Athlete of the week - Kiana Clark

The Windham Eagle athlete of the week goes to Kiana Clark, a junior at Windham High School. Kiana is on the cross country team and tennis team. She lives with her mom, dad, brother and two dogs. 

Kiana enjoys reading, hiking and tennis. Her sports heroes are Serena Williams and Sarah Packard.

She finds it difficult to balance sports and school “because I want to challenge myself in school as well as in my sport,” she said. Teamwork isn’t as obvious in cross country. “Even in an individual sport like running, support and encouragement is important,” she added. 

“Junior Kiana Clark has finally experience the pivotal moment in a runner’s journey, a breakthrough moment beyond compare. A week ago, Kiana was our seventh to ninth place finisher, now she finishes third on our varsity team and has literally changed the game for Windham High School cross country,” said coach Jeff Riddle.

Kiana would like to go to college to study journalism.

Windham Christian Academy soccer team looks to repeat - By Nathaniel Bennett

The Windham Christian Academy (WCA) soccer team is looking to repeat their season after being titled overall champions in its league last year with the varsity teams. 

A few of the seniors graduated, but the team is working hard to maintain. Last Tuesday, they played a home game against Seacoast, which was the team they beat last year in the championships. They lost 1-5 on Tuesday. Then, they went to play Oxford Hills last Wednesday and won 7-3.

The WCA soccer team’s next game is September 30, home at 4 p.m. at the WCA field on Route 302.

Windham U12 girls travel soccer team named champs

U12 girls soccer team named champions.

Please see the attached pictures of the Windham U12 Girls Travel Soccer Team. The Windham U12 girls travel soccer team was crowned the U12 Girls 2015 Seacoast United Labor Day Tournament Champions. The girls traveled to Epping, NH and represented Windham Youth Soccer against top level premier club teams from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  The Windham girls were the only town travel team in their competing division.  Lead by coach Ram Tray the girls defeated Seacoast United (NH) 4-1, Benfica USA (MA) 3-2, Seacoast United (MA) 6-0, and in the championship game defeated NEFC Barcelona 2-1.

Team Picture (left to right): Molly Black, Sidney McCusker, Natalie Kirby, Isabelle Babb, Stella Inman, Julia Kaplan, Natalie Lynch, Phea Tray, Gracie Hodgkins, Destiny Potter, Teyha Esposito-Francis, Riley Shaw, Eliza Trafford, Kayla Flanders, Amelia Mortero, Carly Morey

Close up picture of medal & plaque (left to right): Julia Kaplan, Natalie Kirby, Phea Tray, Molly Black, Kayla Flanders

Windham cross country team has great showing in Portland - By Nathaniel Bennett

The Windham Cross Country boys and girls team finished first as a team at their latest race last week. The other teams there included Portland, Thornton Academy and Noble.

Top girls Windham High School finish results

1 - Amanda Turner (Fourth overall)

2 - Eliza Bennett (Fifth overall)

Top boys Windham High School finish results

1 - Ben Breton (First overall)

2 - Jeremy Bennett (Third overall)

It was a hot afternoon in Deering Oaks. They ran three times around the same course. There were a lot of close and exciting sprint finishes for boys and girls.

Eagles football team takes first loss of the 2015 season - By Stephanie Coffin

The Windham Eagles football team met at the recently resurfaced Fitzpatrick stadium to face off again the Portland Bulldogs last Friday night. Both the Eagles and Bulldogs stepped onto the field with records of 2-0. 

The Eagles appeared to control the ball the first half of the game with a field goal kick from Robert Innis putting three points on the clock. But just before the first half of the game came to a close Windham called a timeout with 1/10^th of a second remaining on the clock, giving the Eagles one more shot at the end zone from the Bulldogs’ 33 yard line. 

The Eagles lined up and quarterback Desmond Leslie threw the ball only to have it intercepted by Portland’s Bolduc at the 3-yard line. Bolduc took advantage of the stunned play and made his way to the end zone untouched. It was a stunning turn in the game after Portland committed three turnovers and let Windham control the clock throughout the first half. 

On the opening drive of the second half, Portland faced a fourth-and-six from the Windham 36-yard line in which Archambault dropped into punt formation but instead threw to Hunnewell for a 14-yard gain leading to a 41-yard field goal by Williams that provided the final margin of victory for the Bulldogs.

After the 97-yard run touch down and the field goal the Bulldogs pulled ahead by seven giving the team a more aggressive approach to the game. The Eagles couldn’t come back from the 15-yard loss due to unsportsmanship like conduct on the sideline and they ended the game with their first loss of the season. The Eagles continued to play right down to the last second of the game attempting a lateral push up field; however, the Bulldogs end up winning 10-7. 

The Eagles will face Thornton Academy Friday night at home, 7 p.m. is game time.