It was a special day.
After earning a New England title at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center, on March 17, the Salem cheerleaders ventured across the street to Lundholm Gymnasium, where they shared their winning spirit with the boys basketball team, which won its first state crown in 11 years.
That one special day was a small part of a magical year for Salem High School athletics.
More than a month earlier, Salem athletics director Chris Bergeron struggled to find a spot for a girls gymnastics championship banner won on Feb. 10.
Little did Bergeron know – though he may have expected it – he would have to clear space for six more title reminders by year’s end.
Along with the spirit, girls gymnastics and boys basketball squads, the girls softball, volleyball and field hockey teams earned top honors, and the boys volleyball team followed suit.
While most teams lived up to expectations, others fell short.
For example, the Salem football team, billed by many local pundits as the team to beat in 2007, failed to make the playoffs after an 11-point first-half lead disappeared in its regular-season finale at home.
And one town over, Pelham High School experienced a similar 12 months, as middle-of-the pack teams rose to elite status, while perennial favorites failed to meet lofty expectations.
The Pelham boys football team, suiting up just two seniors, finished undefeated and won the school’s first Division V gridiron crown.
The Pelham spirit squad won yet another winter cheerleading crown as well.
But the boys basketball team, after three consecutive trips to the state final, couldn’t defend its title and was knocked off in the quarterfinals of the Class I tournament.
Winter Basketball
Though Pelham failed to repeat as boys basketball state champs, falling to 10th-seeded and eventual champion Hanover in the quarterfinals of the Class I tournament, neighboring Salem took home the top prize in Class L.
Putting together a run that included the dethroning of 2006 title- holder Manchester Central in a come-from-behind victory, the Blue Devils clinched the crown in the final second of a memorable finale against Trinity.
There, senior Stephen Savage, the Class L player of the year, sank a fade-away threepoint basket at the buzzer to break a 51-51 tie and give Salem its first boys basketball championship since 1995.
“This is unbelievable, you can’t imagine it happening a better way,” said Savage following the post-game mayhem. “I knew right when the ball left my hands it was in.”
“I told my seniors to suck it up and play the way they’ve been playing all year,” said coach E.J. Perry of a timeout speech he made with 29.5 second remaining in the contest. “I asked them how they wanted to leave and reminded them they’d been down this road before.”
In the opening round of the Class L girls basketball tournament, the Salem girls basketball team fell, 53-44, to defending champ Pinkerton Academy, which the Blue Devils beat during the regular season.
The Pelham girls basketball team suffered a similar fate, as the Lady Pythons were felled, 48-37, against St. Thomas Aquinas in the first round of the Class I playoffs.
The Windham Middle School boys basketball team won the Tri-County Class S-2 title following two thrilling victories over local rivals. Windham defeated Woodbury School of Salem, 66-65, in overtime of the semifinals, then edged Pelham, 64-61, in the championship on Feb. 10.
Andrew Ivas delivered a tiebreaking three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining to seal Windham’s second-straight title.
The Windham Middle School girls basketball team equaled the boys’ success, dominating Mountain View Middle School of Goffstown in the championship contest, 30-11.
Spirit
After losing to rival Pinkerton in the state cheerleading championships, the Lady Blue Devils beat their foes by one point, 203.5 to 202.5, to prove they had the best spirit in the region.
The team then cheered their hoopsters to victory.
“On the way home, we shared the bus with the basketball team, so it was pretty chaotic,” said Salem coach Tracy Berube. “There was a lot of celebrating going on, for both teams. And it was such a great ride home.”
Two weeks earlier, when Salem came in second in Class L of the state finals, Pelham, scoring 170.5, trumped Monadnock and Pembroke for the Class I crown.
“This team is the best I’ve ever seen,” said coach Michelle Parisi at the Kiwanis competition in January, where her squad finished second. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves because we want to win so badly.”
Gymnastics
The Blue Devils girls gymnastics team vaulted over Pinkerton and top-seed Concord to earn the state title.
Salem, with a combined score of 135.050, was led by sophomore Leeann Vadala, who finished 11th overall with a 34.5, and junior Jolena Diefendorf, who finished 16th with a 33.675.
“I was half-nervous and halfexcited,” said Vadala of her first experience as an all-around competitor. “I knew if I did well, we’d do well. But if I didn’t, then we could lose, and I’d probably blame myself.”
