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Season Preview: Boys’ lacrosse ready to rebound

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Photo by: Brian McLoughlin

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ lacrosse team is ready to put a tough 2017 behind it.

Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ lacrosse head coach Rob White strongly believes last season was an outlier.

Due to a whole host of different reasons the Panthers were down key pieces throughout the course of the campaign, resulting in a 5-14 record. It was the first time they had missed the tournament since White took the position in 2014.

“We lost Jake Long, one of our top players, like the fourth game in for the season – that really handicapped us,” White said. “We had a number of boys, for reasons beyond our control, were not available during games. It was a tough year last year.”

But, last season is a thing of the past. As for this spring, W-H returns a strong core of starters across the field, led by its senior captain and midfielder Kyle Nehiley, who has started since he was a freshman. Nehiley, as a captain, helped engineer the boys’ soccer team’s turnaround in the fall as well.

“I’ve spoken to him numerous times that we hope he saved some of that magic to spread here,” White said. “He’s a great kid, I’ve known Kyle and have coached Kyle since he was like 8 and I’ve seen him grow up and he’s a tribute to his parents. As good of a lacrosse player [he is], he’s an even nicer kid.”

Juniors Ryan Downing (midfielder), Mason Gorman (attack) and Sean Joanis (attack) have also been peened into the starting lineup since they joined the team.

Long’s return will also provide the Panthers with an immense boost at midfielder.

“You’re getting a league all-star back,” White said of Long. “And he was on his way to a bang up season last year when he had [about] 20 goals and he was on fire and he blew out his knee and he was done for the year. Having him back is tremendous.”

Junior defensemen Ryan Trongone and Jacob Nixon and sophomore defenseman Declan Meehan will also be relied upon heavily in front of what will be a platoon in net to replace outgoing goalie Quinn Sweeney.

“We’ve got an open competition this year between freshman Nathan Morse and junior Mario Troiani,” White explained. “We’re gonna go with the hot hand this year.”

White added that Morse has been a pleasant surprise thus far.

“[It was his] first time picking up the stick and for anybody that’s ever played lacrosse knows goaltending requires an extra gear and Nathan’s shown a fearlessness and a confidence that you need to play goalie in boys’ lacrosse,” White explained. “That ball’s coming at you 90 miles an hour and you’ve got very little protection.”

As for goals – White is cautious to set them.

“We have a one game season,” White said. “Every game is different; every game is important. We don’t even look to the tournament.”

The Panthers, who opened the season with a 17-2 loss to defensing Division 1 state champion Hingham yesterday, will resume play Tuesday, April 10 at 4 p.m. at home against Scituate.

“We always talk about you wanna play like a man does,” White said. “You might not come out on the winning end, but you want to be able to look them in the eyes at the end of the game and he knows he played a worthy opponent regardless of the score.”

Season Preview: Boys’, Girls’ outdoor track teams sprinting into spring

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Photo by: Brian McLoughlin

Both Whitman-Hanson Regional High track teams will rely on their legs this spring.

There is no secret as to what will power the Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ and girls’ outdoor track teams this season. It’s their running.

BOYS’ TEAM

Seniors Jack Ryan (grey) and Alex Uva (black). Photo by: Brian McLoughlin

As Stephen Schilicting enters his first season at the helm of the boys’ outdoor track team, he’s excited by what he’s seen.

“We have some very talented boys,” Schilicting, who takes over the team that finished 2-4 under Mike Driscoll last spring, said. “Our running program, I think, is going to do very, very well. Our distance runners are excellent. Jack Ryan, Andrew Newman – they’re really, really great runners.”

Newman and Ryan, who are both seniors, are about as good as it gets. Newman has taken his game to a whole new level this season, racing to first-place finishes in his first five meets during the fall in cross country while garnering Patriot League All-Star recognition. He was also a league all-star in the winter as well. As a junior, Ryan was a three-season Patriot League All-Star in cross country, indoor track and winter track.

Ryan captains the team alongside classmate Alex Uva and junior Billy Martell.

“I’m very comfortable with them,” Schilicting, who served as an assistant coach at W-H during the cross country and indoor track season, said. “I’ve seen Jack up close and Alex up close and I had Billy in winter track working with him in the sprints so I’m sure he’s going to do a great job.”

Martell is going to play a key role in what Schilicting coined the strength of the team – distance running.

