The Silver Lake boys’ and girls’ track teams took to the track and proved they have some of the best runners in the state.

On Sunday, Feb. 19, top performing individuals from the two teams gathered at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston to show what they could do compared to their peers statewide. Certainly, they gave it their best effort.

On the girls side, sophomore Ali McDonough made Lakers history which goes down as the biggest achievement — team or individual — for the Lakers. She set a school record with her 55-meter hurdle run (9.21 seconds), topping the record set by Ali Supple in 2012. She also placed 23rd in the 55-meter dash (7.78)

Long distance runner Ali Gavigan competed in the 2-mile run and came in 14th among competitors (12:34.77).

As a team, the Lakers girls team competed in the 4×200 meter relay. They finished 16th overall (1:56.28).

The team also had a pair of field event competitors with Tess Lalley and Karen Ho in the long jump. Lalley placed 20th (13 feet 3 ¼ inches) and Ho came in 21st with a near-identical jump (13-03).

On the boys side, Max LaFerrara earned a 26th place finish in the 55-meter dash (7.04) while Max Shirikjian took 17th in the 300-meter dash (38.61). Shirikjian also did the long jump and earned a 14th place finish (19-02.50).

John McCarthy and Brian Sherry ran the 55-meter hurdles and came in 16th (8.55) and 24th (9.01) respectively.

As a team, the Lakers competed in two events: the 4×200 relay and the 4×400 relay. The 4×200 was their better event as they snagged a 10th place finish (1:37.48). In the 4×400, they came in 17th (3.47.78).

Neither the boys nor girls squads qualified anyone for All-States, which effectively ends both their seasons.

During winter sports season, most teams have their eye on a potential playoff spot.

In many sports, the postseason criteria is essentially for a team to win more than they lose, although there are some exceptions and loopholes that allow teams tournament spots. Here is a look at how the basketball and hockey teams did this season and where they stand for postseason contention.

The girls’ hockey co-op with Whitman-Hanson has been strong all season. At 13-3-3 through 13 games, they not only made the playoffs, but will likely have a high seed and be a strong postseason competitor. After all, that is what happens when a team averages more than five goals per game and lets up about two. In that time frame, senior forward Melanie McAleer, senior forward Hannah Tracy and freshman forward Alyssa Murphy combined for 65 goals and 72 assists.

At 12-8, the boys’ basketball team has battled all season through a tough Patriot League schedule. A strong offensive-minded team, they are typically led by Cam Keefe and Rob Ventola on the attack. Perhaps momentum will give the Lakers a postseason push. They finished they regular season by winning two of their last three games.

On Monday, the boys’ hockey team (5-14-1) clinched a Division 3 South playoff spot, helping round out the playoff bracket. Last week, they picked up back-to-back wins and throughout the season, they have not relied too heavily upon one particular scorer. Sophomore forward Alex Heffernan leads the team with 10 goals, but the team has had 15 different goal scorers this season. On the year though, they have been outscored, 74-48.

Finishing the year at 5-15, the girls’ basketball team missed out on a playoff spot. The Lakers started the year hot, winning four of their first six contests, so the talent is there and it is worth noting they are a young team, so they have time to grow and the potential to grow and excel in the near future.

Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros is asking all Silver Lake High School students interested in fire science to sign up for the Halifax Fire Department’s Fire Cadet Program.

The program is designed for students who would like to learn more about an exciting career in firefighting and emergency medical services.  Applications are available at the Halifax Fire Station or at the Silver Lake Regional High School Guidance Office.

Beginning March 1, the curriculum, broken down into nine two-hour weekly classes, will cover firefighter safety, personal protective equipment, 911 and emergency communications, Firefighter Level 1 program, first responder, EMS; fire department organization and structure, hazardous material awareness, search and rescue, strategy and tactics of firefighting, fire streams, hose and hydrants, fire extinguisher use and selection, extrication and rescue, public education and code enforcement.   And at the end of their training, they even get to burn down a building and fight the fire!

