MANCHESTER, NH – A half dozen Queen City teams entered postseason play. With one state championship already in hand, one Manchester squad remains alive, while a handful of individual athletes are still competing as well. Here’s a glance at all the tournament action:
Girls tennis
Derryfield School
The Derryfield School girls tennis team defended it’s Division-I state crown with a 5-4 win over Bedford that was eerily similar to last year’s championship clash.
“It’s my last year, and we wanted to go out with a bang,” said Derryfield No. 1, senior captain Sophia Correnti. “I’m just so proud of this team. All the girls love each other so much and it’s such a special accomplishment.”
With the team title in hand, Correnti now takes aim at individual and doubles hardware, with teammate Sofia Koshy, who is also competing in the singles tourney, while teammates Lucy Yakola and Pola Jankowska are also in the hunt for the doubles title.
The individual tournament, which was postponed due to rain Saturday, takes place today (Monday) at 3 p.m. at Manchester West and Memorial high schools, with the semifinals and championship scheduled tomorrow (Tuesday) at 3 p.m. at Southern New Hampshire University, while the doubles semis and finals are scheduled for Thursday at the same time and location.
Trinity High School
Trinity’s Mallory Hobausz and Stella Piatt are also in the hunt for individual and doubles accolardes.
They helped their team to the D-III playoffs where the 11th-ranked Pioneers fell, 6-3, to No. 6 Berlin in the opening round.
Boys tennis
Derryfield School
The No. 3-ranked Derryfield boys tennis team created a deep playoff run if its own, earning a convincing 6-3 victory over Londonderry in the Division-I quarterfinals before falling eventual state champ Bedford, 8-1, in the state semis.
“The Derryfield team, they’re all smart players, they’re all strong players, and they play each point hard,” said Bedford head coach Michael Bayer. “When we go out and play them, nothing is guaranteed … they play structured doubles, they play structured singles, and they take opportunities when you give them to them. Every single point is tough, and they’re just super kids.”
Cougars’ No. 1 Johnny Brown plays on as he looks to claim an individual championship. He’ll compete in today (Monday) at 3 p.m. at SNHU, with the semifinals and championship scheduled tomorrow (Tuesday) at 3 p.m. at the same location. He’s joined by doubles teammate Davey Schroeder in the doubles tourney. The semis and finals are scheduled for Thursday at the same time and location.
Manchester Central
Manchester Central High School’s Nick Chiesa and Nate Bannister also reached the doubles tournament, after helping their team qualify for the D-I tournament as the eighth seed. There, the Little Green defeated No. 9 Salem, 6-3, in the opening round on May 27, but fell in the quarterfinals to top-ranked Hanover, 9-0.
Track & Field
Following standout performances at the Division-I state track and field championships on May 30, several Queen City athletes reaches the Meet of Champions, which was held Sunday at Oyster River High School in Durham.
Manchester Central High School girls
Among those standout performances, Manchester Central junior Angela Cenesca earned runner-up in the 400-meter run at 58.31 seconds and then took third in the long jump with a top leap of 16-feet, 9.5 inches.
Manchester Memorial High School gils
Manchester Memorial senior Hannah Rodriquez finished ninth in long jump at 16-feet, 1.5 inches, and her junior teammate, Victoria Ford, was 11th in the 100-meter hurdles at 16.99 seconds.
Manchester Central High School boys
Manchester Central junior Ceasar Flahn won both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash with springs of 10.82 seconds and 21.53 seconds, respectively.
Also competing for the Little Green, senior Kaedin Gagne was 13th in the 400-meter run at 52.06 seconds, and classmate Sean Venator came in 15th at 56.80 seconds.
Central senior Thiago Silva earned a top-10 finish in the 200-meter hurdles at 42.45 seconds; and Wyatt Fougere was 12th in the 100-meter hurdles at 15.95 seconds.
The Central 4×400 team of Gagne, Flahn, Silva and Venator won the event by the slimmest of margins, edging Exeter by a hundredth of a second, 3:21.52 to 3:31.53; and the 4×100 relay team of Fougere, Flahn, Gagne and Vanator placed runner-up at 42.66 seconds.
Competing in field events, Central senior Nicholas Barbee came in seventh in discuss with a throw of 135-feet, 6 inches; and freshman Trevor Gray earned top-10 with a long jump of 20-feet, 6 inches.
Trinity High School boys
Trinity junior Alex Garland was tops in triple jump by more than half a foot with a leap of 46-feet, 1.25 inches.
Trinity senior Rere Edokpolo took third in both long jump and high jump, with marks of 22-feet, 2.25 inches and 6-feet 2 inches, respectively; and then and sophomore Ewa Edokpolo was 7th in the 400-meter run at 50.14 seconds
Boys lacrosse
Derryfield School
After earning a first-round bye, the top-ranked and undefeated Derryfield School boys lacrosse team defeated No 8 Oyster River/Newmarket, 14-8, in the Division-II quarterfinals on Saturday.
The Cougars next play in the state semis against fifth-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas Thursday at 7:15 at Bedford High School. The victor advances to the D-II championship which is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. at the same location.
Girls lacrosse
Derryfield School
The sixth-ranked Cougars earned a gritty 15-12 home victory over 11th-seeded Pelham in the first round of the Division-III playoffs on Tuesday, June 3. Two days later, however, their upset bid at third-ranked Hopkinton was denied as they were edged, 10-8, in the quarterfinals on Thursday, June 5.
Baseball
Trinity High School
Entering the Division-I tournament as a top-four seed, the Pioneers earned a 4-1 first-round victory over No. 13 Timberlane on Thursday, June 5.
However, Trinity was upset by fifth-seeded Exeter, 16-8, in the state quarterfinals Saturday at Gill Stadium.
Derryfield School
The ninth-ranked Cougars went on the road in the first round and upset No. 8 Fall Mountain, 6-5, on Thursday, June 5.
The Cougars season came to an end two-days later, falling to top-seeded Belmont, 11-1, on Saturday.