Panthers Start New Year Strong
January 05, 2023
TA’s student athletes kept busy over the two week winter break with a full schedule of practice and competition. Basketball season is in full swing, the alpine ski team is (sort of) back on snow, and the indoor track team had their first meet at the University of Vermont last weekend. Keep an eye on the school calendar for the full Panther athletics schedule.
Girls Basketball
The Panthers are up 4-2 this season – and show no signs of slowing down. The last three out of four games have landed the Panthers in the “W” column, most recently a decisive win v. Montpelier at home on Tuesday (48-38). Senior Kelsey Bogey and junior Addie Cadwell led the scoring with 15 and 11 points, respectively. This week’s win followed a 60-47 victory over Peoples Academy on December 29. From the Valley News: “The Panthers picked up a solid road win against the previously unbeaten Wolves with three players scoring in double figures, led by Charlize Brown’s 19 points. Kelsey Bogie added 17 and Madi Mousley 14.” On Dec. 27, TA defeated Randolph 74-22 at home, turning the page on the Panthers’ early season losses to CVU (52-32) and Windsor (53-41).
Boys Basketball
The boys are 4-1, opening the season with two decisive wins v. rivals Oxbow (51-29) and Rivendell (44-25) before falling to the Windsor Yellowjackets on December 21 (55-64). This week, they recovered with a win in their first home game of the new year v. Randolph (58-33). On Wednesday, the Panthers prevailed in their rematch with Windsor. From the Valley News: “The Windsor High boys basketball team came up short against Thetford as the Panthers built an 11-point lead in the third quarter and went on to win, 56-52.”
Indoor Track and Field
TA’s indoor track and field team visited the University of Vermont to compete in their first meet since the start of the Covid pandemic. The Panthers competed against 20 other track and field teams from across the state, almost all of which were from much larger schools than TA. Coach Charlie Buttrey shared some of the teams’ successes: “Sophomore Uly Junker-Boyce’s long jump of 18′ 10″ placed him second among D-II jumpers, while Evan Rich (’26) leaped 17′ 2″. Senior Jada Rich’s long jump of 13′ 9″ was the best in D-II, and senior Finn Linehan’s 34′ 2″ triple jump placed him 2nd in D-II as well. Jada also earned a podium finish with a 4′ 5″ high jump, and finished her day with a 24′ 8″ throw in the shot put, which placed her third in D-II.” Overall, the girls team tied for second in Division II, with the boys also earning second place!
Alpine Skiing
It snowed! TA’s alpine ski team was excited to get back on snow and start their course training. Storrs Hill opened…and then it closed again, but TA’s athletes were undeterred, taking matters into their own hands. Coach Paul Dixon says: “We were feeling adventurous on Monday and loaded up the bus and headed to Storrs Hill to hike and make the best of what we could. We were able to find a little bit of snow and set a short course amongst the bare patches.” The outing was a great opportunity for the coaches to see some of the new members of the team on the snow for the first time, and for returning athletes to make their first turns in a course this season and pick up where they left off last year. The team is looking ahead to next week to return to the mountain!