Goyette, Lighten Recognized as Athletes of the Week

This week's iBerkshires.com/Bedard Bros. Athletes of the Week are picking up right where they left off last spring.

 

Wahconah senior sprinter Matt Lighten blew away the competition at Friday's double-dual with Mount Greylock and Monument Mountain on Williams College's Lee Track.

 

In the 100 meters, Lighten posted a 10.8-second performance. He closed the meet with a 22.3 in the 200 that was 2.4 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

 

Both those times bettered his best runs at last spring's Central/Western Massachusetts Championships, where he placed second in the 100 with an 11.13 and ran a 22.56 in the 200 prelims.

 

In fact, both Lighten's runs on Friday would have contended with the winning times at last year's sectional -- 10.95 and 22.34. But it's worth noting that Lighten again next month will have to contend with John Caouette, the defending champ at both distances and now a senior at Oakmont Regional in Ashburnham.

 

Perhaps Ligthen's most eye-catching performance on Friday evening was as the anchor in Wahconah's 4-by-100 relay, where the made up a considerable gap to lead his team to a win with a time of 46.1.

 

After his evening ended on Friday, Lighten said he felt good about how the season has started.

 

"I already ran a 10.91, which would definitely place in states, and I'm looking to go sub-22 in the 200, so we'll see how that goes," he said.

 

You better run fast if you want to catch Lighten, and you had better be prepared to run if you want to get on base against McCann Tech junior Megan Goyette.

 

Goyette has yet to yield a walk in 31 innings in the circle this spring. She has struck out 35 and posted a 1.58 earned run average en route to a 5-0 start for the Hornets.

 

Of course, this is nothing new.

 

Last spring, she finished with an ERA of 2.27 and 139 Ks in 139 innings pitched in a 14-7 campaign. And she walked just 12 all last spring.

 

That means in her last 170 innings, she has allowed 12 walks -- an average of one per 14 innings.

 

On Tuesday, she struck out seven and allowed just two hits in a 1-0 win at Sabis, her third shutout of the season.

 

Goyette and the Hornets face a busy week this week with four games on the schedule, capped by Friday's game against crosstown rival Drury.

 

The iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Bedard Bros. Auto of Cheshire.