Don Gutterson has been a fixture in Milford for the last 20 years, and he's now the Spartans new athletic director, replacing the retiring Marc Maurais. (Courtesy photo)

MILFORD – School may be out for summer, but Don Gutterson ‘s work has just begun.

Gutterson, who has been in the Milford system for 20 years, was named as the new athletic director at Milford High School, filling the shoes of 30-year AD Marc Maurais, who is retiring from the district.

Gutterson was long rumored to be Maurais’ successor when it was made known this spring that the job would be open. He was the AD at Mascenic Regional from 1990-98, and has currently been the AD at Milford Middle School, as well as being the Spartants boys varsity basketball coach.

So he knows what the job entails, for sure.

“It’s where I’ve wanted to end up, anyway,” the 59-year-old Gutterson said, noting that his days of being a fulltime phys end teacher were starting to be taxing. “I’ve always wanted to be a full-time AD.”

Gutterson is not only familiar with what the job entails, but he also knows Milford very well. And he had a good guide over the last few years in Maurais.

“I think one of Marc’s strengths was he was always pretty even-keel, he always listened to people and then made a fair decision,” Gutterson, who also coached in Londonderry as well as being the AD at that system’s middle school for a couple years, said. “I want to continue that. I think that’s an important attribute to being an athletic director. Being able to listen, then make a decision, and sometimes people might not like the decision, but at least I’m able to listen and move on from there.”

Gutterson has sent an email to all the coaches, and has spoken with a few as well.

“There’s actually only a couple I don’t know,” he said. “A lot that I’ve gotten to know pretty well over the years, a bunch of them who were coaches here at the middle school before they moved up to the high school.”

Gutterson clearly supports the grass roots move to try to get the high school stadium to replace its grass field with field turf. He cited “improving the grounds and the facilities” as one of his priorities.

“The outdoor sports in the spring and the fall, we have a lot of teams that play and practice off site,” Gutterson said. “So it would be nice to get people to be here on site, and a turf field would help in that.”

He’s also like to improve the gym and get more seating.”

Maurais will officially leave the position on Monday, which will be sad day in away, as Maurais was all about Milford athletics.

And Gutterson says that’s what he will be.

“I just like being able to see kids in all sports gain success, and working with the coaches,” Gutterson said. “Kind of help build the programs.”

MILFORD OPENINGS

One of Gutterson’s first duties will be to fill a few coaching openings for the fall: Varsity fall spirit, JV boys soccer, JV girls volleyball, and varsity boys and girls cross country. Those interested can go to milfordk12.org to get more information or to apply.

SOUTH’S HART ON ALL-REGIONAL TEAM

Former Nashua South center fielder River Hart was one of two players from New Hampshire player named to the Rawlings ABCA All-Region team.

Hart, the Division I Player of the Year, hit .500 for the Panthers, with five doubles, five triple, four homers and 15 RBIs. Plus, he had 25 stolen bases and 23 runs scored, with a .563 on-base percentage.

The other New Hampshire player was Tyler Hicks from White Mountains Regional. Hart is headed to Southern New Hampshire University in the fall.

LIONS CUP LACROSSE

Several local just-graduated seniors took part in the Lions Cup Twin State Lacrosse Games recently. Bishop Guertin’s Rylee Bouvier had five goals and an assist while Cardinal teammate Natalie Coutu had a goal and seven assists in New Hampshire girls’ 21-7 win over Vermont. Hollis Brookline’s Nicole Heiter and Abbie Ogren were among other locals who also played in the game.

In the boys game, South’s Johnson’s – Griffin (two goals) and goalie Ethan (six saves) played well in New Hampshire’s 14-13 loss to Vermont. Another Panther, Connor Rowsell, had a goal and an assist.

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