The Harris Hill Ski Jumping Tournament is fast approaching, as some of the world's top jumpers will be coming to Brattleboro on Feb. 19 and 20.
Now that the 90-meter jump has been refurbished to meet International Ski Federation specifications, Harris Hill is back on the map as one of the premier ski jumping venues in the nation, and is again attracting world-class competitors.
One of them is Vladimir Glyvka, who competed for Ukraine in the 1998 Winter Olympics. He is one of only five competitors since 1922 who have won the event at least three times and earned the right to take home the silver Winged Ski Trophy. Brothers Torger and Arthur Tokle, Art Devlin, and Hugh Barber are the only other jumpers who retired the trophy.
Glyvka won at Harris Hill in 1996, 1999, and 2000, and he has told the Harris Hill organizers that he will be in Brattleboro. Three women jumpers and five Europeans are also expected to among the 46 competitors who have entered the event. It's one of the largest Harris Hill fields since the early 1990s.
The Harris Hill competition has also been named as a qualifying event for the newly-revived United States Ski Collegiate Association's College Jumping program. As mentioned in this space a couple of months ago, collegiate ski jumping is starting to make a comeback after more than three decades of dormance and Harris Hill is on its way to becoming an important part of the revival.
Rex Bell, a former U.S. Ski Team coach and head of competition for Harris Hill, was recently named the chairman of the board of USA Ski Jumping, a new organization tasked with developing and promoting the careers of American athletes who are contenders for Olympic and World Cup competitions. Bell said this week that this year's Harris Hill event will also serve as the inaugural finals for the US Cup, a five-city competition for up and coming jumpers.
Unlike some years, there's plenty of snow. In fact, this is the first time in 20 years that organizers don't have to make snow to augment the jump. Grooming and snowmaking personnel from Mount Snow have helped the Harris Hill volunteers in recent years, but all they'll need to do this year is touch up the hill later this week.
Girls' basketball
• Leland & Gray has been beating up on teams on their using their size and rebounding skill. But last Thursday in Townshend, the Rebels ran into a team that also uses its size and rebounding ability to good effect.
If the Rebels face Twin Valley once more in the Division III playoffs, Thursday's 39-35 loss to the Wildcats was a reminder that while the Rebels have been playing well this season, they are not invincible.
Twin Valley overcame an early 10-1 lead by the Rebels to go on an 18-0 run to take control of the game. The Wildcats led 20-12 at the break and kept the Rebels at bay in the second half.
While strong defense by both teams kept this game a low scoring affair, the teams' respective go-to gals carried their teams. Twin Valley senior forward Sam Bernard had 12 points and 8 rebounds, while freshman guard Savannah Nesbit had 10 points, 4 steals and 3 assists. Both were key figures in the Wildcats' first half offensive explosion.
Rebels guard Aly Marcucci scored 9 of her game high 14 points in the final quarter, while Bethany Robinson added 8.
It was Twin Valley's fifth win in a row as they improved to 10-7 and start to move up the Division III standings. Twin Valley also got a big win on Feb. 7, with a 34-31 victory over the Arlington Eagles. Bernard had 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals to help lead the Wildcats.
• The loss to Twin Valley was part of a very bad week for the Rebels. Leland & Gray lost on the road to Mill River, 55-41 on Feb. 7. Despite a 20-point night from Marcucci and a 25-17 advantage by the Rebels in rebounding, Mill River shot 75 percent from beyond the three-point arc, and that made all the difference.
After the game with the Wildcats, the Rebels lost last Saturday at Poultney, 58-39. A 22-6 run after a slow first quarter sealed the deal for the Blue Devils. Marcucci had 11 points and Ashley Goddard added 9 as the Rebels were out-rebounded for the first time this season.
The Rebels, which were atop the Division III standings two weeks ago, head into the final weeks of the season in sixth place with a four-game losing streak and an 11-5 record.
• Bellows Falls suffered three more losses last week. On Feb. 7, BF kept it close, but couldn't finish off Otter Valley as the Otters came away with a 36-30 win at Holland Gymnasium, despite 10 points from BF's Sarah Dumont.
Last Thursday, the Terriers were sounded defeatly on the road by Windsor, 68-26. Emily Dufault was BF's high scorer with 8 points.
BF faced the Otters again in Brandon last Friday, and the result was a 42-18 win for Otter Valley. Dumont was the 1-14 Terriers' high scorer with 12 points.
• Brattleboro had a rough night last Thursday as the Burr & Burton Bulldogs romped to a 65-40 win over the Colonels at the BUHS gym. Lindsay Johnson scored 10 points and Kelsey Patterson added 7.
The 4-12 Colonels followed up that loss last Saturday with a 48-33 win at Springfield in what was one of the best all-around team efforts this season. Mariah Lesure scored 13 points, Patterson had 9, Erin LeBlanc added 8 and Taylor Kerylow had 6 points, 7 assists and 7 steals. Johnson was the top rebounder with 9.
Boys' basketball
• The Brattleboro Colonels started last week with a 79-61 loss at Mount Anthony on Feb. 8. Travis Elliott-Knaggs and Tommy Heydinger scored 18 and 13 points, respectively, while Soren Pelz-Walsh and Travis Beeman-Nesbitt each added 11.
The 11-3 Colonels bounced back on Senior Night last Friday with a 67-39 win over Hartford. The Colonels dominated the shorthanded Hurricanes from start to finish as Heydinger led the way with 15 points, Soren Pelz-Walsh scored 12 points, and Elliott-Knaggs and Travis Beeman-Nesbitt scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Beeman-Nesbitt had the highlight reel play of the night with a dunk off a feed from Heydinger to close out the first quarter.
