Weekly Update

These are busy and exciting days in Whitman-Hanson athletics.  However, Friday was also a scary night at the football game when one of our officials collapsed during the game on the field.  There have been a lot of conflicting stories about what happened so I think it is important we provide an accurate account.  The most important news is that the official is doing well and at last report was undergoing tests to determine why he collapsed.  I spoke to his wife Saturday morning and she said he was feeling much better. 

When he collapsed on the field Friday, he received immediate medical attention from several people including an off duty EMT, our trainer Lexie Watkins and a few other experienced professionals.  The ambulance arrived in a matter of minutes (in part because one was already en route to handle a leg injury for a player).  Our portable AED was on the Silver Lake sideline in our athletic trainer’s cart.  Sophomore Jack Sweeney ran across the field and quickly delivered it to the scene while simultaneously senior captain Ethan Phelps sprinted to the halftime building and got our back up AED and also delivered that one.

The official always maintained a pulse and he never needed the use of the AED.  All of our teams undergo emergency response training and are tested annually in an emergency simulation by our trainer.  Ethan and Jack promptly acted because they knew how important those AED machines are in these situations. 

We were lucky that Friday night was a major athletic event and we had so many medical personnel readily available.  We run our emergency response training and drills so that our students and coaches are prepared in the event something like this happens with no professional medical assistance available.  All of our students and coaches know where the AED is located and have a series of protocols they know to follow to be sure the patient receives the best treatment as quickly as possible.

There were so many people who contributed to a positive outcome on Friday and there are too many to name individually.  However, I would be remiss if I did not recognize Whitman Hanson football parent Jim Sweeney who is a Scituate EMT.  Jim quickly sprinted on to the field and took command of the situation.  His professionalism and knowledge was instrumental in the medical treatment.  Our athletic trainer Lexie Watkins was also right there providing excellent care as well. Once again thank you to everyone who has wished the official well and for the support for our entire staff and community.

Hall of Fame

A few weeks ago, we received permission from the school committee to proceed with our plans to establish a Whitman Hanson Athletic Hall of Fame.  We formed a small committee consisting of current and former coaches, community members and current and former players.  We will begin accepting nominations immediately.  The link to the nomination form is available at www.whathletics.com  (here is a direct link to the form - https://fs17.formsite.com/WHathletics/form64/index.html ).

 There are four categories of nominations: Player, Coach, Team and Contributor.  Here are some guidelines for nominations:

1) Former Whitman-Hanson Regional High School student/athletes will be eligible to be nominated for membership any time after the 5th anniversary of the graduation of their original class from high school, and must have attended Whitman-Hanson Regional High School for at least two years.

2) A coach's eligibility will be based upon a high degree of competency and success. A candidate must have contributed toward promoting sound educational values to his/her athletes. Coaches are eligible for induction 3 years after leaving their coaching position within the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School athletic department. The 3 year “waiting period” can be waived if the nominee has a significant medical issue.  Also, an active coach can be inducted if they have been coaching at Whitman-Hanson at least 20 years and reached the age of 65.

3) An athletic team's eligibility will be based upon the success of the team.  The team shall be eligible after the 10th anniversary of the graduation of the seniors on that team.

4) The Contributor Award will be given to the individual/s, who have given their selfless time and energy toward the benefit of an individual team, or to the athletic programs in general.  Not every induction class must have a Contributor award.

The first class of inductions will take place next fall and the committee hopes to announce their selections by this spring.

Vaping

We were very happy that the school year started with no incidents of vaping in school.  However, in recent weeks there have been several incidents in which students have broken this important rule which is intended for their safety and health.   A violation of this rule comes with serious consequences including a 3 day suspension from school.  In addition, student athletes receive an MIAA chemical health violation which comes with several penalties.

1)     On first offense a 25% suspension from their current or next sport.  A second offense results in a 60% suspension.

2)     Loss of all leadership positions for one year

3)     Violators become ineligible to be elected to league all-star teams during the season in which they serve a suspension.

Students who vape or break the other provisions of the MIAA chemical health rule (drink alcohol, use drugs, attend parties etc) are letting their teammates down.  Even if a player does not get caught breaking the rule, just the fact that they are willing to gamble their commitment to their teammates shows they do not really care about the team or teammates.  The best teams make a collective commitment to live up to these rules so they will all be there for each other the entire season.  Peer pressure doesn’t always have to be a negative thing.  Positive peer pressure to do the right thing also works.

Sports Psychology Group

We have still have not officially named our group but this past Thursday approximately 20 students got up early and joined us on the late start day for our first meeting.  Ms. Robichaud, Ms. Shait, Dr. Jones and I were impressed by these students who participated in productive conversations in our initial meeting.  We will be advertising the next date soon and we would love to see even more students join.  We will be covering everything from visualization, performance anxiety, depression, time management, stress, happiness and much more.   

Now here is quick rundown on each team….

