Sports

Press release:

The Genesee Community College's athletes of the week for the period ending Oct. 8 are Nao Maeda (Yokahoma, Japan) from the women's volleyball team and Charlie Livesey (Sandbach, United Kingdom) from the men's soccer team.

Nao was the lone Cougar named to be named to the all-tournament team of the Cara Bryant Tournament this past weekend that was hosted by Onondaga Community College, Oct. 6-7. She averaged nearly 18 assists per match with 89 over 11 sets that included 23 and 22 in the final two matches against Broome and Jefferson, respectively. She also added 29 digs, 14 points, four kills, two block assists and one block during the tournament and had a pair of aces in four of the five matches for a total of eight.

Charlie was the lone Cougar to record points in all three Genesee contests last week that improved the team's unbeaten streak to 10 games by netting three goals and four assists for the No. 3 Cougars. His 10-point week started with a pair of goals and a pair of assists against Jamestown Community College Oct.4. Then the sophomore forward sent a corner kick toward the net against No. 4 Herkimer with just 20 seconds left in regulation that resulted in a game-tying score and a big assist to keep the Cougars' unbeaten streak intact with the road tie Oct. 7. Charlie completed the week with a goal and an assist against Fulton-Montgomery Oct. 8 to move No. 3 Genesee to 10-2-1 on the year.

Curtis Kreutter / GCC

CrossFit Silver Fox in Batavia is hosting a CrossFit competition called The Festivus (third year in a row) at our location in The Harvester on Saturday, Oct. 14th.

It’s a worldwide competition and will bring about 100 CrossFit athletes to CrossFit Silver Fox along with spectators and coaches.

We have people coming from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse to compete.

Check-in begins at 8 a.m. followed by an event briefing and the competition starts at 9.

Information about the worldwide event can be found at Festivusgames.com

Press release:

The Genesee Community College volleyball team swept visiting Niagara County Community College 3-0 Oct. 10 by scores of 25-22, 25-23 and 25-18, respectively.

As has been the case most of this season, Genesee appeared to get more dominant once the match got underway, as was the case against the Thunderwolves.

In the first set trailing 20-19, the Cougars recorded six of the last eight points to take the set 25-22, including the final four points behind the service points of Tommi Rutherford.

The second set almost provided an identical scenario that had the Cougars trailing by that same 20-19 score before the team rattled off six of the last nine points for the 25-23 win. Again it was Rutherford capturing four of the team's last five points with her serve.

In the third set, Genesee got its second double-digit lead at 15-5 before cruising to a 25-18 win. Audriana Reeves had the hot serving hand in helping the Cougars establish an early 9-1 lead.

Reeves led all Cougars in aces with four, while Lyndsey Rowland had five blocks on the day. Sydney DeVay registered a team-high 13 digs and Sha-Ony Obispa had seven kills that included one to end the second match and prevent it from going to extra points.

Head coach Tricia Ziebarth used the match to get some more experience for some of her players and was pleased by what see saw, "We used today to put a couple of our freshmen in at different positions and they rose to the occasion.

The Cougars continue their home stand by hosting Finger Lakes Community College Oct. 12 at 6 p.m.
 

Photo by Curtis Kreutter / GCC

Foiled Again with driver Kevin Cummings. Photo by Paul White.

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs

The Nation’s leading trainer Ron Burke shipped two of his millionaires into Batavia Downs on Saturday night (Oct. 7) and won the two biggest overnight races of the season at the oldest lighted harness track in America with Foiled Again and DW’S NY Yank. Burke, The Burke Brigade and driver Kevin Cummings had a very good night. 

The pacing feature was the $15,000 George “Duke” Dranichak Memorial named for a longtime local horseman and racing official whose career spanned over five decades.