“Billy Martell is a very good sprinter, he’ll be doing the 100 [and] the 200,” Schilicting explained. “(Senior) Scott Mateus will be running in the 100 and the 4×1. They’re kind of my experienced veterans coming back.”

Schilicting has some pretty good hurdlers as well, led by a pair of juniors.

“I’ve got Dan Kline, who qualified in high hurdles last year, he’s coming back,” Schilicting explained. “He’s going to be doing high and low hurdles and Shane Schraut, who did cross country for the first time this year and he did indoor track, and he’s getting better and better in the hurdles.”

The Panthers, who opened the season with a 125-10 victory over North Quincy yesterday, will be back in action Tuesday, April 10 at 3:35 p.m. on the road against Hingham.

“I’m really excited,” Schlicting said. “There’s over 50 boys on this team. We’re up as far as numbers are concerned [from the winter season].”

GIRLS’ TEAM

As for the girls’ outdoor track team, its seen a participation increase as well – up from 34 athletes last season to 42 this spring. Fifteen freshmen and 15 sophomores will account for roughly 70 percent of its roster.

“We’re still trying to find our way right now,” fourth-year W-H head coach Steve George said. “… we’ve got a lot of kids who are inexperienced.”

Freshman Isabelle Amado. / Photo by: Brian McLoughlin

Freshman Gabrielle Coste is one of those newcomers.

“She has high jumped 5 feet as a middle school student so I’m looking forward to seeing what she can do at this level,” George, whose team finished 2-4 last season, said.

While Coste may headline the first-year participants, senior captains Nicole Norve and Lilly Perkins lead the returnees. Norve, an Adams State University commit, has been a league all-star three times in cross country, twice in indoor track and once for outdoor track. Perkins will anchor the 400-meter dash and long jump – two events she excels in.

“They’re multi-sport captains and they’ve had some experience at it and performed well in the past as captains and they continue to do that, despite the fact that they have less than 60 days of school left,” George said.

Juniors Ally Bartlett and Dorothy DiMascio-Donohue, sophomores Anika Floeck and Samantha Perkins, and freshman Isabelle Amado will also give the Panthers a boost this season.

“I think we’re strong in the distance events,” George said. “We have three to five girls who are very talented in multiple events so we will be good in the jumps.”

The Panthers, who opened the season yesterday with a 76-58 loss to North Quincy, will be back in action Tuesday, April 10 at 3:45 p.m. on the road against Hingham.

“A winning record [is our goal],” George said. “We have five dual meets scheduled and three of the teams are some of the top teams in the state in Hingham, Duxbury and Plymouth North High School, so they’re very difficult opponents but we hope to maybe steal one of those meets.”

Season Preview: Hayes looks for stability on the court: A new boys’ tennis coach takes the helm

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New boys’ tennis coach Alyssa Hayes poses with her team after a recent practice. / Photo by: Brian McLoughlin

Alyssa Hayes is the fourth Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ tennis head coach in as many seasons. That’s a trend she hopes to end.

New Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ tennis head coach Alyssa Hayes is looking to establish stability to the program.

Hayes, a 2012 W-H graduate who played tennis all four years in high school and was a captain her senior season, marks the team’s fourth head coach in as many seasons.

“I really just want to see some consistency and kind of give them the confidence that this year, hopefully they can make tourney and go a little bit further than they have in the past,” Hayes said. “We have some key returning players and some decent new players that I think will start to carry the team as well.

“I think consistency is so important in any sport, in any classroom, so if I can give them that consistency and kind of just make sure that they know practice is important, matches are important, being here is important, that it’ll kind of carry forward into their matches.”

Hayes inherits a veteran core of eight players back in the fold from last season’s team that finished 7-11 under T.J. Ostrander.

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“I came in and with everyone returning, it was nice to see the friendship and the teamwork that they have,” Hayes said. “I think strengthening that is going to be important and just kind of watching them grow together as a team. I know tennis is sometimes considered a singles sport, but if they can put that teamwork there and play together as well then I think they’ll do well.”

Sophomore Brian Fox and senior captain Tyler Rice (2017 Patriot League All-Star) will both compete in No. 1 and 2 singles while senior captain Eric Muha will likely be getting the nod for third singles.

The doubles teams will be seniors Sean Leahy and Jason Bannon at first and then junior Matt Hickey (2017 Patriot League All-Star) and freshman Brendan Nehiley at second.

The Panthers will begin play Thursday, April 5 when they play host to Silver Lake at 3 p.m.