1)      Our football team jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Silver Lake Friday in the first 3 minutes of the game.  However, things stalled from there and the Lakers kept it close (14-6) for much of the rest of the night until the Panthers blew it open in the final quarter.  Here is the scoring summary:

7 Jacob Nixon 57 reception from Rian Schwede Jake O'Brien kick good WH

17 Ethan Phelps 7 run  O'Brien kick good WH

5 Sean Waters 70 reception kick no good SL

6 Nate Beath 2 run Ryan Schwede conversion run WH

10 Ryan Downing 76 reception from Schwede  O'Brien kick WH

Rian Schwede has been on fire the last couple of weeks.  Friday he was 7-12 passing for 158 yards, 2 touchdowns and he caught a big interception.  Nate Beath continues his excellent season carrying the ball 8 times for 56 yards and a touchdown.  Ethan Phelps carried it 10 times for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively Quinn Sweeney led the attack with a sack and 5 tackles (2 for a loss).  Sean Joanis had 6 tackles and an interception while Ryan Trongone had 7 tackles.

The team is now 4-2 and currently sits in 4th place in the 12 team Division 3 bracket.  If they can win at Plymouth North on Friday the Panthers will secure their first home playoff game under the new post season format.

2)      The Whitman Hanson girls' soccer team improved to 8-1-2 on the season and secured a place in the MIAA state tournament with a 3-0 win over Plymouth North on Friday. Both defenses played strong in the first half and the Panthers finally broke through when Riley Bina ran on to a long ball from Courtney Woodward and blasted it into the back of the net. With the score 1-0 at half the Panthers came out strong in the second half and went up 2-0 when Nora Manning received a nice pass from Kelsee Wozniak and slotted a left footed shot by the keeper. Delaney Hall rounded out the scoring after taking a perfect cross from Zoe Cox turning and firing a shot into the side of the net. Keepers Skylar Kuzmich and Reese Codero combined for the shutout. Olivia Johnson, Erin Wood, Courtney Woodward, Ava Melia and Sam Perkins were strong defensively while Olivia Borgen and Alexis Billings turned in strong games in the midfield.  The Panthers have a big week ahead as they play host to Duxbury Tuesday at 6:30pm, travel to Silver Lake Thursday at 6:30pm and host Rockland on Saturday at noon.

3)      The boys soccer team has hit a rough patch of late and has yet to play a game with everyone healthy and available.  The team is currently 3-8-1 and will travel to Duxbury on Tuesday.

4)      The Whitman-Hanson Boys Cross Country team (2-3) downed Silver Lake at home Wednesday afternoon 24-37. 
Scoring for the Panthers on its 5k course were SO Theo Kamperides (2nd, 18:05), JR Brandon Hager (4th, 18:35), FR Evan Jewett (5th, 18:48), JR Captain Adam Solari (6th, 18:55) and SO Matt Butler (7th, 19:12.) Also running well for WH were JR Nick Hanley (8th, 19:32), SO Liam Cafferty (9th, 19:40) and SO Chris MacDonald (10th, 19:45.) 

5)      Whitman-Hanson Girls Cross Country (2-3) placed 6 of the top 7 runners to defeat Silver Lake at home Wednesday afternoon. Scoring for the Panthers in the 5K race were JR Tori Boss (2nd, 22:08), JR Niki Kamperides (3rd, 22:12), SR Captain Maeve Rooney (4th, 22:59), SR Captain Maeve McDonough (5th, 23:26) and SR Dorothy DiMascio-Donohue (6th, 23:26.) JR Tori Carleton placed 7th overall in 24:00. 

6)      The volleyball teams best performance of the week came on Tuesday when they recorded an impressive 3-0 over the Blue Eagles.  Senior middle Erin Leahy was on fire all match with 9 total kills. Junior tri-captain right side Olivia Martin got the team going with a strong kill and aggressive play in the first set. Junior tri-captain libero Nicole Scott recorded 16 digs in the match. The Panthers are 4-8 overall, 4-7 in league play.  One other note, Friday marked the last home game for senior Kylie Gervasio who will be returning to Brazil for a couple of weeks (she will be back for the season finale on the road).  The team celebrated her and her family with a pre game ceremony. She then went out and recorded 23 assists.  The girls travel to Silver Lake Monday.

7)      The field hockey team continues its amazing season, posting their 4^th straight tie on Tuesday, 2-2 against perennial powerhouse Hanover.  Robin Goyette found the back of the net and then Delanie MacDonald joined her on the scoresheet seconds after.   In the second half, the Panthers defense took over.  Hanover had many opportunities to tie the game, but goalie Madison Savicke and her defense were relentless at stopping opportunities.  Hanover was able to put one past the defense with just two minutes left in the game to tie the score.  The team is 2-5-6 overall and 1-5-3 in league play. The state tournament is still a possibility but the girls have their work cut out for them.  They need 9 points in their final 5 games.  The team travels to Plymouth South on Monday and Plymouth North on Wednesday before returning home Friday against Duxbury.

8)      The weather has wreaked havoc on all of our sports this fall but this is particularly true for golf.  They will have a match every day this week as they finish off their regular season.  They head into the final week with a record of 5-6 and need to finish .500 in order to qualify for post season play.  They suffered a crucial loss on Wednesday at home against Silver Lake, 242-254.  Sr. Captain Owen Manning was once again the team medalist with his 5 over par.

9)      Our cheerleading team is excited to start their competition season on Sunday when they travel to Oliver Ames.  The girls have been doing a lot of practicing and are ready to show off their new routine.  In addition, the team has been very involved in community service.  At Friday’s football game, they continued with the Whitman Hanson breast cancer fight with another Think Pink game.  The superfans supported the cause by dressing up in pink.