Chris Lamb of the Andover (N.H.) Outing Club just missed making the U.S. Ski Jumping team that is competing in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia this month.
But Lamb has another goal to shoot for: to be only the fifth jumper in the long history of the Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition to retire the Fred Harris Trophy.
Lamb will be in Brattleboro on Feb. 15 and 16 with more than 40 of the world's top jumpers from the United States, Europe, and Canada. He won the 2010 and 2013 Harris Hill competitions and holds the hill record for the longest jump, 335 feet.
If Lamb wins this year's competition, he will join Torger Tokle of Norway (1942), Art Devlin of Lake Placid, N.Y. (1954 and 1958), Brattleboro's Hugh Barber (1974), and Vladimir Glyvka of Ukraine (2000) to win three Harris Hill competitions and retire the Winged Ski Trophy.
It's a pretty exclusive club. Tokle (1940, 1941, 1942) and Barber (1972, 1973, 1974) are the only jumpers to win three years in a row. Devlin has the most wins overall (1946, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958).
Since this is an Olympic year, many of the competitors of the past few years will be in Russia instead of Brattleboro. They include the four members of the U.S. Ski Jumping Team competing in Sochi: Anders Johnson (the 2009 and 2012 winner) Nick Fairall (third in 2013), Peter Frenette, and Nick Alexander.
But if you want to get a look at who might be in the 2018 Winter Olympics, head up to Cedar Street to see future Olympians up close as they launch from the takeoff at speeds of 60 mph off the 90-meter jump.
This year's event will not only feature the Pepsi Challenge and the Fred Harris Memorial Tournament, but will also be the only domestic stop in a nine-event International Skiing Federation FIS Cup Series, and will also serve as a stop on the USA Ski Jumping US Cup series.
Competition each day will start at 11 a.m. and will conclude by 4 p.m. For additional details on the event, visit HarrisHillSkiJump.com.
Girls' basketball
• Brattleboro started the week by extending their winning streak to six games with a 41-35 victory over Rutland on Jan. 27 at the BUHS gym. Maddie Derosia and Ari Harrison each scored 14 points to lead the Colonels. Harrison had 10 rebounds and four assists, while Kayla Savage had nine rebounds and three steals to go with her six points.
The Colonels kept the beat going with a 47-27 win over Burr & Burton on Jan. 30. Meghan Siggins scored all of her 10 points in the second quarter on the way to a 25-8 lead at the half. Savage added another 10 points and nine rebounds and Harrison had eight points and eight rebounds as the Colonels improved to 12-4 and tied for fifth in the Division I standings.
• Twin Valley is also on a roll. They traveled to Arlington on Jan. 27 and came away with a 51-35 victory for their fifth straight win. Hannah Swanson led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Colton Butler scored nine points and Sammy Cunningham-Darrah had nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Wildcats then made it six in a row with a 52-28 drubbing of Black River in Wilmington on Jan. 30. Savannah Nesbitt was top scorer with 14 as Twin Valley improved to 12-4 and fifth place in the Division III standings.
• Leland & Gray started the week in a slump. They fell to Otter Valley, 49-36, on Jan. 27 in Townshend for their fourth loss in a row. Elizabeth Gallup had nine points to lead the Rebels. The Rebels then lost again, this time to Green Mountain, 63-50, on Jan. 30. Jessie Stockwell and Rachel Borgenson scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, as Leland & Gray finished the week at 3-11.
• Bellows Falls snapped a six-game losing streak with a 48-36 win over Green Mountain at Holland Gymnasium on Jan. 27. Molly (14 points) and Emily (13 points) Dufault led BF, Chelsea Wilder added nine as the Terriers shot 14-for-17 from the free throw line. Three nights later, the Terriers beat Arlington, 42-34, to improve to 4-10.
Boys' basketball
• After starting the season with three straight wins, Leland & Gray lost eight of their last nine games heading into last week's action. Against Bellows Falls, another team that just ended a long losing streak, the Rebels suffered their ninth loss, 62-58, on Jan. 28 to fall to 4-9.
• Twin Valley started last week still undefeated after two close home wins against Proctor (41-38) on Jan. 24 and Rivendell (57-54) on Jan. 25. They cruised past Arlington, 69-46, on Jan. 28. Colin Lozito led the way with 24 and Dal Nesbitt added 20. With a 67-45 blowout of Black River on Jan. 30, the Wildcats remain undefeated at 14-0.
• Brattleboro came close to spoiling Burr & Burton's bid for an undefeated season, but the Bulldogs hung on for a 49-46 win on Jan. 28 at the BUHS gym. Isaac Roach and Connor Elliot-Knaggs each had 11 for the 7-5 Colonels.
Hockey
• The Brattleboro girls kept it close against Mount Mansfield on Jan. 29, but still came up short, 2-1. Considering the Colonels lost to the Cougars, 6-2, in the other meeting this season, it was an improvement to lose a physical, rough-and-tumble game by one goal despite being outshot 41-12. Sarah Laporte scored the only goal for the 2-11 Colonels.
• The Brattleboro boys got shut out by Mount Mansfield, 2-0, on Jan. 29, to fall to 4-10-1 on the season.
Changing Sox
• For the first time in more than four decades, the Boston Red Sox will not be heard in Brattleboro on WKVT AM-1490.
According to WKVT Operations Manager Peter Case, the Boston flagship station of the Red Sox Radio Network, WEEI, chose not to extend the broadcast rights to WKVT for the 2014 season.
Instead, WEEY 93.5 FM in Keene - an affiliate of the WEEI Sports Radio Network that airs WEEI's daytime talk shows - will be broadcasting the Red Sox games. The WEEY signal comes in clearly all over Windham County.
Alternatives for AM radio listeners include two 50,000-watt stations, WTIC AM-1080 in Hartford, Conn., and WCRN AM-830 in Worcester, Mass. Both come in clearly into Windham County after sundown.
Listeners south of Brattleboro can also listen on WWEI 105.5 FM in Springfield, Mass., another WEEI Sports Radio Network affiliate which comes in clearly along the Interstate 91 corridor from Exit 3 southward.
Instead of the Sox, Case said Brattleboro listeners will hear more Brattleboro Colonels sports on AM-1490 and its new translator at 100.3 FM.