Focus Power (Drew Monti) went for the front but outpaced the turn, making a break. This left In Runaway Bay (Ray Fisher Jr.) calling the shots with five behind him in :27.3. Right at the quarter Fireyourguns (Mike Caprio) pulled and sidled the leader around the turn and past the half in :55.1, but Fireyourguns couldn’t clear and remained parked into the second circuit. With the outer flow stagnant, Teo Enteo A (Larry Stalbaum) tipped three-wide at the three-eighths and brought Don’tcallmefrancis (Billy Davis Jr.) into the fray with him. This left Foiled Again (Kevin Cummings) hopelessly locked in at the rail fourth behind a wall of horses.

Just before the three-quarters In Runaway Bay stopped, Fireyourguns finally cleared and Cummings was somehow able to maneuver Foiled Again out of the box and moved him into third behind Teo Enteo A. Halfway through the final bend, Cummings tipped the richest Standardbred of all time three-deep and had him in full gear. Foiled Again proceeded to barrel down the stretch and show his class once again, pacing by everyone under mild urging to win in 1:52.2.

It was the 96^th lifetime win for Foiled Again ($4.60) and his fourth victory at Batavia Downs where he won the Kane Memorial Pace in 2009, 2013 and 2016. The richest Standardbred of all time got even richer and now has an unbelievable $7,543,278 in lifetime earnings.

Foiled Again is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and JJK Stables LLC.

The top trot was the $15,000 Brian Schroeder Memorial Trot named in honor of the local trainer/driver who developed many great trotters and excelled on the Grand Circuit.  

The heavily favored DW’s NY Yank left from post six and went right to the front. As the field settled behind him there were no serious challenges as they tripped the timers in :28, :57.1 and 1:27.1. But when they spun off the far turn the leader’s biggest test was yet to come.

Fleet Bumblebee (Drew Monti) had been sitting in the garden spot the whole race and when they straightened out, he hit the passing lane. With DW’s NY Yank suddenly looking vulnerable, Monti went to work on Fleet Bumblebee inside of Cummings who was already high-lining the leader. The two drivers were highly animated all the way down the lane with Fleet Bumblebee gaining with every stride. But as they hit the wire DW’s NY Yank hung on to win by a nose in 1:57 in a very exciting finish.

It was the third win in a row for DW’S NY Yank ($2.40) and sixth win of the year and that effort boosted his bankroll to $140,750 for 2017. His career numbers got even more impressive, now with 46 wins and $1,156,335 in purses to his credit.

The 8-year-old altered son of Dilbert Hanover is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.

Press release:

Despite completing a road contest against No. 4 Herkimer just 18 hours from the previous day, the No. 3 Genesee Community College men's soccer team bested visiting Fulton-Montgomery Community College 7-1 Oct. 8. The win improved the Cougars' record to 10-2-1, while the Raiders dropped to 5-5 on the season.

Charlie Livesey 's penalty kick about 30 minutes into the contest proved to be the game-winner as Livesey would finish the day with a helper as well and a three-point afternoon.

Sam Hall picked up where he left off after scoring the tying goal against the No. 4 Generals in the final minute the night before by also getting the team's first goal against the Raiders to round out the Cougars' first-half scoring.

Hijiri Sano led Genesee in the second half with two of its five goals. Phillip Melo, Ryan Price and Adam Price also added goals; while Matheus Araujo, Leo Anthony and Alejandro Ocampo added assists on the day.

David Ormiston split the contest with Gaurav Cheema in net as the pair combined for five saves.

Genesee out-shot the Raiders 36-7 with 11 Cougar shots finding the net. Genesee also held the edge in corner kicks, 11-1.

The Cougars embark on a three-game road excursion beginning with a contest against Finger Lakes Community College, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. Genesee continues on with a pair of weekend games with the first coming against North Country Community College Oct. 14 at 3 p.m., followed by a contest at Clinton Community College Oct. 15 at 1 p.m.

Photo: Curtis Kreutter / GCC Athletics

Press release:

The Genesee Community College volleyball team out-scored its last two oppositions by a combined 109-108, but could only muster one set win of five that included a 2-1 loss to Broome Community College and a playoff loss to Jefferson Community College at the Cara Bryant Tournament hosted by Onondaga Community College Oct. 6-7.

