It's been a good year for baseball in Brattleboro, but it's also been a good year for the Brattleboro Swim Team (BST).
They won the Southern Vermont district meet for the fifth straight year on July 30 in Rutland, then won the Division II title at the Vermont Swim Association Championships held Aug. 6-7. at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction.
BST's age 10 and under swimmers established a solid lead in the morning and the afternoon swimmers built on that lead with a final team score of 1176 points. The Manchester Triton Swim Team came in second with a total of 1037.5 points and the Rockingham Swim Team in third with 868 points.
During the morning session, BST's younger swimmers performed very well. Willem Thurber won the 10 & under 25 Yard Boys' backstroke while 10-year-olds Will Hill and Kali Taylor went undefeated in all of their individual events.
The Girls' 8 & Under 100 Individual Medley and Freestyle Relay team (Parker Thibault, Kaya Gibson, Addie Redden, and Kennedy Taylor) took first place, as did the Boys' 10 & Under Freestyle and Medley Relay Team (Thurber, Zach DiZoglio, Luke Rizzio and Hill) racking up points for BST.
During the afternoon session, the older swimmers continued the momentum. The Boys' 14 & Under 200 Medley and Free Relay Team (Ernie Antonucci, Brandon Dulmaine, Matt Brooks and Henry Thurber) captured first place in both relay events.
In addition, BST swimmers captured numerous first place finishes in the afternoon session including: Boys' 11-12 50 Breaststroke by Calvin Gould, Men's 15-16 200 and 100 Yard Free by Drew Brooks, Women's 17-18 200 IM, 100 Butterfly and 100 Backstroke by Isabelle Magbie.
Matt Dulmaine in the Boys' 17-18 50 and 100 Breaststroke events; Molly Schoales in the Women's 17-19 50 Free and Elijah Cooper in the Men's 17-18 50 Back and Free events.
Forty-eight BST swimmers qualified and competed in the state meet against more than 20 Vermont-based swim teams over two days. Swimmers finishing in first to 16th place in individual events score from 19 to 1 points. Relays are scored from first to 12th earning points from 38 to 2 for the swimmers' team.
During these two days, BST was in from third to fifth place, landing in forth overall in the state and first place in Division II with 1262.5 points for the third year. Vergennes Swim team was in second with 1207.5 points, Manchester Triton Swim Team in third with 999 and St. Albans Swim Team in fourth with 927 points.
As before, BST's 10 & under boys and girls gave the team a great chance to take the Division II title. In the 8 & Under Girls, Kennedy Taylor took first place in the 25 Breast and Free. Their relay (Parker Thibault, Kaya Gibson, Addie Redden and Taylor) placed first in the Free and second in the Medley Relay earning 38 and 32 points. Kalie Taylor was in the top 5 in the 10 and Under Girls 25 Yard Free and 100 Yard IM.
In the Boys 10 & Under division, Hill took second in the 25 Yard Free and Fly and 100 Yard IM. At the end of Session II, Magbie took second in the 500 Free and Drew Brooks was fifth in the Boys 500 Free. Gould stepped on the blocks for the Boys 11-12 50 Breaststroke, and took first place, while Lillian Fisher and Emma Davis stepped up and took eighth and seventh place in their 200 IM age groups.
Matt Dulmaine and Phelan Muller stepped up with second and third places in the Mens 17-18 200 IM. Gould would get out of the pool after the Boys 50 Free in second place, and Cooper, Muller, and Dulmaine finished third, seventh, and 10th place finishes in the Mens 50 Free.
With the help of the Girls and Boys 12 & Under 200 Medley Relay teams (Redden, Hazel Reeder, Grace Matweecha, and Marissa Stahley-Aither, and Antonucci, Brandan Dulmaine, Matt Brooks, and Henry Thurber) , the Women 18 & Under Teams: (Magbie, Thurber, Fisher, and Evie Williams, and Schoales, Davis, Alexandra Connor, and Catey Yost) and Men 18 & Under (Cooper, Dulmaine, Brooks, and Muller), Brattleboro ended the first day in fourth place overall.
The second day was another nail-biter with BST. The younger swimmers helped out with individual swims from Kennedy Taylor (fifth), Parker Thibault (fourth and fifth), Addie Redden (13th), Jordan Aither (13th), Kallie Taylor (fifth and sixth), Willem Thurber (14th) and Will Hill (two second places).
While the Boys 10 & Under 100 Free Relay (Thurber, DiZoglio, Rizzio, and Hill) got second place for 12 points the high point getter in Session 4 was the 8 & Under Girls Free Relay (Thibault, Gibson, Redden, and Kennedy Taylor) taking first place by more than 7.5 seconds.
BST saw some great swims in the 200 Individual Freestyle: Girls 12 & Unders: Reeder (seventh) and Matweecha (15th); Boys' 12 & Under: Jordy Allembert (fifth); Girls' 13-14: Maeve Smith (17th); Boys' 13-14: Antonucci (fourth); Women 15-15: Fisher (ninth); Men 15-16: Brooks (fourth); and Men 17-18: Muller (fourth).
Even with strong swims in the Girls and Boys 50 Fly by Ben Connor (12th), Zenia Muhammad (15th), and Matt Brooks (12th), the team had fallen behind by 47 points at the start of the final session. In the Women's 15-16 Fly, Alexandra Connor (12th), Evy Williams (13th), and Thurber (15th), added to the points total, while in the 17-18 Women's Fly, Parker (17th), Schoales (13th) and Magbie (first) brought the team to within seven points.
