Glory days

Richard Ross
Posted 8/21/12

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — “These are the days of our lives.” Those words made famous by television’s timelessly popular soap opera aptly apply to the young men and women who have devoted …

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Glory days

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LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — “These are the days of our lives.” Those words made famous by television’s timelessly popular soap opera aptly apply to the young men and women who have devoted themselves wholeheartedly to their exploits on the fields and trails this fall. These precious autumn days are waning, but the memories encoded therein will not fade, thanks to the thousands of photos taken and the stories written that will preserve these noble youthful endeavors for time immemorial. The great triumvirate of high school fall athletics, namely football, soccer and cross-country, will soon reach their respective denouement, but for now the glory days are still unfolding.

This past week’s OCIAA championship was a great forerunner to the November 1 Section IX Cross-Country championships that will be run on the same course at Bear Mountain. Running against all comers from schools large and small, harriers at the OCIAA meet sought to test their mettle against the course and their own class competitors in the Section IX meet. There, the top team from each class along with the five top runners aside from those on the winning team will qualify to run in the state meet at Queensbury High School on November 9. Sullivan County had its share of great performances at the OCIAA race. Tops among county boys was Monticello’s Joe Klein (16:29.74) who took 24th place. Tri-Valley junior Ian Kurzrock (16:39.40) was 28th. Teammates Hauk Boyes (17:31.24), Brenden Hasbrouck (17:45.24) and Aidan Woolsey (17:56.27) were 63rd, 70th and 78th respectively. Eldred’s Kevin Maas (17:59.03) was 78th and Sullivan West’s Dan Paparella (18:18.08) shattered his personal best time by 30 seconds as took 81st just ahead of T-V’s Justin Weintraub (18:12:58) in 82nd and Eldred’s Jake Willoughby (18:18.08) in 86th out of the field of 156 runners. Team-wise, Port Jervis took first place. T-V finished 12th, Monticello was 16th. Sullivan West was 17th, Liberty 20th, Livingston Manor 22nd and Fallsburg 23rd.

In the girls race Monticello’s Camryn Johnson (18:55.24) was the county’s best in 12th place. Her twin sister Sydney Johnson (19:29.25) was 19th. Sullivan West’s Courtney Meyerer (20:09.93) was 36th just ahead of Eldred eighth grade phenom Kayla Maas (20:12.59) in 39th place. Sullivan West’s Kelsey Dutton (20:13.86) was 40th. Maas and Dutton look to return to states this year. Sullivan West hopes its top three runners that include Meyerer, Dutton and Corrine VanWagner (20:48.21) in 48th place will all make it to the big race. Finishing ahead of Dutton in 43rd place was Tri-Valley’s Alex Brooks (20:34.34). The Lady Bears to places 50, 51 and 52 with Brittany Pennell (20:49.50, Autumn Bender (20:58:88) and Sabrena Smith (20:53.90). Team-wise it was Tri-Valley in eighth, Monticello in 11th and Sullivan West in 14th. The girls field featured 130 runners. The Lady Bears are the defending Section IX class C champions and with their depth look to be the odds-on favorite to retain their crown. In the Section IX Class D boys soccer sectionals, number-one-seeded Eldred (8-6-2) played third seeded Family School (5-8-1) on October 29. The Yellow Jackets were seeking their first-ever Section IX boys soccer title. Their last appearance in the title game was in 1988. In Class B, sixth-seeded Fallsburg fell to number three Rhinebeck 4-0. Fifth-seeded Liberty (10-6) beat number four Highland 4-0 in the quarterfinals and faced Rhinebeck in the semifinals on October 29. In girls soccer sectionals top-seeded Eldred played second-seed Livingston Manor on October 29 for the Section IX title. Meanwhile seventh-seeded Liberty (6-7) fell to number two-seeded James I. O’Neill 5-1.

In football, Roscoe/Downsville Livingston Manor punched its ticket to the Section IX Class D title game vs. Chester with a 39-13 win over Eldred. Liberty fell to John S. Burke Catholic 46-12 in a non-league preview of the Class C semifinals slated for November 1 at Dietz Stadium. Sullivan West defeated Tri-Valley 61-21 as Jared Meola, Richard Shevak and Andrew Stabbert racked up two touchdowns apiece. Brian Stauch and Travis Roeder each had one TD for the Westies 3-4 (1-2 Class C Division II). Justin Swartout had two rushing TD’s for the Bears and Jared James caught a 60-yard TD pass for the other T-V score. T-V fell to 0-8 (0-3 Class C Division II). For more details on this game and other events during the week, visit www.sportsinsightsny.com. For albums of photos check out www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com.

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