The Notre Dame Boys Cross Country Team made school history on Saturday after becoming the first Notre Dame athletic team to win 4 consecutive Section V titles.  Senior Kevin Pawlak has been a part of each of those victories, and led the team with his 3^rd place finish in the Class D meet.  Sophomore Andrew Fischer was right behind in 4^th and Senior Nate Flumerfeldt 5^th.  Junior Nick Flumerfeldt placed 15^th and Sophomore Matt Sausner stepped up big to place 29^th to round out the scoring.  Senior Jason Harasimowicz and Junior Tyler Pingrey also put up solid performances for the Irish.  The boys beat runner-up Arkport by 19 points.  Along with the team championship, KP, Fish, and Nate received individual patches for finishing in the top ten.  In the merged D/DD results, the Irish placed third and fell short in their quest to return to the state championship meet in Plattsburgh.

The Girls Team also had great performances as Sophomore Meghan Zickl and Senior Rachel Berggren finished in the top ten, taking 9^th and 10^th respectively to earn individual patches.  Eighth grader Bailee Welker placed 12^th, Junior Kristen Antolos 15^th, and Jumior Sydney Moag 54^th to round out the team scoring.  The team placed 3^rd in the Class D meet which was won by Arkport.

Congratulations to all runners on an excellent season!

A change of venue for the Section V High School Cross Country Championships puts Batavia and Genesee Community College at center stage this Saturday.  The college grounds will be filled with runners and their families and friends from 92 Section V schools vying for individual and team championship titles.  Here is a list of the race times:

10:30am  Boys Class C

11:00am Boys Class D/DD

11:30am  Girls Class C

12:00 noon  Girls Class D/DD

12:30pm  Awards Ceremony 1 -- Class C/D/DD Boys and Girls

1:00pm  Boys Class AA

1:30pm  Boys Class A

2:00pm  Boys Class B

2:30pm  Girls Class AA

3:00pm  Girls Class A

3:30pm  Girls Class B

4:00pm  Awards Ceremony 2 -- Class AA/A/B  Boys and Girls

The Genesee/Livingston County Cross Country Championships were held yesterday at Leroy High School.  All 22 schools from the Genesee Region League and Livingston County League came together for the 3.0 mile race at Leroy, the first time Leroy has hosted the event.  The site was changed to Leroy from Genesee Community College due to Section V hosting the Section V XC Championships at GCC next weekend.

Pavilion had a stellar day, with both the boys and the girls teams winning the team title.  Pavilion girls were led by race winner Liz Valento, who set a new course record.  The Pavilion boys were led by Tylor Richardson who placed 7th in the boys race which was won by Geneseo's Ryan Moynihan.

Individual Top Ten Girls:  1.  Liz Valento - Pavilion 19:13  2. Kristina Martin - Holley 20:23  3. Katie Peichoviak - Attica  20:43  4. Kim Lovett - Byron Bergen  20:49  5. Casey Emerson - Geneseo  20:51  6. McKenzie Bennett - Dansville  20:58  7. Katy Monahan - Warsaw  21:00  8. Justine Swartz - Attica  21:04  9. Kristen Wezel - Geneseo  21:06  10. Lindsay Ryan - Geneseo  21:07

Girls Team Results:  1.  Pavilion - 91  2.  Geneseo - 105  3.  Attica - 113  4.  Livonia - 142  5.  Byron Bergen - 143  6.  Oakfield Alabama - 162  7.  Wayland Cohocton - 166  8.  Hornell - 174  9.  Dansville - 179  10.  Wheatland Chili - 207  11.  Alexander - 301  12.  Mt. Morris - 307  13.  Leroy - 323  14.  Avon - 377  15.  Pembroke - 382

Individual Top Ten Boys:  1.  Ryan Moynihan - Geneseo  16:45  2.  Cohen Miles-Rath - Wayland Cohocton  16:49  3.  Paul Schwan - Leroy  16:51  4.  Alex Chichester - Mt. Morris  17:11  5.  Dan Carlson - Leroy  17:16  6.  Calvin Patten - Alexander  17:20  7.  Tylor Richardson - Pavilion  17:24  8.  Tim McGowan - Dansville  17:25  9.  Gabe Rodriguez - Geneseo  17:27  10.  Andrew Fischer - Notre Dame  17:33

