NORTHAMPTON — Two weeks removed from their dramatic victory at the Amherst Invitational, the Amherst Regional girls varsity ultimate team added another accomplishment to their terrific spring season on Sunday.

Playing in the Pioneer Valley Invitational at the Oxbow Marina in Northampton, the ‘Canes met Four Rivers in the championship match – just as they did in the Amherst Invitational final. And in similar fashion, the match came down to the wire. With the scored tied at 10 by the time the time limit was reached, it came down to next point wins.

Amherst had the disc and wasted no time marching down the field for the win. The Hurricanes scored the game-winner on a smooth pass from Aria Haupt to Felix Goeckel, closing out the tournament in style. Over the weekend, Amherst played six games and won all of them by a combined score of 60-31 – bringing its record to an impressive 20-3-1 in 2025.

The win over Four Rivers marked the first time in the 10-year history of the PVI that Amherst emerged victorious. Amherst defeated Arlington, Lexington, Toronto, Haverford and Montreal prior to the title game against Four Rivers.

“[We] were sharp all weekend long,” head coach Dan Kaplan said.

Next up for Amherst is senior night, which will be celebrated before a match against Northampton on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Amherst Regional High School. That will serve as a tune-up before the ‘Canes compete in the Division 1 state championship back at Oxbow this weekend.

Reilly Fowles wins individual sectional title

It’s been a long time coming for Reilly Fowles, as the Northampton boys tennis senior had been knocking on the door of an individual Western Massachusetts title throughout his high school career. And over the weekend, he finally hoisted that coveted first-place plaque after defeating Longmeadow’s Will Wartman, 6-2, 6-2, in the finals.

Fowles didn’t lose a single regular-season match this spring (a perfect 18-0) and beat his opponents by a whopping 216-24 in total games, setting him up to be the favorite entering Saturday’s individual championships. A year ago, Fowles fought hard but fell to Lancers senior Kevin Liang. This year, he got his revenge against a different Longmeadow competitor.

He used last season’s defeat not just as fuel to the fire, but also as a learning experience. Fowles said he learned that in order to win in high-leverage matches like the one on Saturday, the match is just as much about tailoring play style to the opponent as it is executing your own shots. Basically, he made sure not to play into Wartman’s strengths, and it worked in his favor as he picked up the straight-set victory.

Fowles and Northampton are looking to make noise in the Western Mass. Class A tournament and will likely enter as the No. 1 overall seed.

Elsewhere on Saturday, the Blue Devils’ first doubles tandem of Oliver Levine and Reed O’Connor competed in the doubles championship. Levine and O’Connor fell to Longmeadow’s Richard Li and James Wray, 7-5, 6-3. The first set was tied at five before the Lancers squeaked out the next two games.

With Longmeadow being No. 2 in Class A, there is a strong chance the Lancers and Blue Devils will see each other in the sectional title – meaning Saturday’s matchups could happen again very soon.

Amherst Regional track and field continues historic season

The annual George Steele Relays took place at West Springfield High School on Saturday afternoon, and the Amherst girls track and field team showed out. The ‘Canes took first place with 97 points, blowing away the competition on Clark Field.

Relays have been the Amherst girls’ strong suit for the past several seasons, and that was no different over the weekend. Amherst won the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 relays, displaying a sensational effort with several girls running multiple relays.

In the 4x100, Ololara Baptiste, Skylar Fox, Ruby Austin and Moriah Luetjen turned in a season-bet time of 49.61 to earn first place. The 4x200 team of Baptiste, Ella Austin, Ruby Austin and Luetjen also posted a season-best of 1:45.71, earning first place. In the 4x400, Baptiste, Ella Austin, Fox and Luetjen grabbed first with a time of 4:00.38, while the 4x800 squad of Fox, Ella Jamate, Brooke Nedeau and Luetjen turned in a season-best 9:41.16 (fourth-best time in Massachusetts this spring) to take home first.

Juliana Albo, Maeve Fitzgerald, Lily Wambura and Elizabeth Sawicki won the 4x100 shuttle hurdle (1:09.04). Individually, Claire Fortin won the long jump (16 feet, 5 1/4 inches) and also came in second in the triple jump (35 feet, 2 1/2 inches).

“This is turning into an historic year for Amherst girls outdoor track and field,” coach Chris Gould said.

For the boys, Logan Alfandari grabbed first in both the discus (161 feet, 7 inches) and shot put (54 feet, 1 1/4 inches) as the senior continues his tremendous ‘Canes career. The boys also had a 4x800 relay-winning team, with Owen Platt, Calvin Miller, Peter Nedeau and Nico Lisle cruising to a season-best 8:06.56 – the fourth-best mark in Massachusetts this spring.

The boys took third overall with 47 points. Longmeadow won (132 points) and West Springfield (61 points) came in second.

Pair of former Amherst stars shine for Williston at NEPSTA D2 chamipionships

Amherst’s track success didn’t stop with just athletes wearing ‘Canes uniforms, as former Amherst athletes Jameson Dion and Kora Brissett hit the track for Williston over the weekend – competing in the NEPSTA Division 2 championships. Dion, a senior, was a standout football player for Amherst, and after a strong season on the gridiron in the fall, he’s hit the track hard for the Wildcats this spring. Brissett, a Sunderland native, was a star on the track for the Hurricanes as a freshman last season and made the move to Williston ahead of this school year.

On Saturday, Dion ran a leg on Williston’s 4x100 relay team that won the Division 2 title and set a school record with a time of 42.79. Dion joined Troy Worrell, Brian Lloyd and Gab Qureshi. The Williston boys team won first place overall, meaning Dion earned two trophies during his post-graduate year with the Wildcats (the football team won the Danny Smith Bowl in the fall).

Brissett had a busy day herself, as she claimed first place in the 100 (12.05) after running a 12.20 in the preliminaries, which put her as the No. 2 seed entering the finals. Brissett’s title in the 100 was joined by a runner-up finish in the 200 (25.39, just .15 behind first place) and a third-place finish in the 4x100 relay (50.73, with Jayla Peets-Butterfield, Livia Locke and Daryn Fox).