Between the playing of Twin State and North-South All Star Classics, plus the naming by the coaches of the players to participate, Vermont High School athletes have been kept busy. In fact, the CVU Redhawks, have been some of the busier ones.
Going down to the final match at Burlington’s Leddy Park on Saturday, with the championship still not in hand, it took floodlights and a singles victory by CVU’s Ben Sampson to ensure the state title.
CVU senior Catherine Gilwee has been named the Vermont high school girls’ basketball Player of the Year for the past season despite the fact that two state tournaments were called off due to the coronavirus.
The Vermont high school coaches of hockey and basketball for the 2021 season named a number of Redhawks to both men’s and women’s teams.
Champlain Valley Union High School was recognized through a virtual celebration by ESPN and the Special Olympics Program for being a “Unified Champion School.” Others were in New Mexico, Iowa, Delaware and Minnesota.
Pickleball is a little bit like tennis, a little bit like paddle tennis, a little bit like table tennis, with scorekeeping that is a little bit like volleyball. (Does that clarify things?)
Mid March saw the CVU High School Alpine skiers capture two state championships.
Spring is coming. For me that means the start of baseball season. It’s a game that goes back to my own youth, and it carried on over the years in Little League form through my sons.
The Redhawk women’s basketball team ended its regular season undefeated, beating Spaulding 66–29 two weeks ago. That victory gave them a 9-0 win/loss record for the season and made them the #1 seed in the top division of the State Tournament.
March 2 saw the lady Redhawks honor five teammates playing their final years at CVU and carrying on the winning tradition. A dominating victory over St. Johnsbury Academy, 55-23, helped matters. The five are Maddie Reagan, Josie Pecor, Cathy Gilwee, Jade Leavitt and Maddie Mfochive.
In a rematch of Metro leaders, the South Burlington boys did what they couldn’t do only 11 days earlier and took home a hard fought 47 – 36 victory over Champlain Valley Union. Using a 14 – 4 margin in the 4th quarter, the Wolves outlasted their opponents on 3/9 at the Dave Bremner Gym, in Hinesburg.
CVU girls continued their dominance over opponents over the Green Knights while the boys outscored South Burlington by 14 points in the second half.
For a pandemic-driven school year, sports crop up at odd times and in limited spaces – limited in terms of fans-in-the-stands and in terms of where competition occurs so as not to endanger fellow competitors.
CVU’s ski racers saw only members of their own team on trails as they raced through the woods and down the slalom courses. This wariness of clustering several teams together was designed to limit the possibilities of interpersonal contact and, hence, the chance for corona infection.
Both men’s and women’s Twin-State soccer teams that are scheduled to play New Hampshire in July were named recently.
CVU’s Jesse Klein joined Milton’s Chance Rose as High School All Americans as selected by the United Coaches Soccer Organization. Both were also among six Vermont players earning All Region honors. Jesse was joined on that squad by her teammate Josie Pecor.
Hailey Chase, Lena Ashooh, Sophia Stevens were named to the 26th annual Burlington Free Press All-State Field Hockey Team. Hailey was a senior forward.
Julie Moore, Secretary of the state’s Agency of Natural Resources, and Bob Johnson, associate executive director of the Vermont Principals’ Association, said that things will happen differently this winter with high school sports.
This fall’s Redhawk athletes exhibited quite a mix of cheers and groans. Both soccer teams led the groans as the men lost to Essex in overtime in the Division I semi-finals and the top-ranked CVU women were upset by South Burlington with a late-game goal in the state finals to give the Wolves a 2-1 win.
CVU men golfers won their third straight Division I title on the Quechee course earlier this month. A team effort in which the four Redhawks shot in the 70s and low 80s with seven birdies among the group. Evan Forrest and Alex Leonard both struck the ball 78 times.