By Roger Brown
MaxPreps.com
When Rutland High School was looking for a varsity field hockey coach, the school turned to one of its own.
April Cioffi, who played field hockey at Rutland High and then at St. Michael’s College, was introduced as the program’s new head coach last week. She promised to place an emphasis on defensive play.
“It’s a very dedicated group of girls,” Cioffi told the Rutland Herald. “The skill level needs to be elevated, but they all work very hard.”
Cioffi played three years of varsity field hockey under former Rutland coach Lynne Sanders, who had her team take an overnight camping trip to New Hampshire each year so it could compete in a preseason tournament.
“I definitely want to look into that,” Cioffi said. “I want to do some kind thing like that and tie it into a tournament.”
Cioffi, who is a program director with the Rutland Recreation Department, said Lindsay Taylor, another former standout at Rutland High, will work with the goalies during the preseason. Taylor was a goaltender at St. Lawrence University.
“One of the keys for us will be fitness training during the offseason,” Cioffi said.
Girls Basketball: Beynnon Becomes Top Scorer
Kelsey Beynnon, a 6-foot-2 guard, became the Burlington High School girls basketball program’s all-time leading scorer when she tossed in 12 points during a victory over Missisquoi last Thursday.
Her 12-point performance left her with 1,107 career points. The previous record was held by Kathryn Wilson, a 1995 graduate who completed her career with 1,106 points.
Beynnon has accepted a full basketball scholarship from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
* Another Vermont milestone was reached when Lindsey Larivee scored 12 points – including the 1,000th point of her career – to help Enosburg defeat Danville, 72-56, last Tuesday.
Alexa Johnson is the only other player in the program’s history who scored at least 1,000 points.
Cross Country: Pitmon Named Top Runner
Mount Mansfield Union High School’s Adron Pitmon has been named Gatorade’s boys cross country runner of the year in Vermont.
Pitmon, a 6-foot-1, senior, finished third at last season’s Division 1 state championship. It was his only non-winning performance against Vermont competition.
Pitmon won the Harwood Invitational, the Essex Invitational and the Northern Vermont Athletic Conference championships. He was also the first Vermont runner to cross the finish line in the Woods Trail Run (seventh), the Manchester (N.H.) Invitational (ninth) and the New England championships (37th).
Boys Basketball: Burlington Shoots Down Spaulding
Burlington made 17 3-pointers in Monday’s 97-34 victory over Spaulding. Nine different players connected on at least one 3-pointer.
Clancy Rugg (16 points) and Schuyler Mitchell (14) led the Burlington offense. The Seahorses improved their record to 17-0 and stretched the program’s winning streak to 41 games.
Burlington held Spaulding to eight points in the second half.
