NEWBURY – Bob Underhill hasn’t had a single conversation with his skiers about repeating as champions. But that doesn’t mean its not on the Kearsarge boys’ and girls’ Alpine coach’s mind.
Both the boys’ and girls’ teams raced their way to titles at last season’s state meet, marking the fifth time in school history the programs won championships in the same year. And though Kearsarge Alpine has never done it in consecutive seasons, with the majority of last year’s rosters back for another go-around, Underhill said he’s getting the sense his skiers are beginning to look ahead as well.
“You can tell they’re starting to get hungry,” said Underhill, after a seven-team meet at Mount Sunapee on Thursday. “We have a pretty good chemistry going on with both the boys and girls. They’ve really got that competitive spirit.”
The Cougars swept Thursday’s meet in similar fashions, with the boys amounting a 17-point victory over runner-up Gilford, and the girls besting St. Thomas by 29. On the boys’ side, it was senior Justin Norris who paced the field with the overall victory, while sophomore Brie Von Beren did the same for the girls.
Kearsarge will have to wait until Feb. 13 to try and make school history again when this year’s Division III championships roll around, but in the meantime, Underhill said meets like Thursday’s help his skiers fine tune their mechanics in an atmosphere other than practice.
Norris, last year’s individual champ in the slalom and giant slalom, agreed.
“The more you can race before the championship, the better prepared you’re going to feel,” he said. “When you can take a season’s worth of experience into the championship, that’s very helpful.”
Unlike typical Alpine meets where competitors ski both a slalom and giant slalom run, Thursday’s dual giant slalom format pinned skiers side-by-side for a pair of GS runs. Norris registered the day’s top times on both sides of the course, resulting in a 1.07-second victory over runner-up Tyler Hanf of Gilford.
Underhill said the format offers a welcomed change from an otherwise monotonous regular season, and fuels a little additional fire in his skiers as well.
“It gets them a little more competitive,” he said. “There’s somebody next to you and you’re trying to beat that person as well as the clock. It kind of gets you a little more focused, which is what I like. It’s a duel.”
All four scorers for the Kearsarge boys placed within the top eight, with Gunnar Nurme (third), Xander Hauck (sixth) and Isaac Braun (eighth) each posting combined times of under 48 seconds. And that close proximity among teammates, Norris said, has him feeling optimistic going forward.
“I’d love to win another championship and I think we’ve got the team to do it,” he said. “Repeating is the goal.”
On the girls’ side, Von Beren’s combined time of 48.48 seconds was .11-seconds quicker than runner-up Brooke Vienneau of St. Thomas, and the 10th fastest of the day – boys included. The sophomore recorded the second fastest time among girls on her first run on the blue course, before posting the fastest time – third including boys – on the red course in her second run.
Underhill said Von Beren’s speed, and courage, are hard to come by at the high school level, and will play a big role in her team’s success come February’s state meet.
“She’s not afraid to go,” Underhill said. “The problem with a lot of skiers is that they don’t like to just point them down the hill and go. They have a little hesitation with speed. She doesn’t.”
Von Beren’s older sister Izabella, a junior, placed third overall, with Lara Stokes (fifth) and Isabella Greason (seventh) rounding our Kearsarge’s scoring four. No other team placed more than three scorers in the top 10.
The Cougars won last year’s state title by just two points over runner-up Bishop Brady, but it’s results like Thursday’s that has the younger Von Beren feeling hopeful her team can repeat as champions this year.
“We’re always striving to get better, and I still think we all have room for improvement,” she said. “We want to win it as a team again, that’s for sure.”
Concord fourth
Key players: Concord – Dylan Burbank, Cam Brochu, Elijah Czysz, Maddie Pratt
Highlights/key moments: The Tide (338 points) placed fourth in a meet at Plymouth. Plymouth (381.5), Kennett (375.5) and Sunapee (363.5) were the top three teams. Burbank was the top finisher for Concord, while Sunapee’s Will Austin was the overall winner.
Coe-Brown 71, Kingswood 51
Key players: Coe-Brown – Sam Lupinacci (26 points, 8 rebounds), Brody Ashley (20 points, 5 assists), Scott Spenard (11 points, 8 assists), Dylan Andrews (6 points, 4 rebounds), Shawn Spenard (6 points, 4 assists, defense)
Highlights/key moments: The Bears earned their sixth straight win after taking a quick lead against the Knights. Kingswood cut Coe-Brown’s lead to 32-24 at halftime and scored the first bucket of the second half to cut the lead to six, but the Bears expanded their lead in the fourth quarter.
