Weekly Athletic Schedule (2/27 to 3/4).pdf
2/25/23
Good Afternoon,
I hope this finds you all enjoying the last weekend of your February break!
All of our winter sports teams have worked hard this year. Over the last few weeks most of our teams have concluded their campaigns with some tremendous team and individual performances.
Here is a recap of all of programs, where they finished, and for the boys’ ice hockey program, where we are headed in the coming weeks.
Alpine Ski—The Alpine Ski teams spent the first weekend of break at the MPA Class B State Championship Ski Race. The boys’ team race was highlighted by a great individual effort by Josh Martin (27th in the state in the Giant Slalom). The girls’ team finished in 4th place, overall, in the state! Ruby Dwyer finished in the top 20 in the state in both the Giant Slalom and the Slalom categories and qualified for the State Shootout Races. Ella Brochu also had a great state meet and qualified for the State Shootout in the Giant Slalom. While she was unable to participate due to injury, Ruby did compete at the Shootout and finished in the middle of the pack after competing with the top 50 female skiers in the state! Congratulations!
Basketball—Boys’: While the JV and JV 1 boys’ basketball teams also had success this year, the boys’ varsity team qualified for the post-season tournament and lost a close, very will played, prelim tournament game at Caribou. Jack Mason was chosen as our representative to the Big East All-Academic Team, Mark Gaetani was chosen as the Paul Soucy Spirit award winner for John Bapst, and Jon Pangburn was our representative for the Defensive Players of the Year in the league. Mattia Eberle, Mark Gaetani, Jack Mason, and Jon Pangburn earned PVC All-Academic honors. The boys’ team also won the Big East Sportsmanship award for the entire conference. This weekend, Jon Pangburn was selected to the Big East Senior All-Start Game on Sunday, March 5 at Hermon High School. Congratulations!
Basketball—Girls’: The girls finished one place out of the tournament. They improved their record from 2-16 a year ago, to 8-10 this year. The JV team had a very successful year as well. Claire Gaetani was a 2nd-Team All-Conference (Big East) selection, and Lilly Higgins was a 3rd-Team All-Conference (Big East) choice. Jane Wu was the John Bapst representative on the Big East All-Academic Team. Sophia Ward earned the Paul Soucy Award for John Bapst from the Big East, and Claire Gaetani earned the Defensive player of the year for the Crusaders. Kaylee Horr and Jane Wu earned PVC All-Academic honors. Just this weekend, Lilly Higgins and Kaylee Horr were selected to the Big East All-Star game on Sunday, March 5, at Hermon High School! Congratulations!
Cheering: The cheer team had a tremendous competition season. They worked all winter for some very successful results in their four-competition run this winter. They started that run finishing in 2nd place at the Big East Conference competition. The following week, at the Penobscot Valley Competition they finished first and were the 2023 Class B PVC Champions. They went on from there to finish 3rd in the Northern Maine Class B Regionals and they were 6th in the MPA Class B State Championships. Sophie Marquis, Ava O’Kresik, and Emma Wickett earned PVC All-Academic honors. Congratulations!
Ice Hockey—Girls’ (Penobscot Pioneers): We had one girls’ hockey player, (Erin Pierce) playing with the Pioneers in their inaugural season in the sport. The girls finished #2 in their region, with a 14-3-1 record and made it all the way to the Northern Maine Championship! Our very own hall of famer, John Bapst Grad, and Board Member, Kim Meagher ’04 was an assistant coach. Congratulations!
Indoor Track: At the PVC Championships, we had some great individual performances. Kyle Sidaway placed first in the pole vault, at 13’1”, breaking his personal and team record. Hunter Clukey and Gilman Taylor finished 2nd and 3rd in the 800 respectively. The boys 4X200 team placed 4th, the girls 4X200 was 5th, Paige Inforati was 3rd in the high jump, Matt Fitzpatrick was 6th in the shot put, and Jed Hartley was 6th in the mile. Our very own, former track athlete, current PE teacher, and head coach, Angel Nelligan was named COACH OF THE YEAR!!! At the state meet, Kyle Sidaway finished in 2nd place in the pole vault, the boys’ 4x800m relay team placed 3rd, Hunter Clukey finished 6th in the 800m, and Paige Inforati was 7th in the High Jump. Paige Inforati, Tessa Hartley, Sherry Foster, Hunter Clukey, Kyle Sidaway, and Mason Perkins all earned PVC-All Academic honors. Congratulations!
Swim/Dive: During the season, Gabby Rentosa broke the school record for the 100 Freestyle. At the PVC Championships, the Girls’ finished third and the Boys’ were fourth. In the girls’ meet, the 200 IM relay team was 3rd (G. Slaybaugh, K. Griffin, M. Bowden, E. Adams), Gabby Rentosa was 2nd in the 50 Free (New Record), Marin Griffin was 5th in the 500 Free and the 200 Free Relay team (G. Rentosa, K. Griffin, G. Slaybaugh, R. Wheelden) finished in 3rd place. Gabby Rentosa took 1st in the 100 Backstroke and set another school record, while Kate Griffin finished in 5th place. The 400 Free Relay team (M. Griffiin, E. Adams, G. Rentosa, M. Bowden) finished 4th place. On the boys’ side of the ledger, at PVC’s, the 200 IM Relay (M. Skacel, E. Roach, F. Oldenburg, W. Grover) took 3rd place and the 200m Freestyle relay team (W. Grover, M. Skacel, F. Oldenburg, E. Roach) finished 4th. Ethan Roach was 1st in the 200 Free and the 500 free, while Martin Skacel took 1st in the 50 Free, the 100m Backstroke, and the 100 Backstroke. Martin was also selected as the “Swimmer of the Meet,” for the PVC Boys. At the state meet we continued to have success as 11 athletes qualified for the competition. The girls’ were 10th in the state while the boys’ finished in 8th place. That meet was highlighted by Gabby Rentosa’s 4th place finish in the 100 Breaststroke, and the 200 Medley Relay (G.Rentosa, K. Griffin, M. Bowden, E. Adams) and 200 Freestyle Relay (G. Rentosa (school record split), S. Gualtieri, R. Wheelden, E. Adams) teams both finished in 9th place. The boys’ meet was highlighted by Martin Skacel’s 4th place (and school-record breaking) finish in the 50m Free, and 5th place finish in the 100 Backstroke, along with Ethan Roach’s 4th place finish in the 500 Freestyle. The Boys’ 200 Free Relay (W. Grover, F. Oldenburg, E. Roach, M. Skacel) took 7th and the 200 Medley Team (M. Skacel, E. Roach, F. Oldenburg, W. Grover) took 8th place. Martin Skacel, Emily Adams, and Bella Fung will have earned PVC All-Academic honors. Congratulations!
Ice Hockey—Boys’: The hockey team is the last team in action this winter as we await finalized Heal Points. They are currently the number one seed in Northern Maine Class B, at 15-3! Lucas Gagnon, Zane Baker, Dylan Sawyer, Keller Whitney, and Hunter Higgins earned PVC All-Academic honors. They will have a bye in the quarterfinals this week and host a semifinal game at Sawyer Arena on Friday, March 3 (7:30 p.m.). Come on out and support the team throughout their tournament run! Good Luck!
End of season banquet schedules and information is starting to be circulated by the coaches in each sport. Please stay tuned for those details as they continue to develop.
Congratulations on a great winter sports season. We appreciate your hard work and dedication and we are so happy for your success! Be sure to thank those around you that helped you through the season because none of us does this alone! We are so proud of all of you!
GO CRUSADERS!
Coach O
Dan O’Connell–Athletic Director (doconnell@johnbapst.org)