“I want to see some growth,” Hayes said. “It’s nice to see some younger kids come out and see where we’ll be at. We’ve got five seniors so kind of training the younger kids that next year we’re not going to have those seniors anymore so we have to see where they can go and then of course to make the tournament. I know the boys want to work really hard to get into the tournament this year.”

Season Preview: Good position: Girls’ lacrosse sees reason for optimism as season begins

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The Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ lacrosse team gathers around head coach Dave Rowell. / Photo by: Brian McLoughlin

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ lacrosse team is aiming to reach the tournament this season.

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ lacrosse team is down some significant firepower from last spring, but fifth-year head coach Dave Rowell is confident in the group he has this season. 

The Panthers are tasked with replacing their top offensive threats from 2017 – Ali Joanis (67 goals, 21 assists), Mel McAleer (38 goals, 55 assists) and Taylor McVeigh (37 goals, 27 assists) – that helped guide the club to a 10-11 record and its third Division 1 South Sectional tournament appearance (a 17-4 loss to Braintree in the first round) in the past four years. 

“We’re down a lot, but I really believe we have the girls here to fill those gaps,” Rowell said. “Each year (junior) [Samantha] Whitman gets better, I can see her being the new Ali Joanis. (Senior) Ashley Memmolo is doing great on the draw to take over for [Taylor] and then we have (senior) Lauren Bonavita back.”

The return of Bonavita, who was held out of last season due to soccer, is certainty a welcome sight. During her sophomore campaign, she ranked second on the team with 42 goals.

“Having her in the circle fills a huge gap of just speed and athleticism,” Rowell said.

Bonavita, a midfielder, is not the only Panther who can get up and down the field in a flash.

“We worked so hard in conditioning and speed, so if we’re not there stick-wise, because some of the Duxbury’s have such a strong youth program and we don’t have that,” Rowell explained. “(Senior) Camille [Miller] is one of my best defenders and she didn’t pick up a stick until she played the first time so athleticism [is our strength], I believe. I think if we can get on the circle, get fast breaks, just being faster than the other team will get us some goals early on.”

While the Panthers still plan to put the ball in the net plenty of times, they also plan to be stout on defense. Having Miller, along with classmate and fellow defender Camryn Boyce and senior goalie Kasey Molito as captains should put an emphasis on just that.

“It’s awesome because this is the first year that they’re all defense,” Rowell said. “It’s great that it’s the first year that not all the goal scorers are captains. It’s showing how our focus this year is on defense because this sport is so offensive- oriented that it’s made to be 18 to 15.”

Also, at the outset of this season a freshman girls’ lacrosse team was added, and it’s already paying dividends.

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“Normally I take a bloated roster and then I have nine girls looking at me to come into a game,” Rowell explained. “I usually take 25. This year I took 20 and then there’s room for people to move. I think that really helps because now I can get everybody in. [If] someone gets injured, people can move up, people can move down. It gives us a lot more flexibility with our rosters.”

The Panthers will open the season at home Thursday, April 5 at 4 p.m. against Patriot League Keenan Division foe Hingham.

“They’re strong,” Rowell said. “It’s tough to start with them. Obviously, we always try to win, but with them they’re so strong we try to keep the goal gap minimal, so that’s our small goals. The ultimate goal is to win, but to keep it competitive, don’t give them anything easy [and] make their life hell on defense.”

Season Preview: Panther softball team aims to stay competitive

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The Whitman-Hanson Regional High softball team is aiming to reach the .500 mark, but has some major shoes to fill.

Assembling the starting nine for this season’s Whitman-Hanson Regional High softball team will be much like a puzzle for fifth-year head coach Jenna Olem.

The Panthers are down four integral pieces from last spring’s team that went 11-10 and returned to the postseason, where it lost 8-0 to North Attleboro in the first round of the Division 1 South Sectional tournament. The quartet — which featured catcher Kristin Arthur, first baseman Kelly Burke, shortstop Emily Cook and center fielder Sarah Saccardo — were all senior captains and four-year varsity players.

Arthur, a three-year starter, hit .397, scored 19 times and collected 14 RBIs. Burke, a two-year starter, posted a .338/.400/.412 slash line and drove in 13 runs. Cook, a four-year starter, hit .452, knocked in 13 runs and crossed the plate a co-team-leading 24 times. Saccardo, also a four-year starter, scored 24 runs, hit at a .459 clip and produced eight RBIs.

