Windham Christian Academy to compete for MCSSL middle school soccer title Saturday

By Ed Pierce

Windham Christian Academy's middle school soccer team will compete in the Maine Christian School Sports League championship game against Coastal Christian School at 5 p.m. Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland. 

Windham Christian Academy's Middle School Soccer team
will play for the Maine Christian School Sports League
championship when it faces Coastal Christian School
at 5 p.m. Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

Coastal Christian School reached the title game by defeating Pine Tree School on Wednesday while WCA knocked off Oxford Hills Christian Academy on Wednesday to qualify for a berth in the championship  match. 

WCA's middle school team is coed and for students in grades 5 to 8. There are currently 15 teams representing Christian  schools across the state competing in the MCSSL for soccer.

The team is coached by Whitney Coppersmith and assistant coaches Kayla Sinclair and Mike Manning.

Team members include Lucas Stewart (Sixth Grade); Leah Sinclair (Seventh Grade); Mason Dodd (Eighth Grade); Jacob Frederick (Eighth Grade); Arseniy Popov (Seventh Grade); Judah Knights (Eighth Grade);  Liam White (Eighth Grade); Piper Justice (Sixth Grade); Victoria Presby (Seventh Grade); Toby Dupuis (Seventh Grade); Anna Willings (Fifth Grade); Kirill Popov (Fifth Grade); Elsa Pearson (Seventh Grade); Haddie Coppersmith (Sixth Grade); Brenna Wheeler (Sixth Grade); Abigail Watkins (Eighth Grade);  Ethan Brewer (Eighth Grade); Eli Coppersmith (Eighth Grade); Elija Popov (Eighth Grade); Radiance Yer (Fifth Grade); and Zemirah Yer (Sixth Grade).

Gates open at Fitzpatrick Stadium for Saturday's matchup at 4 p.m. Admission is $2. <

WHS Cross Country teams qualify for state championship meet

By Matt Pascarella

For the first time since 2015, both Windham’s boys’ and girls’ cross country teams are going to the Class A State Championships after a strong performance in the Southern Maine Class A Regional Championship on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Twin Brook Recreation Area in Cumberland. Since 2015, there has been a variety of combinations of one WHS team qualifying or individuals qualifying, but it's been a while since both teams have qualified. The girls’ team finished seventh with a score of 199 and the boys’ team finished eighth with a score of 237.

Windham sophomore Eva Vancelette maintains her focus
during the Southern Maine Class A Regional Cross
Country Championship race at Twin Brooks
Recreation Area in Cumberland on Saturday, Oct. 26.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

“Many of our present athletes appropriately and safely started their quest to get to compete at States in late June – at last Summer’s ‘Unlock Your Potential’ Cross Country Camp to build their present fitness and mindset, both highly needed to extend a cross-country season,” said Windham cross country coach Jeff Riddle. “The boys finally put it all together, together. The girls’ team showed up unified and ready to compete, they were locked in. Our sport is one of true grit with no rest, nowhere to hide, no breaks, and it is raw. So, if fit, feeling well, and with a winner’s mindset, the only thing stopping a cross-country athlete is themselves. Our boys and girls let it fly last Saturday, ran the race plan, then together earned something that very few teams do. Our goals for them at the State meet are to first authentically enjoy their earned time together ... and to then go improve their finish position by reducing their race time.”

Girls

Windham junior Sydney Broadbent finished first for Windham and 32nd overall with a time of 22:34.92 minutes. Behind her was sophomore Eva Vancelette who finished 37th overall with a 22:55.60.

Junior Lila Stanley finished third for Windham and 42nd overall in a time of 23:09.00.

“As a team, we stayed as a pack,” said Broadbent. “I think our top four or five finished within like a minute and a half of each other, which is amazing. We all started out fast, which was exactly what we wanted to do. Just maintained and stayed confident throughout the race. As a team, we wanted to give it everything and finish with nothing left in the tank ... we know that this course is really hard, everyone struggles and everyone’s in the same conditions. We all gave it our everything and we did exactly what we wanted to do today. Knowing that both teams made it ... shows how much determination we have as teams and as individuals. The team has learned to work really well together in the races, and we put so much time into this season, we put everything into this team. We earned our spot at states.”

Boys

Sophomore Mason Bragdon finished first for Windham and 35th overall with a time of 18.51.30.

