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Sports Shorts

We are staring Memorial Day weekend right in the face. Here’s hoping for great weather over the next few days for camp cleaning and openings, prom prep, after-prom festivities, the huge track and field meet Saturday, the parade and the Boosters’ mattress sale. There are two weeks of school left, then exams. Who’s counting down?

Boys’ tennis

We will start with boy’s tennis this week, as the Hornets won four matches last week. The real story is their 4-3 win over SB as they halted the Rebels 30+ consecutive winning streak. Essex lost their first match this spring and has won 14 straight since. With just one match remaining, the boys have a great shot at the No. 1 seed in Division I.

Girls’ tennis

The girls’ tennis team went 0-4 last week to drop to 3-12 this season. They ended the regular season at CHS Monday.

Baseball

The baseball team won three games last week to extend its winning streak to six games. The boys are 9-2 and look to be in the second slot in Division I standings. They face a three-game week with five regular season games remaining.

The JVa squad is 6-3 after a 1-1 week. The JVb team is 7-1 after absorbing loss No. 1 last week, 10-9, to ADL.

Softball

The softball team is steamrolling its opposition. The girls are 11-0 with one close game. They continue to be the class of Vermont softball. Essex plays three games this week. Saturday’s home contest against BFA at 11 a.m. should be a beauty. Get here early, as the parade and the track meet will cause Essex some confusion in the morning.

The JVs are playing impressively. They were 2-1 last week, 6-2 this season and play three this week.

Girls’ lacrosse

The girls’ lacrosse team is playing very well. They play to a record of 6-4 and were 2-1 last week. They beat BHS 13-12 in another exciting game. Saturday they were upset by the Cougars 9-7, as Charlotte Stuart and Linnea Willey each scored twice. Haley Drury had eight saves. They play Middlebury and CVU this week.

The JVs are 8-1 with a big rematch this week against the Redhawks while the JVa’s are 5-0 with one game to play on Friday.

Boys’ lacrosse

Our boys’ lax team has solidly made a strong claim as the state’s best team. They are 9-2 with all nine wins coming at the expense of Vermont teams. Get this: their closest in-state game was a 7-goal win, and that is not a misprint! SHS, MMU and SB provide opposition this week.

The JVs are 6-2-1 and playing very well. They lost a 5-3 decision to SHS last week. The freshman team played well in Saturday’s jamboree team and is 5-0. They will play twice this week.

Essex Invitational

The state’s largest track and field meet will be hosted once again by Pavel Dvorak and his staff here on Saturday. The 10th annual Essex Invitational, now also known as the New England Qualifier, invites track and field athletes from the entire state across all four divisions to compete for a chance at the 2013 New England Championships in Connecticut on June 8. Meet Director Steve Dowd and the Hornet staff – AD Ed Hockenbury, top-flight assistant AD Todd Herrington, and the best track and field officials in the state – will organize well over 1,000 athletes into a smooth flowing meet. The boys’ pole vault starts the festivities at 9 a.m. The other field events begin at 930 a.m., with the first running event, the girls’ 4x800m relay, starting at 1030 a.m. For specific information, visit  http://bsdweb.bsdvt.org/~pdvorak/tfweb/meets/essinvitational/essinvtimesch.pdf Ticket admissions will be charged.

Track and field

Last week the Hornets had both their home meets changed to Jericho due to repairs to the Essex track. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cougar head coach Bill Eschholz and AD David Marlow for their willingness to help us out in hosting both meets. Last Friday the Freshman Invitational was a fun, exciting and successful meet for the young Hornets. These ninth-graders have been competing against older and more experienced athletes all season. On this day they showed their team strength and gave the rest of the state a peek at the future of Essex track and field. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams earned championships.

The guys led from start to finish and scored 120 points outdistancing themselves from tough BFA and BHS teams who tied for second with 69 pints. SB was fourth with 65 and ST.J fifth with 56. The gals totaled a whopping 195 points and pulled away from ST.J’s 157 late in the day. BHS (67), BFA (38) and CHS (36) followed. Essex had a multitude of champions: The boys’ 4x800m Relay – Henry Newman, Brandon Robertson, Nate Rodrigue-Hotchess, Darren Van Dzura; the boys 4x100m Relay – Paul Friedman, Shaun Morris, Peter Barrows, Jake Maurer; the girls 4x100m Relay – Madson Stephenson, Nipu Coe, Abby Evans, Lucy Sopchak; Sopchak continued her stellar day winning the 100m and the HJ; Feora Leveillee had double wins in the 1500m and 3000m to stake her claim as the best distance runner; Amanda Sinkewicz took the 200m and the javelin; Stephenson LJ; Mychaela Harton Shot Put; Cole Picard Shot Put; and Mauer LJ.

More points came from the following top six placers: Second – Peter Feehan 1500m; Stephenson HH’s; Barrows 400m; Evans HJ + LH’s; Morris HH’s; Jenna Emery 3000m; Sinkewicz Shot + Discus; Harton Javelin; the girls’ 4x800m Relay – Emery, Abby Trombley, Grace Murphy, Leveillee; boys’ mile relay – Friedman, Jessie Monahan, Omkar Borse, Barrows; Third – Morris IH’s; Angus Hutcheon 800m; girls’ mile relay -Fewell, Trombley, Lyon, Allaire; Matt Bushey Shot; Picard Disc; Fourth – Marlow Allaire 400m; Holly Parks Javelin; Harton Disc; Monahan HJ + TJ; Fifth – Emery 1500m; Borse PV; Melissa Morris 200m + PV; Parks Shot; Jonathon Bosley Shot; Bushey Disc; Sixth – Barrows 100m; Ashley Lyon 800m; Meghan Smith TJ; Molly Noel Discus; Spencer Sochin TJ; Jordan Yandow Shot + Javelin.

Other Hornets competing were Olivia Fewell 100/200; Friedman 100/200; Coe 200; Murphy 1500; Anna Burke 1500; Van Dzura 1500; Stephenson LH’s; Borse 400+LJ; Newman 800; Rodrigue-Hotchess 800: Robertson 800; M Morris LJ; S Morris LJ; Smith LJ; Noel Shot/javelin; Charlotte Evans Shot+Disc; Parks Disc; Monahan LJ; Sochin PV+LJ; Jordan Arcovitch Shot+Disc; Bosley Disc+javelin; and Yandow Disc.

Congratulations to the Freshmen Champs and the future of Essex T+F. As an important P.S., pole vaulter Kyle Baker placed second in the Hanover Invitational vaulting 12′ 8″ Saturday. He’s only a sophomore.

Boosters’ mattress sale

The EHS Boosters’ mattress sale will be held this Saturday, May 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the gym. You will get name brand mattresses at incredible discounts with free delivery.

Pros

So the Knicks are done. My JVb girls’ hoop team boxed out better than they did Saturday night. The Bruins hold a commanding 2-0 over the Rangers. The Yanks and the Sox are holding up surprisingly well over the first six weeks of the MLB season.

Personal notes

Congrats to the Athletic Leadership Council, who helped raise over 110 units of blood donations for the American Red Cross last week. Be smart this weekend at the Prom. Have a nice time, make wise decisions, attend the after-prom and remember that those involved in after school activities and athletics are held to a higher standard. We don’t want any incidents this weekend. Do the right thing!