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PollWith no seniors in the starting lineup, one would think that it's a rebuilding year for the Williamsville East boys golf team. They're far from it. In fact, the Flames are gearing up for potentially one of their best seasons ever. More ... Just because several huge contributors to last year's New York State Class A championship team graduated doesn't mean the goals for the 2008 Williamsville North field hockey team have diminished. In fact, another state championship isn't the only goal the Lady Spartans have for this fall. More ... Williamsville East's Olga Khmylev was one match short last year of capping off an undefeated season in high school tennis. As Khmylev, a state finalist in 2007, prepares for her senior year, she feels nothing is going to stop her from claiming top honors in the state. More ... After coming so close to winning its first Section VI field hockey championship since 1999, Williamsville South returns plenty of talent to make a sectional push this season. If the Lady Billies are to make this a special season, they can't live off last year's success. More ... The Williamsville South field hockey team is off to a 4-1 start. The Lady Billies won their first four games before falling to Hamburg, 3-1, last Friday at South. Nine minutes before halftime, Alison Ferenczy fired a shot to put the Lady Billies up 1-0. More ... Sweet Home High School will hold its 2008 Hall of Fame induction on Friday, Sept. 19 at Classics V, 2425 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst. There will be a cash bar from 6 to 7 p.m. followed by a buffet dinner at 7 p.m. More ... With 11 seniors gone from last year's team, including the entire starting defense, Williamsville East field hockey coach Kate Zgoda knows what she's in for this fall. "It's a major rebuilding year," said Zgoda. "We have a young team. We pretty much have the JV team from last year. More ... Williamsville North boys golf coach John Burns knows who will start in the first five spots in the starting lineup. The other three spots he's not sure about. "We lack depth," said Burns. "I'm looking for someone to step up and be more consistent in the last three spots. More ... The top of the Sweet Home boys golf starting lineup is pretty solid. It's at the bottom of the starting eight that Panthers coach Mike Tojek is unsure about. "I have three spots that I may just have to cycle through with different players so everyone can get into a match," said Tojek. "There is a drop off between my fifth and sixth golfers. More ... If there is something the Williamsville South boys golf team needs this season, it's a win. The Billies went 0-10 in 2007, including two losses by tiebreaker. South has everyone back except their No. 1 John Winstel, who graduated and made the John Carroll University golf team as a walk-on. More ... Amherst Central boys golf coach Joe Marszalek will lean on his top three golfers and hope his younger athletes can step up for the Tigers to fare well in 2008. Amherst's top three golfers are juniors Jake Struebing, Will Pelham and Adam Dannenhoffer. More ... Amherst Central traditionally fields a good field hockey team and the 2008 version should be no different. Lady Tigers coach Laurie LeGoff returns six starters from last year's Section VI Class B semifinalist team, led by senior tri-captains Erin Edson, Abby Muraco and Carolyn Sobol. Edson starts in goal and Muraco and Sobol play in the midfield. More ... There are lots of new faces on the Sweet Home field hockey team but not at goalkeeper or defense. Back for their senior years are goalie Leann Stiver and center defensive back Lauren Korniczky. Each earned All-Western New York honors in 2007 and both are the captains for this year's team. More ... Most of the starting lineup is back for the Williamsville South girls tennis team. They're just in different positions. Junior Ellen Meyers and senior Stephanie Berland, South's first and second singles players last year, have switched spots for the 2008 season. More ... Not much has changed in the lineup in a year for the Sweet Home girls tennis team. The Lady Panthers lost only two players from last year's team to graduation and bring back plenty of varsity experience to have a successful season. More ... The ECIC Division I girls tennis title has eluded Williamsville North the past two years. Hopefully, this is the year the Lady Spartans can add the championship banner to the school's gymnasium wall. "We have been so close to first place the last two seasons," said North coach Hilary Nichols, who enters her eighth year as the girls tennis coach. More ... '' O ne of t he reaso ns w hy Natalie Wisniewski joined the Williamsville girls golf team last year was to win a New York State championship. After taking eighth at the state meet as a junior, Wisniewski begins her senior season with a state title still on her wish list. More ... Amherst Central hasn't won back-to-back ECIC Division III girls tennis titles in a decade. With a 2-0 start in the division this fall, the Lady Tigers are well on their way to accomplishing the goal. Amherst coach Eric Damiani returns senior captains Theresa Gladysz, Caroline Naylon and Kathryn Janicke. Gladsyz plays second singles this year. More ... Sacred Heart Academy's top golfers from last year are back for their