“They kind of jumped in [and] set the tone to try and build this program,” Olem said.

Cook and Saccardo accounted for two of the three W-H Patriot League All-Star selections from last season. The other: current senior captain Colleen Hughes.

“Now we’ve got [Colleen Hughes] that’s trying to carry that on from the 2015 team that beat [Bridgewater-Raynham] (in the first round of the Division 1 South Sectional tournament), so this season is about trying to get Colleen’s season to go full circle, put the best players around her and do the best we can in our league,” Olem said.

Hughes, without a doubt, is going to be relied upon heavily this season, and with good reason. Last spring, she hit a team-high .486, belted a team-high four home runs and drove in a team-high 25 runs, while also serving as the Panthers’ ace, a capacity where she collected eight wins.

TRANSITIONS

Junior Kayla Crawford will be Hughes’ battery mate as she makes the transition from second base to a fulltime catcher.

“She got a lot of action at the end of last season,” Olem said. “She’s very, very solid and confident back there.”

Freshman Abby Cleary is the likely candidate to slot into the No. 2 spot in the rotation behind Hughes, who hurled 106 of the Panthers’ 133.2 frames played last season.

“[Colleen] threw a ton of innings last year and I think she was really fatigued by the end of it,” Olem said. “Hopefully Abby can step up and take some pressure off of [Colleen] so it’s not going to be all on her shoulders every day and we can kind of use her on the field.”

Senior captain Julia Donavan will also return for her third season in left field and classmate Hailey Norris will be back at third base for the third consecutive spring. Olem said the remaining five spots on the diamond (first base, second base, short stop, center field and right field) are up for grabs.

“It’s really how it plays out,” Olem said. “I’ve got a lot of competition. Hopefully we get some people who are going to push some people and get them a little bit better.”

Olem added that as much as she would like her team, which features eight new varsity players, to make the tournament, this season is going to be centered a great deal around development.

“We’re gonna see if we can get it to .500, squeeze out a couple of wins, beat the teams that we should, but it’s so unpredictable because we have so many spots to fill, but as long as we finish the season better than we start, that’s really all I care about,” Olem said.

The Panthers are scheduled to open their slate of games at home Wednesday, April 4 at 4 p.m. against Milton.

“It’s always a big thing to win on opening day and set the tone,” Olem explained. “I’m probably going to have a lot of young kids in my lineup and to not be nervous and just play like how they’ve been showing the last few weeks and hopefully we can go from there — build off of something.”

Season Preview: Baseball coach is aiming big

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The Whitman-Hanson Regional High baseball team is returning some pivotal players from last season’s team that went 16-5 and was bouced in the first round of the tournament.

Whitman-Hanson Regional High baseball head coach Pat Cronin has always had a vision for the future.

Back in the spring of 2016 when Cronin took over the W-H program after spending the past 35 years at the helm of East Bridgewater, this was the season he was building toward.

“I will say this that in the three years that I’ve been here this was the year that I’ve had kind of circled as a year where I was really excited and interested in seeing how much our work paid off,” Cronin, who has recorded 452 wins as a head coach, said.

In the Panthers’ first campaign under Cronin, they advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2007 and won their first-round game 11-0 against Somerset-Berkley before falling to Falmouth, 4-2, in the semifinals. Last season, they finished 15-6, which included a 4-2 loss to Sandwich in the first round. W-H did, however, claim the Patriot League Keenan Division along the way.

“This is a team game more than anything else, so I think implementing a team-attitude that you may want to play short, but you’re a great second baseman or you may want to play center, but you’re a great left fielder,” Cronin said of how changed the culture of the team. “All of the kids bought into that.”

As part of Cronin’s forward vision, he doesn’t just account for the season at hand.

“We plan two of three years ahead when we’re putting our team together,” Cronin said. “I always have planned two or three years ahead.”

While the Panthers may be down Patriot League All-Star at short stop and captain Luke Tamulevich, who helped turn seven doubles plays last season, due to graduation, fellow league all-star junior Mike Cook, who hit .302 and helped spin nine double plays last spring, will slide over from second base to shortstop.

“When he first came up as a freshman, I put him at short when Tamulevich got sick and he played there as a freshman and helped us beat Stoughton,” Cronin explained. “So, I told him later, ‘I need you to go to second base. I’ve got Tamulevich there and I need the big arm to take [Nate] Perkins’ place.’ And then this year, he knew he was stepping in and the beauty of that is we’ll have him for two years now. And he’s perhaps, if not the best, one of my best hitters.”

