difficult opening round opponent, Winnacunnet’s David Cucceu, falling 8-0 to a very talented player who made the semifinals, defeating many challenging opponents along the way.

Highlights: There was amazing tennis played on all courts all day. It was exciting to watch. Many coaches complimented Lebanon’s play.

Coach’s quote: “Having our (Nos.) 1 and 2 singles and doubles make the tournament is quite an achievement, and all of these players have stepped up huge after losing two really talented players last year to graduation. We are so proud of them, as well as our entire squad.” — Lebanon’s Tammy Arado

Track and field

Lowe, Moreno lead Hurricanes
to second at D-II state meet

The Hartford boys track and field team took second place among 14 teams in the VPA Division II state meet on Friday in Burlington, getting wins from Ayodele Lowe and Bennett Moreno in two events each and one from Jayden Forbes.

Lowe, who was fifth in the 100 meters, won the high jump, clearing 6 feet, 2 inches, and the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 1 inch. Moreno ran the 800 meters in 1:57 and the 1,500 in 3:58. Forbes’s triple jump was 41 feet. Other finishes for Hartford included Matthew Tsouknakis (second, javelin); Colby Albrecht, Tighe Hrabchak, Forbes and Moreno (third, 4x400 relay); Scott McSherry, Elijah Olfstad, Lucas Anderson and Elliott Brooks (third, 4x800); Brandon Driver (fourth, shot put); Benjamin Lang (fourth, pole vault); Hrabchak (fifth, 400 meters): and Alec Husmann (fifth, shot put).

For the Hartford girls, Geneva Durgin was third in the 300-meter hurdles, Maddie Carbino fifth in the 400 meters, the quartet of Scarlett Brooks, Kathryn Summarsell, Dakota Smith and Carbino was second in the 4x400 and the foursome of Brooks, Summarsell, Durgin and Aria Smith took second in the 4x800.

For Woodstock, Jack Quicker and James Underwood had the best individual finishes with third place in the boys pole vault and the 1,500, respectively. Underwood was also sixth in the 800 meters. For the girls, Grace Perreault, Piper Pauly, Annesonia Beardsley and Eryn McGuire were second in the 4x100. In the boys 4x800, Owen Courcey, Logan Martes, Dexter Namkung and Shawn Harriman were second. Other finishes for the Wasps included Pauly (fourth, triple jump), McGuire (fifth, 200 meters, sixth, high jump), Izzy Cellini (sixth, 1,500 meters), Perreault (sixth, 200 meters).

Boys team scores: U-32 171, Hartford 83, Fair Haven 83, Rice 57, Lamoille 29, Lake Region 29, Lyndon 28, Montpelier 24, Woodstock 21, Harwood 15.

Girls team scores: U-32 150, Rice 88, Montpelier 52, Lake Region 42, Harwood 39, Fair Haven 37, Lyndon 32, Hartford 24, Middlebury 20, Woodstock 17.

Mascoma’s Kondi wins
shot put at MOC

Mascoma’s Georgia Kondi and Barnaby Diehn qualified for the New England Track and Field Championship at Sunday’s NHIAA Meet of Champions at Oyster River High School in Durham, with Kondi winning the girls’ shot put and finishing third in the discus and Diehn placing second in the same events for the boys.

Other Upper Valley athletes qualifying for New Englands were Hanover’s Andrew Valentino with a second-place finish in the 3,200 meters and the Bears’ 4x800 relay team of Mary Westrich, Alice Bell, Millie Larrick and Lea Perreard, which finished second.

Newport’s 4x800 relay team of Cayden Forand, Bryce Palmer, Christian Forsythe and Aaron Fellows was fourth. Other qualifiers included Aria Deeb, Hanover (fifth, 1,600), Megan Faris, Hanover (fourth, 3,200), Callie Dixon, Newport (fourth, shot put), Nicholas Petrucci, Lebanon (sixth, pole vault) and Ayden Hodge, Newport (fifth, javelin).

The top six in each event qualified for the New Englands in New Britain, Conn., on Saturday.