Sports Report – March 7, 2019

On the slopes, on the ice, in the gym, on the trail – winter sports
Whether holding their edges, lacing their skates, tiptoeing on the beam or firing baskets, CVU winter sports teams have done very well for themselves this year.

The gymnasts traveled to Essex on February 16 to see whether they could claim another state crown. Unfortunately, they came up just over one point short as the Hornets topped the Hawks 137.625 to 136.275. This makes up for a regular season loss to CVU by two-tenths of a point. Three Redhawk gymnasts won their events. Taylor Hoar won vault, Delaney Miller-Bottoms, beam, and Logan Claffy, floor exercises. Lauryn Bombardier and Delaney Miller-Bottoms placed third and fourth in the all-around category, with Lauryn tied for fourth in the vault and coming in second on the beam and floor, an event in which Delaney placed fifth.

Emma McMahan, Claire Goldman, Olivia Zubarik, Ethan Lisle, Brayden Bartlett, Turner Barbour, Sean Gilliam, Seth Boffa, Max Gorman. Photo by Nan Bofta.

Nordic and Alpine skiers hit the slopes and trails with Alpinists coming down the Jay Peak slalom and giant-slalom courses at the end of February, the slalom women in first place, the men in second. Olivia Zubarik was the top CVU individual among women finishing second, with Claire Smith, fourth and Emily Marvin, seventh. On the men’s end, Charlotte’s Seth Boffa was the leading Redhawk placing fifth with Sean Gilliam one place behind him in sixth. Things reversed in the giant slalom several days later. The CVU men topped the field of 13 schools. Sean and Seth were again the leading individuals for the Redhawks. The women fell behind St. Johnsbury Academy but ahead of eight other schools. Binney Patton led the Hawk individuals in sixth place with Emily Marvin in eighth.

In the State Championships at the beginning of March, the women were in second place after the giant slalom. Unfortunately, falls took the men out of the running, placing 11 out of 13 teams.

The Nordic women saw a second place finish as a team behind Mt. Mansfield while the men finished fourth behind Mount Anthony, Brattleboro and BFA St. Albans on the Craftsbury course. The Redhawks placed several among the top ten individuals: Emma Strack in sixth, Charlotter Finn Mittlestadt in seventh and Geneva Cote in eighth. The relay team placed second.

Jared Leonard finished eighth, and the relay team fourth among men.
Two wrestlers qualified for the New England Tournament as a result of placing highly in the varsity state wrestling championships held in Essex February 22 and 23. A pair of Redhawks qualified for the New England Championships in Providence, RI early this month: Jared Forsythe who was runner-up in the 182-pound class and Charlotte’s Will Murphy, third at 190 pounds. Jacob Graveline, Riley Brown and Matt Trifaro all failed to advance. The leading winner for the season, Justin Bissonette, did not compete because of a shoulder injury he suffered in the Northern Vermont Athletic Conference tournament last month.

Whoops! More hoops
CVU’s undefeated women’s basketball team is headed for Patrick Gym for the ninth straight year with a semi-final birth. There, the Redhawks (22-0) will take on Rice (15-7). In the quarterfinal, a 67-28 win over Mount Anthony, Kaylee Beyor celebrated her birthday scoring a team-high 12 points. Four other Hawks hit for eight, including Charlotte’s Ella Woodruff.

Fleming moves to varsity coach
Longtime coach and educator at CVU, Rahn Fleming was selected to head the Redhawk varsity football team after Mike Williams stepped down. Athletic Director Dan Shepardson was quoted in the February 28 Burlington Free Press saying, “it was a unanimous decision of the hiring committee.” A 1981 Dartmouth College graduate where he played football, his two sons followed in his footsteps, playing ball at CVU and at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Rahn led the JV team for the last decade, moving to the varsity on game days where he oversaw the special teams.

Colby Jordan qualifies for NCAA ski championships
Charlotte’s Colby Jordan, a St. Michael’s College junior qualified to compete in Alpine championships at Stowe next week as one of five Purple Knights who earned the challenge. Colby skied at the Mount Mansfield Winter Academy before entering St. Michael’s. Last year he competed in the Nor-Am Cup races at Stowe. A year before that he qualified for the U.S. Championships where he came in 14th in the Super-G slalom.