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B Section
THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016
MATT DICKERSON
SPORTS
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Chasing the trout chasers I had been on the river for less than an hour when I heard the distinctive “loot galoot” of a bittern. The sound brought back memories from 45 years earlier, and childhood fishing trips to northern Maine with my father pursuing wild brook trout. But this trip was in Vermont. And I was not pursuing trout. I was chasing after pike. Or, rather, hoping pike would do some chasing. I was on the river with local pike legend Brian “Lug” Cadoret. It was the first time I’d gone fishing with somebody who had a fly rod named after him: the “Lug” Pro made by Rock River Rods out of Waitsfield. To make the experience complete, Brian had brought an extra “Lug” with him so that I could cast one, too. It was not a little 5-wt trout rod like I might have used on the New Haven River, but a heavy-duty 8-wt made for pike, overloaded with 10-wt sinking tip line and steel leader to stand up to the long rows of teeth that weaponize a pike’s head. Pike are ferocious, aggressive predators, and they look like it. They will stalk and ambush their prey. They will follow a fly or lure for 40 feet through the water while the angler watches with anticipation. Or they might simply explode out of the shadows of some log and slam their unsuspecting prey (or, hopefully, lure) with the force and impact more akin to that of an osprey than a mere fish. A 14-inch trout that might have excited me on another fishing trip would be just (See Dickerson, Page 2B)
Sports BRIEFS Girls’ lacrosse tops Burlington
BURLINGTON — The Middlebury Union High School girls’ lacrosse team coasted at Burlington on Tuesday, 16-6, to snap a two-game skid and improve to 8-2. The Tigers held onto fourth place in Division I in a tightly packed race with the win. Emma Donahue paced MUHS with seven goals vs. the 2-9 Seahorses, Satchel McLaughlin scored three goals and added three assists, and Emma Best scored three times. Tiger goalie Raven Payne finished with six saves, while Burlington goalie Koleigh Vachereau was credited with 20 stops.
Quartet prevails in Thursday golf MIDDLEBURY — The team of Don Dayton, Mike Adams, George Wendel and Joe Thilbourg prevailed on May 12 in Thursday men’s golf competition at Ralph Myhre Golf Course. Finishing second was the group of John Davis, Bruce Byers, Matt Biette and Ron Kowalski. The foursome of Ed Sommers, Dick Hodgson, Steve Maier and Bill Brown took third. Earning the day’s low net score was Don Dayton.
ScoreBOARD HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Girls’ Lacrosse 5/17 MUHS vs. Burlington .....................16-6 Boys’ Lacrosse 5/16 Woodstock vs. MUHS....................10-7 5/16 Burlington vs. VUHS ......................18-5 5/16 OV vs. Randolph ...........................10-7 5/17 Harwood vs. Mt. Abe .....................16-7 Softball 5/16 OV vs. Rutland ................................9-1 5/17 Missisquoi at VUHS .........................6-2 5/17 Mt. Abe vs. CVU ............................14-4 5/17 MUHS vs. St. J ..............................10-2 Baseball 5/17 OV vs. Springfield ............................5-3 5/17 Missisquoi vs. VUHS .......................5-2 5/17 Mt. Abe vs. CVU ..............................5-4 5/17 St. J vs. MUHS ................................6-0
(See Schedule, Page 3B)
MIDDLEBURY UNION HIGH School senior Max Mayone reaches down low for a return during Middlebury’s match against BFA-St. Albans Monday afternoon. Mayone and his doubles partner, Ben Silver, won their match. Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Boys’ tennis keeps perfect record intact Tiebreakers preserve dream season By ANDY KIRKALDY MIDDLEBURY — Thanks in part to a pair of dramatic tiebreaker wins on Monday, the Middlebury Union High School boys’ tennis team edged visiting BFA-St. Al-
bans, 4-3, and in the process the Tigers maintained their perfect record and hold on first place in Division I. Both No. 1 senior singles player Nick Holmes and No. 4 junior
TIGER SENIOR NICK Holmes remains undefeated this season after beating BFA-St. Albans’ Dan Barrow in a dramatic match Monday afternoon. The Middlebury team won the match, 4-3.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Owen Hammel won their first sets, lost their second sets and trailed late in the first-to-nine-point, winby-two tiebreakers before rallying
to win. Hammel was not aware of it during his match, but the team win hinged on his performance. He and
Women’s lax will host NCAA regional By ANDY KIRKALDY MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s lacrosse team posted a second-round NCAA Division III victory over visiting Fairleigh Dickinson University at Florham on Sunday by the misleading score of 12-7, and as a result will host an NCAA Regional this weekend. The 18-1 Panthers led FDU by 12-0 early in the second half before making mass substitutions and surrendering seven goals in the late going against the 14-7 Devils, who had
