It began with some strong individual efforts in the winter – a trickle of championships earned by Bow, Hopkinton and Concord athletes on the slopes and the mats.

It continued in the spring and summer, with various teams hoisting title plaques for their lacrosse, baseball and softball prowess.

It concluded with the Hopkinton boys soccer team winning a second straight Class M crown.

In between, 2007 included some poor behavior from socalled fans in the stands at a Little League game and the arrest of a rising basketball star at a local college.

But those two disappointing examples and some near misses on local fields couldn’t overshadow a successful year in Bow-area athletics.

Winter

Wrestling
Bow High finished fifth at the Division II championships. It was a bit of a disappointment for the team, said coach Jim Kaufman, but not for D.J. Meagher. The 145-pound senior pinned his opponent in the finals in under two minutes, earning him a trip to the Meet of Champions. Connor McDonough, Ben Morrow, Josh Nawn and Spencer Wolverton joined Meagher at the M of C.

Concord, after defeating nemesis Timberlane for the first time in regular-season history, fell to the Owls in the Division I championship, 239.5 to 237.5 points.

“This one’s gonna sting for a while, a long while,” said senior heavyweight Dan Herrick, who lost a tight match in the closing seconds that swung the outcome. Still, Tyler Saltsman, Alex Buessing, Derek Bisson, Rob Garcia, Harry Paul, Marshall Gleason, Brandon Paige, Pat Boyle, Bob Daniel, John Meadows and Levi Byers all joined Herrick at the Meet of Champions.

Once there, Bow’s Meagher and Concord’s Saltsman and Buessing won the M of C in their respective weight classes. Meagher and Saltsman then dominated at the New England wrestling championships, with Saltsman winning his first regional crown and Meagher his second in a row.

Skiing
The Concord boys won the Division I Alpine title, and both the boys and girls teams won the Nordic title.

Bow’s Ian Hanson not only won the Division III state slalom title, he finished second in the giant slalom, then took 10th at the Meet of Champions and earned an invitation to the Eastern High School Championships.

The Nordic teams were also impressive for the Falcons. The boys won the Division III state title, and the girls finished second. The group also turned the usual pecking order on its head in the process.

“Our seniors, and especially our captains, are also coaches, setting examples for teammates,” said head coach Chris Naimie. “They even wax the skis for everyone else.”

Sarah Gilroy of Hopkinton won the girls Division IV slalom crown.

Hockey
Bow, for the fourth straight year and fifth in six years under head coach Tim Walsh, reached the state semifinals and was stopped.

“You have to look at the positive side that we’re here and other teams aren’t …” said Walsh. “But it is frustrating because I’m sick of … going in there and saying, ‘You know, it was a great season, but, unfortunately, we didn’t come out on top.”

Bishop Brady outplayed the state champion Bishop Guertin Cardinals in the state finals, but despite a goal from Bow native Brooks Herrington, Brady fell to Guertin, 2-1.

Gymnastics
Concord entered the girls gymnastics state championship as the top seed, but left in fourth place. Bow’s Stephanie Cormier competed as an individual and placed eighth, while Hopkinton’s Julia Lynch finished 19th.

Basketball
The Bow Memorial girls and boys teams turned in impressive seasons. The girls went undefeated. The boys won the Bow Athletic Club tournament, defeating Hudson, the lone team to hand the locals a loss in 2007.

No area high school team – Bow, Hopkinton or Concord – reached the state semifinals, though the Hawks were within range of top-seeded Conant. A slow-down tactic left the Hawks trailing after three periods, 12-3.

At the college level, cousins Mike Chergey, at Plymouth State University, and Paul Chergey, at Southern New Hampshire University, overcame hand injuries to contribute important minutes as freshmen. As the 2007- ’08 season approached, Paul Chergey was indicted on drug charges and suspended from the SNHU team.

Indoor track and field
Brendan Hyland and Kyle Audet finished second and third, respectively, in the 1,500-meter run at the Class L indoor track and field championships.

