Nashua High School - Tusitala Yearbook (Nashau, NH)

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BASEBALL At the beginning of the 1953 baseball sea- son, the Nashua High Panthers had three boys of the class of '55 on the team: Paul Bellavance, Richard Landry, and Charles Jepson. These three boys contributed much to the success of the team throughout the season, and were in- strumental in the winning of second place in the state class A championship tournament held at Keene. In 1954 there were these six members of the class of '55 on the baseball team: Charles Jepson, Richard Landry, Paul Bellavance, Robert Miller, Leo Dutton, and Robert Migneault fwho joined the service in 1955 be- fore graduationj The ball team again went to the finals only to be defeated by a strong Bishop Bradley team, by the score of 11 to 5. All of the players of the class of '55 played in this game, and again they proved to be the sup- porting pillar of the team. We are expecting a good season this year with the return of many veterans from the pre- vious season. The members of the class of '55 who are trying out for the baseball team are Richard Landry, Paul Bellavance, Charles Jepson, Leo Dutton, and Robert Miller. On the schedule for the 1955 season are Spaulding High of Rochester, Keene, Concord, Laconia, Manchester Central, Manchester West, Bishop Bradley of Manchester, Fitchburg, and Stevens of Claremont. We are to play each team twice, excluding the play-offs. We will play eighteen games, and we are certainly go- ing to try to get into the play-offs, and to come in first this year, instead of second, as we did in 1953 and 1954. In saying farewell, we, the players of the class of '55, would like to thank our coach, Charles Buzz Harvey, for his great efforts to make us into a good baseball team. RICHARD LANDRY PAGE FIFTY-SIX GIRLS' BASKETBALL Three cheers for the Girls' Basketball Team, which has had an excellent record of twelve wins and two losses during the three years that the girls in our class have been play- ing. Although scanty credit has been awarded the girls, they have constantly gone on to pro- duce winning teams. In all three years Sylvia Spencer, Marie Chartrain, and Dorothy Fleury have stayed in the starting six. Betty Leone also held a first-club position until we lost her at the end of our junior year. Phyllis Philbrick joined the team for the '54 and '55 seasons. At the beginning of our junior year Sylvia Spencer was elected captain, a position which she also held senior year. Spence was cer- tainly deserving of this title, as she showed in all her outstanding games. Because of the size of our school we en- counted difficulty in scheduling out-of-town games. Many thanks go to the girls of Milford High, Merrimack High, and Brookline, who played us even though they weren't in our league. St. Aloysius also proved to be a worthy opponent. In our sophomore year we won all our games by decisive victories, defeating Merri- mack, Milford, and St. Aloysius. We repeated our victories in our junior year by whipping Merrimack and St. Aloysius. During our senior year we were less fortunate, for we dropped our first game with Milford. In the second game, however, we defeated them. We won over Mer- rimack in the first game, but lost the second game by a questionable one point difference. We went on to defeat Brookline and St. Aloysius. Although not too many games were sched- uled, the girls worked for an hour and a half every afternoon and had fun doing it. Miss Alice Bennett, who began coaching at Nashua High when we were sophomores, deserves much credit for working with the girls and making them into a sportsmanlike club. We are sure she will continue to produce good clubs. MARIE CHARTRAIN TUSITALA

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TRACK AND CROSS COUNTRY Although they had never run track before, the five members of 1955, Dick Harwood, Tom Ryan, Hubert Chaput, Jack Lacombe, and Jim Kopka, who reported for track as sophomores gave a good account of themselves, and when spring of 1954 rolled around they were ready and waiting, with Flahive as an important ad- dition. Harwood came through in the mile, Kopka scored consistently in the discus and shop-put, Ryan often went twenty feet broad jumping, and Lacombe and Chaput picked up those extra points which are precious in a close contest. Nashua finished fourth in the State meet. Har- wood and Flahive were selected to run in the New England, where Harwood added a fifth place to his win in the state meet. In the latter Flahive took third in the half mile. Early in 1955 indoor track caught the at- tention of the Nashua runners, and Nashua sent its first indoor track team to the Exeter meet, placing a strong third. GRADUATION ISSUE As the 1955 track season continues, the same six seniors are out, and the state title in track is just over the hill. Thomas Flahive, Richard Harwood, and Hubert Chaput sparked the 1953 cross country team to a 4-1 record, losing only to Lowell by one point. Flahive and Harwood broke an elev- en-year record at Lawrence Central that year. The team of 1954 was paced by the hard run- ing, red-headed combination of Harwood and Flahive, and good steady runners in Taggart and Chaput. Nashua finished with a 5-2 record. Many records fell during the course of the season. Flahive and Harwood reduced the 1948 home course record from 11:54 to an a- mazing 11:05. The team took third in the state meet, which was better than any previous team from this school had done. Harwood, who finished fifth, and Flahive eighth, were on the All-State Cross Country Team. Both boys were eligible to run in the New England Meet at Boston. THOMAS FLAHIVE PAGE FIFTY-SEVEN

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BASKETBALL In our sophomore year, 1952-1953, Flahive was the only member of our class on the Senior High basketball team. He was on the first string of the J. V. squad and proved to be a valuable addition. In our sophomore year, 1952-1953, Flahive and George Manley played for the varsity, the former securing a starting position and Manley playing as a reserve. Paul Bellavance, Albert Beaulieu, Bernie Moran, Ralph Lucier, Bill Gagnon, Jim Dobens, and Bob Theriault made up the J. V. squad. The team had a fair sea- son, ending with a 9-7 record. In our junior year, Red Flahive kept his starting assignment on the varsity team, and Bellavance, Beaulieu, and Theriault joined Manley on the reserve list. This was a good year for basketball at N. H. S., as the team rolled up a 22-2 record and copped the Merri- mack Valley and State Championships before going on to Boston to be eliminated by a strong Brockton team in the New England tourney. GRADUATION ISSUE In 1954-1955, we had an inexperienced team. Flahive was elected captain, and Theri- ault and Bellavance joined him on the starting five. The team compiled a fair 9-7 record, but was eliminated by Central in the opening round of the state tourney. Congratulations should be accorded Tom Flahive, who played four years of excellent basketball and was always a steadfast pillar of support to his team mates. He did an excep- tionally good job in his senior year as he led the team in scoring and obtained the most valuable award in the Merrimack Valley Con- ference. We should like to thank Coach Tony Marandos for the long hours he labored coach- ing us, and also for the wonderful time we had on our trip to New York in 1954, after winning the state title. ROBERT THERIAULT PAGE FIFTY-FIVE