(Harrison ME) Hallmark Channel isn’t the only place Christmas is celebrated in July!
On the ninth of July, Main Street had a collection of costumed runners setting out from in front of the Grange for some morning competition in Harrison’s Christmas in July 5K.
Plenty of red and quite a bit of green showed up in many of the racers’ running attire. On a hot, July morning those cold-weather costumes probably lost some of their “good-idea” status as the runner climbed Brickyard Hill Road!
Harrison resident, Ken Ross, was the easy winner of the sixty-five finishers with a time of 20:23.
Ken Ross (20:23)
The top eight finishers were:
1 Ken Ross (20:23),
2 Chris Surro (21:18),
3 Michael Clarke (21:34),
4 Eric Martin (21:39),
5 Keith Moss (21:47),
6 Peter Banach (22:47),
7 Brian Ladd (22:50).
An interesting age range in the top runners. Ken Ross and Brian Ladd are in their 60s while Peter Banach is 11.
When I create an entry in Word, I need to realize that the first line of the entry will be the title of the entry when I paste it into WordPress.
When I’m done preparing a Word document, I need to select it and copy it.
Using WordPress.com/log-in will include a saved email address and a password.
Now into the RIGHT blog, I will click on “posts” and click on “add new post.”
That will get the document in front of me with the title (first line) in place.
IMAGES
Click below a sentence and a “+” will appear. Click on it and on “image.” Then click on “media library.” Then on the image I want and click “insert.” Into the document goes that image.
Above the image there are icons that, when clicked on, will enable me to edit the image.
“insert link” is important because if I do that, then a reader will be able to click on the picture to see it full sized.
“alignment” is important because if I leave it at “none” a large box appears to the right of the image. That box will prevent text from wrapping around the picture. I almost always want to be able to wrap text around a picture.
The arrows help me to position the picture where I want it.
There are also editing possibilities to the right. One of those possibilities is changing the size of the picture (25/50/75/100).
A brand new one for me was the “featured image” option. I clicked there, was led into the Gallery, chose a picture, and it became the Header. Of course, if the chosen picture isn’t 770 or less it will be substantially cropped. But if it is the right size then it is a quick way to bring on a new header.
(I started working on putting text on pictures but that is a work-in-progress at this point.)
Today’s repeat winner (Eric Ashe) complained about the humidity as did every runner I talked to.
“It was a tough day to run fast,” said Eric afterwards.
If it was tough for him, imagine how it was for the rest of the field trailing him!
“One fellow took the first half mile a little quick,” recalled Eric. “I caught him around a half mile and tried to stay strong up and down the hills the rest of the way.”
Eric finished the course in 20:45. Scott Mindel was second (21:19) and Tim Poitras third (21:32).
Scott Mindel
Tim Poitras
The most excited post-race runner may well have been female-division winner Taylor Bickford of Portland.
Why?
Let Taylor explain it: “This was my first time breaking the tape ever. I’ve run a lot of races in Maine and some marathons, but this was the first time I’ve ever won a race.”
Taylor admitted afterwards that she didn’t know the course very well but that she had heard about it.
Taylor Bickford and Abby Bennett (1029 – 2nd place)
“I started the race a little conservative because everyone had me worried about the hills,” she said. “Then I realized that I could pass a lot of people on the downhills so I kind of let it go.”
“I kept the first female in front of me for the first two miles,” she added, “after I passed her, I knew I was the first one.”
Scott Mindel finished second for the second straight year.
“Some kid took it out really fast and it was faster than I wanted,” said Scott. “I didn’t have as much left as I had the year before because of that start and the humidity. I soon realized that I needed to compete for the place rather than the time.”
Tim Poitras entered the race hoping to improve on his 4th place finish two years ago.
“I knew that Eric and Scott would be running the race,” said Tim.
“After Eric pulled away, I stuck with Scott,” added Tim. “I was pushing the uphills and he was pushing the downhills.”
The humidity eventually got to Tim. “It was such that I felt as if I was swimming,” he said. “I started to look behind me a few times to make sure I got third.”
Good crowd with plenty of enthusiasm.
Dave Albert of Fryeburg is the master of the National Anthem.
Sasha Mindel came in second last year but didn’t race this year. “She has been sick the last few nights,” explained her husband Scott. “My son did run the kid’s race. It’s always a fun weekend up here.”
Both Scott and Eric ran in Grandma’s Marathon on June 17th in Duluth, Minnesota. “Eric was shooting for Olympic Trials time but didn’t finish,” recalled Scott.