Boys Team Results:  1. Pavilion - 101  2.  Pembroke - 126  3.  Geneseo - 128  4.  Notre Dame - 149  5.  Dansville - 177  6.  Hornell - 189  7.  Wayland Cohocton - 198  8.  Leroy - 210  9.  Caledonia Mumford - 237  10.  Wheatland Chili - 253  11.  Kendall - 255  12.  Holley - 305  13.  Oakfield Alabama - 307  14.  Livonia - 315  15.  Alexander - 326  16.  Keshequa - 391  17.  Byron Bergen - 435

The Boys Cross Country Team put a scare into state ranked Pavilion yesterday coming within 2 points of the upset.  Kevin Pawlak and Andrew Fischer finished first and second in the race to lead the Irish.  Nate Flumerfeldt placed 6^th, Nick Flumerfeldt 13^th, and Jason Harasimowicz 22^nd as the Irish beat Attica, Alexander, and Pembroke.  Luke Calla 27^th, Matt Sausner 30^th, Woody Clark 38^th, Dan Follett 45^th, Tyler Pingrey 46^th, Conlan Edwards 52^nd, and Devin Sherman 53^rd also put up strong races as the boys finish the regular season at 16 – 5.

The Girls Cross Country team fell to Attica and Pavilion and beat Pembroke and Alexander yesterday at Alexander.  Meghan Zickl led the Irish finishing 8^th, with Rachel Berggren in 10^th.  Bailee Welker finished 11^th, Kristen Antolos placed 15^th and Sydney Moag 28^th to help the Irish finish the dual meet season at 11 – 10. 

Both Cross Country Teams are heading into the championship season with the County Championships next Thursday 10/29 at Leroy High School and the Section 5 Championships on November 7^th at GCC.

For three of four quarters today, Notre Dame dominated Red Jacket, leading to a 45-18 victory in the first round of sectional playoffs.

Before the Red Jackets could even get its offense going, Notre Dame's big play offense had 17 points on the board.

"We played three great quarters and that’s the kind of intensity we wanted to bring," said Head Coach Rick Mancuso. "After that lull in the game in the second quarter, we kind of got them back in the game."

That lull, Mancuso said, seemed to be as the result of an injury time-out in which a Red Jacket player was hit hard by a Notre Dame linebacker on a run play. The Red Jacket runner was slow getting up and then collapsed as he tried to leave the field.

"We lost some of our emotion, which was actually a concern to me," Mancuso said. "I was saying, 'Hey, don’t let this get you down,' but we did lose some intensity there and then we made a couple of mistakes and basically let them back in the ball game."

Red Jacket closed out the second quarter with 12 unanswered points.

Mancuso said he didn't say anything special to his players during half time, but from the start of the third quarter, the Fighting Irish were focused again and scored three consecutive TDs, and adding another 7 points in the fourth quarter before Red Jacket scored a touchdown in the final two minutes of play.

"We started the game fast. We played really well. We played with emotion," Mancuso said.

Notre Dame is now 6-1 on the season.

Running back Mike Pratt keyed the offense with 220 yards gained on 27 carries, scoring four touchdowns.

Bo Ricter scored Notre Dame's first TD on a three-yard run.

Notre Dame then surprised Red Jacket with an onside kick. On the very next play, Nick Bochicchio hit Gianni Zambito on a 51-yard TD pass. Zambito scored after the Red Jacket defender over committed to the ball, missed it and Zambito snatched it from the air and turned toward the end zone with no Red Jacket defenders between him and the goal line.

Matt Thompson closed out the first quarter with a 28-yard field goal.

Red Jacket scored in the second quarter on a 21-yard pass from Tyler Hixson to Trevor Sanders and a 32-yard pass from Hixson to Sanders. Both two-point conversion attempts were stopped by the Notre Dame defense.

The next four TDs all went to Notre Dame: Pratt had TD runs of 1 yard, 4 yards, 15 yards and 7 yards.

The final score of the game was a Chris Coslasurdo 35-yard pass to Sanders. Again, Red Jacket was unable to convert its two-point try.

