BURLINGTON – Rice Memorial’s Finley Strong, granddaughter of Hardwick Academy and Hazen Union coaching great Jack Strong, finished off her brilliant high school career on the ice last week at the 2025 Make-A-Wish All-Star Hockey Classic.
Strong made both Vermont senior all-star teams in both softball and ice hockey in 2025, powering her Green Knight softball team to their second consecutive Division II Final Four last month, earning a second straight First Team Lake Division selection in the process. Strong’s older brother Jackson was named Vermont’s Mr. Hockey as the top defensemen in Division I in 2023 for Rice and now attends North Carolina State.
New Hampshire clipped Vermont 4-1 at Gutterson Fieldhouse last week, while St. Johnsbury Academy’s Cassidy Kittredge, Sophie Vignec and Emersen Mitchell propelled the Vermont softball all-stars to a two-game sweep of New Hampshire at VTSU-Castleton.
Strong will be attending Fairfield University in Connecticut this coming fall and hopes to play club hockey and softball. Former Peoples Academy three-time champ Ben Alekson just finished off a stellar sophomore season on the mound for Fairfield this past spring.
