Category Archives: Pentucket

November 14, 2009 · 8:50 pm

Newburyport Boys Second in MIAA Eastern Division 4 at Franklin Park

Newburyport runners before race 11-14-09

Newburyport runners gather before Eastern D4 race at rainy Franklin Park

A whole bunch of us didn’t know enough to come in out of the rain!

The MIAA opted to ignore the forecasted rainy, windy conditions and go ahead with the Eastern State Division Finals at Franklin Park on Saturday. I’m glad they did because cross country is an “all weather” sport in my opinion.

This event is well worth attending because you get a good look at the runners most of the time. In many races, the runners disappear into the woods and out of sight for much of the race – not at Franklin Park.

But you talk about “off” conditions. The mud was in evidence everywhere. Several places on the course had puddles with unknown depth. Then there was the occasional gust of serious wind.

But, surprising to me, I never saw a runner slip. I heard after several races, runners chattering about the fun they’d had on the course. Those puddles came in handy afterwards for cleaning purposes.

I doubt that most of the spectators were as thrilled. Keeping dry, even with a good umbrella, was impossible. If you got close enough to the runners, you risked getting splattered with mud.

I went to see how Ipswich’s Greg Krathwohl would do against better competion, after I had seen him dominate the CALs. He did quite well getting 3rd. He was very much in the mix for the lead for a good part of the race. In the end, the two runners who had finished ahead of him at Franklin Park last year did the same once again.

Here is Greg (first time by), (second time by), and (nearing the finish).

I also hoped to be on hand for the Newburyport boys winning the East in Division 4. That didn’t happen as they finished second to Seekonk.

Greg Englehard led the Clippers and finished #12, I think. Here he is (2nd time by with Chris Suprin), (near the finish), and (getting medal).

Chris Suprin was 17th.

Sean Hickman – 28th – (at the finish).

Chris Jayne – 25th – (with Brian Morse 2nd time by), (near the finish).

Brian Morse – 27th – (2nd time by), (near finish).

Ryan Clark – 39th – (near finish).

Keith Conway – 33rd – (near finish).

The first race I saw was Division 2 girls and Jenna Davidner of Oliver Ames won easily.

Alanna Poretta of Pentucket took 5th in Division 3 and seemed out of sorts with the weather. She dominated the CAls but in this one she lost touch with the front runners early and never regained it.

Alanna will get another chance as will Greg Krathwohl and the Newburyport team on Saturday (November 21st) at Northfield.

Cape Ann League Cross Country Winners are Hamilton-Wenham (Girls) and Newburyport (Boys)

Newburyport runners listen for the starter’s gun as Coach Hennigar watches from behind

A perfect afternoon at Bradley Palmer State Park on Saturday afternoon for the Cape Ann League cross country championships. Perfect, that is, for the spectators. I doubt that the runners were thrilled with the mid-60s, sun, and gusty winds they encountered.

The regular season champions both delivered as the Hamilton-Wenham girls swept both JV and varsity events while the Newburyport boys also had a pair of team championships.

Neither team had the winner in the varsity events but that fact didn’t keep the winners from posting convincing victory margins.

The Clipper depth carried them to the CAL championship. Sean Hickman finished seventh and was followed in short order by Chris Suprin (9th), Greg Englehart (10th), Keith Conway (11th) and Brian Morse (12th).

The next cross country event is the state championships on November 14th at Franklin Park. Class enrollment becomes a factor in this one, and Newburyport will move away from some of it’s CAL competitors and drop to Division 4. Two NHS teams won state championships last school year – girls’ soccer and boys’ hockey. Maybe it’s the cross country boys’ turn? Their depth might be the ticket to the title.

Rachel Rikeman got 10th in the JV meet to pace Newburyport girls while John Stancel and Matt Getz finishing one-two in the JV race. The other top-five members for the winning Clipper’s JV team were Owen Williams, Ian Wood, and Ryan Kell from right to left.

Alanna Poretta of Pentucket owned the varsity race. No one was near her when she came past the starting line and at the finish; she was nearly a minute better than the second place HW girl was.

In the boys varsity meet, Ipswich’s Greg Krathwohl trailed a North Andover runner on the trip past the starting line but later was the first to come out of the woods. Greg had plenty left at the end and ended up 30 seconds ahead.

Steve Sawyer was named coach-of-the-year for both of his HW teams. My wife and I traveled with him in Europe in 1968 and he will not deny it.

Tennis Camp Finds Love at Governors’ Academy

Let’s start with the happy endings:

(1) Coach Pete’s Tennis Camp will continue to exist,

(2) The Pentucket school district will have control of its tennis courts in the summer and,

(3) Governors’ Academy will make money renting out its tennis courts during the summer.

Things weren’t so rosy a month ago. “Around the end of March I believed that I wasn’t going to be having a camp,” said Pete Kolifrath, the director of Coach Pete’s Tennis Camp.

For two summers, the 40-year-old tennis pro had used Pentucket’s tennis courts and expected to continue there in 2008.

He submitted his application in September (2007) but didn’t hear back right away. Finally, in late November he got a call from the superintendent’s office explaining that tennis court usage would be discussed at a school committee meeting in January (2008).

The day after the meeting, Kolifrath heard from Pentucket superintendent Paul Livingston. “He told me that Pentucket was interested in running its own tennis camp on the courts in the summer and asked if I would run it for them. If not, he wanted the camp hours to be lessened.” Kolifrath wasn’t interested in either of the options and informed friends of his camp what had happened.

That led to a letter/email writing campaign in which the superintendent and school committee members heard from about 50 friends of Coach Pete’s Tennis Camp.

The next school committee meeting (February 12th) turned confrontational as thirty friends of the tennis camp were on hand prepared to voice their support for the camp.

“That meeting was disappointing,” said the Merrimac resident. “They only let a few of us speak and concluded that the decision about the camp was up to Superintendent Livingston. The superintendent wanted me to pay an extra $12,000 to keep the camp the way we had operated it the previous two summers.”

While Coach Pete began quickly looking around for alternative sites for the camp, letter writers sent their opinions to local papers regarding the camp. Some supported it while others were glad to see it leaving Pentucket.

Late in March, Coach Pete had one of those days that you never forget.

First, he was mad after an email from the Pentucket superintendent ended any hope of his tennis camp being at Pentucket.

Next, he was encouraged after getting an optimistic phone call from Stacey Sartori (mother of a tennis camper) of Amesbury. “She said that something good would happen because there’s always a silver lining.”

Finally, he was elated when Karen Gold of Governors’ Academy emailed to offer the new courts there for the camp’s use. “Believe me, I had to read that email twice to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me!”

In a week a deal was in place with Governors’ Academy. “We’re delighted to be there even though it will cost a little bit more,” said Pete. “It’s a much nicer facility.

The specifics for Coach Pete’s Tennis Camp are at www.communitytennis.org

( Submitted to The Town Common on April 22nd )