Cam McDonald had eight tackles.

Kicker Thompson had eight points in the game, converting all of his PATs plus the field goal.

With Oakfield-Alabama and Cal-Mum trading scores through the first three quarters of their quarterfinal sectional playoff game tonight, and both teams seemingly able to run the ball at will, it became evident as the fourth quarter started that the winner would be decided when one defense or the other made a stand and stopped a drive.

And that's exactly what happened.

On its first drive of the fourth quarter, the Hornets couldn't get past the Red Raiders 40 yard line and Cal-Mum took over on downs.

Minutes later, the Red Raiders were in the end zone and with a two-point conversion, and obtained what would prove to be an insurmountable lead, 30-21.

The Hornets would score one more touchdown, but fall short by two points, 30-28.

"It came down to them just pounding the ball at us and not getting away from what they do best," said Hornets Head Coach Brian Palone after the game. "They made the plays when they needed to make the plays."

The two-point margin can also be explained by two failed point after attempts. In the second quarter, kicker Jon Fisher hit an upright, and in the third quarter, a high snap spoiled the attempt.

The Hornets got off to a quick start when Fisher placed a perfect onside kick down the far sideline and OA scrambled and took possession of the ball.

The offense then marched the ball 45-yards down the field for a score and a 7-0 lead. Matt Osmancickli scored that TD on a one-yard run.

But the home team answered right back, bringing the ball down to the one-yard line, where Trevor Haut was able to shove his way into the endzone. Cal-Mum tried for a two-point conversion, so the score was 7-6.

On its first possession of the second quarter, OA again looked like an offense with an unbeatable run game, taking the ball down the field until Matt Osmancickli capped the drive with a one-yard TD rush. After Fisher missed the PA, OA's lead was 13-6

Cal-Mum answered right back, putting a long drive together that ended with a Trevor Haut three-yard TD run. Jon Cappotelli carried the ball in on the two-point conversion, giving his team a one-point lead, 14-13.

OA grabbed back a one-point margin when a high snap on a Cal-Mum punt attempt was kicked out of the back of the end zone for a safety. That made the score 15-14 Hornets.

Both teams scored again in the third quarter. But with a muffed extra point attempt and a successful two-point conversion, Cal-Mum was able to convert another two-point try, so now the Raiders were up 22-21.

The Raiders were able to stop Oakfield-Alabama on its fourth-quarter drive and immediately answer back with another touch down. This time it was on a 19-yard pass from Mike Anderson to Dan Whiteside, plus they tacked on two-more points. The Hornets found themselves in a bit of a deep hole, down 30-21.

But OA kept fighting, engineering another drive that culminated in a one-yard rush by Osmancickli and an extra point from Fisher, making it 30-28, which is how the game would end.

The Hornets got off to a slow start this season with Coach Palone taking over the program for the first time and finding himself with few returning seniors. Palone and other coaches around the league will tell you that OA has been a team that has improved greatly every week as the season progressed.

Palone said tonight he's proud of the progress his team has made.

"I thought this was the best game we played all year and that’s all I can ask of them, to just get better every game," Palone said.

NOTE: About the video -- yes, I miss my high-def camera. It won't be repaired for another six weeks.

The Notre Dame Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams opened the regular season up on winning notes in beating Keshequa in a meet held at Avon High School.  Kevin Pawlak was the race winner in 17:39.  The Irish took the next four spots with Nate Flumerfeldt (18:23), Andrew Fischer (18:50), Nick Flumerfledt (19:38), and Luke Calla (19:57).  Jason Harasimowicz (20:37) and Matt Sausner (21:27) finished 9th and 10th respectively.  Conlan Edwards and Woody Clark (24:19) finished neck and neck with Conlan out-leaning Woody to take 12th and 13th in the race.  The final score was ND 15 and Keshequa 44.  The score of Cross Country is based on places so that the team with the low score wins.

The girl's had an easy day as the Keshequa girl's had an incomplete team.  The top four Irish ladies all finished within 15 seconds of each other.  Rachel Berggren was second in the race with a 24:30, with Bailee Welker in third (24:32), Meghan Zickl fourth (24.35) and Kristen Antolos fifth (24:45).  Teresa Jackson (30.19) placed 6th, Jenny Calarco (31:13) was 7th and Sydney Moag (41.28) placed 8th.

