Sports Report – Jan. 23, 2020

Edd Merritt
Champlain Valley Union High School junior William Murphy threw down his opponent and placed second in his weight class at the Michael J. Baker classic at Essex High School this weekend. Photo by Jennifer Olson.

A true basketball team of the decade
The Free Press’s women’s basketball team of the decade that recently listed individual players is somewhat of a misnomer, when in fact a true team of the decade is the Redhawk women’s basketball team under the tutelage of Ute Otley. Their recent win over Burr & Burton brought their record this season to 9 – 0. One need only look at the individual scoring for each game to realize that CVU’s effort spreads fairly evenly across the team.

The Free Press’s team highlighted three former CVU players: Laurel Jaunich (2012-16), Emily Kinneston (2010-2014) and Sadie Otley (2012-2016). All three continued their basketball careers—Jaunich at Navy, Otley at Tufts and Kinneston at American University. Current team member Catherine Gilwee earned honorable mention.

The Free Press followed with a men’s team of the decade on which Walker Storey earned honorable mention. He continues in his third season at St. Michael’s College.

Cochran’s uphill tops off Nordic Tour de Chittenden
Three races in five days are incorporated in the Nordic skiing Tour de Chittenden, each race being its own entity—a freestyle sprint, a 5-kilometer race and a hill climb. According to a Jan. 16 Free Press article, the idea for the tour was formulated by Redhawk coach Sarah Strack and her colleague from Colchester during the 2013 state championships. “We were like, hey, we could do this,” Strack said. This is the sixth year of the Tour.

The CVU women did very well in the three races. In the classic race at Camp Ethan Allen they were the leading team ahead of second place Mt. Mansfield by 20 points. In the final race, the hill climb at Cochran’s, CVU came in first again with five skiers placing in the top 10—Esther Cuneo, Finn Mittelstadt, Emma Strack, Emma Crum and Sadie Holmes.

Team members are (left to right) Gavin Schaaf, Ester Cuneo, Emma Strack, and Gus Lunde, a senior from Charlotte. Photo by Karyn Lunde.

Nordic mixed medley relay team takes first
In a race at Ethan Allen Training Center on Jan. 18, CVU’s Nordic mixed medley relay team, which included Gavin Schaaf, Esther Cuneo, Emma Strack and Gus Lunde, took top honors. In addition to placing first, the winners also took home pies, compliments of the MMU Nordic team, host of the event.

A second CVU team of Nigel Wormser, Finnigan Mittelstadt, Isabelle Mittelstadt and Skylar Heininger placed fourth.

CVU grapplers begin among the top 10
After the first day of the Michael J. Baker Wrestling Classic at Essex, CVU wrestlers joined Essex to represent the two Vermont teams among the top 10.