• Leland & Gray clobbered Twin Valley, 53-24, in Wilmington on Feb. 8, but the real winner of the game was Matt Lavoy. The Twin Valley senior was critically injured in a car accident in December, and his fellow seniors decided to take the money generated from this game's ticket sales, concessions, and a 50-50 raffle and put it toward Lavoy's medical expenses.
As for the game itself, Noah Chapin scored a game-high 14 points to lead the 10-3 Rebels, while Tony Bernard and Troy Birch had seven apiece for the 4-9 Wildcats. Birch also had a dozen rebounds.
The 11-3 Rebels followed that effort up with a 76-30 rout at Black River last Friday. Matt Bizon had 20 points, 8 steals and 6 assists to lead the Rebels. Chapin added 13 points and the triumverate of Josh Fontaine, Drew Barnum and Michael Bergeron dominated the glass with 9, 8 and 7 rebounds, respectively. The Rebels started this week in third place in Division III.
• Twin Valley bounced back from its loss to Leland & Gray with a 44-39 home win over Poultney last Friday. Birch was high scorer for the 5-9 Wildcats with 12, Ian Murdock added 11 points and Colin Lozito just missed a triple-double with 11 points, 10 steals, 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
• Bellows Falls lost a pair of close ones last week. On Feb. 8 at Windsor, the Terriers lost 49-47. Freshman Kendrick Mills scored 15 points to lead the Terriers.
Last Friday, BF rallied from a 10-point deficit at Woodstock and got the lead with 90 seconds left, but could hold on as the Wasps pulled out a 43-40 win. Peter Falzo scored 10 points to lead the 3-11 Terriers.
Girls' hockey
• Co-captain Maddie Rollins scored three goals as the Colonels cruised past the Woodstock Wasps at Whitington Rink on Feb. 9. The sophomore got her first goal from TyLynn Isaacsen and Madison Doucette 27 seconds into the game. She followed that up with another goal from co-captain Michelle Reffi early in the second period and scored again from Issacsen in the third period to finish her hat trick. Emily Wilson also scored, Jen Hutton got her first career goal, and Issacsen scored from Reffi to cap off the scoring.
On Feb. 7, Miranda Moseley scored three goals and added an assist as the Brattleboro Colonels beat Rice, 5-1, on Feb. 7 at Withington Rink. Moseley set up a goal by Emily Wilson, and Maddie Rollins added a goal from Login Robinson. Brianna Snow and Lou Lou Terwilliger split time in goal, and combined for six saves for the 7-5-1 Colonels.
The only sour note for the week came last Saturday with a 3-1 loss to Middlebury at Withington Rink on Senior Night. Doucette spoiled the Tigers' shutout bid with her first varsity goal late in the third period. That was the last regular season home game for the 8-6-1 Colonels, who will finish out the schedule on the road in the hope of securing a home game for the Division I playoffs.
Boys' hockey
• The Colonels need one more win, or a tie, to qualify for the Division I playoffs. The 4-11-1 Colonels eked out a 2-2 draw against Greenfield, Mass., last Saturday at Withington Rink. Sam Graves scored both goals for the Colonels and almost had the game won before Greenfield's Ethan Sprague tied the game with 1:37 left in regulation. Greg DiSilva made 31 saves in another solid game in goal.
Nordic skiing
• The Brattleboro girls came in a close second to Mount Anthony in the Marble Valley League Skate Championship at Mountain Top Resort last Wednesday. Mount Anthony won the team event with 22 points, but Brattleboro was right on their heels with 29 points. Rutland was third with 42, followed by Woodstock (73), Otter Valley (115) and Burr & Burton (125).
Halle Lange led the Colonel girls with a second place finish, and five of her teammates placed in the top 20 - Emma Straus (eighth), Leah Silverman (ninth), Linnea Jahn (10th), Maddie Shaw (12th), and Helen Manning (20th). Katie Grasso was 35th and Kara Piergentilli 37th.
The Colonel boys finished third behind Woodstock and Mount Anthony. Jacob Ellis was 13th and the first Brattleboro skier to finish, followed by Graham Glennon (18th), Austin Lester (23rd), Anthony Burdo (24th), Sam Green (26th), Oliver Pomazi (28th), and Noah Borochoff-Porte (31st).
The second half of the MVL Championships, the Classic, will be held in Brattleboro on Feb. 16 on the VABEC trails off Old Guilford Road.
Miscellany
• West Dover's Kelly Clark continued her hot streak with a win at the Toyota Championship at Snowbasin in Ogden, Utah, last Saturday. Clark's first place finish in the women's superpipe was her sixth straight victory in major snowboarding competition this season, and gave her the Dew Cup crown for the second time in her career.
• Congratulations to Brattleboro's Bob Bashford, who was recently elected to the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Bashford compiled a 228-127 record from 1988 to 2003, coaching the Colonels to eight Marble Valley League championships, five Division I Final Four appearances and a state title in 1993. Bashford, a Saugus, Mass., native, graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the mid-1970s and has been a math teacher at Brattleboro Union High School for 35 years. Making the Hall is a great honor for a great coach, and a great guy.
• And special congratulations to Amelia Opsahl of Chesterfield, N.H., and Reagan Shippee of Vernon, both members of the Brattleboro Figure Skating Club. They placed first and second, respectively in the Skating Club of Boston's Skate with U.S. Basic Skills Competition last Saturday in Boston. The two 8-year-olds will be performing again on Feb. 20 in the Brattleboro Figure Skating Club's annual show at Withington Rink on Feb. 20.