Fall Previews: Windham

Cross Country
Coach: Jeff Riddle
Last year’s results: Boys 16th at Regionals; Mason Rosborough competed at States; girls seventh at Regionals, eighth at States
Key athletes lost: Mason Rosborough
Key athletes returning: Zavier Cummings (sr.), Jordan Piechowski (sr.), Dean Preston (sr.), Robby Soucy (jr.), Tavi Anghel (jr.), Tristan Candelmo (jr.), Niall Gushue (jr.), Josh Guite (so.), Mark Mills (so.), Hailey Applebee (sr.), Hannah Langstaff (sr.), Molly Cochrane (jr.), Shalyn Bauer (so.), Camille Culpovitch (so.), Isabel Dionne (so.), Eve Schultz (so.)
Key newcomers: Garan Laszok (fr.), Derrick Stephens (fr.), Molly Skvorak (sr.), Dianne Ingalls (jr.), Estalla Inman (so.), Gretchen Discatio (fr.), Adriyanna Edge (fr.), Elise Schultz (fr.)
Key matchups: Dan Dors Invitational, Fleet Feet Meet, Festival of Champions, Second Seven Meet, Regionals
Outlook: “Windham Boys XC was honored to again compete during the pre-season at Lake Region High School’s Coach Dors Invitational Race,” Riddle says. “While there, Tristan Candelmo, Mark Mills, Tavi Anghel, Josh Guite and new-to-XC Garan Laszok scored to earn the boys an impressive third-place finish.” The Coach Dors competition is hardly the only excitement on Windham’s horizon: Riddle & Co. likewise look forward to Gorham’s Fleet Feet Meet (also known as the Southern Maine Classic), now in its third year. Those two events (not to mention the Gentlemen Eagles’ regular-season races) will prepare the team for the venerable Festival of Champions, held at Belfast in early October. A good portion of the Windham roster invested the past few months in improving their legs (or at least in maintaining them): “Several of the guys prepared all summer by running their base mileage,” Riddle says, “and that’s now allowing them to be successful in the very competitive SMAA XC league.” Laszok in particular has turned in some surprising results, while Guite has sustained his performance level; Jordan Piechowski returns soon from an injury. That trio of boys should lead a competitive contingent. Over on the girls’ side of things, Estella Inman won the Coach Dors competition outright – in her first-ever XC race, no less. “This Lady Eagles team is one of the most holistically-prepared girls teams which I have experienced in my 19 years coaching XC,” Riddle says. “And the roster goes deep, due to the girls’ dedicated phase-one base-training efforts this past summer.” Applebee, Langstaff and Skvorak will together helm an outfit with lofty aspirations. Riddle envisions his girls running in clusters, with many competing for top-seven finishes within the squad itself. “These 14 Eagles continue to progress daily and will represent Windham XC with style this fall season,” Riddle says.

Field Hockey
Coach: Cory DiDonato
Last year’s record: 3-9-2
Key players lost: Carlee Richmond
Key players returning: Chloe Wilcox (sr., D); Whitney Wilson (sr., M); Shyler Fielding (jr., F); Carissa O’Connell (jr., M); Dani Libby (jr., D)
Key newcomers: Emily Magoon (sr., D); Chloe Desmond (so., F/M); Amanda Foss (so., F); Ellie Wilson (so., F/M)
Outlook: Almost the entirety of DiDonato’s 2018 roster takes to the field again this autumn – a good thing, given how crucial experience is. In fact, DiDonato struggles to pick just a handful of key returning players. “We look strong this year, since we have basically our whole team returning,” she says. “These girls have been working together for years and know how…They’re hungry and ready to prove that Windham is a force to be reckoned with. They’re always looking for ways to improve and their passing has gotten to be second nature, since they know where their teammates will be. It is going to be an amazing year!”

Football
Coach: Matt Perkins
Last year’s record: 0-8
Key players lost: Braxton Cassidy, Stuart Salom, Garrett Peeples
Key players returning: Matty Babb, Ben Elliot, Anthony Gugliuzza
Key matchups: Cony, Greely/Falmouth, Brunswick
Outlook: Windham – a venerable program by all accounts – stumbled through last autumn, largely for lack of experience. “We’re still very young, but we have a bunch of talented, great kids!” Perkins emphasizes. “We want to compete now.” Never count the Eagles out.

Golf
Coach: Adam Manzo
Last year’s record: 3-7
Key players returning: Evan Glicos, Ryan Sargent, Zach Loftis, Drew Mathieu
Key matchups: Thornton, Greely, Gorham
Outlook: “Last year, the team ended on a positive note,” Manzo says. “After a tumultuous regular season, where we had one player transfer, one ineligible for six matches and one only playing in three matches, the team finished one shot off from qualifying for team States, while Glicos still managed to qualify individually.” Manzo hopes to keep all his boys on this links this time around; moreover, since basically his whole roster is back, he’s got a lot to work with. “Returning essentially the entire team from last season, we’re going to make a strong push for postseason play and compete for a division title,” he says.

Boys Soccer
Coach: Ben Schulz
Last year’s results: 6-8-1, lost 2-0 to Kennebunk in A South prelims
Key players lost: Tyler Woolston, Liam McCusker, Andrew Wing
Key players returning: Evan Glicos, Cam Brown, Braeden McCrillis, Dylan Raynor, Hayden Bilodeau
Key newcomers: Sam Glicos, Jacob Noonan, Wyatt Flibbert
Key matchups: South Portland, Kennebunk, Cheverus, Bonny Eagle, Westbrook
Outlook: “We have a strong returning core from a team that made the jump to playoff caliber, and are looking to build off that success,” Schulz says. “The key to our growth will be surrounding our core of seniors with enough young talent to compete in what will be a deep SMAA. If we can quickly get up to speed tactically and stay healthy, we could certainly have a chance to surprise some people and be competitive throughout the year.”

Girls Soccer
Coach: Deb Lebel
Last year’s results: 12-4-1, fell 1-0 to eventual State Runners-Up Scarborough in tournament semifinals
Key players lost: Belle Skvorak (D), Miranda Lewis (D)
Key players returning: Riley Silvia (sr., G); Julia McKenna (jr. F); Riley Beem (jr. M); Rylee Pepin (jr., M); Emma Yale (jr., D); Amelia Mortero (so., D)
Key newcomers: Abbey Thornton (fr., M); Elizabeth Talbot (fr., M)
Key matchups: Falmouth, Gorham, Cheverus, Bonny Eagle
Outlook: Per Lebel, this year’s Lady Eagles are quite young, their roster featuring just three seniors. Still, Windham shined in early competition: “We’ve had a successful preseason,” Lebel says, “and the underclassmen are strengthening our lineup. We’re cautiously optimistic that we’ll be in the mix come tournament time.”

Volleyball
Coach: Chris Cloutier
Last year’s results: 8-6, fell 3-0 to Scarborough in postseason second round
Key players returning: Megan Fleck (sr., captain); Morgan Proulx (sr., captain); Sierra Guite (sr.); Meghan Harmon (sr., captain); Alexis Budroe (jr.); Lydia Budroe (jr.)
Key matchups: Biddeford, Scarborough, Gorham, Falmouth
Outlook: “Windham is in a position to make a strong playoff run,” Cloutier says, “with a schedule that will put them up against other playoff contenders. With a senior-heavy roster, the players are eager to make this the year.”