Patriots Roundup: Boys’ Nordic Ski Team sweeps the podium 

By Bruce Hack  Correspondent
January 26, 2024

MIAA Power Rankings for games through January 19 found the boys’ ice hockey team, 11-0, atop Division 2 for the second straight week. The girls’ basketball team is currently ranked 32nd in Division 1 with a 4-4 mark. 

The Nordic Ski Team had its first competition of the season and came away with a split decision. The boys’ team won with 482 points, defeating six other teams in a Mass Bay West meet. Acton-Boxborough was runner-up with 450 points. On the girls’ side, CC finished third with 423 points. The Patriots were 10 points behind first-place Westford and six points behind second-place Acton-Boxborough. 

In the boys’ race, the Patriots swept the podium. Xander Scopinich-Burgel won by two tenths of a second over teammate Adam Synnestvedt. Coming in third for CC was Zak Scopinich-Burgel. Penn Roges in sixth and Roman Lin in 11th rounded out the top five finishers for Concord-Carlisle. Other skiers for the Patriots were Razvan Folgar, Beckett Johnson, Henry Gaasch and Noah Arthur. 

The girls’ race was won by CC Co-Captain Sarah Kirincich (’24) as she won her first league (Mass Bay West) race. Teammate Katie Pohlig came in third place to give the Patriots the early lead in the team scoring. Uma Sumnotra finished 17th, Emerson Lin in 30th and Alexa Keene in 31st rounding out the top five finishers for Concord-Carlisle. Miriam Sachs, Catherine Richardson, Mia Snorek-Yates, Phoebe Richardson, Kaya Vlacovsky, Esma Dirrane and Charlotte Stevens also skied for the Patriots. 

To help the team get ready for the competition, they spent Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend training in Jackson, New Hampshire, an annual tradition. 

Two of the teams’ first three races were postponed and must be made up. 

Girls’ Ice Hockey suffered an 0-3 week but continued to show improvement. 

On MLK Day, they faced off against Lexington and lost 4-2 on the road. In the first meeting between the two Battle Road combatants, Lexington won 9-4. With three minutes left in the game the Patriots were up 2-1 on goals by Abby Athanasoulas and Elizabeth Cooke. Assisting on the goals: Abby Adams and Sarah Alter. Lexington then scored on a breakaway and another goal with two and half minutes left, putting the Minutemen up 3-2. Concord-Carlisle pulled its goalie and almost scored, but Lexington ended up with an empty-net goal for the 4-2 final. CC lost a goal that would have put the team up 3-1 when it was called back on an inadvertent whistle. 

“We played one of the best games I’ve seen our team play!” said CC Head Coach Steph Jahnle. 

Freshman Nicki Atkins earned the Worker of the Game Award. “Filling in for a goalie (she’s a forward), she made some amazing saves!” Jahnle said. “She played so well that the Lexington coach was complimenting how well she played.” 

Weston/Wayland defeated CC 5-4. Patriots’ goals were scored by Maddy Humber, Julia Lambert, Abby Athanasoulas and Addy Healy. Humber and Healy also had assists. 

Senior Lambert earned Worker of the Game Award vs. Wayland/Weston. “She worked hard and battled every shift, was scrappy for the puck, played a clean game and had a positive attitude,” said Jahnle. 

In the third game of the week, Boston Latin came away with a 7-2 win. Senior Captain Toryn Jackson earned the Worker of the Game Award: “She played a physical game, kept her cool all game, made some great plays and stayed on her feet. She’s a great captain, leading by example,” Jahnle said. 

The Alpine Ski team competed on Thursday and was able to bring in some new racers and keep their top seven men and women vying for a top spot. The Patriots were matched up in a tri-meet with Lunenberg-Leominster and Weston. 

The girls’ team split the two events, winning 48-43 over Weston but losing by a whisker to Lunenberg-Leominster, 46-45. 

Leading the way for the girls was Delaney Remington (’25) finishing in fourth place. Juniper Flint (’27) followed with a 13th-place finish. Bella Audette (’26) came in next at 20th with Izzy Poole (’25) close behind at 25th. Grace Creamer (’24) barreled into 28th place and Siena Triola (’24) earned key points with a 40th-place finish. 