Firefighter/Paramedic Jordan Hill will lead the workshops, as he did last year.  Hill told the Express that the program started several years ago and is a good opportunity for high school students to see what a career in firefighting can offer.

Contact Chief Viveiros with any questions, at 781-293-1751 or email chief@fire.halifax.ma.us

On Saturday, Jan. 31, they were forever enshrined in Laker history.

At Halifax Country Club, Silver Lake High School officially inducted their most recent Hall of Fame class, consisting of seven players, one coach and a team. There was close to a 40-year gap in age range between the oldest and youngest inductees, a sign the Lakers put their best effort into honoring their best athletes from a wide variety of sports. It might also be worth noting many of the athletes were multi-sport athletes, leading the Lakers to victory in as many as three seasons per year.

The 1968 football team was the lone team induction. They went 8-1, winning an Old Colony League title, making them among the best football teams in Laker history.

Longtime track and cross country coach Arnie Kaupp was honored for his service to Silver Lake. Now a volunteer coach for the girls team, the former math teacher amassed 208 wins in his head coaching career.

Kate O’Donnell, who graduated in 2006 and starred for the softball team, was the youngest inductee. The five-year letter winner and infielder hit .450 her senior year and went on to play at Stony Brook, where she started 51 games as a senior.

Deb Glockner, whose maiden name is Marvuglio, was inducted for her contributions in three sports. The 1975 graduate was a leader on two teams that had major team achievements: the 1974 field hockey team, that won the District Two championship and the 1975 softball team that won an Old Colony League title.

Although he passed away in 1985, Richard Moylan (1983) will never be forgotten at Silver Lake. A star running back for the football team who set the record for rushing yards, he also shined in track, with a program-best javelin throw.

Thomas Bouchard (1978), Scott McKee (1983), Joe Noonan (1985) and Phillip Caruso (2001) were among the more specialized athletes inducted.

Bouchard shined on the basketball court while hockey was McKee’s calling. Both led their respective teams to a pair of Old Colony League titles.

A track runner, Noonan had the best 100-yard dash time in the OCL his junior and senior years.

Soccer is where Caruso shined. He led the Lakers to a Division 1 State Championship on the pitch.

When a team has multiple players who can shoot well, odds are they are going to enjoy some success throughout the season.

Last Friday night that was the case for the Silver Lake Regional High boys’ basketball team. Strong shooting and a complete effort for the entirety of the contest propelled them to a 64-54 win over Whitman-Hanson. With the win, the Lakers improved to 7-5 on the season.

“This was a good team effort,’’ Lakers head coach Sean Donovan said. “This was the first 32-minute effort we have had all season. We were able to score the ball and defensively our bigs did a good job of collapsing down when their guards went to the basket. Just a huge win for us.’’

The first quarter went well for the Lakers, even if it was a low-scoring effort. They outscored the Panthers, 8-5.  It got more intense in the second quarter, however, when the Lakers put up 18 points, giving them a 26-21 lead at the half. Late in it, they went on an 11-3 run to finish the half. Joe McDonald gave the Lakers a strong effort, scoring eight of those 11 points.

McDonald dropped a team best 16 points for the Lakers. Rob Ventola added 14 points and Joel Gerstenberg gave their team 13 more.

“Rob Ventola scored in bulk tonight,’’ Donovan said. “When he gets going, he’s one of the best shooters around.’’

While their defense allowed the Panthers to come back in the contest, the Lakers hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it 35-28 midway through the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers found some momentum and made it a 53-40 fans. While the Panthers went on a 9-2 run late, some late success from the free throw line allowed the Lakers to seal the win.

Just in case you were wondering who the top Patriot League girls gymnastics team is, you do not have to look too far.

On Thursday, Jan. 19, the question was answered, and the answer comes from the combined efforts of four towns — the Silver Lake/Pembroke co-op.

In the meet that was held at Hanover High School, the Lakers were sharp. They put up 126.8 points — nearly two points higher than the runner-up, Hanover (124.95). Hingham finished third in the meet with 123.65 points. In all, six teams competed.

