Harwood teams well-positioned for the playoffs

Several Harwood Union teams were set to open their playoff runs after press time this week.

On Tuesday, March 3, the No. 1 Harwood boys hockey team hosted Missisquoi in the Division 2 quarterfinals.

On Wednesday, March 4, the fourth-ranked Harwood-Northfield girls hockey team hosted Middlebury in the Division 1 quarterfinals.

That same night, the No. 3 Harwood girls hoop team kicked off its postseason by hosting Missisquoi in the D-2 opening round.

Boys hockey

Harwood hosts Missisquoiin D-2 quarterfinals

March 3

No details available before press time.

Harwood 3, Missisquoi 0

Feb. 26

Harwood snapped its only losing streak of the year with a home win over Missisquoi to wrap up the regular season 17-3.

Finn O’Hara scored twice in the third period and assisted on Gavin Thomsen’s first-period score. Skylar Platt assisted on all three Highlander goals and Tanner Woodard and Jacob Green had single assists.

Connor Dalley made 31 saves for Harwood to preserve the shutout; Missisquoi’s PJ Bouchard made 29 saves.

The win locked up the No. 1 seed in Division 2 for Harwood and earned the team a first-round bye. The Highlanders were scheduled to open the D-2 postseason with a home game against Missisquoi in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, after press time.

Missisquoi finished the regular season 10-9-1 to earn the No. 8 seed in D-2; the team beat No. 9 St. Johnsbury in the opening playoff round.

Wrestling

O’Hara third at state championships

Feb. 29

Harwood’s Sully O’Hara wrapped up his season with another strong showing, finishing third at the 51st Vermont high school wrestling state championships.

Wrestling in the 170-pound division, O’Hara had the highest finish of any of the eight Highlanders competing at Mount Anthony Union High School. Seth Carney of Essex won the 170-pound division, Wilder Hudson of St. Johnsbury was second, Sebastian Pellitier of Mount Anthony fourth, Seb Jacobs of Colchester fifth and Gabe Kadric of Vergennes sixth.

O’Hara’s finish qualified him for the New England championships this weekend in Methuen, Mass.

Also competing for Harwood at states were Colby Severance at 106 pounds, Ben White at 126 pounds, Kamryn Thamm at 132 pounds, Cameron Merchant at 145, Grant McCracken at 152, Sergei Beric at 160 and Calvin Morton at 182.

“Each athlete wrestled hard and it was great to see the improvement throughout the season for each one of them,” Highlanders coach Casey Moulton said.

Host Mount Anthony won its 32nd straight Vermont wrestling team title with 278 points, fending off second-place Essex (254 points). Spaulding was third with 201 points, St. Johnsbury fourth with 152.5 and Vergennes fifth with 116. Harwood finished 13th out of 21 squads with 30 points, two points behind Randolph (12th) and three points behind Springfield (11th).

Alpine skiing

Harwood at states

March 2 and 3

No details available before press time.

Kogut nabs two top-fives at districts

Feb. 24 and 25

Harwood’s Gretchen Kogut skied to a pair of top-five finishes at the Northern Vermont Athletic Conference championships at Burke.

Kogut was fifth with a time of 1:42.69 on day one of competition, which featured a two-run giant slalom race. On day two, a two-run slalom event, she finished fourth overall with a time of 1:37.54.

Here’s a look at how all Harwood skiers did over the two days of competition, along with the top five in each event. Skiers are listed by place, name, school and time.

Girls

Feb. 24 giant slalom

1. Olivia Zubarik, Champlain Valley, 1:37.97

2. Deena Jacunski, Rice, 1:39.16

3. Viva Goetze, Mount Mansfield, 1:39.24

4. Margaret Anderson, St. Johnsbury, 1:42.08

5. Gretchen Kogut, Harwood, 1:42.69

18. Aliza Jernigan, Harwood, 1:51.95

19. Ruby Murphy, Harwood, 1:52.38

32. Laili Iskandarova, Harwood, 1:56.34

41. Katie Rush, Harwood, 2:00.09

Feb. 25 slalom

1. Deena Jacunski, Rice, 1:28.64

2. Cara Gagliardi, Mount Mansfield, 1:31.85

3. Blythe Fitch O’Lea, Rice, 1:32.19

4. Gretchen Kogut, Harwood, 1:37.54

5. Margaret Anderson, St. Johnsbury, 1:37.62

16. Aliza Jernigan, Harwood, 1:43.87

20. Laili Iskandarova, Harwood, 1:46.80

27. Katie Rush, Harwood, 1:51.41

30. Kate Haraldsen, Harwood, 1:53.01

Boys

Feb. 24 giant slalom

1. Thomas Zschau, St. Johnsbury, 1:38.32

2. Rex Jewell, South Burlington, 1:39.07

3. Sean Gilliam, Champlain Valley, 1:39.08

4. Will Camp, South Burlington, 1:40.90

5. Michael Mansfield-Allesio, Colchester, 1:41.54

31. Eric Dessureau, Harwood, 1:57.20

33. Lucas Wilcox, Harwood, 1:58.20

37. Michael Aiken, Harwood, 2:02.13

Feb. 25 slalom

1. Thomas Zschau, St. Johnsbury, 1:24.77

2. Julien Slesar, independent, 1:26.92

3. Camden Chiari, South Burlington, 1:27.64

4. Will Camp, South Burlington, 1:27.69

5. Rai Bleda-Vilalta, Stowe, 1:27.73

33. Lucas Wilcox, Harwood, 1:53.96

44. Michael Aiken, Harwood, 2:08.40

Girls basketball

Harwood 61, Randolph 12

Feb. 29

Harwood ended the regular season with a rout of visiting Randolph.

Tanum Nelson led Harwood with 16 points, Emily Semprebon had 11 and Emma Ravelin had eight. The Highlanders came storming out of the gate to build a 35-7 lead by halftime.

“We started working on some things for playoffs after that,” Harwood coach Tommy Young said.

The win improved Harwood’s record to 17-3, earning the Highlanders the No. 3 seed in the Division 2 playoffs.

The Highlanders are scheduled to host No. 14 Missisquoi in the opening round of the D-2 playoffs on Wednesday, after press time.

Harwood 45, Lyndon 33

Feb. 27

Tanum Nelson and Mia Cooper nearly outscored Lyndon themselves as the Highlanders avenged a loss earlier this season.

The two squads split their season series, with each winning on the other’s home floor. Harwood led 26-23 at halftime and then held Lyndon to five points in the third quarter, taking a 37-28 lead heading into the final frame.

Nelson had 16 points for the Highlanders, Cooper had 14 and Ella Gannon had six.

Lindsay Joyal led Lyndon with nine points. Emma Renaudette had eight points and Teagan Wheeler and Kadienne Whitcomb each had seven.

Lyndon finished the regular season 7-13 to earn the No. 12 seed in Division 2.