Recent Headlines
By Tris Wykes Copyright Octopus Athletics 2021 HANOVER – Returning only four starters on a high school varsity soccer team can indicate a long season ahead. Particularly in the rugged confines of NHIAA Division I. With the Hanover boys program, however, rebuilding is a foreign concept and reloading is an annual affair. This year’s Marauders…
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By Tris Wykes Copyright Octopus Athletics 2021 LEBANON – Hartford High boys soccer coach Kevin Guillbault was frank Tuesday after his squad was thumped, 6-0, by Lebanon during its penultimate preseason scrimmage. “We’re laying the foundation for the future,” said the 10th-year bench boss, whose team returns only two starters (Nolan McMahon, Joey Beggs) after…
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By Tris Wykes Copyright Octopus Athletics 2021 HANOVER – Small clouds of smoke drifted over the Dartmouth College softball field at the base of Velvet Rocks on Sunday afternoon. First one, then another wafted past, carrying with them the smell of burning wood. Football coach Buddy Teevens, conducting his first practice session of the preseason…
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By Tris Wykes Copyright Octopus Athletics, 2021 Evan Nichols’ perspective was turned upside down in Lahti, Finland last February. Or at least sideways. The 17-year old Lyme resident was in Scandinavia with the U.S. junior national Nordic combined team. The Americans were competing in a sport that combines ski jumping and cross-country (or Nordic) skiing. …
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By Tris Wykes Copyright 2021 Octopus Athletics LEBANON – Lebanon High boys soccer coach Rob Johnstone was asked Saturday where this season’s team might rank among the 28 Raiders teams he’s guided thus far. “It’s a cliche answer, but 28th,” he said. “We haven’t done anything yet.” Oh, but it might. Lebanon returns eight players…
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By Tris Wykes Copyright Octopus Athletics 2021 HANOVER – Lebanon High boys soccer coach Rob Johnstone had an immediate and adamant message for his players following their 2-0 preseason scrimmage victory at arch-rival Hanover on Tuesday night. They were to create no social media posts or images of a gloating nature. “Don’t take the bait…
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By Tris Wykes Copyright Octopus Athletics 2021 HANOVER – Hanover High football appears back on solid ground. But can the Marauders use that perch as a stepping stone to reach another level? A trip to the 2018 NHIAA semifinals was followed by a winless season during which Hanover was not only beaten, but beaten up.…
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By Tris Wykes Copyright Octopus Athletics 2021 LEBANON – At 8:20 a.m. on Sunday morning, Lebanon High’s decrepit running track sat in near silence. It was 61 degrees and sunny, the oval’s northeast end shaded by large trees. Traffic on nearby Route 120 produced a soft whoosh. An hour later, sounds in the area were…
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By Tris Wykes Copyright Octopus Athletics 2021 LEBANON – Keegan Fredette rumbled down the Lebanon High football team’s practice field Saturday afternoon. The junior lineman, not known for deft coordination, was out in space and under the gun. If he caught the Jack Stone pass sailing his way, he and his teammates would escape further…
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By Tris Wykes LEBANON – Chauncey Wood, coach of the Lebanon American Legion Post 22 junior baseball team, tried to rally his troops Saturday. Boy, did he try. Wood cajoled, pleaded, barked and educated. The bearded Orford resident called half a dozen gatherings during his squad’s regular-season finale against visiting Salem Post 63, but the…
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