Tori Newton had a strong showing for the co-op in the meet.

She finished second in the all-around with 32.05 points, second on bars with 7.9 points, third on beams with 8.25 points and third on floor with 8.1 points.

Bridget Gannon tied for first on vault with 8.4 points; Calliste Brookshire placed second on the floor with 8.2 points and third on vault with 8.25 points. Clara Dalrymple had a second place finish on vault with 8.3 points and Caroline Videtto came in second on beam with 8.3 points.

For the Silver Lake/Pembroke co-op, the win should come as no surprise. They had already won six meets on the year.

The concept of the midseason league meet, admittedly, is unique. In track, for example, teams tend to have their league meet at the end of the regular season. But in girls gymnastics, all of the Patriot League coaches agreed to this unorthodox method.

Perhaps it is beneficial for the teams though as they gain a better understanding of where they are at midseason instead of having to wait for the end of the season to figure it out.

Regardless, the co-op is happy with the way it went.

“It’s great to pull out the victory here and see all of the teams in our league,” head coach Cristy Schimmel said.

“This is just the first step because we still have another half of the season to focus on, but we’re definitely excited about the win.”

The MIAA wants to bring on a little bit of change for next football season.

Divisions are no longer going to be one through six as they had been in the near past of even Divisions, 1-4A as they were just this past season. Still, there will be eight divisions, just as there were last year but they will be aligned a little bit differently now. And Silver Lake is contesting their placement in the divisional realignment.

Last week, the school sent representatives Athletic Director Martha Jamieson and Head Football Coach Chris DiGiacomo to Dedham High School for the MIAA South Sectional realignment hearing, and in doing so, the Lakers formally put in a request to be lowered a division next season and through the 2020 season. Their request is to be put in Division 4, not Division 3 as the MIAA had assigned them.

The reason for the request is simple. Most schools are in their respective divisions because of student population. There are, however, exceptions for comprehensive schools, urban schools and vocational schools. And since the Lakers are a Chapter 74 school that offers vocational programs, they felt they should be placed in the lower division.

Much of the argument for vocational schools being put in lower divisions is that sports are not as big of an interest in these students’ lives. Because about 30 per cent of Silver Lake’s students take part in the vocational side of school, with more emphasis on working than participating in extracurricular activities, the Lakers pool of potential student athletes may be smaller than it appears. Co-ops for those learning a trade could prevent students from playing sports when they are being paid to work after school.

Perhaps part of the issue is with the MIAA’s overall outlook on vocational schools as a whole as 10 of the 16 schools applying for divisional realignment are vocational schools including South Shore Vo-Tech. If Silver Lake is included, it would mean there are 11 vocational schools hoping to change their divisional alignment.

Historically, the Lakers have not had the most successful football program, but they did make the playoffs in 2016 for the first time since 1981. It is also worth noting they have not won a league championship since 1980. There is a final appeal for teams on January 31 in Franklin, Mass. After that, rulings on future division alignments will be final for the next four seasons.

By: James bentley

Express correspondent

The Plympton Public Safety Building Committee held their first meeting of the New Year on Wednesday, January 4, 2017. Plans for a new police station progressed with schematic designs presented at the meeting.

Jeff Shaw, president of Donham and Sweeney, the Boston architectural firm hired by Plympton, presented the plan to the committee. The potential police station would be 8,300 square feet with a 450 square foot storage room.

The schematics included a basement, which was discussed as a potential cost saving strategy at the previous meeting. Last meeting, much of the debate was around whether basement square footage would be more cost efficient than all the square footage being on one floor. Jeff said, “My experience is building a basement is generally more expensive than slat on grid.”

After Jeff presented the plan, Police Chief Patrick Dillon voiced some support for this design, but he did have some concerns. Police Chief Dillon said, “The evidence area is a possible size concern at 8 feet wide.” The evidence room in the current police station is larger at 10 by 25 feet.

