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Genesee County youth aim to rake in change for makin' change

By Daniel Crofts

Everybody likes a little friendly competition, right? And if it's for a good cause, all the better!

These guys definitely feel that way:

Half of them are pictured above...

...and here's the other half!

High schoolers from all over Genesee County are getting involved in "Change for Change" (C4C), a fundraising project for United Way of Genesee County. Student government reps from Batavia High School, the NYS State School for the Blind, Oakfield-Alabama High School and Pavillion Central School gathered in the BHS auditorium Yesterday to kick-start the project. 

From Mar. 8-26, the schools will compete to raise as much money as they can and deposit their funds in an account with the Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union (set up for United Way, with a sub-account for each school) every Friday.

BHS government members welcomed their fellow students and gave them the lay of the land (contest rules and stakes, etc.) at Thursday's meeting...

...starting with an icebreaker from treasurer Amanda Jones, who asked representatives of each school to come up with and share a few "fun facts" about their school.

Some interesting ones to consider:

1. O-A HS recently organized a lunch boycott

2. Pavilion is one of the few schools in the state with a pillow tournament

3. The Blind School has a heated pool with a moving floor

4. BHS has the best cookies in the state, inarguably, of course

 

Handling introductions was co-mayor C.J. Shultz, who introduced his fellow officers and their faculty advisors/helpers as follows:

"There's [mayor] Matt Hoye, who has nothing better to do than keep his beautiful red hair perfectly groomed.

"And next to him is Sahil Jain, our representative to the board of education -- which basically means he makes sure the students' voices are heard at board
meetings. But then he doesn’t get to vote for anything, so it doesn't really matter.

"Then we have the wonderful Amanda Jones, who is our treasurer. We have to trust her with our money. She ran unopposed, so we really didn't have a choice.

"Erica Bucci is our secretary, who takes great notes...when she's
there.

"In the audience is [BHS special education teacher] Mrs. Gammack, who is a great student advisor. Nobody else really wanted the job, so...

"And finally, there's Mrs. Johnson, who is the best statistics teacher at Batavia High…actually, she's the only statistics teacher at Batavia High."

Shultz and Hoye were the brains behind the whole operation, according to Gammack and the other student officers.

"They came to me with this idea in August," Gammack said. "And I thought it sounded great."

The project was inspired by 98 PXY's Penny Challenge, in which BHS students competed (and won!) two years ago. They raised $8,000 in pennies by doing "some crazy things" [crazy in a good way, of course], says UW Campaign Associate Christine Fix.

"We saw the school come together in a way that surpassed any kind of sporting event, school activity, etc.," Hoye said. "We felt that another fundraiser could produce a similar effect, continuing to blur the lines between grade levels and uniting the school as a single body."

"I remember how close our school became during the Penny Challenge," Jones said, "and I really wanted to start that kind of excitement within our school again, with a new group of kids."

During the Penny Challenge, the students saw how powerful a tool competition can be when raising money. This time, they decided to expand the range to include their peers throughout the county.

"I think this is a great way to encourage healthy competition and interaction between our schools," Jones said, "especially since Batavia doesn't participate with the smaller schools in sports very much, since we're in the Monroe County League."

There is another major difference from the 98 PXY fundraiser: this time, they are keeping it local.

"Even though we raised a lot of money [for the Penny Challenge], the proceeds went mostly to agencies in Rochester," Hoye said. "Although we are very proud of our efforts and the money we raised, we would like to see our money used within our own communities in Genesee County."

Representatives from area organizations that will benefit from this fundraiser came to the meeting to express their gratitude and to show the kids how much of a difference they will be making.

UW Regional Manager Lori Stupp pointed out that UW will "fall short of [its] goal this year" in terms of fundraising.

"What you guys are doing is going to help us recuperate some of that loss," she added.

Patricia Kurtz of the Salvation Army -- which receives $57,000 a year from UW -- took a moment to thank the high schoolers for "stepping up to represent [their] schools and to raise money for our community."

