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By KYLE GRABOWSKI

SPRINGFIELD — Basketball gave Dave Hixon everything he could ask for. When the longtime Amherst College men’s coach retired in 2020, his former players and friends made him an hour and a half long video thanking him for his impact on their lives.“I...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

SPRINGFIELD — John Calipari wrapped an arm around Dave Hixon as he introduced the longtime Amherst College men’s basketball coach to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.Their time in Amherst overlapped when Calipari was at UMass. Hixon coached at Amherst...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Dave Hixon always wore a suit to Amherst College’s men’s basketball games but never coached in it. He walked out of the locker room to cheers in LeFrak Gymnasium and banter on the road, shook his counterpart’s hand and chatted during shootaround. Once...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

The Frontier Regional boys volleyball program wouldn’t exist without Jesse Kurkulonis.Inspired by the success of his friends on the Redhawks girls team, which has won 11 state championships including last fall, he began inquiring with newly minted...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Greg Vreeland called his older brother, Hopkins Academy baseball coach Dan Vreeland, over to the hitting tunnel set up near the field. The mesh cage allowed the Golden Hawks’ junior varsity call ups and bench players to take batting practice swings...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

AMHERST — John Leonard calls his youngest son Ryan “goal-oriented.”As much as Amherst’s Ryan Leonard excels at putting the hockey puck in the net, his father is referring to aspirations and desired achievements.“He keeps a lot of the goals to himself,...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

WORCESTER — Bourne’s bats built a bridge too far for Hopkins Academy.The No. 9 seed Golden Hawks rallied in nearly every game of the state tournament but couldn’t make it all the way back against the No. 2 Canalmen in the MIAA Division 5 championship...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

NORTHAMPTON — Amherst’s casket never closed.Lexington celebrated like it won the boys ultimate state title Sunday at Oxbow Marina. The Fooligans ran off the sideline into the end zone to scream and hug then lined up. They thought they slayed the...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Teddy Scott noticed the dust in the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School trophy case.The runner up trophy from last season’s Western Massachusetts Class C boys tennis final loss against Lee also caught his eye. Scott...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

A special waiver allowed Lucy Smith to join the Amherst Regional high school swim team as a seventh grader.The Hurricanes couldn’t have fielded the squad without adding middle schoolers for the 2017-18 season.“It was definitely a little intimidating....

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Add one more jewel to Queen Breen’s crown.UMass graduate student forward Sam Breen was named the 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player Of The Year on Wednesday, becoming the fourth winner in the award’s history and first Minutewoman.“I am super blessed...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

The Cage is dead. Long live the Cage.A $2 million gift from Dr. Jim and Ellen Hunt will serve as the lead gift in the UMass athletic department’s fundraising campaign to renovate Curry Hicks Cage, which last hosted a UMass basketball game in 2011 and...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

CAMBRIDGE — Lucy Smith placed one hand on fellow Amherst Regional senior Deborah Wells’ back, said, “I’ve got something for you.”She handed over the MIAA Division 2 Girls Swimming state finalist trophy she’d held since the Hurricanes received it to...