-The Brattleboro nordic ski team had its first home meet of the season on Jan. 24 at the Marlboro Ski Club. Thanks to about 8 inches of snow on Jan. 19 and some of the coldest weather of the winter thus far, the course was in excellent shape for the Southern Vermont League (SVL) classic race.
Woodstock was the boys' team winner with 19 points. Mount Anthony was second with 37 points, followed by Brattleboro with 42, Rutland with 57, and Burr & Burton with 68.
Brattleboro's top two skiers, Nico Conathan-Leach and Willow Sharma, have been dominating the first few SVL races this season, but Woodstock showed that they will be the boys' team to beat in the upcoming SVL Championships. Woodstock took five of the top 10 spots in the Marlboro race, with James Underwood taking first place with a time of 17 minutes, 37 seconds.
Mount Anthony's Eli McEnaney was second in 17:44, with Conathan-Leach finishing third in 18:50 and Sharma taking fourth in 18:57.
In an email to The Commons, Brattleboro coach Amanda Dixon said that the boys' team is thinner than usual this season. "Nico and Willow are our top two guys," she said. "When the whole SVL is in attendance, Woodstock's top guys are heads and shoulders ahead of the field."
Dixon saw the Jan. 24 meet as a chance to see how Brattleboro stacked up against the rest of the SVL. "Our next tier of skiers, Demond Longsmith and Galen Fogarty, are gaining experience and inching their way up the results standings. Behind them is a string of young racers who are all having their first varsity and JV racing experiences: Liam Conathan-Leach, Adam Solar (an exchange student from the Czech Republic), Elijah Cummings, and Sam Mathes."
Solar finished 17th in 22:25, while Fogarty was 21st in 23:18, Liam Conathan-Leach was 25th in 25:09, Jonas Ackerman-Hovis was 28th in 26:35, and Cummings was 29th in 26:57. Mathes started, but did not finish.
Mount Anthony's Roey Rella-Neill won the girls' race. Brattleboro's lone varsity skier in the race, Maayan Coleman, finished sixth in 25:21. Dixon said her other varsity ski team member, Maeve Bald, hasn't been able to race this season due to illness, and praised Coleman's performances this season.
"Maayan has had strong results and is solidly in the mix of the top half of the SVL skiers," Dixon said.
At press time, these five teams were participating in the SVL Classic Championships on Jan. 28 at Prospect Mountain in Woodford. Brattleboro will have another home meet on Feb. 5.
Gymnastics
• Another Brattleboro team had their first home meet of the season, as the BUHS gymnastics team hosted Burr & Burton and Essex on Jan. 24 at the Gibson-Aiken Center.
However, it really wasn't a home meet for Brattleboro. Burr & Burton doesn't have a gymnastics facility, so they have been using the Gibson-Aiken Center for their meets. Thus, it was technically a home meet for Burr & Burton. Nonetheless, it was a chance for Brattleboro to have its first varsity competition in front of their hometown fans.
Essex, the reigning state champions, won the meet with 136.70 points. Brattleboro was second with 130.95 points and Burr & Burton was third with 127.55 points.
Brattleboro's Lauren Chute and Essex's Jocelyn Bourget tied for first in the all-around competition, as both finished with 36.20 points. Chute won the Vault with a score of 8.85 and tied with Bourget in Bars with both earning a 9.30 score.
Sadie Cheslawski was the other Brattleboro gymnast placing in the top three. She was third on Beam with an 8.90 score.
Other competitors for Brattleboro included Sylvia Moshovetis, Haley Richards, and Ciana Grosso. Bethany Traudt, Amara Tuma, and Ariana McGivney were the alternates. Competing as an independent with the Brattleboro team is Amaya Arnold from Leland & Gray.
The next home meet for the Brattleboro team is Saturday, Feb. 8, at 3:30 p.m.
Girls' basketball
• Brattleboro started their week with a big 50-31 win over the unbeaten Windsor Yellowjackets on Jan. 22 at the BUHS gym. Reese Croutworst led the Bears with 23 points, and Abigail Henry added 14 points. Audrey Rupp was Windsor's top scorer with 15 points.
The Bears then kept their momentum with a 55-28 win at Springfield on Jan. 24 to improve to 6-5 on the season.
• Bellows Falls defeated White River Valley, 40-34, at Holland Gymnasium on Jan. 21. The Terriers then topped Riverdell, 37-23, on Jan. 22 to improve their record to 9-1.
• Long Trail School rolled to a 62-22 win over Leland & Gray in Dorset on Jan. 21. The Rebels are now 3-8 on the season.