"Know how important what you're doing is to us," she added. "I hope this goes to show that when we are united, we are strong, and we can change the world together."

YMCA Regional Director Erik Fix called the C4C fundraising project "a phenomenal thing that speaks volumes about the students in our communities."

"It feels like we're a part of history at BHS," education board rep Jain said. "I feel like the fundraiser will only get bigger and better in the years to come, and to be among the people who started it is an incredible thing."

Students of each school were encouraged to be creative with their fundraisers, which could be anything ranging from competitions between the grades to placing cans at community businesses.

Shultz concluded the meeting on a mobilizing note. First, he quoted Gandhi's famous statement: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Second, he said: "Now get out there and raise as much money as you can. Booyah!"

Stay tuned to The Batavian for updates on C4C's progress, which will be submitted on a weekly basis once the project officially gets started.

 

Additional Note:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (pictured) and Legislator Jay Grasso came to talk to the students about the importance of civic responsibility and why Genesee County is a great place to live in, thereby encouraging them in their efforts.

Ice Devils top ND in cross town rematch

By Timothy Walton

 

CONCENTRATION: Notre Dame's Tom Dehr concentrates on a shot as Batavia's Tim Finnell attempts a deflection.

It was another full house at the Falleti Ice Arena Tuesday night as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hosted cross town rival Batavia Ice Devils for the second match of the season.

It was an evenly matched game for most of the first period with each team taking their own share of penalties, until Batavia found themselves having to kill off a 5-on-3 power play. Notre Dame took control at that point and defenseman Beau Richter was able to capitalize and put the Irish up 1-0 on a play that was set up by Jason Harasimowicz. The two man advantage for the Irish didn’t go away for long as the Devils took another penalty to fall back to three skaters. The Irish almost took advantage of this opportunity again as Jack Nenni put the puck by Batavia goaltender Adam Kurek, but was denied the point, as the buzzer to end the period sounded half a second before the puck crossed the line.

Batavia took advantage of the first intermission and came out to start the second period with an early goal by forward Will Mulcahy. It was the 11th goal of the season for the senior forward who is currently leading the team in goals and points (13).

With just over a minute into the third period, Notre Dame’s Jack Nenni took a boarding penalty which gave Batavia the man advantage. Batavia’s Corey Kocent almost put Batavia up by a goal, but managed to be denied by the goal post.

With 2:40 left in the third period, Batavia junior forward Tim Finnell picked up a loose puck, that he took to the front of the net and was able to backhand it through the legs of Notre Dame goaltender Tom Dehr. That goal proved to be the game winner for the Ice Devils. Kocent and Mulcahy were credited with the assists on the play.

Adam Kurek ended the game with 26 saves for Batavia, while Tom Dehr stopped 14 shots for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame won the matchup earlier this season as they defeated Batavia 4-1 in Batavia’s David M. McCarthy Memorial Christmas Tournament. Batavia is now 6-7-1 and will play Brighton/East/HFL (5-7-1) on Saturday. Notre Dame falls to 11-4 and remains in first place in their division. They host Victor (9-4) Thursday at the Falleti Ice Arena.

 

(Photos courtesy of Bare Antolos)

Irish hockey headed to another championship game

By Timothy Walton

The Fighting Irish are off to another championship game again after defeating Bishop Kearney/ East Irondequoit 5-2 in the first game of Brockport's Winter Tournament in ice hockey action.

The game began relatively even as it took two periods to get a score on the board as BK took the early second period lead with a goal by Brandon Brady just 1:43 into the period. That's when Notre Dame went to work and registered four goals just 1:02 apart. Dylan Versage and Beau Richter set up Jason Harasimowicz on the powerplay to tie the game at 1-1. Then just 16 seconds later, Harasimowicz and Ivan Madafferi set up Versage to give ND the lead. Their scoring still wasn't over. Just 23 seconds after that Phil Vigneri gave ND the third goal on a solo effort. Just 23 seconds after that Jack Nenni registered the fourth goal off of an assist from David Wolcott.