Taylor Bickford: “I grew up in Limington and now live in Portland. I am a strategy project manager at New Balance in Boston, so I commute to work. I am planning to do the Beach-to-Beacon.”
Yesterday I took care of getting into my blog and sizing images so that they could be used as headers.
Today I worked to locate and set up a document to put an entry on.
I took a document already labeled on my desktop and changed the label to “Blog Document Location.” I clicked in there and clicked on “New” to get a blank page.
I had to remember that the first sentence is going to be the title. I don’t doubt that I could fix the title within the blog if I had to.
I copied the document I created and went into the blog with it. I located “Post” and went to “New.” At the cursor I clicked Control V and the document was inserted with the title (first line) highlighted.
I could immediately publish the post if I chose to as I did yesterday.
Almost always, however, pictures must be included.
I decided that I would resume some postings but, alas, the whole blogging process is no longer familiar to me.
Old age? Could be part of it.
I am very active currently with photography. I take. I process. I send out………with hardly a glitch. But that is currently. Get away from it for a while and who knows what I’ll be able to do!
It behooves me to write out procedures for photography. I didn’t do that with blogging, and I have struggled just to get back into my blog to post something! Imagine if I try to add a picture.
My normal blog entries had pictures and commentary from a sporting event. It has been nearly a year since I’ve done that.
Let me set two goals for myself: (1) return to posting commentary/pictures, and (2) thoroughly write out the WHOLE blogging procedure so that I can go away from it and “easily” come back to it.
Captains Emma Foley, Viive Godtfredsen, Sophie Messina
Sophie Messina had five blocks
(Newburyport) The (20-3) Clippers have reached the MIAA Division 3 volleyball Final Four.
Newburyport accomplished this by overwhelming Ashland 3-0 on Friday afternoon.
The Clippers have now won six straight matches including three in the tournament.
The #6 Clockers (13-10) struggled in the first two sets before coming to life in the final set to lead for part of it.
However, in that last set, the #3 Clippers fought back to tie the score at 10-10 and sailed home from there.
The set totals were 25-16, 25-13, and 25-12.
Newburyport has gotten better as the tournament has progressed. Maybe they were “scared straight” after nearly losing to #30 Bishop Fenwick in their tourney opener.
“I think that this is the best I’ve seen us play this season,” said junior Zoey Calitri after today’s win.
“Our defense was strong,” she added. “When it’s strong, we can run a quick offense. Then we get to run our middles and that’s an automatic kill.”
Receiving serves successfully was important.
Sophie Messina returns serve
“The key to this win was serve-receive,” said Coach Lori Solazzo. “We knew that they were good servers.”
The Clippers had seen Ashland’s win over Greater New Bedford.
“We watched it,” said senior Viive Godtfredsen, “looking for places we could score. We were prepared for everything.”
“We practiced a lot, so we were ready to play today,” added senior Bea Cortecci.
Senior Sophie Messina paced the Clippers with eleven kills and five blocks that converted into points.
“Sophie has been a force in the middle,” said Coach Solazzo. “People haven’t been able to stop her.”
Sophie was on the scoring end of some terrific setups by Emma Foley.
“Our service-receive was great,” said Sophie. “We’ve been working on that.”
Junior Lily LeDuc finished with ten kills. “Lily had a heck of a game,” said Coach Solazzo.
Bea Corecci had five aces
The Clippers serving was outstanding as their sixteen aces reflects.
“We started the first set strong with a serving run by Viive (Godtfredsen),” explained Lily. “We limited our errors.”
Four of the top five seeds are in the D3 Final Four. Newburyport will face #2 Tewksbury at a neutral site this week.
Viive knows a little bit about (19-4) Tewksbury. “I play club with a few girls who are on the Tewksbury team.”
Can the Clippers advance?
“I knew at the start that our team was talented,” said Coach Solazzo. “I wasn’t anticipating that we were going to go this far but we’ve shown that we belong here.”
The Newburyport captains (Emma Foley, Viive Godtfredsen, Sophie Messina) received the Final Four trophy from an MIAA representative after the Ashland win.
“We’ve got a trophy now,” said Sophie afterwards. “It’s the first time.”
Viive was pleased with the Final Four trophy but added, “we want the next trophy.” That would be the one given next weekend to the Division Three champion.
Coach Solazzo: “We have been focused on our next opponent. We keep saying, ‘One point, one set, one match at a time, together.”
Lily LeDuc had ten kills
Emma Foley about to set up Bea Cortecci in the middle
Goal scorer Revin Olsen and goalie Ansh Khanna jump above the well-wishers at game’s end
Carter Guerin double-teamed
(Exeter) “We’re starting a new tradition at South,” said Nashua South coach Tom Bellen.