Bow’s 4 X 200-meter relay team of Emily Hannon, Jill Hannon, Julia Waddell and Timiny Mosher earned all the team’s points with their third-place effort.

Swimming
Hopkinton sent a team of young athletes to the state swimming and diving championships in February. It was the first time the school sent a relay team to Durham.

“Hopkinton is a small, small school, but I don’t think (swimming) is going to go away,” said coach Joanne Jackson.

Spring

Baseball
Hopkinton, the top-ranked team in Class M, lost to Conant in the semifinals, 4-3, leaving the bases loaded and ending an otherwise stellar year.

“It’s a painful loss. Conant was a team we beat readily twice in the regular season,” said Hopkinton manager Dave Chase. “We had such a strong season. I honestly don’t know if the better team won, but I think they had a better day than us.”

Track and field
Hopkinton’s girls team won the Class M-S championship with 124 points, 51 more than its closest pursuers. The Hopkinton boys took ninth.

Christine Head won the pole vault at the Meet of Champions with a 10-foot effort, then improved to 10-06 at the New England Regionals the following weekend.

“I usually get nervous when I have to perform in general, so I purposely did things that forced me to be in front of lots of people,” said Head. “… I want to do well in college, so I’ve got to start working on those things before I get there.”

The Bow boys finished 10th at the Class I meet, while Concord’s Brendan Hyland again won the Class L 1,600-meter run.

Softball
Concord, as the No. 6 seed, reached the Class L semifinals, losing to second-seeded Londonderry, 2-1.

Lacrosse
Bow put both its teams in the Division II state final. The boys, seeded third, fell to top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas, 7-5.

But the girls, on then-junior Kiley Corson’s shot with less than 20 seconds remaining in the match, added to the school’s trophy case, beating Hanover, 17-16, for the Division II state title.

“I shot at the same spot earlier and scored, so I figured I’d aim at the same spot and try again,” said Corson.

It was the second time in three years Bow beat Hanover for the crown.

Hopkinton, the No. 1-ranked boys team in Division III, was stunned in the semis by No. 4 seed Merrimack Valley in overtime.

Tennis
Concord did it again, winning its second straight title, ninth in 10 years and 23rd overall following a 5-2 win over West. Despite losing four of their top six players, the Crimson Tide went undefeated and missed very little en route to the crown – except for their head coach, Dave Page, who dodged the post-game cooler of water.

The Bow boys were knocked from the postseason in the semifinals, a 7-2 loss to Portsmouth that was much closer than the final score indicated.

“The other two coaches for Portsmouth, they were very nervous about what was happening,” said Bow head coach Drew Groves. “This was a lot closer than they had anticipated. Our kids were playing some great, inspired tennis.”

Summer
American Legion baseball Though the Concord senior team missed the American Legion postseason, the junior team earned the playoffs with a 7-6 win over Salem. The group was eliminated by top-seeded Derry, 3-2.

Little League/

Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken baseball and softball
The Kearsarge Mountain South 10U Babe Ruth softball allstar team finished in the top four at the New England regional tournament. “(Spending time together off the field) is what they really enjoy,” said manager Richie Vaillancourt. “But coming in one game away from playing at nationals isn’t something they’re going to forget either.”

The 14U Bedford Hornets softball team, with players from Bow, Hooksett and Windham, won the state American Softball Association tournament and New Englands and advanced to the Eastern national tournament and PONY national tournament.

Bow lost to Concord National and was eliminated from the District 1 Little League baseball tournament, while the Bow girls dropped a pair of Little League games in the 11- and 12-year-old majors softball tournament.

Concord National continued after the win over Bow, handling Manchester East and Goffstown before finally dropping a 10-9 decision to Salem American.

“I’m just really very proud of this group of boys,” said Concord National manager Dave Angus. “… Every coach has to make that farewell speech, and it’s one of the hardest things you have to do.” It was apparently very difficult for some National “fans,” who berated and threw food at the umpiring crew following the team’s elimination.

“I was afraid for my safety,” said umpire William Dreckmann. “I wanted to call the police.”

