Hotchkiss girls on 15-game win streak
Eleanor Helm leads a fast break for Hotchkiss Feb. 12.
Lans Christensen
Hotchkiss senior Morgan Jenkins reached the 1,000-point varsity milestone earlier this season.Lans Christensen
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Salisbury’s Joel Blumert, center, is flanked by Linda Huebner, of Halifax, Vermont, left, and Trish Walter, of Collinsville, atop the summit of Bear Mountain on New Year’s Day. It was Blumert’s 1,000th climb of the state’s tallest peak. The Twin Lakes can be seen in the background.
Photo by Steve Barlow
The 76-year-old Salisbury resident has been hiking Bear Mountain twice a week, with only sporadic lapses, for nearly a dozen years. On New Year’s Day, Blumert reached the goal he set a few years ago of 1,000 climbs.
He has hiked it in the wintry cold and the summer heat, amid the splendor of the autumn foliage and even in the middle of a daunting tornado.
Joel Blumert, right, followed by Trish Walter, of Collinsville, and Linda Huebner of Halifax, Vt., climb the ridge leading to the summit of Bear Mountain on New Year’s Day. Photo by Steve Barlow
“It’s just been one step at a time and one climb at a time,” said Blumert, a musician who performs mostly at area nursing homes.
Blumert and his wife, Theresa Carroll, moved to Sharon in 1985 and to Salisbury in 1987, in part for the outdoor recreation the Tri-State region offers. But after their two daughters, Shayna and Denali, were born in the 1990s, Blumert’s exercise regimen started to lag.
In 2000, his doctor reported he had “ridiculously high blood pressure.”
“I decided if I was going to die of a stroke, it was better to die in the woods than sitting around the house,” Blumert said.
He began hiking again and rebuilt his endurance. In March 2014, he summited Bear Mountain, which at 2,316 feet is the highest peak in Connecticut. (The state’s highest point at 2,380 feet lies on the south slope of Mount Frissell at the border with Massachusetts.)
It was Blumert’s first hike up Bear in several years. As he gazed at the Twin Lakes shimmering below, he said to himself, “I love this mountain. I’m going to do this once a week.”
He grew to love the hike so much that after a year he doubled it to twice a week. Since then, Blumert has stuck to his weekly ritual with only occasional pauses for out-of-state trips or illness, along with one 13-week stretch when a pulled ligament in his pelvis planted him on the couch.
He knows the 2.9-mile route intimately, from the Undermountain trailhead off Route 41 to the intersection with the Appalachian Trail and on to the summit. In his sojourns, he has seen porcupines, deer, a timber rattler, a pair of copulating copperheads (“Or maybe they were milk snakes; I didn’t interrupt them to find out”), owls and redtail hawks — yet not a single bear.
Soon after he began hiking Bear regularly, Blumert made another vow: He would be cheerful and friendly to every hiker he met on the mountain. “I’ve developed trail friendships with 20 to 30 people,” he said.
One of them is Collinsville resident Trish Walter, who became a regular hiking buddy and has now climbed the mountain with Blumert about 70 times over the past five years.
Walter and her friend, Linda Huebner, of Halifax, Vermont, joined Blumert for his milestone hike on New Year’s Day. With 4 inches of snow having fallen the night before, they set foot shortly after noon and reached the top just before 3 p.m. The trek back down took half that time.
Aside from the blustery wind approaching the summit, they enjoyed a spectacular day of bright sunshine and blue skies.
The weather hasn’t always been so cooperative. Blumert was once nearly struck by lightning on the upper ridge. And this September, he hiked down in what he described as a tornado.
“It came right down Undermountain Trail,” he noted. “Trees were swishing back and forth. Branches were flying everywhere. There was grape-sized hail. It was scary.”
Now that he has reached his goal, Blumert plans to cut back to one hike of Bear each week. That will free time for other climbs in the area, a recumbent bicycle he has bought, and yet another mountaineering goal.
“I want to complete the 4,000-footers in New Hampshire,” Blumert said. “There are 48 of them, and I’ve done 23.”
Tessa Dekker, four-year basketball player at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, was named female Athlete of the Year at the school's athletic award ceremony in May 2025.
Photo by Riley Klein
Basketball games were well attended last winter thanks in part to the return of the Mountaineer cheerleaders. The squad performed halftime shows and coordinated themes for the audience, such as Hawaiian night.
“We made the themes really pop off,” said cheer captain Taylor Terwilliger.
The Mountaineer cheer squad amps up team spirit in front of a pink-themed student section during rivalry night against Lakeview High School on Feb. 5. Photo by Riley Klein
The birth of a new Berkshire League rivalry emerged between HVRHS and the newly created Lakeview High School. The bleachers were packed when the girls and boys teams faced off back-to-back in Falls Village Feb. 5. HVRHS won the girls game 59-43, but Lakeview won the boys game 71-60.