The Cougars dropped its playoff match to the Cannoneers with the first set going into extra points 24-26 and then dropped a close second set 22-25.

Heading into playoff competition, the Cougars rallied to split with Broome before dropping another close final set 13-15. The Hornets took the first 25-27 before the Cougars came on strong with a convincing 25-15 win.

The four teams Genesee faced over the two-day event entered the tournament with a collective 60-22 record with three of the four appearing in the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association D-III national polls at some point this season.

Genesee showed marked improvement against Jefferson after facing them the previous day and scoring 20 and 19 points. The Cougars also faced Monroe Oct. 6 with 18- and 17-point performances, respectively.

The team began play against undefeated host Onondaga and came close to taking the first set at 23-25.

Four players led in categories in two matches or more. Sha-Ony Obispa led the team in kills twice, Nao Maeda in assists twice, Tommi Rutherford in digs twice, and Lyndsey Rowland in blocks three times.

Press release:

The No. 3 Genesee Community College men's soccer team rallied twice to keep pace with No. 4 Herkimer in finishing with a 2-2 road tie in extending their unbeaten streak to nine games.

The Cougars then went on to win the post-game penalty kick competition 3-1 for seeding purposes.

Sam Hall converted a Charlie Livesey corner kick with about 20 seconds left in regulation to send the contest into extra sessions. Prior to that Glenn Holmes converted a penalty kick to knot the game at 1-1 after both teams played a scoreless first half.

David Ormiston out-dueled his counterpart in net with a double-digit save performance with 10. In addition, he was again sharper than the Generals' goalkeeper in allowing just one goal in the penalty-kick session.

Holmes and Hall scored again during the penalty kicks with Ryan Price getting the team's third goal. That's all the Cougars would need after Ormiston stopped Herkimer's fourth shooter and made it mathematically impossible for Herkimer to win the penalty kick shootout with both teams having only one shooter remaining.

Both teams finished with four corner kicks.

This was the fourth time this season that the Cougars have faced a team that has appeared in the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association polls with none of those teams able to beat Genesee. Of the four, Herkimer has appeared highest at No. 2.

Photo of Miss Irish Rose A with driver Larry Stalbaum, courtesy of Paul White.

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs

The wind and rain blew into Genesee County prior to post time on Wednesday (Oct. 4) but the sun did come out for the first race. That combination may have helped Miss Irish Rose A bloom for a second straight week as she easily won the $9,500 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace at Batavia Downs in impressive style.

Larry Stalbaum fired Miss Irish Rose A hard off the gate and crossed over to the pylons before anyone knew what happened. They may as well have put the finish line there because at that point, the race was over. Leading the rest of the way with a gapped advantage, Miss Irish Rose A cut the corners in :28, :57.1 and 1:25.4 where she opened up a six-length advantage. Stalbaum shut her down at the top of the lane but Miss Irish Rose A still paced home in :28.2 to win by over a length in 1:54.1.

It was the second consecutive win for Miss Irish Rose A ($3.20), her second win in North America and her second successive lifetime mark. Larry Stalbaum owns the 5-year-old McCardle progeny who is trained by Kim Asher.

In the $8,000 F&M Open II co-feature the Asher/Stalbaum playbook was still opened to the same page as Exotic Beach took a quick lead and toured the facility in front from there, winning by a length in 1:56 over an even muddier track. Exotic Beach ($5.70) scored her fifth win of the year for the Man from Matamoris, who owns this one as well.

Larry Stalbaum (Photo provided by Batavia Downs.)

It was quite a big night for the Larry Stalbaum/Kim Asher combination as they teamed up for seven wins on the card.  Besides Miss Irish Rose A and Exotic Beach, they also scored with Kaitlyn Rae (1:56.4, $6.70), Rockin Kasbah (1:57, $6.70), Quicksilvercandy A (1:56.4, $7.20), Cartoonist (1:56, $5.80) and Saint William A (1:57.4, $2.50).

