Sunday, October 5, 2014

WH Athletics Update

Mother Nature didn't really cooperate Friday for our homecoming football game as it was a damp night but that didn't spoil many of the festivities on campus.  Many of our clubs and activities showcased their programs by running their own display table.  In addition AMP 103.3FM was on hand to add some energy to the day. The student council was instrumental in creating a festive environment adding the inflatable jumpy house and other fun activities.

 

At halftime, Majorette Allison Nickerson niece of WH Alum Major Michael Donahue performed during the Notre Dame Song.  As always the marching band and majorettes put on a spectacular show and they dedicated it to Major Donahue who lost his life in Afghanistan. 

 

That was followed up by our parade of champions.  The 6 championship teams from 2013/2014 (girls cross country, boys cross country, fall cheerleading, winter cheerleading, boys basketball and girls hockey) were all presented with the championship banners which were flown proudly at midfield.  We owe a big thank you to Sue and Paul Moss who continued their dedication to Whitman-Hanson by putting all of the banners together so they could be presented in the parade.  The homecoming weekend concluded with more than 400 students dancing the night away at the homecoming dance on Saturday.  A huge thank you to the class advisors, class officers and student council for all of their hard work in organizing the dance and make this weekend so memorable.

 

And now for the recaps:

1)   The Whitman Hanson girls soccer team qualified for the MIAA South Sectional tournament with a 5-0 victory over visiting Pembroke on Homecoming Saturday. Alexis Fruzzetti put Whitman Hanson on the board 3 minutes into the match when she took a Rachel Kelly cross and slipped it behind the Pembroke keeper. The score remained 1-0 until 3 minutes remaining in the half when Freshman Lauren Bonavita scored two goals in two minutes sending the Panthers in to the half up 3-0. Sophomore Gabby Gately scored two goals in the second half accounting for the 5-0 margin. Katie Korzec, Taylor Kofton, Jill Shangold, and Maddie Shea all turned in strong performances.  The girls had their game at Duxbury postponed due to rain (it will be made up on 10/28) but at the beginning of the week, the girls posted a dominating 4-1 win over Quincy.  Casey Corr, Elana Wood, Taylor Robertson and Lauren Bonavita all recorded single tallies.

 

2)   The boys soccer team was also rained out on Thursday for their home game against Duxbury.  They will make that up on 10/29.  But the boys did move 2 points closer to the state tournament by splitting a pair of games with Quincy and Pembroke.  At the beginning of the week,  the Panthers beat the Quincy Presidents,  5 – 3.  The Panthers 1st goal was scored by Jared Pendrak off an assist by Antonio Centeio.  Quincy tied the game before the Panthers went ahead at the 28th minute on a goal by Tom Chmura assisted by Antonio Centeio.  The Panthers scored again with 5 minutes left in the half with a goal by Antonio Centeio assisted by Jared Pendrak.  In the second half, the Panthers scored at the 6 minute mark on a goal by Nick Haley assisted by Ben Mains.  The final Panther goal was scored by Kyle Nehiley assisted by Jared Pendrak.  The homecoming game was spoiled Pembroke as the Titans beat the Panthers 4-2 despite 2 goals by Brian McGahan  including the first goal of the game less than a minute into the contest.  The Panthers are now 5 – 4 – 2 overall and 4 – 4 – 2 in the Keenan Division of the Patriot League

3)   Both the boys and girls cross country teams travelled to Franklin Park on Saturday for the Bay State Invitational and both squads an impressive days.  In the "Bob L'Homme" Girls race, Whitman-Hanson lined up with highly ranked Bishop Feehan, Northampton, Brookline, Newburyport and Ursuline Academy along with a dozen other teams on the storied 3.1 mile course.  Samantha Coletti, a standout Junior, finished 1st overall in 19:07, well ahead of second place finisher Erin Grela of Ursuline Academy (19:33.)  The team winner was Bishop Feehan, while Whitman-Hanson, which tied for points with Northampton the second place finishing team, placed 3rd overall based on the 6th place tie-breaker.  Also scoring for Whitman-Hanson were Senior Co-Captains Kelsey Tierney (12th overall, 20:06) and Caroline Mulrey (13th, 20:09) and Junior Abbie Newman (29th, 21:02) and Freshman Nicole Norve (40th overall, 21:32.)