The Irish will be off this weekend and back in action on next Tuesday in Livonia.

The Notre Dame Cross Country Team opened up in great fashion over the weekend at the Pre-State Invitational held at SUNY Plattsburgh.  The girls finished in a tie for 7th place, but lost the tie breaker to North Warren.  Rachel Berggren finished in 33rd place on a great kick to the finish.  Meghan Zickl set the pace for the Irish early on to hold on to a 36th place finish with 8th grader Bailee Welker just ahead in 34th.  Kristen Antolos was just behind to finish 45th and Teresa Jackson rounded out the Irish top five in taking 66th.

The boy’s team also ended up in a tie for 8th place and won on the tie-breaker over Lake George.  Kevin Pawlak led the Irish with a 20th place finish with Nate Flumerfeldt close behind in 23rd place.  Andrew Fischer fought hard to finish 42nd, Nick Flumerfeldt held on to finish 56th and Luke Calla 59th.  Jason Harasimowicz was the deciding factor in the meet for the Irish and won the tie breaker over the sixth runner of Lake George.  Matt Sausner rounded out the top seven with a 77th place finish.  In the JV race, Woody Clark was 46th and Conlan Edwards 50th. 

The Irish Cross Country Team opens open its regular season tomorrow in Avon against Keshequa.

I work for a college, it'll remain unnamed. In the office where I work our students are primarily adults. We offer different degree options, and full-time status so that our students qualify for financial aid. On top of my normal office duties, I also tutor students in writing.

I attended a traditional (private) four-year instutition in New York State. I have a BA and I consider myself pretty intelligent. I could probably teach some social studies courses and have a healthy experience teaching high school, if I so desired.

I'm attending graduate school to get my Master's in Educational Leadership, I want to work with college students, specifically (eventually) adult students at a traditional 4-year institution.

Through these experiences I am always amazed at the lack of reading and writing comprhension. Even at the Master-level, students do not read or comprehend the reading. They do not engage with the reading. They have no questions or comments about the reading. It's sad. The students I work with have no idea how to form an academic argument or even write the traditional 5-paragraph essays.

Here on the boards I'm amazed at what is considered fact and reliable. It's not that there are "bad" sources out there (well, there are, but pretend for a moment there aren't any) but what we use to back up our arguments here on the internet (all over the internet) would never be accepted academically. They wouldn't be accepted in the high school curriculum in NYS. But, my main point is, here on the internet are "real" people, those that actually exist in this world without the help of an academic sitting on their shoulder. It amazes me how our education system has failed so many people.

Here's an article that really sums up my feelings, and frustrations, as a student and educational leader (you may or may not be able to read the whole thing, I'm at work so I'm not sure what's private on the site). http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2009/06/2009063001c.htm (and I realize this post might make me sound high-and-mighty, but it's really just about observations I've had through my experiences)

Proud grandma couldn't resist sharing pictures.  He is playing in Atlanta right now.

The Cross Country Programs at Notre Dame and Pembroke are celebrating as both will be representing Section V in the Boys New York State Cross Country Championships at Sunken Meadow State Park in Long Island. 

The Pembroke Team won a close one over Greece-Odyssey and Leroy, who tied for second in the Class C race.  Pembroke and Odyssey have been back and forth all year, but Pembroke got it done on Saturday.  Colin Bartholomew of Pembroke took second in the race with Matt Seward behind in 5th place.  Odyssey made a surge taking 7th, 9th 10th and 11th place, but Pembroke got their next three runners in, Kyle Maurer 13th, Adam Mahaney, 15th and Ethan Burns 16th to seal the win for Pembroke. 

In the Class D race, Notre Dame won its third consecutive sectional title, and outdistanced Oakfield by 15 points in the merged D/DD resutls to earn the school's first ever Boys Cross Country Team representation at the State Meet.  Freshman Quin O'Connor battled Kevin Grazioplene of Oakfield the whole way, finally breaking away with 1/2 mile to go in the race to break the tape in first.  Notre Dame put their top five in the top ten of the Class D race to easily win the Class D title.  Kevin Pawlak placed 5th, Eric Shormann 7th, Matt Jackson 8th, and Taylor Alexander 10th.