BK ended out the 2nd period scoring by putting the game at 4-2 with a unassisted goal by Shane Ashe.

With 5:26 into the 3rd period Josh Halle gave Harasimowicz the pass to give ND the final goal on the powerplay and to cap off the scoring at 5-2.

Tom Dehr made 16 saves for Notre Dame who improves their record to 7-2.

Brett Marrapese made 46 saves for Bishop Kearney who falls to 1-7.

The Irish will take on Brockport tonight at 7:00 in the championship game at the Tuttle Ice Arena in Brockport. Brockport defeated Spencerport last night 4-1 to advance to the finals.

 

Dehr and Corcoran record shutouts

By Timothy Walton

It was a great night for the local goaltenders as both Brandon Corcoran of Batavia and Tom Dehr of Notre Dame posted shut outs in high school hockey matchups.

Notre Dame hosted Bishop Kearney at the Falletti Ice Arena and was able to post their sixth victory of the season by a score of 2-0. Freshman Tyler Kessler had a big night for the Irish as he registered both goals.

His first came with 1:59 remaining in the first period off of an assist from Brett Perfitt.

Kessler then gave Notre Dame the insurance goal with 9:45 remaining in the game with the assists being credited to Perfitt and Jack Nenni.

Dehr ended the game with 13 saves for the Irish (6-2) and his first shutout of the season. Brett Marrapese  had 39 saves for Bishop Kearny (1-6).

In the other matchup, Batavia traveled to Geneva where they skated to a scoreless tie.

Brandon Corcoran recorded his first shutout of the season by stopping all of the 23 shots he faced. Zach Koczent made 37 saves for Geneva. Batavia is now 3-3-1 while Geneva is 2-5-1.

 

Notre Dame Boys XC Make It Four

By Eric Geitner

 

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 3rd place finish in the Class D meet.  Sophomore Andrew Fischer was right behind in 4th and Senior Nate Flumerfeldt 5th.  Junior Nick Flumerfeldt placed 15th and Sophomore Matt Sausner stepped up big to place 29th 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 9th and 10th respectively to earn individual patches.  Eighth grader Bailee Welker placed 12th, Junior Kristen Antolos 15th, and Jumior Sydney Moag 54th to round out the team scoring.  The team placed 3rd in the Class D meet which was won by Arkport.

 

Congratulations to all runners on an excellent season!

 

Section V Cross Country Championships Being Held at GCC

By Eric Geitner

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

GR/LCAA Cross Country Championships

By Eric Geitner

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

 

 

Irish Harriers Finish-up Regular Season

By Eric Geitner

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 6th, Nick Flumerfeldt 13th, and Jason Harasimowicz 22nd as the Irish beat Attica, Alexander, and Pembroke.  Luke Calla 27th, Matt Sausner 30th, Woody Clark 38th, Dan Follett 45th, Tyler Pingrey 46th, Conlan Edwards 52nd, and Devin Sherman 53rd 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 8th, with Rachel Berggren in 10th.  Bailee Welker finished 11th, Kristen Antolos placed 15th and Sydney Moag 28th 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 7th at GCC.

 

Notre Dame moves to next round with convincing 45-18 victory over Red Jacket

By Howard B. Owens

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.

Oakfield-Alabama comes up just a little short in playoff game at Cal-Mum

By Howard B. Owens

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.

Notre Dame wins over Keshequa

By Eric Geitner

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.

ND Harriers open up in Plattsburgh Invite

By Eric Geitner

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.

Education

By Chelsea O'Brien

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)

Notre Dame, Pembroke moving on to State Championships

By Eric Geitner

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.

 

Cross Country's Best Racing Today

By Eric Geitner

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

 

ND Cross Country Wins Division III Title

By Eric Geitner

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 6th, 7th, 8th , and 9th place finishes of Matt Jackson, Kevin Pawlak, Eric Shormann, and Nate Flumerfeldt ensured the victory for the Irish.  Quin O’Connor placed 2nd 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 14th 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.

 

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