“We’ve been decent in the past,” he added, “now we’re one of the powerhouses.”
Coach Bellen’s Panthers solidified their status with a 2-0 win over Hanover to gain the NHIAA Division I state title for the second straight season.
Revin Olsen’s first-half goal off a header turned into the game winner.
“I saw the ball crossed in,” explained Revin’s teammate Leonel Lopez afterwards. “I saw Revin there above everyone else. He was right where he needed to be. When he scored it, I was so happy.”
Leonel not only saw that goal but later in the second half the sophomore defender kept the Bears (16-5) from scoring a tying goal.
On the crucial play, South goalie Ansh Khanna had the right side of the net covered but to his left was wide open. The Hanover shot headed for what looked to be an open space.
Goalie Ansh Khanna thanks teammate Leonel Lopez for saving a goal
“I saw the net was open so I jumped into the spot,” explained Leonel. He was able to head the incoming shot away to preserve the shutout.
“Both teams created great chances,” said Hanover coach Rob Grabill afterwards.
“I love the fact that it was an attractive game,” he added. “It was a game that represented the sport very well. It was high level soccer.”
Temperatures were in the 70’s with a steady breeze. The weather and the soccer were equally impressive. Whistles were few.
Earlier in the season after Nashua South lost to Nashua North, Coach Bellen made a surprising prediction. “I told the kids after that loss that we were going to win the state championship.”
“It was just a matter of doing the little things better, “he added.
“At the time, I knew we were a talented team and thought that we could win again,” said senior Jadiel Bomfim, “but it was going to take a lot of work.”
Battle for control
Senior goalie Ansh Khanna agreed, “We came into the season thinking we could do it again.”
The Panthers (17-3) put the game out of reach in the closing minutes with a second goal.
The Panthers were awarded a corner kick. Bears goalie Ty Nolon recognized that the Panthers, with the one-goal lead, would take their time preparing for the play. So he carried the ball to the corner and put it down in front of the corner kicker (Santi Somorrostro) and quickly headed to the front of the net. Santi saw the opportunity and curled a shot into the net before Ty or his teammates were set up to defend.
“That was high soccer IQ by Santi in that second goal,” said Coach Bellen. “We talk all the time about being smart out there. We’ve had a couple of free-kick plays during the season similar to the one today.”
The #2 Panthers had defeated the #5 Bears 2-1 at Hanover on September 14th.
Hanover came into today’s game on a 12-game winning streak. The Bears won the state title in 2013 and 2019.
Ryder Hayes and Rory Olsen
Ansh Khanna: “I did my job. To beat the same team again was lovely. We showed them that we’re one of the best.”
Jadiel Bomfim: “Hanover is a good team. I have a lot of friends there.”
Coach Grabill: “Two very different high school communities and yet how much they have in common and how well they got along with each other. It was heartwarming. I really liked to see that.”
Joona Hantula: “I was on the bench for the first goal. I said to one of my teammates that we’re going to score….and we did.”
Coach Bellen: “Leonel did the same thing in another game this season to save a goal. I owe him twice!”
Revin Olsen (5) celebrates his goal with teammates
(Newburyport) “It looked as if our season was going to be over a little earlier than we thought,” was how Newburyport senior Sophie Messina explained their tight tussle with Bishop Fenwick on Friday night.
Sophie Messina and Kylie Murphy battle at the net
The #3 seed Clippers (18-3) had their hands full and then some against the #30 seed Crusaders (8-14).
The home team was down 2-1 after three sets but rallied to escape a shocking upset in the MIAA Division 3 Round of 32.
Viive Godtfredsen had fifteen kills for Newburyport
Newburyport had twice defeated BF 3-0 going into this one.
“It was easy to see an easy win based on where we were in the bracket,” explained Fenwick coach Sam Kelly afterwards. “Our goal was to make it challenging for them.”
Mission accomplished on that!
Lacey Murphy ready to block
“Bishop Fenwick definitely took it to us tonight,” said NHS coach Lori Solazzo afterwards. “I’m proud of the win but Bishop Fenwick played great.”
The set results were 22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-16, and 15-8.
The Clippers will return to action on Tuesday.
Calli Symond returns service
The keys to the early success for BF were limiting unforced errors and attacking the Clippers.
“We knew they would be running a tall front row with an aggressive attack,” said Coach Kelly. “We brought up Kylie Murphy from the JVs to start for us in her first varsity game. She played fantastic.”
Kylie is tall like her teammate sister Lacey and between them they made it difficult for Newburyport to find open shots at the net.