RECORDS: Coe-Brown 6-1; Kingswood 3-4
Merrimack Valley 52, Goffstown 49
Key players: MV – James Shattuck (22 points), Caleb Laclair (9 points), Ryan Defina (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Pride held 26-19 lead at halftime and a 40-30 lead after the third quarter. The Grizzlies closed the gap in the fourth quarter, but MV made some clutch free throws and never let Goffstown tie the game.
Coach’s quote: “We stepped up, hit some free throws. we did all the little things. I’m proud of the kids for weathering the storm and earning the W.” – MV’s Tim Mucher
Records: MV 2-6; Goffstown 4-3
Hopkinton 50, Fall Mtn. 28
Key players: Hopkinton – Cam Cyr (11 points), Henry Yianakopolos (9 points), Tucker Windhurst (9 points), Liam Flanagan (6 points), Kevin Newton-Delgado (6 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Hawks remained undefeated thanks to a balanced offensive effort against the Wildcats. Windhurst and Zachary Signor led a strong defense.
Coach’s quote: “We came out a little flat on offense and it took some time to settle in tonight. Once we did we opened up a nice lead in the third by winning the quarter, 16-4. Great effort by all tonight.” – Hopkinton’s Stephen Signor
Records: Hopkinton 9-0; Fall Mtn. 3-5
Kearsarge 65, H-D 30
Key players: Kearsarge – Tayler Mattos (20 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists), Tommy Johnson (13 points, 5 assists, 3 steals), Noah Tremblay (12 points), Joe Storozuk (5 points, 5 assists), Ray Critch (5 points), Kyle Hernon (5 points, 4 rebounds), Jake Fisher (3 points, first varsity points), Tyler Sidmore (2 points, 1st varsity points); H-D – Ben Ketterer (9 points), Elijah Winters (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Cougars used a balance attack offensively and great defensive intensity to win their sixth straight game with a decisive victory over the Hillcats.
Coach’s quote: “Tough matchup for us. They are very well-coached and talented group at Kearsarge.” – H-D’s Kevin Fowler
Records: Kearsarge 7-2; H-D 0-7
Kingswood 37, Coe-Brown 27
Key players: Coe-Brown – Kerry Riley (11 points, 5 rebounds), Chelsea McCallion (7 rebounds), Catie Langdon (7 points), Ahna McCusker (7 points, 6 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: The Knights led 21-12 at halftime and 27-22 after the third quarter of a defensive battle.
Coach’s quote: “We just couldn’t get anything to drop in. We had some looks they just couldn’t seem to fall. (Kingswood) played zone and we couldn’t much in the middle.” – Coe-Brown’s Joe Vachon
Records: Kingswood 6-3; Coe-Brown 5-4
Conant 54, H-D 18
Key players: H-D – Fayth Grimes (6 points, 9 rebounds), Halie Hurd (5 points), Hannah Grimes (6 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: Fayth Grimes hit two 3-pointers to lead the Hillcats in scoring and Hannah Grimes played well on the boards.
Coach’s quote: “We were able to get open shots tonight, but we struggled to get the ball in the hoop. Once we were able to rebound the ball and calm down we were able to score a few baskets.” – H-D’s Tiffany Lewis
Records: Conant 8-2; H-D 1-9
BOYS’ ICE HOCKEY
Kearsarge-Plymouth 5,
Monadnock 0
Key players: Kearsarge – Cody Rowe (18 saves), Jakob Arnold (2 goals, assist), Tony Velez (2 goals), Alex Nangle (goal, assist), Gordie Hoyt (2 assists), Doug Breault (defense), Josh Johnston (defense), Matty Folcik (defense), Adam Means (defense), Emma Tryder (offense), Marissa Pickman (offense)
Highlights/key moments: The Cats killed a 5-on-3 power play in the second period and their offense took over from there. Rowe made 18 saves to complete the shutout.
Coach’s quote: “The kids have really been working hard and not always getting the results that they want in the win column. Even though we’ve been looking at the smaller victories along the way tonight’s win felt good against a well-coached team, especially after the long bus ride.” – Kearsarge-Plymouth’s Dave McKenney
Records: Kearsarge-Plymouth 2-5; Monadnock 2-5