Top 5 area boys teams to watch in the 2010 spring playoffs

The majority of the spring sports pairings will be announced Monday - baseball, softball, boys and girls lacrosse - while tennis played its individual tournament last weekend and the golf sectionals and track and field state championship meets will be held on Tuesday and Saturday, respectively, of this week.

Like I did last week with the girls, here are my top five boys teams to watch in this year's spring sports state tournaments:

• Northfield baseball. The Marauders went undefeated in the regular season behind pitching depth and great hitting. This team communicates better than any high school team I've ever seen. I've been to two of their games this spring, and to listen to the boys encourage each other the way they do - the voice one hears most prominantly is that of shortstop Eli Diebold - is a sign of a truly cohesive team. It's no wonder they've done so well. The Division III baseball tournament should belong to the Marauders.

• U-32, Harwood boys lacrosse. OK, this is me cheating and getting an extra team in my top five. But really, this spring, you can't talk about U-32 boys lacrosse without talking about Harwood (and Randolph, for that matter). These two (OK, three, but that's REALLY cheating) teams have battled all spring, and I can't wait to see how it shakes out in the D-II boys lacrosse tournament. U-32 has proven itself a physical team and both feature a number of scorers.
  

Harwood track and field. Coach Taggert Haslam has enjoyed depth in almost every event, if not every event, and should give host Fair Haven quite a run at this weekend's D-II state meet. The Highlander boys were state champions last year, and behind distance specialist Tim Shepard and other equally as dominating athletes, should do very well. It was fun to see the number of alumns from Spaulding, Harwood and U-32 come out to this spring's Monster Meet, which shows the bond these athletes have not only to each other but to their programs. Clearly track in central Vermont is on its way up and one doesn't have to look very far to see that.

Spaulding baseball. The Crimson Tide had a great run at the end of last season and have enjoyed the benefits of a team with 12 seniors - 12! - this season. Surely the momentum from 2009 carried into 2010, and it wasn't any more evident than when the Tide smacked four - 4! - home runs in one of its last games of the regular season. Cameron Cummings, one of those 12 seniors, had two - 2! - home runs in that game. Coach Chad Bell has to be a happy man headed into this postseason.

Stowe boys tennis. These kids just don't know how to lose. And in this case, that's a very, very good thing. The Raiders have barely dropped a set in years, nevermind an entire game, and I am pretty sure that trend will continue this spring. More than pretty sure. Behind No. 1 singles player Coleman Gay, who is also a tremendously talented soccer player, the Raiders should dominate. What makes the boys tennis team tournament interesting is this year there is just one division. It will be interesting to see how the Raiders dominance translates in that format, but I have very little doubt they won't be one of the last two teams standing.

There are also several individuals, like I mentioned in the girls post last week, who deserve our attention as well. The Montpelier track and field team scores as independents, so I'll talk about them here. Chris Keller and Laura Mears, running specialists, should fare very well in their respective events. Colby Cunningham has come onto the track scene in a big way - much like Keller when he was a freshman and a sophomore - and should give spectators in Fair Haven something to see in terms of the jumps - triple, long, and high. Randolph boys lacrosse star Alex Green is another tremendous athlete, and while I briefly mentioned the Randolph team earlier, Green is worthy of his own category. This kid can score goals, and he can score goals in a hurry.

There's plenty to see this week as the tournaments get under way, so get out there and see these kids before the season's over!

-Anna Grearson

Top 5 area girls teams to watch in the 2010 spring playoffs

As we get closer to the 2010 spring playoffs, I figured I'd take a risk and outline my top teams in our area and we can all see how close I am to being right over the next few weeks.

