Sports briefs

Former Williamsville residents Pam Brown McGarvey, far left, and Kevin Brown and former Orchard Park resident Melissa Marchetti ran in the The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on Oct. 22. Brown finished in 4 hours, 29 minutes, Marchetti in 5 hours, 17 minutes and McGarvey in 5 hours, 45 minutes. At the finish line, Brown proposed to Marchetti. Kevin and Melissa currently live in Charlotte, N.C.

Clarence residents Erik Schifferle and Paul O'Connor and Amherst resident Joe Iacono helped the Canisius JV Crusaders beat St. Joe's JV, 12-0, on Nov. 2 at Canisius College's Demske Sports Complex. Canisius is the Monsignor Martin Association league champions and are coached by Bryan Gorman, Paul Novotny and coaches Miller and Robbins.

Annie Pyrak from Christ The King School won the youth girls division (born in 1992 or 1993) at the USATF Niagara Association Junior Olympics Cross Country Run held Sunday, Nov. 12 outside of Syracuse. Pyrak ran the rugged 4K cross country course as a Checkers AC entrant at Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, N.Y. and finished in 17:54. The win qualified her to run as an individual participant in the regional USATF 2006 Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships held Sunday at Coopers Lake in Slippery Rock, Pa. Teams and individuals from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the mid-Atlantic will compete. Her race is scheduled for noon. The top 20 individual finishers qualify to participate in the 2006 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships held Dec. 9, in Spokane, Wa.

University at Albany sophomore Jessica Ortman, of Williamsville, led the UAlbany women's cross country team with a time of 22:34.9 as the Great Danes competed at the NCAA Northeast Regional meet at Van Cortlandt Park on Nov. 11.

The women's team finished 20th in the 41-team race and fifth among the eight America East Conference teams participating. Jessica Ortman came in 36th overall, two spots ahead of Jenna Ortman, who ran the 6,000-meter course in a time of 22:39.0.

Both squads will compete in their final race of the season at the IC4A Championships, also held at Van Cortlandt Park, on Nov. 18.

Sweet Home's Jacob Hagen and Ryan Poley finished 29th (16:42) and 64th (17:23), respectively, in the Class A race at Saturday's New York State Championships at Warwick High School. Both were personal best times on a 5K course. In the Class AA race, Chris Deptula of Williamsville North finished 91st in 17:51.

Sweet Home's Megan Niblock finished 22nd in the Class A girls race. She was the first Section VI finisher in the race with a personal best time of 19:21. Amherst Central's Brenna Symoniak was 55th in 20:12.8.

The Western New York Softball Hall of Fame will grow by 14 names this year as the Class of 2006 has been announced.

Entering the Hall this year are Don Cialone, Ken Godios and Dave Rosolowski of Cheektowaga, John Ennis and Pete Mang of Tonawanda, Kevin Glapa of Dunkirk, Joe Harrington of Kenmore, George Johnson and Charles Timmons of Hamburg, Jake McCune of Fredonia, Lori Potter of East Aurora (West Seneca West coach), Diane Poturalski of Williamsville, James Sobczak of Blasdell and Peter McQuiller of Lackawanna.

The induction ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, at the Woodlawn Fire Hall, 3281, Lake Shore Road, Hamburg. Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased by calling 675-3237 after 5 p.m.