“We needed to hit all our routines,” said senior Allie Collins. “We had to think of it as just another meet, but the nerves really add up.”
The team finished fifth at regionals with a score of 136.1.
Pelham, in its first year with a gymnastics program, finished ninth at the state event with 119.900 points.
Senior Brandee Peglow scored 34.825 and earned ninth place individually as one of the team’s two all-around competitors.
Julie Loosigian finished with 32.850 points, earning her 26th place as an individual.
Wrestling
Though the team effort fell just short of both a New Hampshire and a New England title, finishing third and second in the events, respectively, the Salem wrestling squad’s season was highlighted by individual success.
Trevor Dearden, a 125-pound competitor, and Aaron Kalil, 119 pounds, each won at the Division I competition on Feb. 17, then followed with state titles at the Meet of Champions on Feb. 24 and capped the season when each earned a second-straight New England crown on March 3.
In the process, Kalil set the school record with 180 wins, a mark Dearden is on pace to break his senior year.
“I know that I don’t really have trouble with (most in-state kids), but being the guy to beat, I don’t really feel pressure,” said Kalil after the M of C, where he earned his third state title. “I just feel more motivated. I just can’t lose. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I lose.”
Peter Freeman, who fought in the 152-pound weight class, won the D-I meet.
Other Blue Devils exhibiting stellar mat prowess included 130-pounder Alex Pittera and 160-pounder Corbin Decker, who each reached New Englands; Nick Tomasi, 140 pounds; Nick Illipoulos, 189 pounds; and Ryan Stanton, 275 pounds, who reached the Meet of Champions.
Pelham had similar individual success, finishing sixth in Division II and sending 152-pounder Mike D’Avanzo and 103-pound freshman Mike Perruccio, the DII champ, to New Haven, Conn., for the regional competition.
Hockey
Bishop Guertin, with contributions from Salem and Windham players, won the state crown in ice hockey, capping a 23-1 season with a 2-1 victory against Bishop Brady.
Goalie Taylor Wood of Windham, the Division I Player of the Year, stopped 21 shots in the win, and Salem’s Zach Bradanick scored the first of the Cardinals’ first-period goals.
“This year, from the beginning, our goal was to win,” said Guertin coach Gary Bishop. “We weren’t going to be happy just being there. We wanted to win it. The difference between a good season and a great season is this victory.”
Salem didn’t fare as well, relinquishing a two-goal lead and falling to Manchester Memorial, 4-3 in overtime, in the Division I quarterfinals.
Indoor track and field
Salem’s Alex Miller finished third individually with a 6.8-second run in the 55-meter dash and fourth in 8.28 seconds during the 55-meter hurdles to lead the Blue Devils at the Class L Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 3.
“It was a pretty good day,” said Miller. “Our team was supportive and everything. We had a fun time. We were all hyping each other up.”
Spring softball
After three straight playoff nailbiters, the Salem softball team whipped Londonderry, 5- 1, to win back-to-back titles. The Lady Blue Devils have won eight of 10 and 14 of 16 Class L championships.
“We’re Salem. We’ve got a target on our backs, and we know that,” said then-junior Katie Bettencourt. “Today, I think we played like ourselves, instead of how we looked in the last three games. Today, we looked like our normal selves, definitely.”
Baseball
After a stellar regular season, the Blue Devils were upset – for the second year in a row – as the playoff’s No. 2 seed in the first round. Salem lost, 2-1, to No. 15 Concord and headed home much earlier than expected.
Pelham, which finished 12-5 in Class I, earned the No. 6 seed in the state tournament, but was unsuccessful in its title pursuit.
Track and field
Pelham’s Kris Fournier dominated the javelin competition at the Class I Track and Field Championships with a school-record and personal-best throw of 166 feet, 6 inches. He finished 12th the next week at the Meet of Champions with a throw of 147-08.
At the Class L championship, the Blue Devils finished 10th behind junior Andrew Dickie, who finished second in javelin, reaching 171-05 on his throw; sophomore Michael Marshall, who placed fourth in the high jump with a leap of 6-02 and fourth in the 110 hurdles; and Mark Dupuis, whose seventhplace triple jump was a personal best at 40-11.
Nicole Duarte placed fifth in discus with a throw of 100-5, and Erica Gegin and Olivia Conners placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in javelin with throws of 99-06 and 98-10.
