SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. — Abayomi Lowe and Kennedy Mullen each won four events to help the Hartford High boys and girls track and field teams each claim third place in the VPA Division II state championship meet on Saturday at South Burlington High.
Lowe capped his senior season with a trio of individual wins to go along with a victory as the anchor of the 4x400-meter relay for the Hurricanes. Mullen won four events, two on the track and two in the field, to pace the Hartford girls.
Lowe won all three of the sprint events for the Canes, including a victory in the 100-meter dash in 11.60 seconds. Lowe added wins in the 200 dash (23.13) and the 400 dash (51.45).
Mullen won the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 9¾ inches and the triple jump with 35 feet, 1 inch. Mullen then won both the 400 dash (60.71) and 800 run (2:26.00).
“Those two had quite a day,” Hartford coach Mike Perry said. “All in all, it was a great day. Third place for both of these teams was remarkable given the numbers we had.”
The Canes were up against teams like Bellows Falls, U-32 and Rice, which had multiple athletes in just about every event. Hartford often had just one contender in each, leaving points at a premium.
The Canes took the top three spots in the boys 400 dash, with Hunter Noyes finishing second behind Lowe in 52.82 seconds, just ahead of teammate Cameron Eldredge in third (53.08). Noyes added a third-place finish in the 200 dash, and Eldredge was fourth in the pole vault. Luke Patriquin was second in the javelin, and Aaron Mitchell finished third in the 800 meters.
Hartford closed the day with a win the boys 4x400 relay, with the team of Noyes, Eldredge, Mitchell and Lowe.
Maliya Sinclair picked up a win for the Hartford girls, taking the discus title with a throw of 116-8. Sinclair added a second in the shot put. Eleanor Hinckley had a pair of thirds, taking bronze in the 100 dash (13.62) and 200 dash (28.26). Hinckley added a fourth in the high jump. Anne Marie Schneller was fourth in discus for the Canes.
Boys team scores: Bellows Falls 127, U-32 103, Hartford 82, Burr & Burton 51, Lamoille 45, Middlebury 29, Peoples 26, Mt. Abraham 23, Spaulding 21, Lyndon 13, Milton 12, Harwood 10, Fair Haven 9, Missisquoi 6, Rice 1.
Girls team scores: Bellows Falls 107, Rice 105, Hartford 78, U-32 53, Peoples 42, Burr & Burton 36, Lamoille 36, Missisquoi 33, Middlebury 23, Lyndon 22.5, Spaulding 9, Fair Haven 6, Montpelier 5, Harwood 2, Mt. Abraham 0.5.
SoftballWhite River Valley 5, Windsor 4SOUTH ROYALTON — Sarah Howe capped a two-out, three-run, rally in the bottom of the seventh inning for the Wildcats in a walk-off win over the Yellowjackets in the VPA Division III quarterfinals.
Windsor built a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh despite managing just three hits off WRV starting pitcher Fiona Vaillancourt. With the Jacks trailing, 2-1, Alyssa Slocum had a RBI single in the sixth inning to knot the score at 2-2. Windsor would add a pair of runs to take the lead.
Macey Carbino led off the bottom of the seventh for WRV with a single. She was sacrificed to second base and was still there with two outs. Hannah White followed with a RBI single to score Carbino. Toni Turner singled and took second on an error, leaving runners on second and third with Howe coming up. The freshman then laced a hard single to score both the game-tying and game-winning runs.
“We’re so young, and we’ve really gotten down on ourselves at times this season. It’s something we’ve been working on, to get the next play, look for the next pitch and look forward,” Wildcats coach Sandy Gates said. “To come together in the bottom of the seventh, down two runs, it was so great to see. They really got it done.”
Vaillancourt got the win for WRV, going all seven innings, striking out six and walking four. Peyton Richardson took a hard-luck loss for Windsor, allowing eight hits while striking out four and walking none.
“I’m so very proud of this whole team and the way we played today. We left everything we had on the field today,” Windsor coach Heather Stearns said.
Paige Ballentine led the Wildcats at the dish with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. Ava Sutton and Brooke McKeen had the other two hits for Windsor.
WRV will now visit top-seeded Oxbow on Tuesday for the semifinals.
Woodsville 10, Littleton 5WOODSVILLE — McKenzie Dennis struck out 11 to lead the Engineers over the Crusaders in the NHIAA Division IV quarterfinals.
Dennis gave up just three hits in a complete-game effort. Dennis helped the cause at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a RBI.
Morgan Wagstaff had a big day for the Engineers, going 3-for-3 with a three-run home run in the third inning. Wagstaff scored three runs and finished with four RBIs. Anna McIntyre added a solo home run in the fourth inning.
