Sports
Gazette Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year: Moriah Luetjen, Amherst
By GARRETT COTE
AMHERST — Moriah Luetjen hadn’t competed in an outdoor track event since her freshman year, when she appeared in the New Balance Nationals — winning the Freshman Girls 400-meter final.Coming into this spring as a junior at Amherst Regional, as much as...
Gazette Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year: Logan Alfandari, Amherst
By CONNOR PIGNATELLO
LEVERETT — Logan Alfandari was cleaning his attic in late February when he stumbled upon a DVD set he hadn’t seen in years.He popped the disc for “Avatar: The Last Airbender” into his brother’s PlayStation and started watching.Alfandari had just come...
Figure skating: New England West sending 7 youth athletes to 2024 State Games of America in San Diego
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
New England West Skating Club figure skaters will be competing against some of the top competition in the country this month at the State Games of America in San Diego. The club, which competes out of Deerfield Academy, has been rebuilding since the...
Track and Field: Amherst, Holyoke compete in Nike Outdoor Nationals in Oregon
By CONNOR PIGNATELLO
Six Amherst track and field athletes and the Holyoke girls 4x100 squad made the trip to Eugene, Oregon for Nike Outdoor Nationals held on June 12-15.It was the first trip to Nike Outdoor Nationals for all 10 athletes. Holyoke had never sent a team to...
Belchertown athletic director Jen Gouvin moving on after 5½ years
By GARRETT COTE
BELCHERTOWN — Following 5½ years with Belchertown High School, athletic director Jen Gouvin has taken a full-time role in the same position at Clinton Public Schools in eastern Massachusetts.Running the athletics department at Belchertown wasn’t her...
High school baseball: Amherst earns HFBUA Sportsmanship Award for 2024 season
By GARRETT COTE
What started as a friendly gesture turned into a common occurrence for Jeff Gladu and his Amherst Regional High School baseball team this spring.Early in the season, opposing coaches addressed Gladu following the handshake line after their games to...
UMass men’s basketball coach Frank Martin signs two-year contract extension
By CONNOR PIGNATELLO
UMass men’s basketball coach Frank Martin signed a two-year extension to keep him in Amherst through the 2028-29 season, UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford announced last Thursday.Martin led the Minutemen to a 15-16 mark in his first season in...
A ‘Refuse to Lose’ reunion: UMass stars gather to talk about Final Four run for new documentary
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — A Final Four run for the University of Massachusetts men’s basketball team and its “Refuse to Lose” mantra that defined the program’s most successful era continues to provide fond memories for the players and coaches involved nearly 30 years...
Class B girls lacrosse: Talia Sadiq’s OT goal lifts Amherst past Belchertown for 1st-ever WMass title
By GARRETT COTE
WEST SPRINGFIELD — With how each team’s offense operated during regulation, there was no question that whatever squad gained control of the ball to start overtime would be the one to hoist the Western Mass. Class B girls lacrosse championship...
Class C boys volleyball: Top-seeded Granby sweeps Ware, captures first-ever WMass title (PHOTOS)
By GARRETT COTE
CHICOPEE — All the momentum was against the No. 1 Granby boys volleyball team in the third set of Saturday’s Western Mass. Class C championship match with No. 2 Ware.The Rams had breezed through the first two sets, but they faced a 24-21 deficit in...
Amherst’s Moriah Luetjen (400 meters), Logan Alfandari (shot put) capture titles at MIAA Div. 4 Track & Field Championships (PHOTOS)
By CONNOR PIGNATELLO
WESTFIELD — Logan Alfandari sat by the shot put circle, crossed his legs and leaned his back on the fence. It was the middle of the shot put final at the MIAA Division 4 Outdoor Track & Field Championships last Saturday, and Amherst’s mammoth thrower...
Amherst’s Moriah Luetjen, Logan Alfandari each win 2 titles, Northampton girls dominate en route to team title at Western Mass. Division 1 Track & Field Championships (PHOTOS)
By CONNOR PIGNATELLO
AGAWAM — Moriah Luetjen’s best race is the 400 meters. Two years ago as a freshman, she won it at the MIAA Division 4 Outdoor Track & Field Championships and followed it up with a first-place finish in the Freshman 400 at New Balance Outdoor...
UMass basketball: Matt Cross announces he’s transferring to SMU for final year of eligibility
By GARRETT COTE
AMHERST — The decision every UMass men’s basketball fan has been waiting for was finally made on May 6.Minutemen star and First Team All-Atlantic 10 forward Matt Cross — the backbone of UMass’ team for the past two seasons — has committed to SMU, he...
The Real Score: Curveballs and casinos rarely save cities
By BRETT ALBERT
About 10 years ago, the two major urban centers of central and western Massachusetts decided to engage in new regional industrial policy to spur on their local economies. Worcester and Springfield had been effectively hollowed out by decades of...
Defying the odds: Hadley’s Owen Earle back competing less than two years removed from horrific accident
By GARRETT COTE
Lying flat on his back in the middle of a field at Four Rex Farm in Hadley, Owen Earle stared straight into an endless stretch of overcast sky, raindrops gently splashing him.Although he didn’t feel much pain, he knew there was no getting up.“I had...
Breaking down the financial implications for UMass athletics after move to the Mid-American Conference
CONNOR PIGNATELLO
When UMass joins the Mid-American Conference for the 2025-26 academic year, athletic director Ryan Bamford expects the school will bring in more revenue than it did when competing in the Atlantic 10.“This will allow us to grow our revenues to the...
Guest columnist Karen List: A legend made in Iowa
By KAREN LIST
The thousands of women who played high school basketball in Iowa over the years look at the adulation surrounding University of Iowa star Caitlin Clark and think: “That’s about right.”Clark, as you probably know, is the NCAA Division 1 all-time...
UMass basketball: Minutewomen’s two leading scorers Alexsia Rose, Kristin Williams headed to transfer portal
By GARRETT COTE
AMHERST — As of Monday afternoon, two UMass women’s basketball guards have entered the transfer portal, looking to take their talents elsewhere.Senior Alexsia Rose and junior Kristin Williams have hit the portal following a disappointing 5-27...
UMass basketball: Josh Cohen, Robert Davis Jr. first Minutemen to enter transfer portal
By GARRETT COTE
AMHERST — One of the first dominoes to fall is a massive one for the UMass men’s basketball team.Minutemen forward Josh Cohen has entered the transfer portal, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported late Monday morning. The 6-foot-10 senior has one year of...
Men’s basketball coach Frank Martin supporting UMass’ decision to join MAC: “They believed in me, and they haven’t lied to me since I’ve been here”
By GARRETT COTE
AMHERST — From a basketball perspective, Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said it was a no-brainer to add UMass to his conference.The men’s basketball program was perhaps the most appealing of the school’s athletic teams given its...