Second for Windham and 39th overall was senior Andrew Young with a time of 18:55.87. Third for Windham and 41st overall was junior Caleb Saucier with a time of 19:01.77.

“It’s definitely nice to see everybody step up,” said Bragdon. “I think it took a lot of effort, from a training aspect; it took the miles and hours and hours to get here. And it just all came together. From the start of the morning, everybody was feeling good ... overall while running the course it was good – it was that usual exciting feeling you get while running. First was definitely a goal and my goal was to pull the rest of the team forward. Our ultimate goal was to pull off today. When we run, we pull each other up and we finish. Some things I saw today that went really well was we all got off the line really fast and we did a good job maintaining our paces through the second mile; we had our five through seven runners push up which is what really got us to states this year. New Englands is the ultimate goal, but if we can place really well, I think that’s also a good end to the season.” <

Windham varsity volleyball starts strong, but falls to Cheverus in preliminary playoff match

By Matt Pascarella

Windham varsity volleyball finished their regular season 9-5 and on Thursday, Oct. 24 at Windham, seventh-place Windham took on 10th place Cheverus in an incredibly hard-fought preliminary playoff match. Windham won the first two sets, but Cheverus battled back to take the next three sets in a match where both teams left everything on the court and Cheverus eliminated Windham, 3-2.

Windham junior Kendra Eubanks attacks the ball during
a prep volleyball preliminary playoff match against
Cheverus High at Windham High School on Oct. 24.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

“We were definitely really nervous, but it was more as an excitement way,” said Windham junior Josephine Sibley. “We had never played them before in probably like two seasons, so it was a big moment for us. They had less of a record, but they played really hard teams, so we knew it was going to be a harder match. Our energy was definitely high (in the first two sets), and I think that’s why we had more success ... when we have energy we work well as a team together and it usually leads to wins. (In the last two sets) it was definitely more like inner conflict between (Windham) teammates. This is like the cleanest we ever played; it was like the least amount of points we’ve ever given up and we definitely fought for every point; I think it was a good game. This is the closest I’ve been with a team, especially from Windham. I’m really happy I get to call these girls my friends.”

Windham wasted no time showing they wanted the win. They communicated well and took a small lead early on. Windham junior Kendra Eubanks had a solid block in the first set. The game was tied at six. Windham junior Sydney Harmon sent the ball over the net and Cheverus could not return it. The game was tied at 13. Sibley had several strong serves which gave Windham a lead.

Cheverus was gaining, but Windham had already reached set point. Windham took the first set 25-21.

In the second set, Windham momentum remained strong; they had stellar attacks. They dove on the ball leaving it all on the court. At one point, Windham led by 10 points. While Cheverus was making progress, Windham was too far ahead, and their defense remained powerful. Windham took set two, 25-10.

In the third set, Windham led early, and this was another super close set. The game was tied at 15. Cheverus gained traction, but Windham did not stop fighting. The Stags won this one, 25-19.

Set four was tied early on, and both teams were aggressive. Windham junior Oakley McLeod tipped the ball just over the net to give Windham a five-point advantage. Then the game was tied at 22. Tension was high but Cheverus got a set point and won, 25-23.

Windham had a small lead early on in set five. Cheverus countered with a lead and was able to hold onto it to win the set, 15-11.

“A lot of teammates had watched film to make sure we were prepped,” said Windham senior captain McKenzie Keeney. “We came out, we were so ready, we really wanted it together. We just lost maybe a little bit of momentum, but we picked ourselves back up a little bit and at the end of the day, it was close, we did what we could. The first couple of sets we had such positive energy together and we all wanted it for each other.”

Keeney said her team stood out this season; she loves them so much; they are all amazing people.

“When you come out that strong and that fast you have a lot of energy flowing to start off and at some point, that energy starts to back down a bit,” said Windham varsity volleyball coach Chris Cloutier. “You got to always keep your foot on the gas. Some little adjustments Cheverus made too; they started to move some hitters around on us ... we just didn’t adjust fast enough and once they started scoring a few points we started pressing and when you get behind, you start worrying about making mistakes and it kind of leads you to making mistakes. I’d say some rolls started going their way that didn’t go for them in the first two sets. That changed the momentum – momentum in volleyball is a big deal. In those first two our serving went really well, we were moving our feet to the ball, we were running offenses, we were getting a chance to use all three contacts.” <