Spring sports are back in action at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School as the season officially kicked off last week with the track and field team squaring off with Sturgis West and then Dennis-Yarmouth.
The season begins with momentum for the Vineyard runners, jumpers and hurlers after a very successful indoor season this winter. Both the girls and boys picked up where they left off against Sturgis West with Wren Christy taking first in the 800 and the mile. Camille Brand was first in the high jump and the 200, Caroline Bettencourt took first in the 100 and was part of the first place 4x100 relay team along with Brand, Maya Gardner and Shantavia Whylly.
For the boys against Sturgis West, Daniel Serpa won the 800, Daniel da Silva won the mile and Christian Flanders took gold in the high jump. Caiden Gardner and Caleb dos Santos also took second and third in the javelin.
Against D-Y, da Silva won the 800 and Broden Vincent won the mile with a 20-second personal best. Flanders also set personal bests in both the high jump and javelin in which he finished second.
Wren Christy and Camille Brand repeated their first place wins against D-Y in the same events, while Brand set a personal best in the 200. Also, Kelley Aredes set a new personal best by 30 seconds in the mile and Whylly set a new personal best in the 100 that was good for second best.
The unified track team also began their season last week with a home meet against Riverview on Monday. Head coaches Kevin McGrath and Ellen Muir led the Vineyarders through shot put, turbo javelin and long jump. Then they moved over to the track for the 400, several 100 heats and a 4x100 relay.
“The kids had a great time,” Coach McGrath said.
Having played Riverview last year, it was an opportunity to reconnect with familiar faces and make new friends. On Tuesday, the Vineyarders welcome Sandwich for a meet after school. Last year the unified team qualified three students for the state meet in Natick.
“We’re hoping to do that again,” Coach McGrath said.
Last weekend, the girls and boys tennis teams began their season with both squads taking on Dover-Sherborn Sunday at home. The girls were up first and MV’s Cali Giglio earned the team’s only point as the Vineyarders fell 4-1. Giglio played the first singles match and defeated Claire Caffery 4-6, 6-4, 1-0.
Bill Rigali, head coach of the girls team, said they faced a strong opponent in Dover-Sherborn but his team did well for the first match. The girls team this year features a mix of established veterans and eager underclassmen ready to prove themselves early in their high school careers. The girls fell 5-0 on Wednesday against Newton High School. Their next home match is next Friday against Dennis-Yarmoth at 3 p.m.
The boys tennis team showed out in their first match of the season as they swept Dover-Sherborn 6-0 later in the afternoon. In first singles, Jacob Riis won his match 6-2, 6-1. Second singles Zak Potter, a sophomore facing a senior, won 6-1, 6-4 and third singles Clyde Smith won 7-5, 7-5. In doubles play, Tegan Myers and Caleb Dubin won 7-5, 6-2 and Kert Kleeman and Kyle Levy were victorious 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
For the boys team, the starting seven, along with many others, have returned from last year after losing in the semifinal round of the playoffs.
“We’re very lucky that we have experience returning and also have a lot of depth of talent across the whole team,” head coach Nicole Macy said. “It’s a competitive group.”
The boys’ next home match comes on Wednesday against Barnstable, the action begins at 3:30 p.m.
On the baseball and softball diamonds this week, the Vineyarders got their bats going but it just wasn’t enough to overcome early leads from their opponents.
On Monday, the softball team played Mashpee at home during a blustery afternoon that made fielding all the more difficult. Despite the cold wind, Bella Webster consistently hurled in strikes as Bella Bollin and Kelly Pacheco split time behind the plate. Head coach Tiffany McCarty said Webster was solid on the mound and noted it was impressive how well the girls who split the catching played defensively.
On offense, the Vineyarders tallied 13 runs but Mashpee bested them with 21. Bella Arters smacked an RBI triple and Kylee Brasefield hit a blast to deep center that rolled under the fence for an RBI ground-rule double. The girls play at home next Thursday against Barnstable at 3 p.m.
The baseball team played their first game of the season on the road against Bristol-Plymouth last Friday and came up just short of a comeback in a 7-5 defeat. B-P jumped out to a five run lead in the second but the Vineyarders didn’t punt and almost came back.
“I thought the boys did a good job of responding and not giving up,” head coach Kyle Crossland said. “We had baserunners pretty much every inning and they kept chipping away.”
With a completely new infield this year the Vineyarders feature a lineup of players from all four grades. Notably, they also have a few members of the basketball team that are looking to trade hoops for homers. Nate Story, a prolific scorer at point guard, is the shortstop. Sam Zach, a 6’5 three-point sharpshooter, is the closer and Tobey Roberts, a defensive menace on the hardcourt, patrols the outfield for purple.
MV will get a chance to split the season series with the Craftsmen when they come to the Island in May. Until then the boys will take on the Cape and Islands league starting with Monomoy in their home opener Monday at 3:15 p.m.
The boys lacrosse team has their home opener Thursday as Dennis-Yarmouth sails across the Sound to take on the Vineyarders in their first game of the year at 3 p.m. Earlier last week, the boys scrimmaged Bourne in what head coach Chris Greene said was a great opportunity for the team to test out their spacing on the field.
“It allowed us to understand what we needed to work on defensively as a unit... overall a good experience,” Coach Greene said.
The lacrosse team features a good mix of upper and underclassmen along with a solid returning defensive core. Coach Greene said some freshmen are going to be playing quality minutes so keep an eye out for the young guns in purple and white.
New girls lacrosse coach Lacey Dinning leads the girls as they picked up their first win of the season Tuesday against Sturgis West 13-7. Ali Dyke was an offensive machine with five goals and two assists. Charlotte Scott also netted three goals and Annabelle Metell found the back of the net twice in the victory.
With only two seniors on the squad, Coach Dinning said her girls are a pretty young team of mostly sophomores and juniors. However, she also said that a lot of players have been playing on varsity since their freshmen year so they’re no strangers to the competition.
“We’re looking pretty good,” Coach Dinning said. The girls’ next home game comes on Saturday when they’ll take on Sandwich at 11:30 a.m.
The sailing team defeated Sturgis 3-1 at home on Tuesday. The race followed a long weekend of racing in Connecticut, Coach Andrew Burr.
“We beat BC High School and North Kingston, but lost to Brunswick, Greenwich Academy and Greenwich High School," Coach Burr said.
The sailing team faces Sandwich on Thursday, April 6 at home at 3 p.m., and then heads to Portland, ME on Saturday.
Comments
Comment policy »