Charger Bowling Program Retools in Third Season, Catamounts Advance to Championship
CRAFTSBURY – Head coaches Ashley Gravel and Will Patnoe have high numbers with low experience this season as they look to build on the success of the first two years of the Craftsbury Academy (CA) bowling program.
Gravel and former athletic director Connor Bean launched the high school bowling program at CA two years ago with enthusiastic participation and success. The Chargers won the program’s second regular season tournament against Burlington last January and had three bowlers qualify for the individual state tournament, with all three finishing in the top 12, as well as the top five in average in the state for their respective grade levels.
Matt Wilcox was lost to graduation after a fantastic high school career for the Chargers that concluded with an impressive fourth-place finish this past March at the Senior Classic. Jacob Marquis and Jason Brown were poised to keep the arrow pointing upward for CA’s program in their junior campaigns this winter but have moved on to other programs after stellar sophomore seasons with the Chargers.
Patnoe takes on an expanded coaching role this season with Gravel after a stellar senior year with the Chargers on the lanes in the program’s inaugural season. Gravel and Patnoe will look to develop nine bowlers this winter, which is a great sign for the future of the program. Kosmos Glestos and Raz Mille will be looked to for leadership this season after showing progress and development as freshmen.
“It’s great that we have nine student-athletes going into the season, unfortunately weather has kept us from being able to practice so we did not compete at the season opener in Rutland. We’re looking forward to getting some practices under our belt before our season opener at St. Jay this weekend. We lost some very talented bowlers but are very happy that they are still competing in the sport and can’t wait to see them at the lanes this season,” said Gravel.
CA will now officially open their season on Saturday at Gold Crown Lanes in St. Johnsbury.
Catamounts Advance to Championship
CARY, N.C. – The University of Vermont (UVM) men’s soccer team continued to make school history last week, knocking off another nationally ranked team to advance to their first ever College Cup Final.
The Catamounts came back from a one goal deficit and survived two overtimes and a penalty kick shootout to advance to the NCAA Men’s Soccer National Championship with a win over No. 3 Denver last Friday. Denver took a 1-0 lead with just over 20 minutes left in regulation before Yaniv Bazini found the improbable equalizer with an incredible individual effort with just under seven minutes to play. The Catamounts survived the shootout 4-3, with freshman keeper Niklas Herceg continuing his stellar play on the biggest of stages, making a diving save on Denver’s third attempt.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 13 Marshall pulled off the upset of the tournament with a 1-0 win over top seeded Ohio State. The Catamounts and the Thundering Herd played for the national championship on Monday night.
