RallyNorth.net

NEWBURY, N.H. — Friday was a banner day for Nicole Gonya and the Pinkerton girls ski team at the Division 1 state championships at Mt. Sunapee.

Gonya, a senior, won the slalom (1:02.65) and the giant slalom (1:15.04) to lift the Astros to the tight win over Bedford 755-744. Seventeen teams competed including Timberlane (10th) and Londonderry (15th).

Erica Irvin placed 17th in the giant slalom and 12th in the slalom to lead Windham to a 9th place finish at the Division 2 State ski championships on Tuesday.

North Andover's Maria Cavallaro finished first for the seventh straight race to complete the regular season, which gave her a perfect score — the first time a girl skier has done that since 1998. She led the Knights to an easy win over Haverhill to give them a perfect 12-0 team record.

Isaiah Ruffen scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Northern Essex, but the Knights fell to Massasoit 87-77. Eddie Cardona added 17 points, Felix Moore finished with 11, Angelo Pilato had 10 and Grant Bellino chipped in with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

North Andover's girls ski team got the first four places, something veteran coach Jerry Marchegiani can't remember ever happening, as the Knights remained unbeaten (9-0) with a pair of wins. Maria Cavallaro finished first, followed by sister Rachel Cavallaro,  Cameron Deery and Emma Camallaro for the Knights.

North Andover sisters Maria Cavallaro (21.35) and Rachel Cavallaro (21.74) took the top two spots and teammate Emma Callamaro placed third (22.22) as the Scarlet Knight ski team beat Austin Prep (87-48) and Manchester Essex (87-48).

North Andover junior Maria Cavallaro routed the field to remain unbeaten in North Shore League races. Cailey Denoncourt of Andover was a distant second and Maria's sister, Rachel, was third as the Knights won twice to remain undefeated in league competition.

Led by the Cavallaro sisters, Maria and Rachel, who took the top two places, the North Andover girls rolled to wins over Andover and Manchester-Essex on the first day of the North Shore League season. Also, Cameron Deery was third overall for the Knights.

Gonya captures MOC

Pinkerton junior Nicole Gonya used her skill and her smarts to place first in the Giant Slalom at the Meet of Champions ski competition at Cannon Mountain Tuesday.

North Andover took top honors, Andover grabbed second and surprising Georgetown third at the seven-team Interscholastic Ski Championship. The Royals are a first-year squad who will be admitted to the North Shore League officially next winter. Super soph Rachel Cavallaro from North Andover was the overall winner while Andover's Cailey Denoncourt grabbed fourth.

Rachel Cavallaro placed first overallfor the fifth time this season as North Andover's girls ski team remained unbeaten with a sweep of Haverhill and Masconomet.

North Andover's Rachel Cavallaro beat Andover's Olivia Lawler by an eyelash (22.91-22.92) and led the unbeaten Knights to an easy win over Masconomet. The Knights' Hannah Twadelle took fourth overall and Emma Callamaro sixth.

North Andover's talented grls skiing team started its seasonlike it ended it last year, with a pair of wins, over Manchester-Essex and Andover. Rachel Cavallaro led the way in first place at Bradford with a run of 23.66. Andover's Olivia Lawler was second at 24.25.

Windham senior Lauren Sullivan was .01 seconds away from winning at the Division 2 state ski meet.

"And she was really bummed out," Windham coach Kellie Steward said. "Slalom is her event. So she came into this feeling down but she knew she had nothing to lose."