Alan Greenwood

Sports towns – for instance, Nashua – are renowned for the legacies left by high school players, coaches, and anyone else whose marks on local history are destined to linger long after they have passed from our midst.

In Nashua, no one could successfully argue that Adam Gureckis’ fingerprints are fading any time in the foreseeable future.

Gureckis’ accomplishments are notable, more so now that we creep further and further down the road away from multi-sport athletes. For the modern high school star, spreading oneself across two (or, heaven forbid, three) distinct seasons has become more bothersome than it is worth.

For one thing, scholarship offers are certainly prizes worth pursuing. And that pursuit typically commands special attention. A basketball star devoting his or her time to soccer, cross country, baseball or lacrosse is gently nudged aside and told that those other sports may be fun, but are unnecessary distractions.

So we’ll open this little essay with a nod to one of Nashua High’s all-time multi-sport stars.

JUNE 11, 1971 – “Although it was a well-kept secret, not a single person was surprised when Adam Gureckis was named Athlete of the Year at the annual awards assembly in the Nashua High auditorium this morning.

“Gureckis, the highest scorer in Nashua High basketball history and one of the outstanding baseball pitchers in the state, received the honor in recognition of his achievement in both sports. … The highlight of his career was reached when he became the first player to cross the 1,500-point plateau in the annals of Nashua High.”

FEB. 26, 1962 – “Nashua High was unable to post any basketball headlines this season, but in track the Purple kept the local sports picture very much alive and then some by winning the New Hampshire indoor championship and closed out the campaign without once tasting defeat.

“Not only that, but coach Fran Tate piloted his Nashua thin-clads to their third straight championship Saturday at the Exeter cage. He tutored Dick Diggins to a gradual assault on the dash records until finally the young speedster had his name inscribed in the record books as the fastest 50-yard dash and 300-yard schoolboy runner in the state.”

FEB. 27, 1982 – “Nashua won the right to play in its first hockey semifinal since 1975 last night by knocking off the top-ranked Exeter Blue Hawks, 7-5. But don’t let that score fool you. With four minutes remaining in the second period, Nashua High was leading the once-beaten Hawks 7-2.

“… Only a fine third period from NHS goalie Peter Trebotte, who had been kind of overlooked on the evening with all the early Purple Blade goals, held off wave after wave of Blue Hawk attackers. The NHS netminder fought off 38 shots on the night, 13 more than his rival at the other end, yet the Blades dominated the game for two periods.”

FEB. 28, 1992 – “It was just after 8 p.m. Thursday at Everett Arena when the Bishop Guertin High School hockey team breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“Mike Schnyer had just scored the game-winning goal in double overtime to lift seventh-seeded Guertin to a 3-2 victory over 10th-seeded Lebanon in the preliminary round of the state tournament. …Schnyer and his teammates had every right to be frustrated. The Cardinals had battled back from a 2-0 deficit and outshot Lebanon 33-6 from the third period on but they could put the Raiders away.”

MARCH 1, 2017 – “The ball bounced high in the air, and while a couple of Goffstown High School players were standing just looking up, Hollis Brookline’s Cassandra Stapelfeld took charge, swooping in to snare it.

Her message was clear: Not this time.

“Last year in this same spot they let a lead slip away against Oyster River, but on Tuesday night they didn’t let any tourney jitters bother them en route to a 59-40 first round win over Goffstown.”

MARCH 2, 1987 – “If the Bishop Guertin High School hockey team repeats as state champions in 1987-88 it will be without its coach, Brother J.P. Monat.

“Monat, 42, confirmed to The Telegraph on Sunday that he would not be the coach next season, at least from February on. Monat said that from February through mid-May at the minimum, he would be on sabbatical from Guertin. Monat said he would be in Sangre de Cristo, N.M., for a religious revival session for the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.”

MARCH 3, 1977 – “Glen A. Marshall, 25, son of Gil and Dorothy Marshall of Milford, is entered in the Daytona Motorcycle Road Race to be held March 9 at the Daytona International Speedway.

“… Marshall is sponsored by Gil’s Yamaha Inc., 39 South Street in Milford, and will enter a Yamaha TA125 factory production bike.”

MARCH 4, 1967 – “Ahead by one point with 24 seconds remaining, senior forward Ken Olen dropped in two free throws to put the finishing touches on a brilliant second-half, come-from-behind drive that netted the Milford High Spartans a a 67-64 decision over Bishop Brady in the Class I quarterfinals last night in the Portsmouth High gym.”

Contact Alan Greenwopod at agreenwood@nashuatelegraph.com.