Senior Ryan Sawtelle, who backed up Bobby Caliri behind the plate last season, will assume the catching duties and will be looked upon to supply some offense.

“He dinged and donged and his stroke has really improved,” Cronin said.

Sawtelle will be tasked with handling a lethal Panthers pitching rotation anchored by their two captains. Senior James Dolan enters the year having posted a 0.35 ERA over 40.33 innings last season while junior Rian Schwede hurled 39 innings to the tune of a 1.44 ERA. Both were Patriot League All-Stars.

“You’ve got your No. 1 and 2 back and they’re both all-league players,” Cronin said. “I think pitching is going to be the strength and then defense, we will work the defense. I hope this, out of the three years, will be our best hitting team of the three years.”

Dolan, who plays first base while not on the mound, also hit a team-high .389 last season en route to being tabbed Patriot League Keenan Division MVP.

Cronin is also high on junior Ethan Phelps (.319 last season) who he will let roam center field and use as a third starter.

“He’s certainly one of our best hitters and he’s back for two more years, too,” Cronin said. “Plus, I’ve held him off because I didn’t need him last year. You should see him on the mound, he’s another pitcher. We worked with him a lot last year, every day to get him ready for this year.”

Senior Caleb Burke is back at third base and senior Jason Green returns as the designated hitter and will see some action on the mound.

The Panthers are scheduled to begin their season at home Tuesday, April 3 at 4 p.m. against Middleboro.

“We won the first game in ’16 and we lost the second game to a good Falmouth team with the kid going to BC,” Cronin explained. “We lost to a good Sandwich team last year with a kid that threw well. We are not ready to hit at that level, that’s what takes time to build in a program and it did the same thing at East Bridgewater. You have to get them in the cages and get them to commit. Defense and pitching, we can work in early on and day in and day out, but to build a good hitter, it’s a different mindset from what they’re used to.

“A good hitter is also somebody who has some varsity reps. You can’t take a kid from the JV and have him step to the varsity and expect him to hit .350, it’s just not going to happen. They need to see those good guys and in this league and there are a lot of good guys. That’s the step and they know it. That’s the step to take this program go to the next level is we need to have them hungry as hitters every free moment they have during the season and during the summer. They need to dedicate themselves to hitting.”

Season Preview: Gymnastics team hits all the marks

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In its first meet of the season on Dec. 19 against Hingham, Marshfield and Pembroke/Silver Lake, W-H was out-numbered by anywhere from eight to nearly 20 girls per team. On the bars and vault, the Panthers only put up five participants out of a possible six, however that didn’t faze them at all, as they ended the night with a meet-high score of 125.1.

Although it may be small in numbers, the Whitman-Hanson Regional High gymnastics team, which is in its second year, has abundant talent in the areas that matter.

In its first meet of the season on Dec. 19 against Hingham, Marshfield and Pembroke/Silver Lake, W-H was out-numbered by anywhere from eight to nearly 20 girls per team. On the bars and vault, the Panthers only put up five participants out of a possible six, however that didn’t faze them at all, as they ended the night with a meet-high score of 125.1.

The performance gave W-H its first three wins of the season, after finishing last winter at 3-11. Second-year head coach Rachel Sferruzza said it’s certainly a balancing act at times deciding who to send out there, but it doesn’t hinder her team as much as one might think, in fact, it works in its favor more times than not.

“It does help play to advantages where everyone feels included,” Sferruzza said. “I can get everyone up on an event, I can switch some people in and out. We do have enough people where we can switch a few in and out this year, which we didn’t have a lot of that flexibility last year, but in a way, I think it helps. No one is fighting for a spot, everyone is gonna have a spot, so in that way it’s great it keeps a nice even keel, but in other ways it can stress things out because you have to be good, you have to get your routine, you feel like you you’re being depended on.”

While the number of participants, which is up slightly from last season, is out of the club’s control, Sferruzza, who was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year for 201617, said she believes one of her team’s biggest strengths is something it does have say over – its attitude.

“What I think helps the growth is that the team is a bunch of really positive, good girls,” Sferruzza said. “It doesn’t have to be girls, it could be guys too, but everyone is really positive and everyone really cheers for each other and they want each other to do well. It’s a very welcoming program and everyone is very approachable.”