The Genesee-Livingston Cross Country League won ever class that it represented and has many representative moving on to the State Meet.  Here is a rundown:

Boys Team Championships:  Class B -- HFL,  Class C -- Pembroke,  Class CC -- Bath-Haverling,  Class D -- Notre Dame,  Class DD -- Oakfield

Girls Team Championships:  Class B -- HFL,  Class C -- Byron Bergen,  Class CC -- Attica,  Class D -- Geneseo,  Class DD -- Oakfield

Along with the Pembroke and Notre Dame Boys Teams qualifing for the state meet, HFL Boys and Girls Team also qualified.  Many league individuals also qulaified for the State Meet.  The boys that will be representing Section V and the GR/LC League are:  Frank Johnson of Letchworth Jake Krautwuist and Jack Bennett of Leroy, Cohen Miles Rath of Wayland-Cohocton, Kevin Grazioplene of Oakfield, Ben Strickland of Geneseo, Craig Cicero of Perry, Justin Richardson of Pavilion,

The girls that will be representing Section V and the GR/LC League are:  Kristina Martin of Holley,  McKenzie Bennett of Dansville, Katie Piechowiak of Attica, Abby Decker of Wayland-Cohocton, Kim Mills of Oakfield, and Liz Valento of Pavilion.

The Genesee/Livingston Cross Country League boasts some of the best runners in Section V.  Those runners will all face-off today at the GR/LC Cross Country Championships today at Genesee Community College.  This is the final tune-up before the Section V Championships held on November 1 at Marcus Whitman High School.  For some of the runners, this will be their last race, as only the top ten of each team can race at Sectionals (top seven in the varsity race, and 8-10 in a sub-race).   With many of the teams in this league ranked not only in Section V, but also the state, it will be an exciting race to watch.

Boys Race 4:30

Girls Race 5:05

It has been about 8 years since the Notre Dame Boys Cross Country Team won the Division III League title.  The Irish captured the title yesterday after beating Pembroke, Alexander, Attica, and Pavilion at Pembroke High School to finish the regular season at 19 – 2. 

The 6^th, 7^th, 8^th , and 9^th place finishes of Matt Jackson, Kevin Pawlak, Eric Shormann, and Nate Flumerfeldt ensured the victory for the Irish.  Quin O’Connor placed 2^nd in the race.  Taylor Alexander, Marshall Argenta, Conlan Edwards and Matt Sausner all had very solid performances.  Colin Bartholomew of Pembroke won the race, just 1/2 second ahead of O'Connor.  The team scores were as follows:

Notre Dame 23, Pembroke 31

Notre Dame 19, Pavilion 39

Notre Dame 15, Alexander 47

Notre Dame 15, Attica 50

Pembroke 22, Pavilion 37

Pembroke 15, Alexander 48

Pembroke 15, Attica 50

Pavilion 19, Alexander 40

Pavilion 17, Attica 44

Alexander 20, Attica 37

The girls finished the regular season on a strong note, beating Pembroke, Alexander, and Pavilion, while dropping to Attica.  The girls stand in third place in Division III and complete the season at 14 – 7.

Ashley Calarco easily won the race and Jill Marshall took fourth the lead the Irish.  Rachel Berggren had a great performance for the Irish finishing 14^th in the race.  The team scores were as follows:

Attica 23,  Notre Dame 32

Attica 19, Alexander 36

Attica 15, Pavilion 50

Attica 15, Pembroke 50

Notre Dame 26, Alexander 29

Notre Dame 15, Pavilion 50

Notre Dame 15, Pembroke 50

Alexander 15, Pavilion 50

Alexander 15, Pembroke 50

Pavilion and Pembroke were incomplete.

Various teams may be in action this weekend with the Alexander Invitational, at the Field of Dreams, and the Houghton Invitational this Friday night, and the Clarence Invitational at Akron Falls Park this Saturday.  All Genesee and Livingston County Cross Country Teams will be racing in the County Championship Meet at Genesee Community College next week Thursday, October 23.