The Kearsarge Mountain North U10 Cal Ripken baseball team went 5-1 to win the district title, then came up two wins shy of a state crown.

“Just making the state tournament was an achievement, and we played very competitively,” said manager Dave French. “So I don’t think anyone was disappointed.”

Granite State Senior Games After winning the 5,000-meter race walk, Bow’s Jack Finan said he plans to participate at nationals in 2009.

“I’m shooting to make it to San Francisco,” he said. “I want to see if I can get that far after making it to nationals this year.”

Stan Irzyk of Concord won the pistol shoot in the men’s 75- to 79-year-old age group.

*** Croak won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash in the men’s 70- to 74-year-old division.

Donelda Horne of Hopkinton, in her second competitive swimming competition, won gold in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke.

In her first GSSG appearance, 95-year-old Marg Bruner of Concord won the 85-and-older 10-pin bowling gold medal.

Punt, Pass & Kick
Bow’s Jack Yvars won the boys 10- and 11-year-old division at the NFL Pepsi Punt, Pass & Kick, hosted by Neighborhood News at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium.

Hopkinton’s Sam Winslow was second in that division, while Bow’s Mac Kimball was runner-up in the boys 8- and 9-year-old division.

Triathlon
Rob Ricard of Bow completed his first full Ironman triathlon and earned a trip to Hawaii for the Ironman World Triathlon championship in the bargain.

“I had no concept of distance, training or what it would take to qualify for something like that,” said Ricard, who swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and ran 26.2 miles during a very busy day.

Fall

Football
Bow reached the Division V playoffs and trailed just 7-0 at halftime, but couldn’t keep pace with eventual state champion Pelham, falling 42-7.

“You can’t win when you’re inconsistent, and that hurt us today,” said Bow football head coach Paul Cohen. “But it’s been a great season.”

Soccer
The girls of Hopkinton and Bow both fell in the postseason quarterfinals.

The boys of Hopkinton and Bow both reached the state finals. Bow dropped a 1-0 decision to Hanover in the Class I final. But Hopkinton defended the Class M crown with a 3-0 win over Winnisquam.

“Every game has been a tournament atmosphere and everyone’s been gunning for us, so to come in and be able to pull off the back-to-back (titles) is really something,” said Scott Zipke, Hopkinton boys soccer head coach.

At the college level, New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord, despite playing with as few as 10 healthy players, went 11-3-2 and won the Yankee Small College Conference women’s regular- season championship.

Golf
Concord took second, falling three shots short of a third straight Class L state title.

“We knew the competition was much better this year … (Our team) actually had a better score than last season,” said Concord golf head coach Chick Smith. The Bow Falcons finished seventh in Class I.

Kurt Eddins and Matt Levins finished third and sixth, respectively, in the two-day individual tournament as Concord’s representatives.

Bow’s Matt Lennon finished two shots out of the top 10 in Class I. Hopkinton’s Colin Barnea tied for sixth at the Class M-S individual tourney.

College coaching New Hampshire Technical Institute’s Paul Hogan earned induction into the Plymouth State Hall of Fame.

Crew
Like swimming, crew is gaining popularity in the state, with Concord’s student-athletes discovering the team-oriented sport.

“When it comes to crew, you need really a perfect harmony between all four or eight people,” said Grayson Richey, a former crewman and present coach with the team.

Cross country
Hopkinton’s girls won the Class M-S crown, then narrowly missed a trip to New Englands following a solid team effort at the Meet of Champions against much larger schools.

Field hockey
Derryfield School, featuring players from Hopkinton, Hooksett, Bedford and Windham, finished the season undefeated and won the Class M-S state title on Oct. 28. The crown is Derryfield’s first in the sport in more than 20 years.

“It’s tough for us because we’re a Class S school, so … we’re always playing teams that are twice our size,” said coach Lenny McCaigue. “To win it is just a dream come true for us.”

Hopkinton reached the state semifinals before falling to top-seeded Newfound Regional.