The eighth win by Stalbaum was with Hitontheflipside (2:01, $19.00) who is trained by Jim Graham.

Stalbaum had 10 drives on the card with eight wins and one third and that gave him an unbelievable .833 UDR for the evening. 

The wielding of wins on Wednesday by Stalbaum vaulted him into second place among drivers for dash wins for the meet. Currently Drew Monti is on top with 68 wins, Stalbaum is now is second with 60 and Ray Fisher Jr. has dropped into third.

As far as Asher is concerned, she is now firmly in the lead for wins by a trainer this session with 40. That is seven more than JD Perrin who currently sits in second place as a result of the stellar night by the Asher entourage.

Racing resumes at Batavia Downs tonight (Oct. 6) with post time at 6 o'clock.

Press release:

The  No. 3 Genesee Community College men's soccer team took a 4-0 lead into the intermission before recording a 6-1 win over visiting Jamestown Community College Oct.4. The win was the Cougars' eighth in-a-row and left the team with a 9-2 record overall.

Philip Melo needed just a dozen minutes into the contest to notch the game's first two goals - the second of which was the official game winner.

Charlie Livesey then recorded three of his team-high six points on the team's next two goals for a 4-0 lead at the break. Livesey tallied once in each half, while earning assists on Ben Wattis' first-half goal and on Melo's game-winner to account for his impressive performance.

Rounding out the scoring was a second-half goal by Adam Price and an assist by Billy Murphy on the game's opening goal.

The Cougars out-shot the Jayhawks 29-6 overall, and 17-3 with shots on net. Leading the way in shots was Sam Hall with seven, while Melo added a half-dozen for the night.

Gaurav Cheema recorded two saves in the win, while the Cougars also held the edge in corner kicks, 9-2.

Genesee will travel to No. 4 Herkimer Oct. 7 with a 3 p.m. start. The Cougars leap-frogged over the Generals in the most recent National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association D-III Poll after Herkimer dropped a 3-2 game to Cayuga, a team the Cougars beat Sept. 20.

Photo: Curtis Kreutter/GCC

Press release:

The No. 1 Genesee Community College women's soccer remained undefeated in National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association D-III play with a 2-0 victory over visiting Jamestown Community College Oct. 4, while improving to 9-1-1 overall.

The shutout victory was the team's seventh overall and fifth in its last seven games. Although the score was close, the statistics for the contest were not.

The Cougars out-shot the Jayhawks 37-4 overall, with 25 Cougar shots finding their way on net. Five Cougars accounted for 17 of those shots on net with Katline Cartwright leading the way with five. Sara Zakes, Miko Yamashita, Allison Duhow and Jayna Wright all registered three shots on net with the latter three finding the scoresheet.

Wright scored the game-winner about 30 minutes into the contest, while Duhow added an insurance marker five minutes into the second. Yamashita got an official assist on the second goal and set up the play on the first goal that came off a rebound.

The Cougars were just as dominant in the corner kick category holding an 11-0 edge, while Jaclyn Guzdek recorded one save for the shutout.

Genesee's next game may be their toughest the rest of the regular season as they travel to No. 3 Herkimer, Oct. 7 with a 1 p.m. start. The best margin of comparison between the two teams involves games with No. 9 Corning. Although both of those games ended 3-2, the Cougars rallied from 2-0 to win, while the Generals never held a lead in a loss to the Red Barons.

Photo by Curtis Kreutter/GCC

Currently, four of the nation's top-10 teams in NJCAA D-III hail from Region III with Genesee at No. 1, Erie No. 2, Herkimer No. 3, and Corning No. 9.

Osprey Vision with reinsman Drew Monti, second from outside and pulling ahead.

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs

The old wagering adage suggesting you bet the longest shot in the shortest field was right on point in the $10,000 Open Handicap Trot at Batavia Downs on Friday night (Sept. 29) as Osprey Vision scored big after being overlooked at 10-1 in the five-horse field.

