-The cross country season began with a meet at Bellows Falls Union High School on Sept. 3. While Burr & Burton won the boys' and girls' event by having more and better runners than the other schools, the Brattleboro and Bellows Falls teams both showed that they may not have the numbers just yet but they do have some outstanding runners right now.
Bellows Falls did not have enough girls to compile a team score, but they do have one of the fastest female runners in the state in Desi Broadley. She won the race with a time of 20 minutes, 53 seconds, well ahead of Thetford's Ava Hayden who finished second in 21:27. The other two BF runners, Kendall Roman and Chloe Benson, finished 34th and 38th, respectively. Brattleboro only had two runners in the girls' race, with Peyton Haller placing 16th in 29:09, and Luca Barkow finishing 42nd.
Burr & Burton took the next seven spots to clinch the girls' team victory with 25 points. Thetford was second with 72 points and Hartford was third with 73.
In the boys' race, Burr & Burton won with 39 points, followed by Brattleboro (56), Thetford (76), and Hartford (90). Brattleboro's second place finish was a result of placing four runners in the top 15, led by Nico Conathan-Leach's third place finish in 17:30, close on the heels of winner Bennet Moreno of Hartford (17:14) and runner-up Brady Sloop of Thetford (17:20).
Brattleboro's Willow Sharma, a track star trying his hand at cross country this season, finished sixth in 19:15, while Jonas Ackerman-Hovis, who was among the Bears' top runners last season, finished 13th in 20:42. Another newcomer to the team, Malo Renault, was finished 14th in 20:47, and Galen Fogarty was 20th in 21:35.
Bellows Falls only had one male runner, but Jacob Kissell made the most of his first race by finishing 15th in 20:48.
All the teams at this meet will see each other again in Westminster this Friday for the annual Eno Invitational race.
Field hockey
• There are few things more excruciating in sports than losing a game in overtime, and after losing 1-0 to the Woodstock Wasps on Sept. 4 at Sawyer Field, you might expect Bears field hockey coach Erin Cooke to feel frustrated. She was not in the least downhearted.
Her team battled a strong Woodstock team and held them scoreless until Betta Cirovic scored with 1:11 left in the overtime period. The result might have been an loss, but Cooke definitely appreciated the effort.
"Their gas tanks were just empty at the end," said Cooke after the game. "They just put their heart and soul into it and what more can you ask for?"
The Bears defense was outstanding in this game, and if any Woodstock attackers got past them, Brattleboro goalie Ericka Fletcher was there to stop them. While she didn't face a shot in the first half, she made six saves the rest of the way. The Bears were also successful in preventing the Wasps from getting a clean shot on goal in their six penalty corners in the game.
"I think that there were small things that we could tweak from today, but again we should be growing every game, every practice, every day throughout the season," Cooke said. "We're evolving and that is where I want to be right now. We could have won today and that would have been awesome, but we were 0-0 through four quarters. Playing in overtime in our home opener, that's awesome."
Against Hartford on Sept. 7, the Bears got walloped by the Hurricanes, 7-0, to fall to 1-2 on the season. Brattleleboro hosts Otter Valley on Sept. 11 and Bellows Falls on Sept. 13.
• Bellows Falls had no problems in their opening game of the season as they rolled over the Windsor Yellowjackets, 7-1, on Sept. 3 in Westminster. BF got things going with three goals in three minutes in the first quarter from Emma Bazin, Avery Dole, and Avery Maxfield. Veronica Moore assisted the Dole and Mayfield goals.
Bazin got another goal late in the second quarter for a 4-0 lead at the half. Maxfield scored a minute into the third quarter, but Windsor responded with a goal from Mackenzie Kleefisch about two minutes later. Moore and Gracie McGinnis got the final two BF goals.
The Terriers had a stiffer challenge when they hosted South Burlington on Sept. 7, and came away with a 3-2 victory. Maxfield scored all three BF goals with Bazin assisting on both of them. Bella Gordon and Oli Roy both scored for South Burlington. BF goalie Brooke Parker had 10 saves.