Other suggestions from the Police Chief include a third exit door and more parking spaces. He also thought it was important that there be a reserved space for the sergeant.

Art Morin again voiced concerns of cost. He said, “There are $300,000 out of capital savings to deal with. He told the committee he had also been looking into modular space options to cut down on the cost of the new building.

Many of his concerns stemmed from his belief that people in the town would not be okay with the price.

The bill for this project is due on May 1st and he said that people will not accept their property taxes being raised to provide any additional funds for this project.

Morin said, “People will know…I’m convinced we could lose the whole project if we don’t make some sacrifices.”

The narrative of the board shifted to looking at the concerns that come with using a modular space. The main concern brought up was is the modular plan unrealistic since modular estimates don’t include the cost of a boiler room and other essentials.

Police Chief Patrick Dillon spoke about another Massachusetts town trying to use modular space plans and failing. He said that, “Hamden, MA dropped three different mod plans and came in on budget with a non-mod.”

Other potential plans were discussed as well including one to completely get rid of the basement. Historical Commissioner John Wilhelmsen suggested working on plans while simultaneously getting prices for the building on the plans they currently have.

He said, “Pricing out possibilities while working on other layouts gives options to make an educated decision.”

Pricing will start before the next meeting on Wednesday, January 25, 2017. Some of it should be done by then, but all of it will be done before the meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Follow @n_rollins1

KINGSTON — After steamrolling its first two opponents — outscoring them 14-1 — Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake seemed to have met their match in Cohasset/Hanover as WHSL skated to a 2-2 tie against the Skippers Wednesday evening at the Bog.

“Cohasset/Hanover is a very good team,” WHSL head coach Kevin Marani said. “We had a lot of opportunities but we just didn’t capitalize and that’s hockey.”

WHSL (2-0-1, 1-0-1 SEMGHL NE) dominated possession of the puck in the first period of action — outshooting C-H nearly 2-to-1 — senior forward Mel McAleer almost got the Panthers on the board midway through the frame, but her wrist shot dinged off the post and it remained 0-0 at the end of 15 minutes.   

Just 39 ticks into the second, the Skippers (2-0-1, 2-0-1) got on the board via senior captain Alex Martini’s third goal of the winter to make it 1-0. WHSL was in uncharted territory as it found itself trailing for the first time in more than 105 minutes this season. 

“The first goal sort of caught us by surprise,” Marani said. “We were outshooting them and they had a nice goal. We had a lapse in defense and then after that they said we have to bear down a little more on defense.”

The Panthers were flying down the ice with urgency midway through the second as freshman Natalie Nemes had a pair of blistering shots on C-H netminder Sarissa Fazio (32 saves) but nothing to show for it.

With 3:00 to go in the frame, McAleer was finally able to break through—beating Fazio through the 5-hole to knot the score at 1-1.

Less than two minutes later, freshman Alyssa Murphy was rewarded for crashing the net as she poked home her fourth goal of the season — beating the sophomore goalie to her blocker side to give WHSL a 2-1 lead. 

“Alyssa has been great,” Mariani said. “She’ll have many, many, many goals in her career, for sure.”

However, the Skippers would not go easily and with 8:13 left in regulation Maddie Murphy flicked a shot on WHSL goalie Melissa Crone (18 saves) that found its way past her to tie the score at 2-2.

“Melissa played well,” Marani said. “She had one fluke goal on her. That happens, that’s hockey. She could have hung her head, but she didn’t. She came out and made three really big saves in last four minutes of play in the game.”

C-H had its chances down the stretch to snatch a lead, including a power play with 6:58 remaining, but Crone stood strong in net.

Defenseman Katie Johnson turned in an impressive outing with countless breakups in her own zone.   

WHSL recorded 34 shots on net to C-H’s 20 in the draw. 

“I think we deserved to win the game,” Marani said. “You can outplay a team, you can outshoot them by 3-to-1 but you come out with a tie. We’re hanging our heads in there but they’re celebrating like they just won a championship.”