The Sports Watch for May 30 - June 4

Well, it's Sunday, and you know what that means. It's time for the Sports Watch, the fastest three minutes in Weston Sports coming your way right now:

We start with girls’ lacrosse, and early goals by Julia Meehan and Emma Dagres, who assisted on each other’s strikes, set the tone for Weston, which surged to an 8-1 halftime lead and went onto a 14-10 victory over visiting Bedford in the first round of the Division 2 North Sectionals.

Weston, the No. 2 seed, will host No. 7 Belmont in the quarterfinals tomorrow.

“We came out strong. We did what we intended to do, and ran a lot of motion and passing plays, and a lot of people put the ball in the net,” Weston head coach Chrissy Swanson said.

With the sun glistening on the Weston turf on a gorgeous afternoon, the Wildcats (14-3-1) built on their 2-0 lead with a goal by Bianca Brueckner and two straight by Sarah Peters.

Peters’ second tally was a beauty set up nicely by Hannah Dinardo, who fed Peters deep on the right side, before the latter swung around the net and buried a medium high shot to the middle of the goal.

Weston improved its lead to 7-0, and that’s before Dinardo even stuck with the first of her three goals with a top left corner laser to give Weston an 8-1 lead at the half.

Dagres also finished with a hat trick, while Meehan, Peters, and Brueckner had two goals apiece. Alissa Duffey and Taylor Reeves also scored for the Wildcats.

After taking the big lead, Weston emptied its bench during the second stanza, after playing a terrific first half on defense.

“We worked on stopping the crease roll,” Swanson said of the offensive maneuver that features a player moving from behind the net to get a shot on goal.  

Swanson said her team’s effective defense allowed the Wildcats to create turnovers and get their offense started.

“We could take more risks,” she said.

Christina Warner and Jacqueline Mone combined for the win in goal.

Meanwhile, Bedford goalie Anna Walling shined with a bunch of standup saves in front of the Buccaneer net.

Bedford (9-9-1) also picked up the pace offensively in the second half with a barrage of shots on goal and kept the deficit respectable. Elizabeth Watson had four goals to lead the Buccaneers.

Now to the diamond, where the Weston baseball team got its offense in gear and rolled to an 8-3 victory over host Chelsea in a Division 3 North Sectional preliminary round game.

In addition to its torrid offense, Weston relied on some strong defense to advance to the quarterfinals against Saugus tomorrow.

Silverstein speared a line drive headed down the left field line and doubled off the runner at third to end the bases loaded threat.

Weston took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by senior star Tom Wells. The Wildcats pushed four more runs across in the second stanza. Robert Charpie reached on a misplayed fly ball that led to two runs, and Nick Neu and Matt O’Connor added RBI singles.

Noah Tocci drove in a run to spark a two-run rally in the third.

The Red Devils cut the deficit to 7-2 in the fourth and then made a bid for more in the fifth. They got one across, but Silverstein made the play of the day to prevent further damage.

Weston added an insurance run in the top of the sixth.

We stay on the diamond for softball, and Weston sneaked into the Division 3 North Sectionals as the last seed, but made good in its first stop in the tourney with a resounding 23-1 victory in five innings over host Burke High in a preliminary round matchup yesterday.

Weston, ranked No. 19, was scheduled to visit Shawsheen Valley Tech in a first round matchup yesterday.

Against Burke, the Wildcats’ hit brigade was out in full force as Weston pounded out 24 hits, bolting to 3-0 lead in the first inning, and then exploding for 13 runs in the second stanza to put the game out of reach.

Sophomore superstar Ariana Vasquez drove in five runs, while going 2 for 3 with two triples and a pair of walks and was also hit by a pitch. She also shined in the circle, allowing only one hit, while striking out 10 in a dominant pitching outing.

“Ariana struck out the last six batters of the game,” Weston head coach Kelly Harrington said, noting Burke had only four base runners.

Weston, meanwhile, had base runners everywhere, as Vasquez had much support throughout the lineup.

Sophomore Sarah Goldman had four RBIs, while going 3 for 5, while junior Tanner Skenderian (2 for 3, triple) and freshman Gene Miller (3 for 4, triple) both drove in three runs.