Football
• Rutland wasn't a very good football team last season as they won just one game. However, they used that disappointing season as a motivational tool for this season, and Rutland is showing the rest of Division I they won't be pushovers in 2024.
The Brattleboro Bears found this out in a 41-0 loss at Rutland's Alumni Field on Sept. 6. In the first half, Rutland took a 14-0 lead as Rutland senior quarterback Noah Bruttomesso finished off a 57-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to open the game. Rutland then scored on their next possession with a 1-yard run by Jayden Graham.
Brattleboro's defense kept Rutland out of the end zone for the remainder of the first half, but Rutland's offense got going in the second half. Bruttomesso connected with tight end Hank Potter on fourth down for a 25-yard touchdown on Rutland's first possession of the second half. Potter had a 5-yard TD reception on the next scoring drive early in the fourth quarter and Graham soon followed that up with a 50-yard touchdown run. Sophomore Gio Spallieri threw to Whit Sullivan for a 13-yard touchdown pass for the game's final score as time wound down.
Bruttomesso finished with 80 passing yards and 65 rushing yards as Rutland scored more than 40 points for the second straight game. The Bears could not get much going against the Rutland defense, turning the ball over on downs six times.
Brattleboro, now 0-2, is at Hartford this Friday night, while 2-0 Rutland hosts 2-0 Middlebury in another Friday night game.
• Bellows Falls put a disappointing 21-20 opening loss to Lyndon behind them with a convincing 33-13 win over the U-32 Raiders in East Montpelier on Sept. 6.
Terriers quarterback Eli Allbee ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, a 57-yard scoring strike to tight end Will Hallock in the first half. Halfback Brady Clark threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to fullback Patrick Connors in the second quarter; Connors also had a 73-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
The BF defense did its job with two interceptions and a pair of fumble recoveries that helped to spark the Terriers' scoring blitz in the second half. Bellows Falls had a 19-13 lead at halftime, but shut out the Raiders in the second half.
Now 1-1, the Terriers host North Country at Hadley Field this Friday night in a rematch of last year's Division II semifinal, a game that BF lost 21-20.
Girls' soccer
• Brattleboro opened their season in Bennington in the Lady Patriot Classic. They defeated Mount Anthony, 5-3, in the opening game of the tournament on Sept. 5, and lost to Mount Greylock, 4-1, in the championship game on Sept. 7.
Against Mount Anthony, the Bears had a 3-1 lead at the half. Emerson Frehsee opened the scoring, with Sadie Cheslawski adding two more goals before the break. The Patriots scored three minutes into the second half to cut the Bears' lead to 3-2, but Brattleboro's Reese Croutworst then scored the game's next two goals to put the game out of reach. Rose Stone, Maeve Bald, Croutworst each had an assist.
• After so many lean years, the Twin Valley Wildcats are showing signs that this season will be different. The Wildcats narrowly lost to Leland & Gray, 1-0, in their home opener on Aug. 31, but followed up that strong effort with a 2-0 win at Long Trail School on Sept. 4, and a 2-1 home win over the Proctor Phantoms on Sept. 6.
Taylor Smart scored Twin Valley's first goal in the game against Long Trail for a 1-0 lead at the half. Scarlett Cimino added another goal with 17 minutes left in the game. Cimino and Bianca Place both scored for the Wildcats in the Proctor victory. The Phantoms' lone goal was scored by Bizzy Farley.
• Leland & Gray got shut out at home by Springfield in a 3-0 loss on Sept, 4, but bounced back with a 2-1 road win over Division IV rival Arlington on Sept. 7.
In the Springfield game, the Cosmos got goals from Ella Donahue in the first half, and from sisters Meadow and from Amelia Murchie in the second half. Goalkeeper Kylie Nadeau earned the shutout victory for the Cosmos, while Rebels goalkeeper Annabelle Brookes made 17 saves in the loss. The Rebels finished the week with a 2-1 record.