• Twin Valley hung on for a 29-26 win over visiting Green Mountain on Jan. 21 to improve to 3-6 on the season.
Boys' basketball
• Brattleboro split its two games last week. The Bears visited Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Jan. 22, and left town with a 92-68 loss.
The Bears bounced back with a 73-56 win over Mount St. Joseph on Jan. 25 at the BUHS gym. The Bears built up a 22-6 lead on MSJ after one quarter and maintained the lead despite being outscored in the second half. John Satterfield led 4-8 Brattleboro with 18 points.
• Green Mountain steamrolled Leland & Gray, 80-28, in Townshend on Jan. 22. Wyatt Koch scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, and Caleb Merrow had a game-high 17 points to lead GM. Cody Hescock had 15 points for the Rebels.
With a 57-46 loss to Woodstock on Jan. 24, the Rebels fell to 1-11 on the season. Ely White led the Rebels with 19 points and Hescock added 18 points in the loss.
• Twin Valley improved to 8-4 with a pair of wins last week. The Wildcats defeated Woodstock, 53-47, on Jan. 22, and beat Long Trail School, 75-42, on Jan. 24.
Ice hockey
• The Brattleboro boys have played a lot of close games this season, so they were due for a stress-free win. They got it on Jan. 22 at Withington Rink as the Bears shut out the Missisquoi Thunderbirds, 8-0.
Evan Wright had four goals to lead the Bears. Carter Mialkowski and Andy Cay each had a goal and two assists. Gabe Alexander had a goal and an assist, Rylan Ernst got a goal and Alex Dick had two assists. Senji Kimura made 28 saves in goal for the shutout victory.
Brattleboro led 4-0 after the first period, and maintained the shutout despite having to kill off several penalties in the second and third periods. It was the last home game for the Bears for a while as they started a five-game stretch of road contests with a 7-1 against Stowe on Jan. 25.
Wright, Dick, and Cay each scored two goals against Stowe. Rowan Lonergan also scored. Cay also had three assists, and Wright and Lonergan also assisted on goals. Kimura had another great game in goal, stopping 24 shots. The Bears are now 8-4-1 on the season.
• The Brattleboro girls won their first game of the season on Jan. 25, defeating Harwood, 4-3. The 1-9 Bears host Burr & Burton on Jan. 29.
Bowling
• Fair Haven remains on top in the South with another win on Jan. 25 in a match against Brattleboro and St. Johnsbury at the Rutland Bowlerama.
The Slaters earned the top seed going into Baker play with St. Johnsbury second and Brattleboro third. Fair Haven defeated Brattleboro, 2-0, in the semifinals before beating St. Johnsbury, 2-1, in the final.
Brattleboro will host Fair Haven and Randolph in the Bears' next match on Feb. 1 at 10 a.m. at Brattleboro Bowl.
Harris Hill Ski Jump just three weeks away
• The 103rd annual Harris Hill Ski Jumping competition in Brattleboro is set for Feb. 15 and 16, and organizers expect up to 40 of the world's up and coming jumpers to launch themselves from New England's only Olympic-sized ski jump and soar more than 300 feet at speeds close to 60 mph.
This year's list of competitors is built around the Junior World Championships to be held in Lake Placid, New York, in the week leading up to the Harris Hill Ski Jumping event.
"We have joined forces with fellow ski jumping organizations including Lake Placid, Westby (Wisconsin) and the Norge Ski Club of Chicago to help fund athletes competing at the four venues," Todd Einig, Harris Hill's Director of Competition, said in a news release. "As a result, our international pool of jumpers should be robust this year, seeing men and women jumpers from Norway, Slovenia, and Poland along with U.S. competitors."
With the recent stretch of cold weather, snowmaking has begun on the big hill off Cedar Street. Snow is being stockpiled in case of a swing back to warmer temperatures to ensure the ski jump will be in good condition for competitors.
Complete schedule details and tickets are available online at HarrisHillSkiJump.com, and get the latest info @harrishillskijump on Facebook and Instagram.
Brattleboro Little League to meet Feb. 2
• It's not too soon to think about spring and baseball. The Brattleboro Little League will hold their annual meeting on Sunday, Feb. 2, at noon at American Legion Post 5 on Linden Street.
Organizers say the meeting will be "a great way to learn more about Little League and what the 2025 season will look like." It will also be an opportunity to learn about how to volunteer at the concession stand at South Main Street Field, or help with field and general maintenance, or to be an umpire for games.
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.