Next up for the Engineers (14-4) is a battle with Epping in the semifinals at Plymouth State University on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Woodsville did not face the Blue Devils in the regular season.
Wilton-Lyndeborough 10Sunapee 2WILTON, N.H. — The Lakers scored two runs in the top of the first inning and led until the fourth before falling in the NHIAA Division IV quarterfinals.
Tess Palin’s double in the first drove in both Miah Hamm and Erin Moynihan to give Sunapee the early lead. Hannah Cooney went all six innings in the circle, striking out five while allowing six hits.
The Lakers (11-7) will lose Cooney, Moynihan, Elizabeth Bennett and Star Lucas to graduation.
BaseballWoodsville 3, Littleton 1WOODSVILLE — The top-seeded Engineers (17-0) survived a scare to advance to the NHIAA Division IV semifinals.
Woodsville jumped in front early with a two-run double by Zach Moore in the first inning. Corey Bemis then doubled in the fifth inning and scored on a throwing error following Moore’s single to deep shortstop. The Engineers would manage just four hits and two walks, leaving baserunners at a premium.
“They had several more chances than we did today. We’re definitely thankful to be walking away with a win today,” Woodsville coach Brent Cox said.
Brendan Walker pitched the first 3⅔ innings for Woodsville, striking out five against three walks. Moore went the final 3⅓ innings, striking out five. Littleton loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh inning before Moore struck out the next two batters to end the game.
Woodsville will play in the semifinals on Tuesday night in Laconia at 7 p.m. against Newmarket.
Vergennes 6, Oxbow 3VERGENNES, Vt. — The Olympians were undone by some costly errors in the VPA Division III quarterfinals.
Pitcher Jace Page went the distance, striking out four, walking three and allowing eight hits. Page allowed all six runs, but only two were earned.
Oxbow scored on a RBI groundout by Seth Carson in the sixth. Cooper Simmons then doubled in the seventh before Carson had a RBI single. The final run scored on a RBI groundout. Simmons finished with two hits for the O’s.
The Olympians (10-7) will graduate Carson, Adam Maxwell, Cody Grant and Jackson Schramm.
Sunapee 10Portsmouth Christian 0SUNAPEE — The No. 3-seeded Lakers shut out Portsmouth Christian to advance to the NHIAA Division IV semifinals.
Darren Hulton tossed a six-inning two-hitter for Sunapee, fanning 11 without issuing a walk. Harper Flint went 2-for-3 and scored twice, Matt Nangeroni drove in two runs, Quinn Fair had a hit and two RBIs and Sean Shisko had a hit and two runs.
Sunapee (16-2) will face No. 2 seed Pittsfield in Laconia on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The two teams split a pair of games in the regular season. Pittsfield beat visiting Sunapee, 11-1, on April 24 before the Lakers returned the favor with an 11-3 win at home on May 18.
Boys LacrosseSouhegan 6, Hanover 3AMHERST, N.H. — The No. 5 seed Marauders (11-5) were stifled by Souhegan goalie John Lohnes (13 saves, seven in the fourth quarter alone) in the NHIAA Division I quarterfinals.
Souhegan scored the game’s first two goals before Hanover got back within one on Caleb Morse’s goal late in the first quarter. Noah Fahey and Charlie Baughman also scored. Hanover trailed, 3-2 at halftime and 5-2 through three quarters.
Brendan Brigham was 9-for-12 in faceoffs for the Marauders, finishing the season 213-for-278, a 77% winning percentage.
Hanover will graduate Kyle Rozzi, Eli Silovich, Simon Roach, Duncan Bailey, Griffin Young, Mason Winter and Elijah Putnam.
Boys TennisBiglow, Yang at NHIAA singlesDERRY, N.H. — Hanover’s Aidan Biglow and Evan Yang were both invited to participate in the NHIAA singles tournament at Pinkerton Academy.
Yang won his opening match, taking down ConVal’s Zach Kriebel, 8-4. Yang then lost to Hollis-Brookline’s Nic Vahe, 8-0, in the second round. Biglow lost a heartbreaker, 9-7, in his opening-round matchup with Pinkerton’s John Marineau.
Biglow and Yang will team up to play in the NHIAA doubles tournament on Sunday.
GolfPelletier in ContentionNEWBURY, N.H. — Pat Pelletier (Carter CC) sits in second place after the first day of the Players Invitational at Baker Hill Golf Club.
Matt Paradis (Concord CC) made eight birdies and shot a 6-under par 66 to lead the field. Pelletier is in second after a 71, which included five birdies. Pelletier birdied three of the final four holes to scratch back within five shots of Paradis.
Paradis beat Pelletier in the final match of the 2018 New Hampshire Amatuer, and edged Pelletier for player of the year as well. The two will be paired together for the final round on Sunday.