UMass football: Why are Minutemen using Trackman technology for kicking and punting?

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

AMHERST — As performance-driven data has gained more and more use in sports over the past decade, Trackman has become a hot name.It’s most popular in baseball, where its ball-tracking data is primarily used by pitchers. Red Sox hurler Tanner Houck...

Amherst native Vanessa Chakour brings women’s boxing classes to Franklin County's YMCA

By LUCY POSTERA

GREENFIELD — Vanessa Chakour didn’t always want to be a boxer. If you asked the Amherst native what she wanted to be when she grew up she may have said a National Geographic photographer, an author or an illustrator, but never once did being a...

High school football: An opening-day tour of Hampshire County camps ahead of 2024 season

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY — Ear-ringing whistles, low grunts and wide smiles marked the first day of high school football camp on Friday, as Hampshire County teams held their first practices in advance of the upcoming season.Full-contact practices don’t begin...

UMass football: Minutemen's defensive line should be smaller but quicker in 2024

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — In today’s era of college football, there are holes to fill every offseason considering the overwhelming number of transfers. UMass football head coach Don Brown has welcomed the transfer portal with open arms, and he almost didn’t have a...

Hampshire County's toughest golf holes: Westover Golf Course, Granby

By GARRETT COTE

(NOTE: This is the seventh installment in a weekly series featuring some of the toughest golf holes across Hampshire County. The series will run each Saturday in print throughout the summer.)GRANBY — Westover Golf Course hosted a qualifier on...

Western Mass. Summer Field Hockey League reaches new heights with nearly 250 players from 18 different schools

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

SOUTH HADLEY — When Katie Hopp and her fellow volunteer organizers started the Western Mass. Summer Field Hockey League in 2019, the league contained seven schools and about 70 players.Five years and six seasons later, they’re at 243 players from 18...

Springfield CC’s Dan Fanion, 2 others share medalist honors at Westover Golf Course’s Mass. Mid-Am qualifier

By GARRETT COTE

GRANBY — Dan Fanion’s round looked as if it was about to turn upside down on the par-3 10th hole during Wednesday’s qualifier for the 2024 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Golf Championship at Westover Golf Course.After carding a 1-under 35 on the front...

Frontier School Committee declines to dedicate volleyball court to longtime coach Sean MacDonald

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD – Citing precedent set last year, the Frontier School Committee declined to dedicate its volleyball court to longtime coach Sean MacDonald, who retired after the 2023-24 school year, capping off 21 years and a whole slew of sectional...

Olympic star Gabby Thomas makes appearance on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

Just two days after the closing ceremony wrapped up the 2024 Paris Olympics, three-time gold medalist Gabby Thomas joined Comedy Central’s long-running comedy news show, “The Daily Show” to discuss her Paris experience, her mom and her healthcare...

Amherst College-bound Mekhala Costello leading the field at 121st Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Golf Championship

By GARRETT COTE

She may be committed to play soccer at Amherst College come the fall, but Mekhala Costello has shown the state of Massachusetts she is quite the golfer as well.After taming the tough Taconic Golf Club with a 2-under round of 69 during the first round...

UMass athletics: What to expect from fall sports season 2024

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — The start of the fall season officially marks the beginning of UMass’ athletic programs’ farewell campaign through the Atlantic 10, as the Minutemen and Minutewomen are set to join the Mid-American Conference (MAC) following the conclusion...

UMass football: Minutemen continue to embrace head coach Don Brown's “Thunderstruck” tradition

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — It doesn’t feel like UMass football practice has truly started until ACDC’s “Thunderstruck” begins blasting through McGuirk Alumni Stadium’s speakers. And it definitely doesn’t feel like a Don Brown practice without the classic hit,...

Florence’s Gabby Thomas closes out Paris Olympics with perfect 3-for-3 gold medal record

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

Five years ago, when Florence’s Gabby Thomas moved down to Austin, Texas to begin her professional running career, her new coach Tonja Buford-Bailey decided to test her out. Thomas moved to Austin a few weeks ahead of the rest of Buford-Bailey’s...

The Olympic Report with Jim Johnson: Olympic Bodies

The last time Paris hosted the Summer Olympics was 100 years ago. If you were to walk into one of the dining halls at that time you would not be able to predict which sport an athlete participated. Swimmers looked like discus throwers and distance...

Florence’s Gabby Thomas wins 3rd gold medal, U.S. dominates in 4x400 relay victory

By JEFF LAJOIE

Two was nice, but three is better.In a surprise twist, Florence’s Gabby Thomas did not close out her Olympic Games with a gold in the 4x100 meter relay.That’s because Thomas still had one more event left in the tank on Saturday – the 4x400...

UMass football: Experienced offensive line expected to be a strength for Minutemen

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — Most of the UMass football transfer offensive linemen made their way to Amherst in the winter, right around the end of January according to Minutemen associate head coach/offensive line coach Alex Miller.Now less than seven full months...

Hampshire County's toughest golf holes: Southampton Country Club

By GARRETT COTE

(NOTE: This is the sixth installment in a weekly series featuring some of the toughest golf holes across Hampshire County. The series will run each Saturday in print throughout the summer.)SOUTHAMPTON — From a tobacco barn to a charming clubhouse,...

Double gold! Florence’s Gabby Thomas wins 2nd gold medal at Paris Olympics thanks to 4x100 meter relay victory

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

In the 200 meters on Tuesday, Gabby Thomas turned her Tokyo bronze into a Paris gold. And on Friday in the 4x100 relay, Thomas turned her Tokyo silver into another gold, as the Americans won with a time of 41.78 seconds under a steady rain at the...

‘UMass is like my second home now’: Healthy again, 2nd-year QB Taisun Phommachanh feeling comfortable with Minutemen

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

AMHERST – Last year must have felt like a whirlwind for UMass quarterback Taisun Phommachanh.On his third school in three seasons but in his first starting job, Phommachanh injured his knee against Auburn just six quarters into the campaign on Sept....

UMass football: New offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery’s path to the Minutemen

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

AMHERST – After 22 years calling offensive plays, Shane Montgomery spent the 2023 season working with longtime friends as an offensive analyst at East Carolina.But when news first broke on Feb. 2 of Steve Casula leaving his post as UMass offensive...