WH Athletics Update

Grades will be closing in just a couple of weeks and students are reminded that they must pass 5 full credit classes to maintain their winter eligibility and to be eligible for spring sports. As a reminder, it is ALWAYS allowed to be late to practice if you need extra help or must make up work. Academics always come first. Every year I am so impressed with how hard our wrestling family works to put on our annual invitational tournament. The coaches, student athletes, parents and even the siblings worked from 7am until 9pm last night to run a terrific event. On the mat, the team finished 7th overall in the Bob Gay Invitational tournament. Captain Charlie Lussier 120lbs was Champion in his weight class. PJ Katz 113lbs was also a champion. Captain Austin Gamber 138lbs had a great tournament placing 2nd to the tournament’s outstanding wrestler at the weight class. Tristan Forest 132lbs placed 4th along with Captain Jacob Metivier 150lbs also placing 4th. Heavyweight Eric Sildauskas finished the tournament in 5th place. The Panther wrestlers also defeated Barnstable this week with an exciting match 36-33. Captains Charlie Lussier 120lbs and Austin Gamber 138lbs lead the team with quick pins of their opponents. A very close match came down to Heavyweight Eric Sildauskas who pinned the Barnstable heavyweight sealing the team victory for WH. The boys had a busy day Saturday hosting the 2nd annual Bob Gay Invitational. Our girls basketball team had a great trip to New York over the Christmas break where they beat Troy New York while also working out with a professional trainer. In addition, the girls read a great book about team building and work ethic which will surely help them pursue their goals this season. Their trip capped off with a college basketball game. The experience seemed to pay dividends as the girls returned from break by posting a hard fought, 37-34 road win at Hingham. Sophomore Dylan Hurley posted a team high 12 points and junior captain Lillie MacKinnon chipped in with 9 points. Sophomore Leah Daley was huge off the bench to help secure the second half comeback. The Panthers are back in action Tuesday night when they host Duxbury. The boys basketball team also went away for the break as they won two games in South Florida. They also read a book together which is titled, "Stillness is the Key" from Ryan Holiday (you may know him from the Daily Stoic). The discussions and reading go a long way in helping the players grow on and off the court. The team returned to league play by out battling Hingham on the road, 60-54 on Friday. Senior captain Evan Yakavonis tossed in 16 points and Ryan Baker and Isaiah Bean Brittian both had 12 each. Dylan Perrault was the fourth Whitman Hanson player in double figures with 10. The Panthers continue to be road warriors traveling to Duxbury Tuesday for another Patriot League tilt. The Whitman-Hanson/Duxbury Varsity Gymnastics team completed their first meet of the season on Friday with a win against Scituate, 121.8 to 121. Highlights include WH junior Carly Reid’s powerful 8.2 vault and WH junior Katelyn Ferraro’s excellent 8.0 floor routine and personal best 8.6 vault. The top all-around score for the meet was WH senior Captain Emma McKeon with a 34.8. She scored the highest for the meet on all four events, including a 9.1 on both vault and floor. She also had an amazing beam routine scoring an 8.7. Next meet will be Sunday at 12 PM at the Hanover YMCA against Hanover. Silver Lake/Whitman Hanson took on Plymouth this week with the boys posting the win while the girls dropped their meet. The Boys team had some outstanding performances last night coming in 1st in the Medley Relay and in the 200 Free Relay ( Andrew Curtin, Nakhil Harish, Jorge Fernandez, Kevin Sherry), Andrew Curtin coming in second in the 100 Breastroke and in the 100 Free, Kevin Sherry placing second in the 200 free and in the 500 Free, Nakhil Harish placing 1st in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1.55.22 and 2nd in the 50 free, Jorge Fernandez placing 1st in the 100 Fly with a time of 1.23.78 and second in the 200 IM. The Girls team also had some great performances last night, placing 2nd in the 200 Medley Relay ( Joe Eldridge, Chase Lovette, Brielle Shelly, Jasmine Guimores), 200 Free Relay placed 3rd (Marissa Fleurival, Joe Eldridge, Chase Lovette, Brielle Shelly), Brielle Shelly placing 1st in the 50 free and in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 28.04 & 1.17.03, Chase Lovett placing 2nd in the 500 with a time of 6.57.75, Josephine Eldridge placing 3rd in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1.23.12. A reminder that because we are a co-op team with Silver Lake, the schedule for our meets is found on their site at www.arbiterlive.com . The Whitman Hanson Boys Track and Field team lost to Marshfield 28 to 72. Senior Captain Jake Cappelletti was a double victor winning the 55m Hurdles 8.41 seconds. Jake also won the Long Jump with a leap of 19'3.25". Running well in the Mile was Senior Captain Alex Kehayias who ran a personal best time of 4:48.84. Whitman Hanson Boys record is 1-1. The Girls Track team dropped a 70-30 decision at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. Highlights for the Panthers included wins in the 55 Hurdles by Senior Captain Leila Keaney (10.45) and the Shot Put by Senior Brianna Codio (26' 7"). Other winners in the loss were Sophomore VIctoria Sheehan (300 Meters, 47.50) and Junior Willa McKay (High Jump, 4' 4".) Our girls hockey team didn't play this week due to illness and injury but should be ready to return to play this week. The boys hockey team beat the Bridgewater Raynham Trojans tonight 9-2. The score was tied after the first period 0-0. The Panthers scored twice in the first minute of the second period, one by Boss and one by Tropeano. The Trojans scored to make it 2-1, but then the Panthers scored four unanswered goals, 2 by Ethier, and another two by Tropeano to take a 6-1 lead heading into the third period. Ethier got his third of the night to make it 7-1. The Trojans got a goal 40 seconds later to make it 7-2. Boss got his 2nd of the night and Tropeano got his 4th of the night to cap off the 9-2 victory. The Panthers also recorded assists on the night from Chris Ryan, Billy Morgan, Pat Ryan, Connor Shields, and Jack O'Hearn (1st career point). Zaccaria got his first win of the year in net, making 18 saves.