Sferruzza said she feels like she’s more than just the head coach of the team.

“I like to think that I’m very approachable and they think of me as a good role model,” she said. “The big sister, someone fun that they can talk to and then they can put any stresses or worries away and bring their positive attitudes into the gym and use that to help them perform their best.”

Sferruzza acknowledged that being the only coach of 14 girls can be a bit of a daunting task, but her two senior captains – Kaileigh Gordon and Kaylee Torpey – make her job a whole lot easier.

“Kaileigh and Kaylee are really great,” Sferruzza said. “They’re both incredible, talented gymnastics [and] they’re both very organized, they’re very bright girls which helps. They’re able to lead the team whether it’s warm-ups, whether its setting up things like fundraising or fun activities like Secret Santa. “But, then when they’re here I can turn to them for anything. If I need them to do administrative work, management, I can do that if I need them to collect the group. So, the girls look at them and they listen to them.”

Along with Gordon and Torpey, Patriot League All-Star on the bars last season – sophomore Sarah Bombardier – will also give W-H a boost this season.

“She does all-around for us and is solid in every meet,” Sferruzza said. “She’s very experienced. She’s able to stay really focused during the meets.”

In the opener, Bombardier notched a 30.35 all-around score, second on the team to senior newcomer Britney Blackstone, who boasted a 34.7. Blackstone, despite being a first-year Panther, is no stranger to gymnastics having competed on a club team.

“She came here with a lot of experience in high-level meets and brought a lot of high-level skills,” Sferruzza said.

W-H will be back in action Friday, Jan. 5 at 6:30 p.m. at Massachusetts Gymnastics Center in Pembroke.

Season Preview: Boys’ indoor track clearing hurdles as it improves

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Head coach Mike Driscoll has several newcomers on his hands this winter.

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ indoor track team looks much improved from last winter.

Why? Well look at the club’s first meet of the season against Hingham. After falling to the Harbormen, 63.5 to 36.5, last December, the Panthers, who finished last season with a 2-3 record, hung tough this time around as they were just edged out, 57-43. Sixth-year head coach Mike Driscoll credits the performances of a few of his seniors — Brian Edwards, Brett Holmes, Andrew Newman and Jack Ryan — as a big reason why they were able to hang around.

“All had outstanding meets,” Driscoll said. “The last couple of years Hingham has really destroyed us, and this year we took them down to the wire. I think we surprised them a little bit. We didn’t win, but we at least proved we’re capable of winning track meets this year.”

On the ground, Ryan, who is one of two Panthers captains, raced to a first-place finish in the 600-meter dash with a time of 1:30.45, and was a member of the 4×400 relay team that also took home first. Newman completed the 2-mile run in 10:35.44, which was nearly 30 seconds better than opponent, for the win.

Edwards, who is also a captain, spearheaded the Panthers’ high jump with a 5-foot-7 leap, which earned him the top spot. Holmes, a senior and first-time indoor track participant, took his talents to the long jump and he shined with a first-place finish courtesy of a 20-foot-10 ½ jump. Both were on the 4×200 relay team as well.

“I would say right now our strength will be our jumps,” Driscoll said. “Brian Edwards is one of the better high jumpers and Brett Holmes came out for indoor season [and] he’s one of the top long jumpers in the state, so those areas will be huge for us.”

Holmes is one of several newcomers Driscoll said he will be relying on to shore up one of club’s weak spots — sprinting.

“We needed to improve in the sprint area,” Driscoll said. “That was a big thing for us last year, we needed to get some more sprinters and depth. We got Brett Homes to come out for winter track for the first time, Billy Martell and Jacob Nixon, three sprinters who we didn’t have last year on the winter team and they’ve been a huge addition to our team.”

The Panthers will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 5 at 4:30 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center against Pembroke.

“We want to have a winning season, we think it’s obtainable, it’s going to be tough, but we want to have a winning season and we want to have success every meet, so we measure it on how we improve,” Driscoll said. “Everybody’s different in track, it has an individual aspect to it, but it’s also a team thing, so the individuals are looking to improve to help the team to get a victory.”

Season Preview: W-H boys diving into WHAM swim program

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The boys will now join the girls as part of the Whitman-Hanson/Middleboro swim team co-op this winter.

Six years back, Whitman-Hanson Regional High partnered with the longstanding Middleboro High girls’ swimming/diving team to form a co-op, and this season they’ve expanded that partnership.

