Enthusiasm, balance define Lady Whalers
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT SPORTS EDITOR
      With the postponements piling up last week because of the weather, softball coach Chris Maury looked to brighter days ahead after this week's school vacation. "I hope the end of April is better than the beginning," he said. "We got in two of the four games we were supposed to play before the break. After the break, we have 16 games.
More ...

     MICHAEL GALVIN/The Independent Baseball captain Adam Spencer checks the runner at first during last Wednesday's 12-3 home loss to Sacred Heart. Pitching in relief, Anthony Valero struck out five in the contest. The Whalers resume play next Tuesday with an away game at Sturgis Charter School.
More ...

Irish sailing team tests skills with NHS sailors
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT SPORTS EDITOR
      Nantucket was the second stop on their week-long tour, and the sailing team from Schull, in County Cork, Ireland, hoped the experience gained from the trip would reap rewards back home. Although Ireland holds a long and storied sailing tradition (the first yacht club was founded there), team sailing on the secondary school level is relatively new. The trip to the U. S.
More ...

BIRDS OF NANTUCKET
THE SWALLOW AND THE QUAGGA
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw
      This week's bird, like last week's, has greatly benefited from its association with humans but, unlike the Rock Pigeon, has done so without having its reputation soiled. Truly, almost everyone loves swallows. This is the national bird of Estonia, representing clear blue sky and happiness!
More ...

From the
      MIACOMETS TAKE TWO IN CAPE TOURNEY The Miacomets women's hockey team won two games in tournament action over the weekend, turning back the Ice Breakers and the Cape Cod Women's Hockey Team before falling in the finals to the Ice Devils, 1-0.
More ...

TIGHT LINES
NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF
with Andrew Spencer
      I've just returned from the depths of home improvement hell. You see, we've got a stairwell. A very tall stairwell. A very tall stairwell that hasn't been painted in God only knows how many years and that was in desperate need of repainting. Hold that mental image - a tall stairwell in need of painting - and pair that with an underpaid but ohso hard-working newspaper columnist.
More ...

Youth soccer gets in some weekend games
BY LINDAWILLIAMS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
      Only six teams were able to get their games in on Saturday before weather forced the cancellation of games on Sunday. It was a mixed bag of results for the Nantucket Student Soccer Association squads under darkening skies.
More ...