As temperatures cool down around the Queen City, action is heating up for Manchester’s two private Catholic high schools as athletes from Trinity High School and Holy Family Academy begin their winter sports campaigns. Here’s an early-season glance at some of those teams:
Holy Family girls basketball
Head coach:
– Joseph Williams (15th season)
Last season:
– 11-7
– Lost to No. 1 Littleton in the state quarterfinals following a first-round road upset for the program’s first playoff victory
Top returning athletes:
– Eliany Gonzales Pena (Senior captain)
– Elizabeth McGee (Senior captain)
– Torrey Pedone (Senior captain)
Promising newcomers:
“I know this may sound trite, but I see wonderful promise in all of our players. I believe that every single one of them has an important role and can live up to that potential. As an example, I have a sophomore, Claire Thibault, who had very little playing time last year. After some encouraging discussions about her potential, she worked hard and just started in our first game this season.” – Williams
Additional notes from the coach:
“Ryenn Pedone, Grace Thibault and Mariana Vicinanzo are going to be a great combination bringing the ball up the floor.”
“Freshman Lizkenza Yonkeu continues to grow and improve as a player.”
“Seniors Eliany Pena, Elizabeth McGee and Torrey Pedone bring tremendous experience and junior Annie McGee continues to be a force in the paint as well as mid range. “
Potential challenges:
“Staying healthy. We have already experienced injuries that we are still recovering from that are setting us back a bit.” – Williams
Expectations:
“We lost 2 seniors, gained one freshman and one walk-on sophomore. Our team is pretty well distributed in terms of player skill confidence and maturity. Half our players were new to the team last year. We focused a lot on our relationships and becoming friends on and off the court. This will hopefully pay dividends this year as we continue to grow as a team ... Become a team of friends who love playing together, trusting one another on and off the court which hopefully translates to more wins than losses but really results in the ultimate long term win for these girls of having an unbreakable bond that lasts a lifetime. “ – Williams
Early-season results:
– Dec. 6: 46-17 home win over Nute
– Dec. 10: 52-18 home win over Mount Royal
– Dec. 13: 33-28 road win at Woodsville
– Dec. 17: Road game at Sunapee
– Dec. 19: Home game vs. Hinsdale
– Jan. 3: Home game at Farmington
Trinity wrestling
Head coach:
– Jarod Mills (2nd season)
Last season:
– No placers at state tournament
Top returning athletes:
– Casey Horne (lone Trinity grappler this season)
Expectations:
“Casey has dedicated a tremendous amount of time training in the offseason to improve his wrestling skills and conditioning level. I expect his efforts will pay big dividends, and I expect him to be in contention for a podium finish at the Division-III tournament and to make some noise at the Meet of Champions.” – Mills
Trinity swimming
Head coach:
– Steve VanDerBeken
Key returning athletes:
– Cassidy Realejo (Senior, captain) – Has already PR’d this season
– Caitlin Bishop (Qualified for NHIAA state championships last season) – Has already PR’d this season
– Hannah Hodge
Promising newcomers:
– Vivienne Jones
Early-season schedule:
Manchester’s city high schools, including Trinity had their second meet at Goffstown’s Allard Center on Tuesday, Dec. 17 against Goffstown, Bow, Merrimack and Bishop Brady.
Their next meet is Monday, Jan. 13 at the Allard Center against Bedford and Nashua South.