Haverhill

Junior Hillies Football Practices Kick Off This Week: What to Expect from the HHS Sports Feeder Program

By |

Listen to the full interview below. With the start of Haverhill’s new school year two weeks away, the city’s youngest gridiron greats are already hard at work honing their skills through the Haverhill High School new football feeder program known as the Junior Hillies, HHS football coach Tim O’Connor tells WHAV. Joining WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” last week, O’Connor, who also teaches at Haverhill High, said the program for seventh and eighth graders was a long-held hope of his, as it fosters the sense culture of team and academic responsibility necessary at the high school level. O’Connor, who sits on the board of directors, did recognize the challenges associated with a team of middle school students, saying, “It’s very fluid, the emotions, on a daily basis.”

Practices currently take place at the Haverhill High School fields on Monument Street and will transition to Riverside Park after Labor Day, O’Connor said. For its first year, Junior Hillies has 55 students signed up. The team is a member of the 18-team Northeast Junior Football League, planning to play eight games: Four home games in Haverhill and four away games in other communities.

Haverhill

Pentucket, Salem, N.H., High to Use Haverhill’s Trinity Stadium for Fall Home Football Games

By |

Two area high schools, Salem, N.H., High and Pentucket Regional High School, plan to use Haverhill’s Trinity Stadium for home football games in the fall, WHAV has learned exclusively. Haverhill High School Athletic Director Tom O’Brien confirmed the news to WHAV, stating the city was pleased to be of assistance. “We’re happy to help,” O’Brien said, “We would hope another school would do the same for us in this situation.” O’Brien also emphasized how busy the Lincoln Avenue stadium may be in coming months, saying, “There could be a weekend with three home games this fall.”

The Salem High School superintendent’s office told WHAV the Salem Blue Devils are expected to play five games at Trinity Stadium, due to construction at the school’s Grant Field during the football season. Pentucket Regional did not return multiple requests for comment about their reason for relocating to Trinity. Salem’s first home game is scheduled against Londonderry, N.H. on Saturday, Sept.

Haverhill

Legion Post 4’s O’Brien Calls Players ‘Best in Years’ as Team Wraps Up Championship Play

By |

Hear the interview below. If you ask American Legion Post 4 baseball coach Larry O’Brien, the 2019 team that just wrapped their regular season run 15-2 is one of the best he’s seen in his career on the diamond. In an interview with 97.9 WHAV FM this week, O’Brien—who works alongside co-manager and pitching coach John Trask—told morning show host Win Damon the 16 boys on the team gelled exceptionally well on and off the field. “We had probably one of the best teams we’ve had in years and one of the best I’ve coached. The boys wanted to play baseball.

Haverhill

Haverhill YMCA Gymnasts Rank in National Competition

By |

Thirteen gymnasts representing the Haverhill YMCA recently at a late June national competition in Dells, Wisc.,with seven participants placing in the top 10 nationally, YMCA Regional Executive Director Tracy Fuller tells WHAV. Neveah Paradis placed in the top 10 in five categories, while Brooklyn Blais did so in four. Stella Stephanos, Elise Mayer, Kaelyn Mazzaglia placed in the top 10 in three categories each, with Mazzaglia taking first place in the vault competition. Additionally, Jianalyse Vega and Haley Goudreault each scored in the top 10 in one event.

Haverhill

Haverhill Police Beat New England Patriots 15-13 in Weekend Softball Game

By |

It’s another W for the HPD! The Haverhill Police Department softball team chalked up a victory on Saturday against the New England Patriots during this year’s celebrity softball classic, walking away winners after the annual match with a final score of 15-13. WHAV was the only media outlet at the game as Haverhill Police standouts Officer Matthew Marshall, Officer John Orsillo and Sgt. Thomas Howell helped the first responder team beat the Super Bowl champion Patriots, led by Max Lane and Steve DeOssie. Rounding out the police team were Officers Nicole Donnelly, Brittney Birch, Kevin O’Brien, Carlos Arriaga, Bryan Bailey, Kevin DeCarvalho, Ryan Connolly, Justin Graham, Kevin Tracy and Daniel McDonald.

Haverhill

Whittier Tech Varsity Softball Coach Begin Celebrates 200th Win: ‘Belichick of the Team’

By |

Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School’s Cheryl Begin is celebrating a major milestone on the softball diamond this spring: Her 200th win. Now in her 14th year as varsity softball coach, Whittier head of security Begin is riding high in the role her coaching peers and players say is similar to that of another famous Massachusetts coach. “Cheryl is like the Bill Belichick of the Whittier softball team,” Athletic Director Kevin Bradley explains of Begin, who many of Whittier’s 14 players see as a surrogate mother. “Success is no surprise to me. It’s not just about what she does on the field, it’s about what she does off it too.

Education

Haverhill Central Catholic Sophomore Wins Senate Praise for Track and Field Records

By |

A Haverhill sophomore attending Central Catholic High School was recognized by the Massachusetts State Senate Tuesday for her two years of Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field success. Katharine Duren, a sophomore hurdler, broke the meet and school records Saturday during the Merrimack Valley Conference championship. She won in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.57 seconds, state Sen. Diana DiZoglio told her State House colleagues. “Katharine is one of the brightest athletic stars in the Merrimack Valley,” said DiZoglio, who invited Duren to the State House for a celebration in her honor. “Her impressive dedication has served her and her fellow Raiders well and it is my hope that she continues her success collegiately at the highest level in the coming years.”

Duren received a standing ovation in the Senate Chamber after receiving an official citation in honor of her accomplishment.

Haverhill

Fiorentini to Seek $71,000 from Council to Fund Haverhill High’s New Track

By |

Haverhill High School’s brand-new multi-purpose athletic field came in $71,000 under budget, and on Tuesday, Mayor James J. Fiorentini plans to ask Haverhill’s City Council to use those unspent funds to pay for the school’s new running track. According to Haverhill High Athletic Director Tom O’Brien, the current 20-year-old track—cracked and torn in many places—presents a danger to runners and must be replaced rather than patched. “We’ve patched it at least six times and it can’t be patched anymore,” O’Brien said. “It’s at the end of its life.”

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Fiorentini intends to outline the design study that he and O’Brien will commission as a starting point for the new track, that will include an additional eighth running lane on the straight-away and new lanes for the high-jump, triple jump and pole vault.

The overall project is expected to cost $400,000 to $500,000 with construction beginning this summer, Fiorentini said. Fiorentini and O’Brien hope to expedite the construction process for safety reasons.