Wrestlers are ready for the New Year
by Edd Merritt

CVU’s wrestling squad heads into 2009 with two dual meets and two tournaments under its belt. The Redhawks split the duals, losing to Mount Mansfield 45-30 then trouncing Enosburg, 54-18. They sent grapplers in 5 out of 14 weight classes to an Early Bird Tournament in St. Johnsbury, placing a respectable 12th among 20 schools. Captain Sherman Wood pinned two men on his way to a third place finish. The Redhawks moved up to finish seventh in Middlebury’s “Hubie Wagner Invitational” tournament. Wood pinned three on his way to a second place, and his co-captain Stephen Fortin claimed third at 152 pounds. Wood achieved a personal milestone with his 100th career win.
Gymnasts Display Their Skills from the Frosh Up
CVU’s gymnastics team is blessed with talent from freshmen through seniors. The Redhawks have demonstrated it several times including at South Burlington’s Rebel Invitational that pits athletes of the same grade against one another. Freshman Ashley Bachand won three events including all-around honors and placed second in bars and beam. At the senior level, Kiley Bourdeau placed among the top five in four events plus fourth in all-around. The two athletes duplicated their strong performances in dual meet victories over U-32 and Middlebury. Team Captain Bethany Karstens and juniors Sidney Hilker, Stephanie Lokenberg, Coryn Benoit, and Kristin Darby joined them.
Nordic skiers stride and glide.
The Redhawk women Nordic skiers are led by a strong contingent from Charlotte. Late in December at Bolton Valley, the girls topped 4 other schools, placing 7 among the top 10 individuals. Molly Hebert, Annie Jackson, Kylie DeGroot, Sierra Frisbie, and Laura Jackson finished 1 through 5, while Abby Stoner and Johanna Fehrs placed seventh and ninth. Their male counterparts came in second overall led by John Dixon and Charlotte’s Jake Marston. Both men and women took third at U-32’s course in early January. With her eighth place finish, Hebert again led CVU women, and Dixon topped all men with Sam Hughes placing tenth.
The holidays call for sharp blades and quick sticks.
Hockey did not take much of a break for the holidays. The men managed five games from pre-Christmas until the beginning of January. Although they started a couple of days earlier, the women, as well, played a handful. The men required a hat trick in the third period to gain the CSB Cup from South Burlington 4-3. Then two days before Christmas they met their first defeat by a Vermont team as Essex squeaked to a 1-0 win via a goal in the last minute of the game. Determined not to let it happen twice in a row, the Redhawks retaliated against Rutland, overwhelming the visitors 8-1. After traveling north to face BFA, seldom an easy trip – weather-wise or hockey-wise, CVU came away with a 3-3 tie on the back of two goals by Charlotte’s Brady DeHayes. The Redhawks opened the New Year by pasting Rice 6-0 behind strong goal tending from Mark Albertson and Chris McGinnis.
Beginning with a hard fought one-goal win over Burlington in mid December, the women then went 3, 1, and 1. Short of her most recent win over Rice, goalkeeper Nicole Bonneau was consistently called upon to make over 25 saves per outing. The women tied St. Albans 3-3, just like the men. Amanda Armell scored two goals, and Bonneau turned aside 31 shots. Several days earlier she had stopped 36 shots in a 5-4 victory against Burlington. Molly Howard scored twice, while the other goals were dispersed among Sasha Gunther, Maggie Ryan, and Alyx Rivard. Ryan, Gunther, and Howard again turned on the red light to defeat Stowe 3-0 before losing to Missisquoi by an identical score. The Redhawks opened January with a shutout of Rice in a game that saw six separate goal scorers for CVU.
Basketball hoops it up.
Charlotte products Jack Jessett and Jordan Duke are two of the chief playmakers for the CVU men’s basketball team this year. They demonstrated their talents, combined with a tight defense, in a 55-42 defeat of South Burlington in mid December. Two nights later, however, the Redhawks were unable to overcome a 16-point halftime deficit against Burlington and lost 71-42. Things turned back to normal in St. Johnsbury, as John Donnelly and Ryan Poirier led the team to a 61-47 win over the Academy. Despite Donnelly’s 26-point effort and Jessett’s 10 points, CVU again lost to a second-half spurt by BFA St. Albans, 71-62. The Redhawks closed the year with a close run at a strong Rice team, losing by only three, 50-47. Donnelly’s 13 points followed by Jessett’s 12 led the CVU attack.
The women hoopsters kicked off the holidays with a big win and ended them with a big loss. Keeping an unblemished record through mid December by topping Mount Abraham, the team hosted Rice Memorial in the Hinesburg gym. Rice’s Charlotte product, Brittany Pfaff, put in the game-winning basket with less than 10 seconds left to lift the Green Knights to a 35-33 victory. Perhaps disheartened by the narrow loss to one of the better teams in the area, the Redhawks fell to South Burlington 5 days later, 65-40. With Alison Gannon finding the basket for 21 points, CVU rallied to top Vergennes 53-28 as the month ended. However, Gannon’s 11 points against BFA St. Albans at the beginning of January were not nearly enough to claim victory, as BFA trounced the Redhawks 62-27.