With the late scratch of Lutetium, Noble Legend (Jim Morrill Jr.) decided to be the leader to follow this week and took that position shortly after the start. With a sloppy track and no early opposition, Morrill took the field down to the half in :58.1 and looked comfortable in doing so.

As the group was into the second circuit, Egosnattitudes (Larry Stalbaum) was motoring up on the outside with Osprey Vision (Drew Monti) second over. But halfway up the backstretch Egosnattitudes copped one and made a break, leaving Osprey Vision advancing alone towards the leader around the final turn. By the time the race hit the head of the lane Osprey Vision looked Noble Legend in the eye before trotting right by. Osprey Vision then maintained the lead while holding off the late charging Barn Winner (Ray Fisher Jr.) and BZ Glide (Mike Caprio) to win in 1:59.2.

Osprey Vision ($23.80) now has eight wins and $55,814 earned this year for owner Marissa Russo and trainer David Russo.

In the $8,000 Open II trot Empire Earl N (Larry Stalbaum) broke a six-week drought, coming from way off the pace at the half following dull outside cover before tipping three-deep off the last turn to close down the lane and win by a neck in 1:59.4.

Empire Earl N ($12) registered his sixth win of the year and bumped his bank to $55,590 for his owner who drives him, Larry Stalbaum. The New Zealand bred son of Earl is trained by Kim Asher.

Ray Fisher Jr. had a driving triple on Friday. Drivers scoring two wins included Drew Monti and Larry Stalbaum. Trainers getting two wins included Kim Asher, David Russo and Angelo Nappo.

Racing resumes at Batavia Downs tonight (Sept. 30) at 6 p.m.

Photo of Miss Irish Rose A with reinsman Larry Stalbaum.

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs

Aussie invader Miss Irish Rose A, who was privately purchased from down-under on Aug. 23 by Larry Stalbaum, made her North American debut a winning one by taking the $9,500 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap pace at Batavia Downs on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 27) as heavy downpours moved through the area.

From the start, Machin Marley (Kevin Cummings) and Squeeze This (Jim Morrill Jr.) argued vehemently for the lead over the rain-soaked track and pushed the quarter to :28 flat. Machin Marley settled on the front around the second bend and proceeded to take the race to the half in :58. At that station the race became a two-tiered event with Who Says That (Ray Fisher Jr.), Classy Lane Rose (Drew Monti) and Miss Irish Rose A (Larry Stalbaum) advancing in the outer flow.

With three-in and three-out, there was a lot of action up the backside as Who Says That took the lead from Machin Marley for an eighth of a mile before Classy Lane Rose wrestled it from her at the three-quarter pole in 1:25.4. But Miss Irish Rose A was still on the attack and drew alongside the latest leader around the final turn, and then getting a slight advantage at the head of the stretch. It was Rose v. Rose as they headed for the finish; Classy Lane inside and Miss Irish outside. But despite a good fight, Miss Irish Rose A pulled away from her formidable foe about ten yards from the wire and won by a length in 1:54.2.

The 10th lifetime win for Miss Irish Rose A ($3) was not only her first in the northern hemisphere; it was also a lifetime mark for the 5-year-old daughter of McArdle. Kim Asher trains the winner.

In the $8,000 Mares Open II pace, Voltina (Kevin Cummings) abandoned her normal front-running posture in lieu of a two-hole trip to victory behind Mean Pauline (Shawn McDonough) courtesy of the passing lane in 1:56.1.

Voltina ($7.10) is owned by CHS Racing LLC and is trained by Tony Cummings.

Kevin Cummings had the driving hat-trick on Wednesday while Drew Monti, Larry Stalbaum and Ray Fisher Jr. each each had two wins apiece. Trainer Kim Asher also sent two from her stable to the winner’s enclosure.

Racing resumes at Batavia Downs tonight (Friday, Sept. 29) with post time at 6 o'clock.