At the end of the basketball season, Daniela Brennan was chosen to receive the Berkshire League’s Edward B. Kolakoski Sportsmanship Award.
The Housatonic co-op hockey team played its final game last winter. After the season, the co-op disbanded and this year HVRHS players are in a new co-op hosted by New Milford High School.
The baseball dugout had a good time heckling former Mountaineers during the HVRHS varsity vs. alumni baseball game in May.Photo by Riley Klein
Players took to the diamonds come springtime for baseball and softball. In addition to high school teams, the Region One Middle School Mountaineers fielded teams for both sports.
Varsity baseball went on to earn a state tournament bid as the 21 seed. The boys played 12 seed Haddam-Killingworth High School in the first round and remained tied until a final inning walk-off win for HK.
Varsity girls lacrosse had a stellar season on the field and made it to the Western Connecticut Lacrosse Conference championship game. They ran into top-ranked Watertown High School and after a back-and-forth battle, Watertown won 6-4.
The varsity lacrosse team poses with the runner-up trophy following the Western Connecticut Lacrosse Conference championship game against Watertown High School.Photo by Riley Klein
Track and field athletes made waves last season, breaking several school records and taking home 10 gold medals at the Berkshire League finals and festival. Sixteen Mountaineers represented HVRHS at the Class S state meet in New Britain and five went on to qualify for the State Open meet: Anthony Labbadia, Mia Dodge, Kyle McCarron, Gabi Titone and Ryan Segalla.
Labbadia’s performance in the triple jump earned him a spot at the New England track and field championships. His best distance of 44 feet and one inch stood for ninth place in New England and set the new HVRHS record. The previous school record of 43 feet eight inches was set by Don Hurlbutt in 1967.
Anthony Labbadia set a new HVRHS record with a 44-foot one-inch triple jump June 14. The distance earned him 9th place at the New England track and field championship, which this year was held in New Britain, Conn. Photo by Riley Klein
Athletics continued into the summer with the Housy Hoops teams at the Torrington Summer Basketball League and the Housy Juniors in the Babe Ruth League summer baseball program. The girls basketball team became TSBL runners up after making it to the championship game against Lewis Mills.
When school started up in late August, fall sports swung into action beginning with varsity golf. Jonas Johnson went on to win the longest drive award at the Berkshire League golf all-star tournament Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Georgie Clayton, left, celebrates with Ava Segalla after a goal in the 2025 season.Photo by Riley Klein
Girls and boys soccer teams had historic seasons on the field and both qualified for the postseason tournaments.
The boys soccer team defeated Shepaug Valley High School for the first time in five years. The 1-0 win came in the Berkshire League tournament semifinals.
On the girls team, Ava Segalla set the new school scoring record with a total of 134 varsity goals. She surpassed the previous record of 120, which was set by her sister Sydney Segalla in 2021.
“Having scouts for the first time was definitely a very rewarding experience,” Segalla said. “It was exciting to see my hard work paying off.” Segalla committed to play Division I soccer at Sacred Heart University.
Girls soccer made a deep run in the Class S tournament, concluding with a showdown against Morgan High School in the semifinals. Morgan went on to become Class S champions.
Captain Gustavo Portillo celebrates with his teammates after a goal in soccer.Photo by Riley Klein
HVRHS had three cross country runners medal at the BL championship Oct. 16. Olivia Brooks placed 11th, Hannah Johnson placed 17th and Finn Malone placed 18th.
Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic’s co-op football team was led in large part by the Mountaineers with eight seniors on the team. The team faced a top-heavy schedule and started the season 1-4. But they stayed disciplined and battled back to a 5-5 finish, concluding with a 34-0 shutout win in the Turkey Bowl.
Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic football captain Wes Allyn, left, and QB Trevor Campbell after the end of the 2025 season.Photo by Riley Klein
“Out of the four years I’ve been playing, undefeated on Thanksgiving. No one will ever take that away from me,” said GNH captain Wes Allyn after the win.
Winter sports returned in December beginning with basketball. The girls team has a lot of young talent in new freshmen, and the boys team features a senior-heavy roster.
“I’m feeling very optimistic,” said senior captain Victoria Brooks. “Our strength is definitely going to be our dedication this year.”
Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s girls basketball team. From left, Autumn McKone, Olivia Simonds, Keely Malone, Selena Black, Hayden Bachman, Olivia Brooks, Maddy Johnson, Victoria Brooks, Carmela Egan, Aubrey Funk, Grace Graney and Noell Laurry. (Not pictured: Mya Weed) Riley Klein