Senior Sarah Ober scored four runs, while going 3 for 4 with a walk. Junior Sami Gosman was a perfect 5 for 5. Junior Kristen Welby (2 for 3, two walks) drove in two runs. Sophomore Dani Silverstein went 2 for 2 with two walks, while freshman Talia Cramer had one hit in three tries.

Senior co-captain Jessilee Gross returned to the lineup after missing 12 games due to a concussion.

Weston scored five more runs in the third inning and one each in the fourth and fifth frames. The Bulldogs got their only run in the second stanza.  

To the courts we go, where Weston senior tennis star Will Spector rallied to defeat Lexington freshman standout Ben Tso, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, to win the North Sectional tennis title and advance to the state championship.

In track and field, Weston juniors Tim Grant, Charlotte Walmsley, and Olivia Brackett, and sophomores Craig Shytle and Abigail Pohl were scheduled to compete at the All-State meet this past weekend. The Wildcat standouts earned their bids at the East Division 4 Championships.

Winning the triple jump and placing second in the high jump, Grant was the top winner for Weston at the Division 4 event. Grant leaped 42 feet, 11 inches in the triple jump, and 6 feet, 2 inches in the high jump.

Shytle also fared well for the boys, taking the long jump at 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches.

For the girls, Walmsley finished first in the two-mile run, crossing at 11:20.46, while Brackett took second place in 11:20.48. Pohl placed  third in the mile run at 5:14.19. 

Also making strong showings for Weston were freshman Fini Bichara and junior Julia Kee. Bichara placed fifth in the girls’ triple jump with a combined leap of 32 feet, 6 inches, while Kee finished sixth in the 200 meter dash in 27.19.  

Finally, congratulations to the Wayland-Weston crew team, which extended its winning streak at the State Championships. For the sixth straight year, the team has brought home the state championship trophies for girls, boys and overall. 

The Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association held the 2011 MPSRA Spring State Championship Regatta on the Merrimack River last Sunday. 

The State Championship is a combination of the individual performances of each crew, which earns points based on finishing place in its races. The points from each race are tallied at the end of the day to determine the boys, girls and overall team state champions.

It was a beautiful day to be on the water and the Wayland-Weston rowers made the best of it.  The teams were able to earn medals in every event they entered, winning eight gold medals, two silvers and a bronze.  

All but one of the boats that Wayland-Weston entered at the championship regatta are called eights, which consist of eight rowers and a coxswain. 

“The highlight for the girls’ varsity squad was a sweep of the varsity eights,”  Wayland-Weston crew coach Matthew Hanig said.

In one of the closest races of the day, the girls’ first varsity race had Wayland-Weston and Bromfield (Acton-Boxborough) rowing dead even for the first 1,200 meters of the 1,500 meter course. The Wayland-Weston girls pulled out the win with a furious sprint in the last 30 strokes to take home the gold medal by 1.02 seconds.

In addition to the exciting victory of the first varsity team, the second varsity and third varsity crews were also victorious. The girls’ second varsity crew won its race by almost two seconds and the girls’ third varsity crew finished first by nearly three seconds.

The boys’ first and second varsity crews also rowed to victory in close races. The boys’ third varsity narrowly missed making it a sweep for the boys’ varsity squad, losing to Hingham by just eight-tenths of a second.

In the novice classes, Wayland-Weston showed its strength with its future varsity crews. The boys’ first novice boat finished first by a wide margin, besting second place Worcester by more than 19 seconds. The boys’ second novice rowers also brought home a gold medal. The girls’ first novice boat finished in second place behind Bromfield by a narrow margin of just more than one second. The girls’ second novice crew earned a gold medal, finishing first in another close race. 

Wayland-Weston also entered a girls’ novice four (four rowers and a coxswain), which finished in third place.

In addition to the individual medals earned by the Wayland-Weston rowers, the teams also earned trophies for Girls Team State Champions, Boys Team State Champions and Overall Team MPSRA State Champions.

“This was a great day for Wayland-Weston crew,” Hanig commented at the end of the day-long regatta. 

Eric Bucher contributed to this report.