New power rankings
The MIAA released its latest round of winter sport power rankings on Friday afternoon.
Three local boys hoops teams rank in top 10 in Division 1, with North Andover No. 2, Joendy Rosario‘s Lawrence squad No. 5, Andover No. 6 and Central Catholic No. 8.
In girls basketball, Michaela Buckley and Andover are No. 8 and Central Catholic is No. 12 in Division 1.
In girls hockey, Methuen/Tewksbury is No. 9, Haverhill/Pentucket/North Andover (HPNA) is No. 11 and Andover is No. 12 in Division 1.
Finally, in boys hockey, undefeated Methuen is No. 5 in Division 3, North Andover is No. 9 in Division 2 and Central Catholic is No. 12 in Division 1.
Goncalves does it again
Maddie Goncalves continues to re-write the Haverhill High shot put record books. The junior shattered the Hillies’ indoor shot put record for the third time this winter when she threw a 40-9.5 at Wednesday’s MVC Meet. That broke her own record of 38-8.5 set just a week earlier on Jan 10. She had previously broken a record from 1995 with a 37-8.25 on Dec. 9.
The throw would rank No. 4 in area history in our Eagle-Tribune all-time girls outdoor track record book, behind just Jess Cegarra of Timberlane (43-3.5 in 2003), Karen Hodgkinson of Andover (43-0.75 in 1986) and Beth Pickles of Methuen (42-8.5 in 1990).
Courtemanche adds record
Central Catholic’s Madeline Courtemanche set the Raiders school record in the 1,000 meter in a stellar 3:01.75 on Wednesday. The mark, second best in the area this season, is the third school record that Courtemanche has set this season.
Bolduc to NEC
Methuen standout Joe Bolduc will continue his wrestling career at New England College (Henniker, N.H.), the Rangers announced this week. He will join Rangers teammate Dom Gangi, who had previously committed to wrestle for the Pilgrims.
Captains Corner
The winter sports season fully underway, we at The Eagle-Tribune still want to honor the area’s high school captains as part of our Captains Corner series. Coaches — or parents or the athletes themselves — who would like their captains featured are welcome to submit a photo to dwillis@eagletribune.com. Photos should have all captains featured and ideally in uniform.
One Final Thought
As Michael Muldoon used to say, “If you can bring a smile to someone’s face today, just do it!
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