4)   On the boy's side, it was exciting to learn the MSTCA named the boys race after former Whitman-Hanson coach Kevin Black. Coach Black is an MSTCA Hall of Famer and its nice to know that this WH coaching legend is being honored with a race in his name.  You can bet, this will be circled on the calendar for the men in black for years to come.  In the race, Senior Co-Captain Patrick Brett (21st overall, 17:24) was again Whitman-Hanson's top finisher, leading the team to an 8th place finish overall against outstanding teams from Newburyport, St. John's Prep and St. John's of Shrewsbury.  The Boys had outstanding performances from Junior Sam Evans (25th, 17:31), Sophomore Lukas Moscoso (42nd, 17:57), Junior Jayson Keenan (46th, 18:02) and  Freshman Jack Ryan (54th, 18:13.)  The boys race was extremely close as just a few points separated the  top 8 teams.

5)   It was a tough week for the volleyball team as they dropped all 3 of their matches, but they did end the week with a thrilling contest with Pembroke.  Game scores were 25-23, 22-25, 12-25, 25-20 and 16-14. The match was one of the Panthers best matches of the season because they battled back from behind several times and rallied to win the 4th set. A setback for the Panthers came in the second set when senior Co-Captain Rachel Spillane went out of the match with a twisted ankle. In the 5th and final set Whitman-Hanson got out to a quick lead and seemed to be pushing towards a win. Then one of the Panthers got hit in the face resulting in a bloody nose and a long stoppage in play. The play stoppage gave Pembroke time to re-group and swung the game in their direction. Behind good serving from Pembroke and several hitting errors made by Whitman-Hanson the Pembroke team was able to rally from behind and pull out the win. Playing well for the Panthers were Sophie O'Brien with 9 kills and 4 blocks, Erin Clifford with 8 kills and 8 digs and finally Sophia Raiche who had a great game at libero with 23 serve receives and 12 digs. Whitman-Hanson falls to 4-8 on the season and heads to Silver-Lake on Monday.

 

6)   The rain spoiled much of the action this week for the golf team as they managed to squeeze in just one match and unfortunately they lost to the Hanover Indians, 227-240.  The Panthers were disappointed to drop their 2nd match in the last 3 played to fall to 8-4 overall. With just one more win, the team can clinch a berth in the state tournament.  Despite the inclement weather senior captains Zach Burke and Josh Kelleher along with junior Cole Manning all shot a 5-over par 39. Jr. Adam Young appeared in only his second match, but came up strong with a respectable 7-over par, along with seniors Colin Josselyn and Sam Perkins. 

     This week will be a busy one for the Panthers, as they have four matches Monday-Thursday (Monday's match is a makeup against Plymouth North). Traveling to courses such as Plymouth Country Club (P.N.), South Shore CC (Hingham), and Lakeville GC (Middleboro), the team will truly have to earn their playoff berth.

 

7)  Our field hockey team's progress is still quite remarkable.  Despite being a first year program these girls are competing step for step with the other teams on their schedule.  We are playing a sub varsity schedule this year which consists of JV and freshmen games.  All of the girls should be quite proud of all they have accomplished to learn this new sport and put Whitman-Hanson in position to move to the varsity level next year.  The girls won their 5th game of the season when  Kristin Arthur scored two goals in the 2-1 victory over Marshfield.  The Defense and Caroline Woodward have only given up 4 goals thus far this season.

 

         8) The football team has been decimated by injuries but the team continues to battle.  They        
          lost Fridays game against Duxbury but return home Friday against Silver Lake at 7pm.

 

 

 

Bob Rodgers

Athletic Director

Whitman-Hanson Regional High School

600 Franklin Street

Whitman, MA 02382

 (781) 618-7433 (office)

(617) 838-0994 (cell)

(781) 618-7159 (classroom)

Robert.Rodgers@whrsd.org

www.whathletics.com 

Follow us on twitter @whathletics

 




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