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HANNAH BEVIS

It was a big weekend for Amherst’s Sophia Jacobs-Townsley and the Syracuse women’s cross country team.Jacobs-Townsley, a redshirt senior, ran to an impressive 22nd-place overall finish at the NCAA Division 1 Northeast Region Cross Country...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

The change transpires subtly then materializes violently.Owen Dawson flips a switch, or a switch within Dawson is flipped on the lacrosse field. Either one means good things for South Hadley and a bad time for whoever’s on the other side.“He does the...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Jocelyn Mettey handed Hampshire Regional softball coach Brian McGan the game ball back. She’d just thrown a no-hitter, usually a career achievement.“That was kind of unique. It didn’t really strike her as a big performance,” McGan said. “She knew the...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Greg Vreeland called his older brother, Hopkins Academy baseball coach Dan Vreeland, over to the hitting tunnel set up near the field. The mesh cage allowed the Golden Hawks’ junior varsity call ups and bench players to take batting practice swings...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

The Frontier Regional boys volleyball program wouldn’t exist without Jesse Kurkulonis.Inspired by the success of his friends on the Redhawks girls team, which has won 11 state championships including last fall, he began inquiring with newly minted...

By HANNAH BEVIS 

In the summer of 2022, after his freshman season, Amherst’s Logan Alfandari carefully poured a throwing circle in his backyard with his dad’s help. He decided that he wanted to have a place to get some extra practice after making a splash in throws...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Reilly Fowles works with wood as a hobby. He’s built a workout bench, tables, shelves and a desk among other projects. The Northampton sophomore peers into life’s corners and crevices that interest him.The Daily Hampshire Gazette Boys Tennis Player of...

By HANNAH BEVIS 

Emma Sanford has been a mainstay on the South Hadley track team for her entire high school career, rapidly climbing the ranks to becoming one of the best multi-event athletes in Western Mass. But while she’s been making every event she competes in...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Luke Giguere nearly stopped swimming before his junior season at Belchertown.“I didn’t really like it anymore,” the junior said. “I was doing it so much the past six years, every day for the past two years almost.”Both he and the Orioles are glad he...

By HANNAH BEVIS 

Winning a state title isn’t just about talent and hard work – though that certainly plays a large part of it.For Amherst junior David Pinero-Jacome and his coach Bob Rosen, it was also about planning.The two spent the season experimenting with...

By HANNAH BEVIS 

Tessa Kawall has always been a supremely talented basketball player – Amherst head coach Ralph Loos often calls her a “freak” when talking about her athletic ability. But until somewhat recently, Kawall could sometimes let her emotions get the best of...

By HANNAH BEVIS 

It was historic season for the Pope Francis boys’ hockey team, which won an MIAA Division 1 state title thanks to a dramatic 3-2 win over Xaverian last month at the TD Garden in Boston.It was the first time any Western Massachusetts team had won a...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Colin Quinn summoned everything within to try and extend his basketball career at South Hadley.The Tigers trailed eventual MIAA Division 4 state champion Springfield International by 10 points entering the fourth quarter of their Sweet 16 matchup....

By HANNAH BEVIS 

With 10 seconds left in his match, Holyoke’s Juan Santiago knew he needed to make a move, and quick. Santiago was grappling with Marlborough’s Kevin Desena in the championship match of the 220-pound weight class at the Western Mass. Division 2...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Sarah Fardal’s first run of the alpine ski season felt slow.“Eh, whatever,” she approached it initially.Making it down the Berkshire East race course in one piece felt like a worthy enough achievement for the PVCICS sophomore. She’d missed most of the...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

A special waiver allowed Lucy Smith to join the Amherst Regional high school swim team as a seventh grader.The Hurricanes couldn’t have fielded the squad without adding middle schoolers for the 2017-18 season.“It was definitely a little intimidating....

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Jack Holt spent a Cape Cod vacation with his toes stuffed into shooting boots rather than the sand.The Belchertown senior broke his scapula during the summer soccer season and returned just in time for a family beach trip. He and his younger brother...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

A high school volleyball court measures 60 feet long by 30 feet wide whether you’re in South Carolina or Massachusetts. Amherst senior Amalia Martin sought its familiar confines when the foundations of her life shifted.The University of South Carolina...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Juan Maldonado received a warning when he took over the Holyoke boys basketball program: watch out for Jael Cabrera. The then-sophomore played and carried himself with a passion that some viewed as out of control or counter productive.“Some people...