Panther women’s lax completes historic run

The NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse tournament this year might just as well have been called the Panther Invitational. On Sunday the Middlebury College team completed its romp through the brackets by dismissing Gettysburg, 17-9, in the final in Salem, Va. 

The Mount Abraham-Vergennes cooperative boys’ high school lacrosse team on Saturday concluded the program’s most successful regular season — including those of the separate Mt. Abe and VUHS squads that preceded MAV — by defeating visiting Randolph, 12-1. 

At a qualifying meet hosted by Essex High School on Saturday, a handful of local track and field athletes performed well enough to compete in the New England meet in Bangor, Maine, on June 10. 

The Vergennes Union High School softball team, the No. 6 seed in the Division III playoffs, on Tuesday shrugged off an early deficit to visiting No. 11 White River Valley and cruised to a 10-4 victory. 

After high school baseball playoff action on Tuesday, only Otter Valley was still standing in Division II, while Vergennes was waiting on deck to enter the D-III fray on Wednesday.

The 11-4 Middlebury Union High School boys’ lacrosse team earned the No. 3 seed for the Division I playoffs and will host a Friday quarterfinal against No. 6 Essex (8-8) at 4:30 p.m.

The Middlebury Union High School girls’ lacrosse team was awarded the No. 10 seed for the Division I playoffs and was set to visit No. 7 Burlington for a first-round Division I playoff game on Wednesday.

The Middlebury Union High School girls’ tennis team finished its regular season 2-10 and was awarded the No. 9 seed for the Division II playoffs.

The Middlebury Union High School boys’ tennis team earned the top seed for the Division I playoffs and will host a quarterfinal on Friday vs. No. 9 Champlain Valley. 

The Mount Abraham, Middlebury and Otter Valley high school softball teams were all seeded in the top six in the Division II tournament and won first-round games on Tuesday. 

The Mount Abraham-Vergennes cooperative girls’ high school lacrosse team earned the No. 3 seed in Division II with a 9-5 regular season record and will open its title quest on Friday at 4:30 p.m. with a home quarterfinal.

Here’s what happened in Addison County sports recently, plus the schedule of upcoming games and events.

The haunting and beautiful duet of a pair of loons cut through the thin fabric sides of our tent. So did the chill evening air.

The Colby Mules played an inspired game in Sunday’s NCAA Division III quarterfinal against their undefeated and top-ranked host, the Middlebury College women’s lacrosse team.

Middlebury Union High School girls’ lacrosse coach Dena Greenman acknowledges her team’s season doesn’t look great on the scoreboard, but heading into the past couple weeks she said the Tigers have  maintained a positive outlook and improved steadily.