• Randolph softball. The Galloping Ghosts have had an incredible spring and, I believe, are 13-1. They've given coach Al Stewart his 400th win and are just rolling thanks to ace Arielle Connolly. The Division III tournament could get interesting, especially for local fans, if the Ghosts end up meeting Peoples Academy, which is right behind them in the standings as of today. 
• Chelsea girls lacrosse. This has come to go without saying, but the Chelsea girls are pretty much unstoppable. They are currently 12-0 and are the only undefeated lacrosse team in the entire state. Much has been wondered about this team - namely, why are the Red Devils so good year after year - and I think it has a lot to do with the fact these athletes are from such a small school, allowing them to be together all the time, both in athletics and in school. They instinctively know where their teammates are, and rather than be limited by their small school, they use it as a huge advantage. There are eighth graders on this team by necessity, giving those players an extra year of varsity experience. Coach John Parker has done a great job - his team doesn't have one go-to player, they all can score and can score at will. 
• Montpelier girls tennis. The Solon program has exploded in popularity, and it's no wonder: they have a good coach in Wendy Watson and that has given the program a good base of success. The entire Montpelier program is eagerly awaiting the new tennis courts that are being remodeled on the school grounds and will be a great reward for the coaches and the returning players next spring. Carly Watson, Tatum FitzGerald, Lilah Watt, Sarah Richardson and others have had a great spring. The Solon doubles teams went indefeated for much if not all of the spring, which is no easy task.
• U-32 girls lacrosse. No offense to Montpelier and Oxbow girls lacrosse, which have also had spectacular spring seasons and are also in the top five in the D-II rankings right now, the Raiders have had arguably a more spectacular run at being where they are today. U-32 started the season in a bit of a hole, with a loss to Chelsea and two to South Burlington, have have since gone on an 8-3 run with wins over the likes of Oxbow, Randolph and D-I Spaulding. For a program lacking a JV team this year (which means technically some of its players should be JV players, not playing at the varsity level right away), that's awesome. The Raider girls are packed with great athletes that have seen success elsewhere at the school this academic year - Brynn Cayia, Alicia Danyew, Erica Gonyaw, Jyneva Pickel, Alice Curchin and others - so it's no wonder this team is enjoying one last season of success before the summer vacation.
• Harwood track and field. This is also an obvious choice, especially after another dominating outdoor season alongside the Harwood boys, who will definitely make my list of Top 5 area boys teams later this week. The Harwood girls have so much depth at all events - and such a great attitude, just read quotes from Sophie Lisaius from my story on the Monster Meet - and great coaching that they are sure to be the favorites for the D-II title, again. The U-32 team is knocking right on the Highlanders' door, however, so the state championships will be an all-out battle.

The spring tournaments are also a good opportunity for individuals to excel, and the aforementioned Montpelier girls tennis team, along with U-32 players, should do well in the individual tournament, which starts this week. Also, members of the U-32, Harwood, Spaulding, Peoples Academy track and field teams should also do very well as individuals at the state meet. Spaulding's sprint duo of Kelsie Bailey and Catie White, particularly, should give us a good show.

-Anna Grearson 

2010 Corporate Cup: I should've done this before!

Thursday was the 27th annual Corporate Cup in Montpelier - a 5K race for runners and walkers who compete in teams of three people who all work together. I have chickened out of participating since I first heard about the race when I was hired here in June 2006. Until this year. And even then, I'm pretty sure Times Argus sports editor Jamie Biggam just signed me up for it after finally getting tired of hearing me say I didn't want to do it. (I have already told him he was right, and I owe him a huge "You Told Me So.")

So, long story short, I ended up walking rather than running, even though I am very much getting into the sport of running. This was my first "race," and I wanted to feel out the course and the atmosphere and just generally see what I'm getting myself into and what I've been missing. Turns out, I've been missing a LOT.

I don't know why I didn't expect to see so many people in the front yards cheering the runners and walkers along the course. There were even little kids with their arms and hands out for high-fives from the runners and walkers, and what impressed me the most were those playing music - both from a stereo and there was a small group of string players - including some little kids banging away on drums in their driveway. The kids drew with sidewalk chalk on the road in front of their house - though why they drew a giant cupcake, I'll never know.

Before the race we were told to be sure to thank a volunteer before we left the event. Truthfully, it was hard NOT to thank them. There were so many along the course, at the water station and in the various tents on the statehouse lawn, and they were all so positive. Those who were making sure everyone was following the rules - namely that walkers weren't running, etc. - were also cheering and encouraging, so I found it very hard to not smile and say thank you to them all.

I learned a lot from participating in my first Corporate Cup. A few things that stick out:

1. I will do it again. I may have caught the competitive running/walking bug, and I'm really OK with that. We'll see where this goes.