Duarte improved at the Meet of Champions, finishing third with a throw of 104-09, and Marshall, in the high jump, also took third, clearing 6 feet.
Dickie finished fourth in the state in the javelin competition with a toss of 147-08.
Emily Standish of Pelham, competing for Bishop Guertin, earned first place at the Meet of Champions in the high jump, clearing 5-04.
Tennis
While the Salem girls tennis team missed the postseason for the first time since 1993, the No. 3 Blue Devil boys reached the state semifinals for the third straight year before succumbing to No. 2 Manchester West. And SHS returns all but one varsity player for 2008,
“It’s a good feeling to get so close each year … The guys know what kind of team we have, and I think there’s anticipation even for next year,” said coach Mike Jolicoeur. “I think these guys are pretty psyched about who’s returning.”
Summer Little League/Babe Ruth baseball and softball
Salem American advanced deeper in the District 1 11- and 12-year-old Little League all-star tournament than any Salem team since 1994.
Though its run fell short of a title, American made the losers bracket final to finish among the top three in the district.
“We had two losses, and they were to the best two teams in the tournament (Manchester North and Bedford) … There’s no shame in that,” said coach Peter Rayno.
Similarly, the Pelham 10- and 11-year-olds were felled twice in five days – 7-2 against eventual champ Goffstown in the winners bracket final and then 10-2 in the losers bracket final against Hooksett – to finish third in the Little League allstar tournament.
Likewise, the Windham 9- and 10-year olds fell in the winners bracket finale, a 16-14 heartbreaker to Goffstown. The team finished third following another tough loss, 13-11, to Manchester East.
After being upset in the district tournament, the Salem Babe Ruth U12 softball team finished the state tournament 4-0 to win the New Hampshire title.
Fall Volleyball
The Salem boys volleyball team’s win streak reached 74 as the Blue Devils earned their fourth consecutive D-I title with a straight-set victory against No. 2 Keene.
“This is the best championship,” said coach E.J. Perry. “Last year we won, and people said we lost a lot of talent and the run would end. We proved that we’re not about rebuilding, but reloading. They said this team was done and winning tonight showed we’re not.”
Not to be outdone by their male counterparts, the Salem girls volleyball team recovered from shaky play early in the playoffs to crush No. 1 Spaulding in the D-I final, winning all three sets by at least 14 points.
The championship was the Lady Blue Devils’ second in as many years after not winning a title in more than a decade.
“Tonight, we all clicked,” said senior middle hitter Nicole Duarte. “We’ve just been playing every point like it’s our last.”
Field hockey
Led by Class L player of the year Carolyn Malloy, the Lady Blue Devils once again flexed their muscles against all comers as they finished undefeated en route to their third straight Class L title. Salem beat Timberlane 4-0 in the finale, avenging their only blemish, a 2-2 road tie against the Owls earlier in the season.
“Every year is different, and every group is different, and I know these girls won championships before. But right now, the only one that matters is the one they won today,” said coach Carol Merchant of Salem’s fifth title in six years.
Derryfield School, featuring players from 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 over 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.”
Football
After edging fellow undefeated D-V power Gilford in the regular-season final, 13-12, the two teams met again in the championship contest.
But this time, the Pythons didn’t leave their destiny to chance, handling their foes a 21- 7 defeat while earning their firstever state crown.
“We made history this year,” said all-state running back Bruce Vieira. “To go 11-0, undefeated and win a state championship at home, you really can’t describe it.” In Salem, three home losses to three playoff teams prevented preseason favorite SHS from reaching the D-I postseason. Up 14-3 in the regular-season finale against Manchester West, the Blue Devils lost the pre-playoff playoff contest, 17-14, and were eliminated from contention.
The setback came after they pounded Nashua South and Manchester Central to put themselves in position to possibly earn the tournament’s No. 2 seed.
Golf
The Salem High School golf team finished fifth at the Class L golf tournament, but sent four golfers, who all finished among the top 25, to the individual tournament. James Folk, carding a 77, led the Blue Devils and was followed by Jon Longacre, Tyler Vigue and Corey Keenan, who all fired 80s.
Folk finished 13th individually with a 78 the second day to total 155, missing the top 10 by one stroke. Keenan finished one stroke ahead of Longacre, 159 to 160, and Vigue carded a two-day total of 165.