Get In The Game! A View On Local Sports By Joe Milliken

BELLOWS FALLS - The fall season state tournaments are in full-swing, as our local
high school teams look to grab the brass ring - a state championship to bring back to their respective schools, and the first local team to achieve this is the Bellows falls Union High School cross country team, which traveled to Thetford Academy on Saturday and brought home the Division III state championship by barely out-running a tough BFA-Fairfax team.

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Photos by Joe Milliken 1. Sophomore Kya Coursen and the Lady Terrier field hockey team is looking to advance to the "final four" of the Division III, Vt. state tournament this week. 2. After a first round, Division II tournament win, senior Morgan Johnson and the Springfield field hockey team recently fell to top-seeded Woodstock.

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The Terrier runners finished with a total of 44 points, followed by the other top-five finishers BFA (58 points), home team Thetford Academy (59 points), Rice (59 points) and Stowe (60 points. Leading the way for Bellows Falls was John Punger, who finished second overall with a time of 18:49, with only Thetford's Zach Chatot, running on his home course, coming in with a better time at 18:04.

Of course, to win a team title you need everyone pitching in, and Punger's teammates - Jamie Moore, Tim Jones, Willie Moore and Collin Johnson all gave solid performances on the 5-kilometer course. In fact, not only were the Moore's(who are brothers) fighting illness, but it turns out that Jamie Moore ran the race on a broken foot, which was confirmed by x-rays the following day.

"Going into the race, we knew we had a good chance of winning, but also knew it wasn't going to be easy with Jamie and Willie not at 100 percent," sophomore runner Tim Jones said in a recent interview. "Jon(Punger)and I did what we were supposed to do, but I think the key to the win was our captain, Collin(Johnson), really stepping up and getting the low score we needed, which is what a good captain does.

"It was amazing that Jamie was able to finish the race with a broken foot, and we are all very happy that we were able to win for our coach, Mr. Eno. We can't wait to get those jackets!"
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Staying in Bellows Falls, the upstart No. 5 seeded Bellows Falls field hockey team is in the semifinal round of the Division III field hockey state tournament, after recently knocking off No. 4 ranked Fair Haven, 1-0 in overtime.

It is the Lady Terriers first trip to the semi finals since 2007, but they will have to knock off top ranked Missisquoi in order to get to their first title game since 2006. Missisquoi comes into the match at 12-1-2, so the Terriers will need to0 play the perfect game in order to get to the title game.

However, no one expected to Terriers to get this far and as the old saying goes… anyone can beat anyone, on any given day. One thing I can say, is that Missisquoi better come ready to play because I know that any Bethany Coursen coached team is going to come ready to play.
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In Claremont, the Stevens High school field hockey team is getting ready to play in the Division III state championship game, with a chance to win the schools' first state title in any sport since 1989. However, the No. 5 Lady Cardinals will have to get past No. 2 Derryfield to reach their goal.

To get to the title game, Stevens beat No. 1 seeded Newfound in dramatic fashion, with a tough, 2-1 overtime win, after Derryfield had tied the score with less than two minutes left in regulation. It was one of those victories that you feel will help you in the long run, and the Lady Cardinals are hoping that the momentum will carry over into the title game played at Bedford High School.
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In Springfield, the No. 8 seeded Springfield High School field hockey team traveled to Kimball Union Academy to play No. 1 seeded Woodstock in the Division II quarterfinals, with the Lady Wasps getting a shut-out win,3-0.

Despite the Lady Cosmo keeper Erin Chlebak had a good game in the net with 12 saves, but the Springfield offense could not generate enough offense to get on thew scoreboard, finishing the game with just four shots on goal. It was also the third time Woodstock had beaten Springfield this season.

The Lady Cosmos finish the season at 5-10-1, however, several sophomores and freshman got a lot of playing time this season, which will help this young team tremendously moving forward. Don't be surprised if the Lady Cosmos are once again, knocking on the door very soon.
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Staying in Springfield, the No. 6 ranked Cosmos boys' soccer team nearly pulled off the upset in their Division II quarterfinal match up against No. 3 Montpelier, dropping a tough, 1-0 loss to the Solons. The only goal was scored with 17 minutes left in the match.

The Cosmos has several good opportunities to get on the scoreboard in the first half, but couldn't finish off a goal, before the Solons were able to finally get one past Springfield keeper Tim Hildreth late in the game. Springfield finishes the season at 7-7-1, after playing a tough Division II schedule that saw them play several Division I schools.
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In Ludlow, the No. 4 seeded Black River High School girls' soccer team struck early and often in their recent home, quarter final win over No. 5 seeded Chelsea. The Lady Presidents scored four goals in the opening 10 minutes of the match, then cruised to am easy 8-1 win.

Abigail Schmidt and Morgan Kathan each scored two goals in the first half, before Kathan notched two more in the second half. Alyssa Collins and Blakey Gilmore also pitched in with a goal each. At press time, Black River was getting ready to face No. 1 seeded Proctor in the Division IV semifinals.
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In Windsor, the No. 6 seeded Yellow Jackets boys' soccer squad recently knocked off No. 14 seeded Winooski, 3-1 in the quarterfinal round of the Division III tournament. Shawn McNew led the way for Windsor with two, second half goals to propel the Jacks to the win. Connor Collins also notched a goal in the win.

Goal keeper Levi Brown made seven saves in the net, and also assisted on one of the goals with a long punt from his own net in the first half. The win put Windsor at 10-5 on the season, as they get ready to face No.7 seeded Northfield with a chance of going to the championship game with a win. If they get there, they will be facing either No. 5 Enosburg or No. 8 Peoples Academy.

Good luck to all our local team s and make sure to check out next week's column for more high school tournament results and interviews.