If you’re a boy and attend Whitman-Hanson, you can make a splash in the pool as the school now offers it as a boys’ sport as well.

“I am very excited to have a boys’ team,” W-H head coach Sean Siciliano said. “We are one team – Middleboro and Whitman Hanson. W-H having a boys’ team allows us to increase the numbers for that team and it also gives us depth as a team.”

As a far as meets go, nothing will change. After either the boys or girls square off against their opposition in one event, the next will do the same, and so on until the meet has concluded.

While the sport still gains traction among boys at W-H, two swimmers – junior Nate Manley and freshman Brian Pham – have joined the squad this year from the school. Both come from different backgrounds.

“Manley is a new swimmer, meaning he has never swam competitively, but is very coachable and will be versatile on the team,” Siciliano said. “Then we have Pham, who swims on a club team. At this point he is the fastest kid on the team. He is a great kid great athlete and very receptive to feedback.”

GIRLS’ TEAM

As for the girls’ team, which finished last season at 4-6, Siciliano said he hopes for much of the same success for his swimmers.

Captaining the club from W-H will be senior Phoebe Bonney, who despite nursing a hip injury last season that hindered her in the pool, still had a positive impact.

“She continues to rehab that and we are hoping that we can get her back to full health in the near future,” Siciliano said. “Outside of the pool she is and amazing leader. She is always helping new swimmers, helping us coaches and looking out for what is best for the team.”

Sophomore Madison Navicky, who concluded the year with a co-team-high four medals, was a key contributor in a series of events, including the 200-yard medley relay, 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Siciliano said her versatility is a huge asset to the team.

“She can swim pretty much anything and she is just fun to have a practice,” he said. “She is an amazing swimmer and an amazing leader and she is so coachable I think that she will be one of the biggest contributors for the girls team this season.”

Anchoring the 1-meter dive will be Sabrina O’Connor, who concluded her campaign last season by scoring 180 points at the South Shore Championships.

“She has started the season out well and should thrive this year as she increases her variety of dives and increases her DD,” Siciliano said.

Others from W-H penned on the roster include freshmen Mariella Crowley, Leah Hutchings and Erin Tilley and sophomore Niki Kamperides.

WHAM will be back in competition on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 4:15 p.m. at Burkland Pool in Middleboro against Randolph.

“I would love to send at least on relay from both the boys’ and the girls’ [team] to states,” Siciliano said. “Last year the boys didn’t make it but the girls did and I think this year they could both make it if we train hard all season.”

One dead in Halifax head-on collision

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A head-on motor vehicle accident on Route 58 in Halifax Tuesday night left Richard March, 78, of South Meadow Rd, Carver, driver of a 2005 Honda CRV, trapped in his vehicle with serious injuries sustained at approximately 8:46 p.m.  He was transported by med-flight to a hospital in Boston where he died several hours later.

Alec Dowie, 51, of Washington St., Whitman, the operator of the 2018 Dodge Challenger, was transported to South Shore Hospital where he is listed in stable condition.

A landing zone was cleared at Walmart for March, who had been trapped in the Honda CRV. He was airlifted to Boston Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries, according to State Police Media Spokesperson David Procopio.

Halifax Police Chief Theodore Broderick was on scene with investigators for several hours Tuesday night as the State Police Reconstruction and Analysis Team began their investigation in cooperation with Halifax Police.   Firefighters and EMS were seen debriefing in a circle with Fire Chief Jason Viveiros, the wreckage just a few feet away.

Remnants of the two mangled vehicles and debris were scattered down Route 58, Monponsett Street, at Palmer Mill Road.  Parts of vehicles and orange spray paint marked lines in the road and were still visible as police returned to the scene Wednesday morning, according to Chief Broderick.

A preliminary investigation by State police suggests at approximately 8:46 p.m. a 2018 Dodge Challenger heading north on Monponsett Street and a 2005  Honda  CRV heading south on Monponsett collided head-on, said Procopio.

Their initial investigations indicate that the driver of the Dodge Challenger did not negotiate the curve at the intersection of Palmer Mill Road and lost control of his vehicle between the southbound and northbound lanes. The investigation is still active and ongoing, said Procopio.

Sgt. Theodore Benner of Halifax Police and the S Procopio told The Express that investigations can take several weeks to determine the cause of the crash.

First responders from Halifax, Plympton, Hanson and the State Police assisted at the scene, and at the landing zone at Walmart following the crash.