The Sports Watch for July 5 - 9

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:

Well, Weston athletes on the Harvard crew team were well represented at the recent under-23 National Team trials and Elite Nationals.

For the National Team, Alex Newell's boat won the lightweight 4x and will be competing for the USA in Amsterdam at the end of the month. Newell is joined by teammates  Matt O'Leary, Erich Schultze, and Michael Wales.

In the lightweight women's quad at the U-23 trials, Weston's Marissa Reichel and Hilary Strong fell a bit short of the win, but competed in the finals in a terrific down-to-the wire race.

In the Elite Nationals, Weston's Kristi Wagner was part of the winning team that took second place in the women's pair and will be racing at junior trials later this week.

Newell and his quad took third in the open quad event, missing first place by 1.1 seconds to a quad that boasted the top US lightweight duo which has been competing in the World Cup races.

Meanwhile, Will Newell was part of the duo that won the lightweight pair event at Nationals and combined with a few others who are trying out for the senior team to win the open four and the open eight.

Well, let the games begin, the list is out for Weston participants taking part in the Bay State Games this summer.

In fencing, the locals will be represented by Robert Barron and Sivana Barron.

Ryan C. Burrow will compete in swimming.

Liz Conant will play in the 7 vs. 7 soccer competition.

Alex Gordon will do the honors in weightlifting.

Juliana Spencer will compete in trap.

Olivia Kane will take part in baton twirling.

Chuck Palson will compete in Masters Swimming.

Yvonne Posa will play in the 6 vs. 6 field hockey competition.

Craig Shytle and Kyle Kachadurian will compete in track and field.

And it was a bittersweet moment for Christopher Aufiero, making the decision to step down as athletic director after three years at Weston High.

“I still have a lot of mixed emotions since I really enjoyed my time at Weston,”  said Aufiero, who lives in Belmont and was born in Cambridge. “It’s going to be difficult to leave Weston and it’s also difficult to leave the field of athletics after 12 years, but at the same time I’m excited to move onto a new challenge.”

Aufiero accepted a post at the Cambridge Public Schools as coordinator of healthy and physical education. His last day at Weston was June 30.

In a memo to the Weston High School community, Aufiero noted, “I have enjoyed my time working in Weston. It’s a wonderful and supportive community. Please be assured that I will do everything in my power to make the transition as easy as possible for both my successor and your children. Thanks for all your help, and support over the past three years, I will miss working in Weston”.

Aufiero admits that removing himself from the field of athletics will be a difficult adjustment, especially after spending eight years as Athletic Director in Weston and Bedford and also coaching baseball at Boston University and Endicott College. But in the end, Aufiero did what he thought was best for him and his family.

“For my family’s sake, taking this new position makes a lot of sense,” Aufiero said. “I’m not leaving to become an athletic director somewhere else. I’m leaving for family reasons, so I have time to spend with them on weeknights, weekends and holidays, and also because I now have a chance to accomplish something different professionally."

Tommy Cassell contributed to this report.