By Roger Brown
MaxPreps.com
The Joseph Yukica/New Hampshire Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame has announced the 15 students who will receive the organization's Scholar-Athlete Awards this year.
The recipients are Laconia's Keith Ball, Plymouth's Spencer Dauer, Bishop Guertin's Pete Ducharme, Salem's Mark Dupuis, Salem's Ben Lawlor, Pinkerton Academy's Bryan Farris, Winnacunnet's Jacob Fiorino, Exeter's Chris Grillo, Somersworth's Bryan Lausberg, Alvirne's Derek Li, Hanover's Will Mosenthal, Nashua South's Paul Rogalski, Hanover's Michael Whitcomb, Lebanon's Arthur Patch and Portsmouth's Rod Walker.
This year's winners will collect their awards at the foundation's 20th annual dinner on May 8 in Manchester.
The dinner will be held in honor of former Kennett High School coach Gary Millen, who died suddenly last summer. The New Hampshire Chapter will also pay tribute to Yukica, its founding father. St. Thomas Aquinas coach Rod Wotton will receive the Contribution to Amateur Football Award, and Concord attorney Tom Rath will receive the Red Hayes Award for his law firm's support of youth sports.
Girls Lacrosse: Warriors Look to Repeat
Winnacunnet won't be lacking varsity experience on the field this season, but the Warriors will be breaking in a new coach.
Fred Trofatter has replaced Don Kerley, who guided Winnacunnet to the Division II championship last season. Trofatter coached Winnacunnet's junior varsity team last season.
Abby Boduch, Nikki Hume and Ashley Burness - the team's three senior tri-captains - are among Winnacunnet's returning players. Hume, Winnacunnet's starting goaltender, was named the team's Most Valuable Player last season.
"All three are good leaders," Trofatter said. "It's why they were chosen. They're very eager to learn and they like to hustle.
"We take it a day at a time. (Winning last year's championship) is a great accomplishment, but I don't think it'll have a bearing on the season and how we approach things."
Winnacunnet will open its season April 9 against Timberlane. The Warriors will play six of their first eight games at home.
Baseball: Sanborn Turns to Chapman
If Billy Chapman isn't the youngest varsity head coach in the state, he has to be close. Chapman, 22, recently began his first season as Sanborn's baseball coach. He has coached junior varsity soccer and freshman basketball at Sanborn.
"I am extremely excited to get started," Chapman told the Rockingham News. "I have been given a great opportunity to start my own program here at Sanborn. I am young enough to really relate to the players, and I have great support from my fellow colleagues.
"On the field I will be attempting to teach the game of baseball through basic fundamentals and the idea of being mentally tough. Some kids today have trouble in adverse situations and I believe that teaching them to be mentally tough in baseball will ultimately help them be prepared for real life."
Chapman, who teaches physical education at Sanborn, played college baseball for Division III St. Joseph's College in Standish, Maine. Before that he played varsity baseball at John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine.
Girls Basketball: Murphy Collects top Honor
Londonderry's Stef Murphy has been selected as New Hampshire's Gatorade Player of the Year. Murphy and former Alvirne standout Lauren Moore are the state's only two-time winners of the award.
Murphy averaged 24 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots per game for the Lancers, who finished 15-5 and reached the Class L tournament's quarterfinals this year. She also set the state career scoring record with 1,769 points.
Murphy, a 6-foot-3 center who has committed to Boston College, will join the winners from the 49 other states as finalists for Gatorade's National Player of the Year, which will be announced in March.
