I’m wrapping up coverage of Algonquin’s winter sports post-season journeys.
Saturday’s Girls Hockey game highlighted that MIAA’s seeding and teams’ records aren’t always predictors of who will prevail.
The #4 Titans were outplayed by underdogs in their Sweet 16 game.
The Community Advocate covered the 3-2 upset that ended the Titans’ bid for state glory:
After reaching the MIAA Division 2 semifinals last year, fourth-ranked Algonquin had championship ambitions. But despite competing valiantly on Saturday afternoon at New England Sports Center, the team was upset by No. 13 Medfield Regional. . .
“I’m very proud of their effort. They didn’t give up. They kept moving their feet, working hard. The bounces just didn’t fall the way we wanted. There were a couple close opportunities we had that just didn’t go our way. They worked hard — we’ve just got to get more pucks to the net,” said Head Coach Tina Beauchemin.
You can read the full story here.
The co-op girls team was the last ARHS team competing in state brackets. But, there were three other Gonk athletes competing in winter championships last week, and
As I posted on Friday, Indoor Track’s Boys and Girls team each had one player who qualified and registered for the New England Interscholastic Track & Field Championship on March 1st in Boston.
Senior Jonah Gould placed 3rd in the Mens 1 Mile and junior Niamh O’Sullivan tied for 8th place in the Womens High Jump.
This afternoon, a parent shared news from the team about another big competition and win last week that I missed when I initially posted today.
I had been surprised that following his winning performance at states, senior Miles Lipka didn’t also compete at the New England event. It turns out he gave it his all earlier last week, competing in the MSTCA (Mass State Track Coaches Assoc) Pentathlon. (He was the only Titan to compete in the event.)
Lipka came in first place, and broke the state record that was set in 1990.
According to a message from the team, Lipka’s score of 4021 “not only earned him the best score in the United States this year by over 400 points, but it also represents the highest pentathlon score in the country since 2018. Miles now ranks as the 8th best high school pentathlete in U.S. history.”
I also got an answer on whether or not any Titans qualified yet to compete at the National Championships in Boston later this month. The Boys team qualified to send four runners to represent the school in 1600 meter Sprint Medley Relay. One of the runners will be Gould.
The Boys team also plans to compete at the Rising Stars Classic in Boston this weekend. That will afford members opportunities to qualify for for other events at Nationals. (That may also be true of the Girls team.)
Updated (3/3/25 5:33 pm): My initial post didn’t include Lipka’s amazing pentathlon win or the news that at least four runners will compete at the National Championship.
