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Vote for one of these 17 Gardner area athletes for Athlete of the Week, January 15-20

cait kemp, the gardner news
·4 min read

Gardner-area teams continue to strive for big wins and impressive performances, and there was no shortage of that this past week in basketball, hockey, swimming and indoor track and field.

The Gardner News Athlete of the Week for the week of January 8-13 was Sam Dunn, who earned 7,146 votes to win 49.31% of the poll.

Dunn, of Oakmont boys hockey, earned his spot on the poll for a two goal game against Worcester where the Spartans took the victory, 5-4.

Behind Dunn in the poll was Josh Crotty from Gardner hockey (39.83%, 5,772 votes). Crotty similarly had a big game last week in which he scored the winning goal against St. Bernard's.

Here are the top performances of January 15-20. Be sure to vote for your favorite athlete at the end!

Boys Basketball

Jayden Jones, Monty Tech

Jones had two big games for Monty Tech last week, starting with a 19 point game to lead the Bulldogs in a win against Main South on January 17. Mike Cannon added 18 and Elizer Torres had 13 to help take the 74-61 victory.

Later in the week, Jones scored 17 points to help defeat Abby Kelley Foster 61-33. Cannon contributed 11 points for the Bulldogs.

Aiden Bancroft, Narragansett

Despite a 59-48 loss for Narragansett against Ayer-Shirley, Bancroft scored 12 points for the Warriors on January 17.

Narragansett's Aiden Bancroft ends the first half with a fake and a left-handed layup, boosting the Warriors to a 34-8 halftime lead on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023.
Narragansett's Aiden Bancroft ends the first half with a fake and a left-handed layup, boosting the Warriors to a 34-8 halftime lead on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023.

Chris Leger, Gardner

Leger tied the game-high of 17 points in Gardner's 1-point loss against Tahanto on January 17. The final score was 50-49, and Tahanto's Nick Caramanica matched Leger's 17 points.

Girls Basketball

Olivia Martin, Oakmont

The Spartans pulled off a close game against Marlborough, taking it by one point 40-39. Martin scored a team-high 9 points and Molly Horgan added 6 in the victory.

Krista Bettez, Gardner

Bettez had an impressive week, leading the Wildcats to two wins. She scored 11 points in a 44-37 victory against Tahanto on January 17 and 13 points in a 52-24 win over South Lancaster on January 20.

More: These 26 Gardner-area girls basketball players are shining this winter. See their stats

Monty Tech's Kylie Neseran shoots over Elisabeth Gardiner in the Bulldogs' game against St. Bernard's on Dec. 8, 2023.
Monty Tech's Kylie Neseran shoots over Elisabeth Gardiner in the Bulldogs' game against St. Bernard's on Dec. 8, 2023.

Kylie Neseran, Monty Tech

Monty Tech finally broke their losing streak with a big win over Abby Kelley Foster on January 19. Neseran contributed 12 points to the 36-25 win. Cassidy Boutell and Paige Gadarowski added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Boys Hockey

Jayden Patel, Gardner

Patel notched two goals and two assists in Gardner's 6-1 win over Southwick-Tolland on January 20. Cullan White added a goal and two assists. Other goal scorers were Drew St. Peter, Derek Plummer and Ty Burdett. Goalie Mark Quinn had 21 saves.

Gardner's Jayden Patel looks to shoot in the Wildcats' win against Lunenburg/Ayer-Shirley on January 5, 2024.
Gardner's Jayden Patel looks to shoot in the Wildcats' win against Lunenburg/Ayer-Shirley on January 5, 2024.

Swimming

Gardner boys swim suffered a loss against AMSA 117-42. However, Jacob Pervier and Alex Olson were both double winners for the Wildcats.

Pervier won both the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

Olson took the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.

Gardner co-op swimmer Jacob Pervier (Narragansett) catches his breath after finishing his leg in the 200 relay vs. Grafton.
Gardner co-op swimmer Jacob Pervier (Narragansett) catches his breath after finishing his leg in the 200 relay vs. Grafton.

More: Hockey leading scorers, goaltenders on Gardner area teams

The girls team beat AMSA 117-47 and also had two double winners that helped to lead to the victory.

Ella Reeves won the 50 freestyle and 500 freestyle.

Isabella Dumas won the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke.

Indoor Track and Field

Christian Almonte, Monty Tech

Altmonte won two events to help lead the Bulldogs to a 51-44 victory over Sutton in a dual meet on January 18. Almonte won the 2 mile and the 600 meter. Colin Locke was another two event winner, in the 1 mile and 1000 meter.

Isabella Sayarath, Raquel Valente, Kaitlyn Daykin, Monty Tech

Sayarath, Valente and Daykin each won an event in Monty Tech's loss against Sutton 47-43. The trio won the 55 meter hurdles, 55 meter and 300 meter, respectively.

Leah Deane, Narragansett

Deane was a double winner for Narragansett in a meet at Wachusett against Gardner, Murdock, Quabbin, Wachusett, Shepherd Hill, Maynard and Oakmont. Deane came in first place in the girls shotput (27-03.5) and the 600 meter (1:50.10).

Natalia Marchand, Quabbin

Marchand represented the Panthers well at the Mid Wach meet, coming in first in two events. She took the 55 meter with a time of 7.80 and the high jump with a height of 5'1".

Vote for who you think should be The Gardner News Athlete of the Week!

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Hoops, hockey, swim, track athletes represented in this week's poll