Both teams struggled to run points together.
“We were going point to point instead of getting some runs,” said Coach Solazzo.
Newburyport’s inability to put point together kept BF in each of the first three sets and after the Crusaders won two of them the pressure was squarely on the Clippers.
“Being down 2-1 was a little nerve wracking,” said Newburyport senior Viive Godtfredsen. “It was a matter of who was mentally tough at the end.”
Coach Solazzo credited senior Bea Cortecci with swinging things in the Clippers favor in the fourth set.
Bea Cortecci returns serve
“Bea pulled us through in that 4th set with her aces and kills,” Coach Sollazzo said. “It was the turning point for the team for sure.”
Once the Clippers were back even after four sets the momentum switched completely in the 15-point final set. Several miscues gave Newburyport a quick 4-0 lead. Then it was 8-3 and 10-3. The final was 15-8.
“Passing was a struggle the first couple of sets,” said Sophie Messina afterwards. “Setter Emma Foley was running all over the place. In the 4th and 5th sets we were able to get passes closer to the net and score off of that. A win is a win. We’ll take it.”
“We’re excited to keep going and get as far as we can,” said Vive Godtfredsen.
Sophie Messina had 17 kills. Bea Cortecci had 16 kills and 10 aces. Viive Godtfredsen had 15 kills while Lily LeDuc added 14 kills.
Grace Murley congratulates GK Rayna Wales after the win
Coach Burgess LaPage
(Fryeburg) “It’s a mystery to us why we can’t score,” said Greely field hockey coach Burgess LaPage.
The Rangers (0-5-1) were shut out, 3-0, by Fryeburg Academy on Thursday afternoon.
While the visitors have only two goals for the season the Raiders (5-2) have scored thirteen times.
The issue for FA was recovering from an 8-0 loss last game (Tuesday) versus Freeport.
“We had a good comeback today,” said FA senior captain Grace Murley afterwards. “We had all our defense for this one.”
Grace Murley scores in first period
Grace had a goal for Fryeburg as did teammates Greta Hermanson and Sharis Santos.
“We certainly played better today than we did for sure on Tuesday,” conceded FA coach Dede Frost post-game.
The Raiders had goals in each of the first three periods this afternoon.
I asked Grace Murley about her goal in the first period. “That goal was on a corner,” she recalled. “It was off a rebound. I just tapped it in.”
Sophomore Greta Hermanson was given an assist on Grace’s goal.
Greta had her own score in the second period.
Greta Hermanson had the second FA goal
“It was a cross from Eliza Thorne,” explained Coach Frost.
Eliza came very close to scoring later in that second period, but Greely GK Kate Parkinson made a big stop.
Greely goalie Kate Parkinson
“Kate has been playing incredibly,” said Coach LaPage.
Senior Eliza Thorne was no stranger to Greely. Eliza had three goals during FA’s 3-0 win at Greely earlier in the season.
“We had to adjust for her,” said Coach LaPage. “She moves around a lot.”
Several times Eliza showed speed and dribbling skills to carry the ball for long distances. The Portland Press Herald has Eliza on their list of “Twenty-five Players to Watch.”
Coach Frost described the Raiders final goal as, “super cool.”
“We had a junior (Grace Porcaro) who is new to our team set up a freshman (Sharis Santos) for a goal,” added Coach Frost.
Sharis Santos finds the ball behind the Greely goalie
The Rangers had chances, but the FA defense led by Haley Littlefield and GK Rayna Wales kept Greely scoreless.
“We showed up a little flat in the first half,” said Coach LaPage, “but in the second half we were much better. We were stronger and mentally tough.”
“I love playing Fryeburg,” she said. “They’re very intense.”
Coach Frost talking about Eliza Thorne: “She had a hat trick at Greely. They marked her man-to-man in the second half which is exactly what I would have done. Eliza is tough and tenacious.”
Eliza Thorne had a hat trick last time against Greely
Grace Murley: “I am hoping to play field hockey in college somewhere in Massachusetts. I really like Bentley and Babson. I am visiting Bentley next weekend. My captain here when I was a freshman went there and we play the same position.”
Today’s weather was bizarre. It had rained steadily all day and the chance to play this 4PM game seemed small. But Greely was short on makeup-game options, so they headed over from Cumberland. Suddenly at 3:30PM the rain stopped, and the sun showed up. It was as nice as could be for the entire game!
Grace Porcaro (#7) had an assist on the third FA goal
Pressure on GK Kate Parkinson by Grace Porcaro and Eliza Thorne
McClelland Miscellanea 