In the 100 Breast, Boys 12 & Under, Jordy Allembert (11th) and 13-14 Girls, Sheridan Lewis (19th) and Lydia Hazzard-Leal (26th) and 13-14 Boys Henry Thurber (11th) brought the team still closer. Along with strong swims in the Women's 15-16 by Thurber (16th) and Women's 17-18 by Magbie (2nd) and Davis (8th) brought BST to only 5 points behind Vergennes! Thanks to the lone Men's 15-18 100 Breaststroke swimmer, Ty Allembert (11th), BST pulled 3 points into foutth place.
The 100 Freestyle saw scoring swims by Hazel Reeder (18th), Jordy Allembert (15th), Muhammad (18th), Antonucci (13th) Henry Thurber (15th), Lillian Fisher (11th), Yost and Drew Brooks (both sixth), Elijah Cooper (seventh), and Muller (eighth). In the 50 Backstroke, Connor (13th), Parker (seventh), Schoales (eighth) and Elijah Cooper (third) helped BST moved into fourth overall for the rest of the meet.
The final swims of the meet were the 200 Freestyle Relays: 12 & Under Girls: Hazel Reeder, Marissa Stahley-Aither, Grace Metweedha, and Willa Reeden (10th); 13-14 Girls: Lydia Hazzard-Leal, Maeve Smith, Sheridan Lewis, and Muhammad (10th); 13-14 Boys: Brooks, Brandan Dulmaine, Henry Thurber, and Antonucci (fifth); Women 18 & Under: Fisher, Yost, Connor, and Magbie (12th) and Parker, Davis, Thurber, and Schoales (fifth); and Men 18 & Under: Muller, Ty Allembert, Cooper and Brooks (fifth).
More 70 swimmers from Brattleboro and surrounding towns made up the 2016 Brattleboro Swim Team. BST swimmers range in age from 5 to 18 years old and have a variety of swim abilities and experiences. While the summer swim team season is short, usually only six weeks, BST's primary goal is to introduce area youth to the joys and benefits of swimming. Scholarships are available and all are welcome to join.
Little Leaguers earn sportsmanship award
• Although the Brattleboro 11-12 Little League All-Stars were the first team eliminated in the New England Regional Tournament in Bristol, Conn., last week, they didn't leave empty-handed.
Every year, the tournament awards the Robert S. Watson Sportsmanship Award to a team that exemplifies their actions on the field, toward the umpires and volunteers, to other teams and the facilities. Twelve teams from New England and the Mid-Atlantic States are considered for this award, and Brattleboro received it.
Maryellen Holden, District Administrator for Connecticut No. 5, was Watson's personal assistant for 15 years before his passing. Holden, along with longtime Regional Tournament volunteer Michael Lantiere, decided to honor Watson's legacy with a sportsmanship award.
Holden was smitten by the Brattleboro All-Stars off and on the field. Their actions did not go unnoticed and the committee thought no other team was better suited for the award than Brattleboro.
“Vermont was having so much fun. They had a ball,” Holden said. “Half of the team, as well as their coaches, stayed behind to watch the rest of the tournament even though they were no longer playing. They are 11- and 12-year-olds. When a team loses, you know how they react. Vermont didn't get down on themselves. They represented their league and the state so well.”
The Brattleboro All-Stars received a crystal trophy from tournament officials and each player will receive a plaque including a team photo with their names and numbers.
Brattleboro All-Stars Head Coach Mike Bingham said he couldn't be more proud of his team. “They're great kids. Just to make it here, just to see their faces and their expressions during this time was perfect. I'm very happy I got to coach these kids,” he said.
Gobbo wins gold
• Congratulations to Tessa Gobbo of Chesterfield, N.H., who was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. women's eight rowing team at the Summer Olympics in Rio last week.
Gobbo, and teammates Katelin Snyder, Amanda Elmore, Eleanor Logan, Meghan Musnicki, Tessa Gobbo, Lauren Schmetterling, Amanda Polk, Kerry Simmonds, and Emily Regan finished the medal-winning race in 6:01:49, beating runner-up Great Britain by 2.49 seconds. Romania was third.
The 25-year-old Brown graduate has been a member of the U.S. senior rowing team since 2013. Gobbo won gold with the women's eight at the 2016 World Rowing Cup II and 2015 World Rowing Championships.
Siting in the 5-seat in the Rio races, Gobbo helped add to a formidable legacy. Since 2006, the U.S. women's eight has won gold medals in 11 straight world championships and Olympics. In the process, they have become the longest-running and most dominant dynasty in Olympic sports.
Senior bowling roundup
• With two weeks to go in the summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League, Team 10 (53-22) has all but clinched the season championship.
Team 8 (47-28) remained in second place, while Team 6 (42.5-32.5) is third and Team 4 (42-33) stayed in fourth. Team 9 (41.5-33.5) moved into fifth, followed by Team 3 (39-36), Team 1 (33-42) Team 2 (32.5-42.5), Team 5 (30-45), and Team 11 (22.5-52.5).
Team 8 had the high handicap game (712) and series (1,917). Doris Lake had the women's high handicap game (264) and series (687), while Warren Corriveau Sr. had the men's high handicap game (255) and series (702).
The women did not roll a 200-plus game, or a 500-plus series this week. Corriveau had a pair of 200-plus games (200 and 222) and a 602 series. Wayne Randall had a 206 game and a 504 series, while Jerry Dunham had a 525 series.
High averages for the women last week were Sonya Shippee (155), Shirley Aiken (153), and Lorraine Taylor (146). Top men's averages belonged to Fred Ashworth (177), Jerry Dunham (172) and Marty Adams (170).
The fall senior league starts on Sept. 1. If you want to participate, call Brattleboro Bowl at 802-257-1177.