The first meet of Old Rochester Regional’s indoor track-and-field season came on December 18 when ORR’s boys team defeated Fairhaven, 58-28, at Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech. However, the week leading up to the season opener was a rollercoaster, particularly for the boys team.
On December 12, a few members of the team competed at the MSTCA Winterfest meet in Boston where top hurdler Tyler Trudeau suffered a hamstring injury. From there, more team members began dropping off the active list due to illness and injury. On the day of the opener, ORR’s boys were without six key runners, including distance runner Tyler Young and star 300 and 600-meter runner Colby Gross.
The loss of Young was expected to be especially impactful against Fairhaven’s distance-based team, but the Bulldogs had little difficulty defeating the Blue Devils.
The Bulldogs won their first event with freshman Calder Eaton placing first in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.8 seconds. From there, Leo Schiappa picked up wins for Old Rochester in the 55 dash (6.8) and 300 meters (40.9,) while Teddy Carroll won the 600 (1:41.4,) John Kassabian took first in the high jump (5 feet, 4 inches) and Murray Copps put on an impressive performance when he won the 2 mile (11:21.8.)
ORR’s girls team also had some impressive performances on their way to an 80-6 victory. Alexia Gonsalves and Corrine Robert won the 1 mile and 2 mile with times of 6:14 and 14:25 respectively. Jen Williams dominated all competition in the 55 hurdles (8.5) and high jump (5-0.. Perhaps the most impressive performance came from freshman Audrey Thomas, who came in first place in the dash (7.9) and 300 meters (47.7,) edging out Williams in the latter race. Also coming in first place were Cameran Weaver (600, 1:58.5,) Madeline Dugas (1,000, 3:47) and Taylor Greene (shot put, 29-4.)
The meet was capped off by the 4×400 meter relays. Seekonk and Apponequet were competing in their own dual meet at the same time and took part in the event at the same time as ORR and Fairhaven.
ORR’s girls team consisting of Weaver, Aubrey Heise, Scarlet Patnaude and Liz Feeney put on an impressive performance, defeating all three opposing teams. The boys team had Kassabian, Carroll, Sam Balsis and Matthew Curry, and the crowd erupted as they too pulled off a dominant win.
The Bulldogs will next face Somerset Berkley on Thursday, December 23, at GNBVT.
Boys Basketball
The Bulldogs opened their season with two wins last week. The first came on December 14 at Wareham High School, where they beat the host Vikings 77-65. After ORR dominated the first half, Wareham came back strong in the second half, bringing what was at one point a 25-point lead in favor of the Bulldogs down to 5. However, ORR was able to hold off their South Coast Conference rival to come away with the win. Steve Morrell led the Bulldogs with a game-high 22 points, and Sawyer Fox scored 20.
The Bulldogs further improved their record to 2-0 on December 18 when they dominated Martha’s Vineyard 73-29 in Mattapoisett. ORR hosted GNBVT on Tuesday night. They host Wareham on Tuesday, December 28, at 6:30 pm.
Girls Basketball
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 2-0 with a 36-31 win against Falmouth on December 17. Maddie Wright led the Bulldogs with 15 points, while Logan Fernandes contributed another 10 points. ORR visited GNBVT on Tuesday. They visit Wareham on Tuesday, December 28, at 1:30 pm.
Girls Hockey
ORR’s girls hockey team raised its record to 2-1 after a 5-4 win over East/West Bridgewater on December 19, but the next night fell back to .500 with a 9-2 loss to Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake. In the victory over the Bridgewater coop, Kellan Geake hit the back of the net twice while Liz Kilpatrick had two assists. Ryann Tripp scored the winning goal. The Bulldogs hosted Dennis-Yarmouth on Wednesday and on Monday, December 27 are scheduled to visit Bishop Stang in a 3:00 pm faceoff at Hetland Memorial rink in New Bedford.
Sports Roundup
By Matthew Curry