Sports

Registration Open for Watertown-Belmont Youth Football & Cheerleading

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The following information was provided by Watertown-Belmont Youth Football and Cheerleading:

Watertown-Belmont Youth Football and Cheerleading is now accepting registrations for the fall 2019 season. 

Practices begin on Monday, Aug. 5, 2019 at Moxley Field in Watertown. Our program offers two different divisions: flag football for 1st and 2nd graders, tackle football for third through eighth grade and cheerleading for all grades. Our program is open to all Watertown & Belmont residents. Practices are Monday – Thursday from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Moxley Field. After Labor Day practices will change for both football and cheerleading. Games are held on Sundays.

Around Town

Free Bike Helmets Being Given Out at Little League Opening Day

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Watertown’s Little League baseball and softball teams line the diamond at Casey Park on opening day. The following information was provided by the Watertown Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee:

As part of its Project KidSafe campaign, the Boston personal injury law firm of Breakstone, White & Gluck recently donated 100 children’s bicycle helmets to the Watertown Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee. The helmets were given away to children at Watertown Little League Opening Day, April 27, 2019. Since 2013, Breakstone, White & Gluck and its Project KidSafe campaign have given away more than 25,000 bicycle helmets to children across Massachusetts. To reach children who need a helmet, Breakstone, White & Gluck has partnered with more than 40 organizations, police departments and bicycle committees.

Kevin Russo

Watertown Wrestling Coach Turned Love of Working With Youth into Hall of Fame Career

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Watertown High School wrestling coach Kevin Russo recently was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. A room full of well-wishers, one coming from across the Atlantic, gathered recently to see Watertown High School wrestling coach Kevin Russo be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Russo has had success where ever he has gone, notching more than 400 wins, but the longtime WHS coach said the thing that keeps him going is the satisfaction he gets from working with youth. Dozens of former wrestlers, parents and others were on hand to see Russo receive the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award at a ceremony held at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on April 13, 2019. A plaque in his honor will be installed at the Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla.

Around Town

Forty Runners from Watertown Entering the 2019 Boston Marathon

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The 123rd Boston Marathon will include 40 runners from Watertown. The number of local entrants is up one from last year. The highpoint for local runners came in 2014, the year after the Boston Marathon Bombings, when Watertown had 72 entrants. If you are going to watch the race, find out about spectator rules by clicking here. You can also watch the race on TV by tuning into WBZ Channel 4 in Boston, or NBC Sports if you live outside the area.

Sports

Watertown Track Athlete Named to All-Scholastic Teams

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Watertown senior Mange Camara made the Boston Globe’s and Boston Herald’s All-Scholastic indoor track teams.

Boston’s major newspapers named Watertown High School runner Mange Camara to their All-Scholastic teams.

Camara completed one of the most historic indoor track seasons for a WHS athlete by taking fifth place at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in the 400 meters and being named an All-American. The Boston Globe writeup, stated, “Camara completely owned the 300-meter dash this season.” The senior went undefeated in the event this year, winning — among other competitions — the New England Championships, the All-State Meet and the Div. 5 Meet. He set the school record, the All-State meet record, and posted the second fastest time in the nation for a high schooler in the event 300, finishing in 34.22 seconds.

Schools

Watertown Track Coach, Teacher Retires After 47 Years

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Watertown cross country runners senior pose with Longtime Watertown High School track and cross country Coach Tom Wittenhagen retired in March after 47 years in the district. Here he is with James Piccirilli and Emily Koufos after the 2016 All-State Cross Country Meet. Tom Wittenhagen reached the finish line of his coaching career in March, after coaching and teaching for 47 years in the Watertown Public Schools. The longtime boys track and field coach hung up his stopwatch after serving as head coach for the Raiders indoor and outdoor track, and cross country for the last 12 years

“I had 47 years teaching and coaching,” Wittenhagen said. “I was in and out of Watertown about 9,000 times over that time.”

Around Town

Paddle Down the Charles River in the Annual Run of the Charles River

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The 37th annual Run of the Charles paddle race will take place on April 28. The following information was provided by the Charles River Watershed Association:

Paddlers from across New England have registered for the 37th Annual Run of the Charles: Boston’s Premier Paddling Race, taking place on Sunday, April 28, 2019. Kicking off the paddling season, the event is the largest flat-bottom boat race in New England and draws over a thousand racers and spectators each year with the help of nearly 150 volunteers. Run of the Charles is the signature event of Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA), the leading science and advocacy organization for the Charles River and its watershed. The work accomplished by CRWA over the past 50 years has significantly improved the health of the 80-mile long Charles River.