Sarah MacLagan placed first at the Bay State Games Rifle Shooting qualifier with a score of 547-13x out of a possible 600 on a dark, cold and windy day Sunday, June 28 at the Reading Rifle and Revolver Club in Reading, MA.

The finals for Rifle Shooting will be held at the Reading Rifle and Revolver Club on Thursday, July 9 and Sunday, July 12. Visit the Rifle Shooting webpage for more info.

Congratulations to all the medal winners at the Bay State Summer Games' inaugural trap shooting competition held Saturday, June 27 at the North Leominster Rod and Gun Clun in Lunenburg, MA. The competition was a great success, and we hope to build on it for 2010.

More than 50 shooters took part with medals awarded in four age/gender divisions. Check out the Results webpage to see who took home gold.

The Massachusetts Amateur Sports Foundation is proud to name the winners of the 2009 Verizon Future Leaders Scholarship. The following student-athletes were selected based on outstanding leadership through community service, academic excellence and athletic achievement:

Kendra Cheng: Franklin, Bishop Feehan High School
Cheng has been an outstanding contributor in the classroom and pool at Bishop Feehan. The swim team captain is state champion in the 200 I.M., 100 Butterfly and 4x50 Freestyle Relay and holds six school records. As a result, she was named to the Boston Herald and Boston Globe All-Scholastic teams.  Not to be outdone by her athletic accomplishments, academically Cheng ranks in the top one percent of her class as a straight A student and is a member of the National Honor Society. She is vice-president of Math Honor society, president of MOVE Club and a geometry tutor. The Franklin native also organizes and conducts free swim clinics at her local YMCA.

Connor MacKenzie: Harvard, Groton School
MacKenzie transferred to the Groton School at the beginning of his junior year and quickly became one of the school’s top leaders. The Harvard resident serves as treasurer of the student council, president of the InvenTeam, and head coordinator of the tutoring program. He is also a member of the National Honor Society, and French and Spanish clubs. Named lacrosse captain for his senior season, MacKenzie was also a two-time state champion in soccer at the Bromfield School.

Tegan O’Neill: Stamford (VT), Miss Hall’s School
O’Neill has won numerous gold medals as a figure skater in the Bay State Winter Games. The Stamford, VT resident is a high honors student in the top five percent of her class. She is also a member of the Cum Laude Society, school secretary on the Judicial Committee, editor of the school newspaper, and a contributor to the Big/Little Sister program.

Zachary Price: Franklin, Franklin High School
Price is a three-sport athlete at Franklin HS -- captain of the basketball team, starting pitcher in baseball and backup quarterback on the football team. Possessing great leadership skills, he has served as Class President for all four years of high school. The honors student also is a member of the prom committee and is a peer leader. He does this all while holding down a part-time job.

Matt Sherman: Burlington, Burlington High School              
Sherman, a wrestling captain at Burlington High School, has won multiple state championships including a fourth place finish at the New England Championships. This high honors student ranks 11 in his class of 250. The Burlington resident volunteers at Boston Home for MS patients and is a peer tutor. He is also a member of the student government and SADD.

Emily Theurer: Burlington, Burlington High School             
Theurer is a straight A student who ranks third in her class of 250 and is a member of the National Honor Society and Spanish Club. She is a decorated figure skater, spending several hours a day, six days a week, on the ice practicing and as an instructor. Despite her busy schedule, she has found time to give back as president of the Community Service Club and a peer mentor. She also recently had the opportunity to travel to Asia as part of the Pathway to China program.

Congratualtions to the six winners!

Registration for the 7 vs 7 Soccer Tournament on July 18 and 19 at Devens Recreation Center closes on Friday, July 3. Please sign up your teams now as space is still available but filling up quickly.

Visit the 7 vs 7 Soccer webpage or contact Megan for more information.

Congratulations to Michael Yastrzemski, of Andover, for being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 36th round of 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

The St. John's Prep product was a member of the Northeast baseball team that took the silver medal at last summer's Bay State Games.

The deadline to apply for the 2009 Verizon Future Leaders Scholarship is Wednesday, June 10.

The Verizon Future Leaders Scholarship, which awards six $2000 college scholarships to Bay State Games participants, aims to identify young men and women who will be tomorrow’s leaders. In partnership with Verizon, the Massachusetts Amateur Sports Foundation is proud to award these scholarships to six student-athletes who demonstrate leadership through community service, academic excellence and athletic achievement.

If you are currently a junior in high school, visit the scholarship homepage for more information and to download an application.

Tryouts for regional teams in the scholastic sports begin June 1.

Those interested in participating in baseball, basketball, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball and volleyball, should check that sport's page on the Summer Games website for tryout dates, times and locations.

Athletes are able to sign up at the first tryout for their regions team or beforehand online at their sport's webpage.

The Bay State Games are excited to name the winners of the Kids Fitness Challenge for April 2009. The four recipients of a $500 grant are:

Jefferson Elementary in Franklin
Mary Fonseca Elementary in Fall River
St. Joan of Arc/St. George in Chicopee
Tyngsborough Middle School in Tyngsborough.

In total, almost 10,000 kids from schools across the commonwealth took part in the spring edition of the Kids Fitness Challenge. Along with the more than 13,000 students who participated in the Fall Edition of the Challenge, in excess of 23,000 kids from across the commonwealth learned the lessons of a healthy, active lifestyle this school year through the Challenge.

Since November of 2006, the Kids Fitness Challenge, presented by SBLI with contributing funds from the Boston Bruins Foundation, has attracted nearly 75,000 elementary and middle school students from across the commonwealth with $10,000 in cash grants distributed to selected schools that participated.

The Bay State Games and local sports website www.bostonsportsu18.com are looking for youth bloggers who can report on the 2009 Summer Games.

Ideally, bloggers should be between the ages of 10 and 17 and be passionate about sports and journalism. Bloggers will report on a variety of sports and have unique access to players, coaches and Bay State Games personnel. No experience is necessary. Anyone interested should e-mail Mike Winn at info@bostonsportsu18.com.

www.bostonsportsu18.com is a website that will report on all of the Boston Sports teams and feature training tips, nutrition tips, pictures and videos, high school reports, interviews with athletes, product reviews and much more. Boston Sports U18 is written “by kids, for kids” with most bloggers under the age of 18.

It's that time of the year again! We are thrilled to open registration for the 2009 Summer Games.

Click on the Summer Games link to the left, then choose your sport in the navigation bar for more information and to sign up.

Following the successful model established by other state games across the country, the Bay State Games are launching an incentive program for all high school athletic departments in Massachusetts.

This program is designed to encourage high school athletic administrators to promote the Bay State Games while providing the opportunity to win much needed cash grants for their high school athletic programs.

There is no obligation on the part of the athletic director or the school. There is no sign up for the program and all schools will be included when we launch April 1. We simply ask all athletic directors to assist with promoting the Bay State Summer Games at your school and in your community.

Please take a look at the Incentive Program flyer for more information.

All internship positions for the 2009 Bay State Summer Games have been filled. Thank you to all the great candidates who applied!

Kevin, Peter and I would like to welcome:

Megan Richard - UMass Amherst - Operations
Greg Osborne - Northeastern University - Operations
Joseph Waters - Salem State College - Operations
Maggie DelRose - Bryant University - Sports Information
Tim Murphy - Endicott College - Special Events
Kristin Rock - Quinnipiac College - Finance

We are excited for the new interns to get started, as we look forward to another great summer.