This week marked the first official games of the winter sports season at ORR. After working hard in preseason for two weeks, three teams went up against regional opponents this week: girls’ indoor track, boys’ indoor track, and boys’ basketball. Here is a look at the first week of scheduled games for ORR winter athletics.
Girls’ Track: The Lady Bulldogs may have lost several key seniors to graduation, including All-State champion Ally Saccone, but their performance in their season opener against Diman Voke shows that their depth and skill will have no problem patching up the holes left by the graduates. The girls successfully started their season with a 77-10 victory over Diman. Captain Morgan DaSilva won the 55-meter dash with a quick 7.6 seconds, while fellow captain Paige Santos claimed the 300-meter dash with a 47.5. Another key win for the Lady Bulldogs was the 55-meter-hurdles, which Bishop Stang transfer Abby Adams won with a time of 9.4 seconds. Adams’ performance in the hurdles is much needed for the girls, who could consistently count on Saccone last year for wins in her signature event. Adams and Santos should be able to help continue claiming Bulldog victories in the hurdles.
Other wins for the girls included sophomore Nicole Mattson in the 600 (1:54.6), Jane Kassabian in the 1,000 (3:53), Riley Shaugnessy in the mile (6:28), Sammie Barrett in the 2 miles (13:15), Zoe Smith in the high jump (4’8”), and Sam Allaire in the shot put (25’6”). The 4×400 relay team of Mattson, Smith, Brooke Santos, and Arden Goguen clinched the victory for the girls, who look to defend their SCC title this coming season.
Boys’ Track: The boys also had a strong start to their season, defeating Diman with a narrow score of 45-41. Though there are many newcomers on the team, the boys still had excellent performances. Colin Knapton, who missed most of last year’s indoor track season due to injury, was a double winner for the Bulldogs, claiming the 55-meter dash (6.8 seconds) and the 300-meter dash (39.4 seconds). Junior Kevin Saccone will also make a big impact on the team, evident in his state-qualifying 55-meter-hurdles victory (8.2 seconds). Saccone would also finish second to teammate Chris Demers in the 600-meter dash, which Demers won with a time of 1:34.7. Another promising performance was Jesse Noonan in the shot-put, who threw over 40 feet to claim second place. Noonan will likely fill the top thrower spot for the boys. Though the meet was closer than expected, the Bulldogs were missing several key runners, including seniors Mike Wyman and Zach Tilden.
Boys’ Basketball: The basketball team is one that has high-expectations. The Bulldogs are predicted to come out on top of the SCC this season. Thanks to a strong performance by senior Paul Graves, the boys won their season opener against Bishop Stang High School with a score of 58-47. Graves scored a career-high 22 points, and paired with Jordan Menard’s 10 points, the two successfully ran the offense for the Bulldogs, who open their season with a 1-0 record. The Bulldogs took the lead early and never looked back, thanks largely in part to their bench. Ryan Beatty and Evan Santos provided key points off the bench, as Stang limited ORR starters Jeremy Bare, Mikey Pruchnik, and Raekwon Phillips to a mere 15 points. The Bulldogs successfully capitalized on Stang’s 24 turnovers, shooting 43%. This early victory bodes well for the boys, who also handily defeated New Bedford High School in a scrimmage earlier this week.
Below are the overall winter team records, followed by the conference records in wins, losses, and ties as of December 15.
Boys’ Basketball: (1-0-0) (0-0-0); Girls’ Basketball: (0-0-0) (0-0-0); Boys’ Track (1-0-0) (0-0-0); Girls’ Track (1-0-0) (0-0-0); Swimming: (0-0-0) (0-0-0); Hockey: (0-0-0) (0-0-0).
By Michael Kassabian