an 11-game winning streak snapped. Middlebury will face St. John Fisher (17-3) on Saturday at 11:30 a.m., while Amherst (13-4) will meet Gettysburg (17-2) at 2:30 p.m. The winners meet on Sunday at 1 p.m., with a trip to the final four on the line. The Panthers lost to Cortland State, 19-12, in a 2015 NCAA semifinal, and could face Cortland again if they advance out of this
weekend’s regional. This weekend marks the final home game for two local standout athletes. Middlebury native and former Middlebury Union High School standout Chrissy Ritter is a four-year starter at midfield and key member of the Panther defense. This year she has 20 goals and 11 assists and is second on the team in causing turnovers (27) and fourth in scooping ground
panther LACROSSE
balls (28). Cornwall’s Katie Mandigo, also an ice hockey forward, won the starting goalie job this spring and has started 11 games. Her goals-against average is 6.31 and her save percentage is 46.7. She stopped all five shots she saw while playing the first 30 minutes of Sunday’s victory. Leading the Panther offense overall heading into this weekend are attackers Bridget Instrum (50 goals, 11 assists), Mary O’Connell (29 goals, 37 assists), Alli Sciaretta (38 goals, (See Lacrosse, Page 2B)
Women’s tennis reaches NCAA quarterfinal MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s tennis team won an NCAA Division III regional this past weekend on its own courts and advanced to next week’s Elite Eight in Kalamazoo, Mich. The trip to the NCAA quarterfinal round is the team’s second straight and fifth overall. The Panthers are hoping for
their first trip to a semifinal since 2005. The 15-4 Panthers, ranked No. 5, will meet NESCAC foe Amherst in their quarterfinal match. Middlebury has twice defeated Amherst in hotly contested matches this spring, 6-3 in the regular season and 5-4 in the league tournament.
In this past Saturday’s regional final, the Panthers defeated No. 13 Johns Hopkins (18-5), 5-1, starting by sweeping the three doubles matches. The Panthers opened with an 8-1 win at No. 3 doubles by Alexandra Fields and Christina Puccinelli over Jody Law and Caroline Grey-
dak. Middlebury’s Sadie Shackelford and Kaysee Orozco made the score 2-0 with an 8-2 victory over Megumi Chen and Sunaina Vohra in the second flight. The No. 1 tandem of Ria Gerger and Lily Bondy completed the sweep with an 8-4 triumph over Ashnaa Rao and Mikey (See Panther tennis, Page 4B)
Baseball: OV, Eagles win; St. J outlasts Tigers ADDISON COUNTY — In local high school baseball action all on Tuesday, Middlebury played well against a top Division I team before losing, Mount Abraham stunned a D-I foe, Otter Valley picked up a win, and Vergennes took a close loss. TIGERS The Tigers (3-7) played a solid game in a 6-0 loss to visiting St. Johnsbury on Tuesday. Pitcher Jordan Stearns, making just his second start of the spring, held the Hilltoppers to two runs, one earned, through the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. In that inning, Stearns walked two batters (the first free passes he issued in the game), and with two on base tossed a wild pitch to move them into scoring position. Isaac Nurko then laced a line single to right center to score both runners and end Stearns’ (See Baseball, Page 3B)
MIDDLEBURY UNION HIGH School senior Bruce Wright snags an off-target throw and keeps St. Johnsbury base runner Austin Wendall on first base Tuesday afternoon.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
junior No. 5 Joao Pablo Ribeiro’s matches were the last two played, with the Tigers trailing, 3-2. During (See Tennis, Page 4B)
Softballers cruise to solid wins ADDISON COUNTY — In area high school softball play earlier this week, Otter Valley, Mount Abraham and Middlebury each picked up big wins, but Vergennes lost a home contest. OTTERS On Monday, the Otters defeated host Rutland, 9-1, as Gabby Poalino keyed a five-run first inning with a three-run homer and Katie Coolidge launched a second-inning grand slam. Maia Edmunds added three hits for OV, and Courtney Bushey tossed a complete-game three-hitter as the Otters improved to 5-7. EAGLES The Eagles bested visiting Champlain Valley, 14-4, and according to the Vermont Principals’ Association standings remain in first place in Division II at 9-3. Brooke Perlee tripled and singled twice, Katelynn Ouellette doubled twice and singled, and Dani Forand tripled, doubled and singled to spark the Eagle offense. Audrey Shahan threw a complete game to earn the pitching win. TIGERS On Tuesday, the Tigers topped visiting St. Johnsbury, 10-2. Tiger pitcher Payton Buxton tossed a three-hitter and struck out 11 batters for the win. Lily Smith drilled an opposite-field insidethe-park home run down the leftfield line, and MaKayla Foster, Darcy Staats, Bridget Audet and Hannah Lawrence all poked three hits. The Tigers improved to 9-2 and remain in the hunt for a top-four seed in D-I. COMMODORES On Tuesday, visiting D-I Missisquoi topped VUHS, 6-2. Nikki Salley doubled and singled for two of the Commodores’ five hits and drove in both of their runs. Megan Martin doubled and scored, and losing pitcher Tamara Aunchman allowed eight hits to the 7-5 T-Birds as VUHS dropped to 6-6.