2. I will trade my water bottle for my sunglasses next time. Though it was a pretty warm day, and I am by no means discouraging people from bringing water with them, but it only annoyed me. The water got warm and my arm got tired of carring it (it's a Camelback flip-top bottle, not just some bottled water bottle). That and I squinted a lot and would've been more comfortable with sun shades - like just about everyone else who remembered them.

3. We need team t-shirts. I saw more teams with cool t-shirts and come on, we're writers, we can come up with something awesome to put on the shirt. National Life had blue-and-gray moisture-wicking shirts, Norwich University had maroon-and-white t-shirts, some people had tank-tops with their company logo on them, and I was real impressed. A lot of our teams from the T-A are very competitive, so it could get really funny when it comes time to design our team "uniforms." There was a woman in a fairy costume and I saw pitcures of women running in prom-like dresses. How fun is that?

4. Vermont is the healthiest state in the nation, and every size, shape, age and ability came out to participate. The crowd was huge - it reminded me of the Fourth of July festivities at Montpelier, at least around the statehouse - and it was really cool to be part of it. I shouldn't have worried so much about my performance, because really, the event is only about the "race" for a fraction of those who participate. It's for the most part about getting out of the office and doing something positive with your co-workers, doing something active and enjoying the all-to-brief nice summer-like weather.

5. Next time, I will attempt to get a better starting position. Because I am pretty competitive and wanted to see just what I could do, I worked hard. Which was compromised a lot by the fact that a huge number of walkers were in front of me to start the race, so there were a lot to overcome. I finished 123rd out of 879 walkers, which I am very happy about (in 42:01, three minutes better than my goal, thank you). But if I had started further toward the front, I bet I could've saved at least a minute, if not more. I didn't understand the ettiquete for passing people, so when I came up on very chatty people walking three- and four-wide who I knew I could steam past, I lost time there with a mental battle as to what to do: Push 'em? Ask them politely to move? Ask them not politely to move? Slow down (NO WAY)? I ended up popping in and out of walkers, zig-zagging and weaving to try and get a better position to move ahead, which undoubtedly hurt my time and my energy.

Some things I won't change:

1. I will always lose time and slow down to high-five those little kids. Otherwise, I'd feel like I didn't have a soul.

2. I will try to remember that for the most part, it's not about the race.

3. I might finally get it in my head that even if something intimidates me at first, I usually have the time of my life actually doing that something.

4. Again, I will do it again.

Happy Corporate Cup-ing next year!

-Anna Grearson

Oops...a little house-cleaning is in order...

So it's been a while since I posted on this blog, and for that I apologize. And also because of that, I have a lot of things in my e-mail that should have gone on here a long time ago. Consider this an extended newsletter.

On with it:

Waaaay back on May 2, two Vermont Frost Heaves took part in the 2010 PBL All-Star game, held up in Halifax. The East team, featuring Vermont's Ross Demasi (truly Vermont's, he's from Swanton and played at Missisquoi before playing his college ball in the mid-west) and Dwuan Rice (who probably considers himself an honorary Vermonter, and he should. He did great work for the Frost Heaves while he was here and garnered quite the following by Vermont fans). Rice scored eight points, had four rebounds and two steals. Demasi just missed out on a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. Congratulations!

There are a couple of big events coming up at Harwood Union High School: They will have their annual 'Surf-n-Turf' equipment sale next Saturday, May 15 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and will feature baseball, softball, golf, soccer, lacrosse, fishing, paddling, backpacking, camping and rocking climbing equipment. I've never been to this before, but it sounds like a pretty neat event.

Also on May 15, Harwood will induct its first class into the newly established Harwood Hall of Fame. Tickets are $20 and those interested can call Wendy Gilbert at 882-1101 or email [email protected].

To wrap up a busy weekend in Duxbury, the 3rd Annual Harwood Golf Scramble will be held on Sunday, May 16, at Sugarbush Golf Course at 11 a.m. It's a shotgun start and a four-person best-ball scramble. The cost is $85 per person, which covers golf, a cart, lunch and a chance to win prizes. Call Dave Morse to sign up: 244-5198, the Sugarbush Pro Shop: 583-6725 or Harwood AD Sue Duprat: 882-1156.

The spring season is off to an exciting start, with, oddly, the biggest weather threats coming after the spring season started on time for the first time in recent memory. So get out there and enjoy it.

-Anna Grearson