Other racers on the women’s side were led by Amanda Reynolds (’24) who finished in 30th place. Maddy Clancy (’26) came next with rookie Phoebe Solar (’27) just a half second behind. Tara Johnson (’24), Julia Leary (’26) and Grace Holsinger (’27) rounded out the group. In Grace’s first race, she knocked off two seconds in her second run, showing great improvement. 

The men’s course got choppy near the bottom and caught a couple of skiers. But Henry Flint (’25) continued his strong start to the season with another second-place finish. Theo Remington (’26) again followed him in sixth place, while Tucker Kuftinec (’26) jumped a few spots to 12th, followed by Jamie Poole (’26) in 21st. Drew Callen (’24) and Harry Nerrow (’24) got caught in a divot. Even with the two downed racers, the Patriots pulled off two victories against Lunenberg-Leominster (44-38) and Weston (45-41). 

Other CC racers on the men’s side paired up for some strong finishes. Sam Snell (’25) and Will Redmond (’26) came in 25th and 26th. Jakab Renyi (’26) had a strong showing for his first race, coming in 32nd. He was followed by Ben Redmond (’24) in 33rd. George Yates (’24) and Henri Legault (’25) also got their race on, finishing 39th and 46th respectively. 

Wrestling had a tough day on Saturday as they hosted a quad-meet with Marlboro, Minnechaung and Beverly coming to Concord-Carlisle. They lost all three matches, with Marlboro beating them 42-33; Minnechaung, 60-16; and Beverly, 64-15. 

Junior Grady Snarr was the only Patriot wrestler to go 3-0 on the day. At 120 pounds, he won all three by pins — two in the first period and the other in the second. 

Eddie Miles and Kian Amouzgar each went 2-1 on the day. 

“We are a young team this year,” said CC Head Coach Craig Carpenter. “Everyone is working hard and getting better.” 

Swimming and Diving had a boys-only meet at Boston Latin and won 86-73. Alexander Sproule won the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. Presley Rogers won the 200-yard individual medley. The 100-yard butterfly was won by Cale Barker. The team of Caden Watson, Lucas Leonard, Cale Barker and Emlen Lease won the 200-yard freestyle relay. Thomas Stone stayed undefeated in diving for the Patriots. 

Indoor Track and Field had a meet versus Lincoln-Sudbury on Wednesday and the boys won 61-35. 

There were personal records in the long jump by Mateo Pimenta; the shot put by Jamari Pires (two-foot improvement) and Richard Blair. More personal records: in the hurdles by Seiji Ma & Jack Thomas; in 55M dash by Zion Atkinson; in the mile by Sawyer Bout, Charlie MacDonald and Luke Crounse; in the 1000M by William Hawes, Christopher Lando, Thomas Rivier and Ryan Perry; in the 300M by Cesar Hernandez, Mateo Pimenta, Jack Thomas and Brendan Joyce; and in the two mile by Brady Quayle, Alexan Rivier and Andre Haddad.  

“It was a great team effort with lots of first and second place finishers for a fun team win,” said Head Coach Hanna Bruno. 

The girls’ team defeated Lincoln-Sudbury, 55-41. The girls had some PRs: In the shot put, Alexandra Saunders and Jill Evans. Hurdles: Nina Zinke. 55M Dash: Alissa Bono. In the 300M: Claire Beckley and Jill Evans.  

At D2 state relays at Reggie Lewis on Saturday, the boys’ 4×800 (Charlie MacDonald, Sawyer Bout, Will Anstey, Liam Quinn) got a medal placing fourth with an 8:36.21 and qualified for States. On the girls’ side, the girls’ High Jump relay (Jill Evans, Lauren Zipoli, Charlotte DiRocco) won the gold with 4.40m. In the 4×200, Lauren Zipoli, Claire Beckley, Alissa Bono and Charlotte DiRocco won in a blazing 1:47.63, the third best time in Massachusetts this year and getting close to the CC school record. In the shot put relay, CC had two PRs on the girls’ side: Catherine Lynch and Alissa Bono.