• Bellows Falls got shut out by Fair Haven, 2-0, on Sept. 7. The Terriers held the Slaters scoreless in the first half before eighth-grader Leigha Kretzer drew a foul in the goal box, giving Fair Haven a penalty kick midway through the second half. Senior Maddy Perry successfully converted the kick, and then assisted on a goal by Kretzer a few minutes later. BF goalkeeper Natalie Douglass made 16 saves in the loss as the Terriers ended the week at 0-2.
Boys' soccer
• Quinn Sessions scored a pair of goals in the final two minutes to give the Burlington Seahorses a 4-2 win over Brattleboro on Sept. 6 at Natowich Field.
Sessions scored his first goal with 1:44 left in regulation off a penalty kick, then scored again 26 seconds later to clinch the win for the Seahorses. Zen Nguyen and Kade Ladner also scored for Burlington.
Next up for the 0-1 Bears is the John James Tournament in Bennington on Sept. 12 and 14.
• Leland & Gray had an up-and-down week as the Rebels gave up three goals with 43 seconds as Springfield snapped a 2-2 tie and went on to a 6-3 win in Townshend on Sept. 4. Oliver Kelley had one of the two goals in that 43 second explosion. Mateo Fuentes, Oliver Vandivere, and Braden Wright also scored for the Cosmos.
The Rebels got that loss out of their system on Sept. 7 with a 4-0 win over visiting Bellows Falls. Spencer Clausen had two goals and two assists and Cody Hescock added another two goals as the Rebels outshot the Terriers, 30-7.
• Green Mountain scored four unanswered goals against Twin Valley, but the Wildcats launched a late rally that fell just short in a wild 4-3 loss on Sept. 3 at Hayford Field in Wilmington.
GM took 2-0 halftime lead on goals by Raz Buckland and Tanner Swisher. Buckland scored again in the second half and Andrei Solzhenitsyn converted a penalty kick to make 4-0. The Wildcats then made things interesting as Carson McHale and Keith Oyer scored on assists from Brayden Brown. Brown then added another goal, but time ran out before Twin Valley could get the equalizer that would have forced overtime.
Goals by Niko Gerding and Tucker Magnant gave Twin Valley a 2-1 win over Long Trail School on Sept. 6 at Hayford Field. James Dorr scored Long Trail's only goal. Twin Valley improved to 2-1.
• West Rutland scored seven goals in the first half on the way to a 10-3 win over Bellows Falls in Westminster on Sept. 3. Tristan Rocke and Brayden Schutt both had three goals and two assists to lead West Rutland, while Malik Gordon scored all three of the Terriers' goals.
Senior bowling roundup
• The fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl opened on Sept. 5 with 10 teams. Teams 4 and 9 are tied for first at 5-0, followed by Team 5 and Team 7 (4-1), Team 1 (3.5-1.5), Team 2 (1.5-3.5), Teams 8 and 6 (1-4) and Teams 3 and 10 (0-5). We don't know the team names yet, but league secretary Nancy Dalzell hopes to have them for next week's roundup.
Shirley Aiken had the women's high handicap game (254) and series (657), while Milt Sherman had the men's high handicap game (275) and series (736). Team 5 had the high team handicap game (912), while Team 4 had the high handicap series (2,498).
Sherman had the men's high scratch series (655) with games of 246 and 240, while Peter Deyo had a 606 series with games of 204, 202, and 200. Mike Pavlovich had a 591 series with games of 222 and 197, Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 569 series with a 197 game. Rick Westcott had a 529 series with a 219 game, Jerry Dunham had a 517 series with a 192 game, and Marty Adams had a 505 series with a 190 game.
Aiken had the women's high scratch series (471) and game (192). Dalzell had a 166 game, Candy Wall had a 164 game, and Pam Greenblott and Debbie Kolpa each had a 161 game.
Randolph T. Holhut , deputy editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at [email protected].
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.