senior year. Courtney Connors and Siobhan Brady, who each earned All-Catholic first-team honors as juniors, return. Connors also qualified for the Catholic State championship. Both are co-captains. More ... The Williamsville North boys cross country team has plenty of goals for the fall 2008 season. "They want to win ECIC Division I, win sectionals and go to states," said North boys cross country coach Greg Stang. The Spartans are starting the 2008 season of well, placing second with 54 points at the Byron Bergen Invitational on Sept. More ... Judging by her first cross country performance of 2008, Brenna Symoniak hasn't missed a beat. The defending Section VI Class A champion won the Division II race at the 14th annual West Seneca Invitational last Saturday at Firemen's Park. The Amherst Central junior ran the fastest time for any girl runner all day, posting a 19:37. More ... Village Glen Tennis Club has a new partnership with Amherst Soccer Association that brings the organization's popular youth soccer program to an indoor arena where young soccer players can hone their skills and engage in friendly competition in a safe environment year-round. More ... Looking at the statistics, you would think Grand Island knocked off Sweet Home in their usual Class A North league football showdown. The Vikings' offense out-gained Sweet Home's offense, 431-212, and made 21 first downs to the Panthers' 13. More ... Some teams have no trouble getting a touchdown once they get into the red zone. Kenmore East head coach Matt Chimera would like his squad to do just that. However, the Bulldogs weren't able to go the extra 20 yards on Friday, which Chimera blames for East's 13-10 road loss to Williamsville South. More ... If the Amherst Central football team wants to be one of the elite teams in Class A South, Iroquois is the benchmark. In the Tigers' league game last Friday at Iroquois, it was all Iroquois. The Chiefs led, 14-0, after the first quarter and cruised to a 35-6 home win. More ... Spots are still available for Buffalo In-line Hockey Group's fall season. The league's age groups are boys and girls players with birthdates of 1997-1999 (Atom division), 1994-1996 (Pee Wee division), and 1990-1993 or younger and still in high school (midget division). The league plays out of the Epic Center, 2793 Wehrle Drive, Williamsville. More ... Williamsville North's inconsistencies on the gridiron continued against Kenmore West last Saturday at Crosby Field. The Spartans were out-gained, 240-75, and held to minus-1 yards rushing, in a 28-0 shutout road loss. "The defense and special teams played good and kept us in the game," said North coach Mike Mammoliti. "Our offense is struggling. More ... Amherst Central Boys cross country - sixth in Division I at 14th West Seneca Invite, 154 Girls cross country - third in Division II at 14th West Seneca Invite, 101 Field hockey - def. More ... SKATING HONORS — Amherst resident Brooke Sinatra, an eighth-grader at Amherst Middle School, recently won two silver medals in the Novice Ladies Division at Skate Cleveland held Sept. 6-7. Sinatra was the bronze medalist in the Intermediate Ladies Division at the 2008 Empire State Games, and ranked ninth out of over 70 intermediate skaters from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania at the 2008 USFS Regional Championships. She will compete again at the USFS Regional Championships this October in the Novice Ladies division. She trains at the Amherst Pepsi Center and is coached by Cristen Childs Nowka. More ... Not much went right for the Williamsville East football team in their home opener last Saturday against Starpoint and the result was a 29-0 home loss. Starpoint took a 10-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. More ... The 105-pound Williamsville Commandos beat the North Tonawanda Avalanche, 20-14, in their home opener Friday evening. The Commandos' defense was led by Jimmy Lovallo and Max Ralbovsky, who kept the Avalanche offense in check. More ... Even before Williamsville East and North Tonawanda clashed in a non-league girls soccer game last Friday night at North Tonawanda, Lady Flames coach Chris Durr saw that the team came ready to play. "My assistant coach and I were talking about how determined our kids looked in warm-ups," said Durr. "We were impressed with their focus and how business like they were. More ... Wednesday, Sept. 17 Field hockey: Hamburg at Amherst, 4:30 p.m.; Sweet Home at Starpoint, 4:30 p.m.; Orchard Park at Williamsville North, 4:45 p.m.; Williamsville South at Lancaster, 4:45 p.m. More ... The Amherst Central girls soccer team improved to 3-0 in ECIC Division III with league wins over Depew, 4-3, and Maryvale, 4-0, on Sept. 8 and 9, respectively. Sarah Lasker scored her second goal of the game on a penalty kick with about 12 minutes remaining to put Amherst ahead, 4-3. Sophomore goalie Casey McGuire made six key saves. More ... The Williamsville North boys varsity soccer team improved to 3-1 in ECIC Division I and 5-3 overall this past week. North traveled this past Tuesday to No. 7 large school Lancaster for a divisional match-up and won, 2-0. The Spartans controlled the tempo of the game and let Lancaster chase them. More ... The Williamsville North High School girls soccer team is on a three-game winning streak. All three wins have come on shutouts. The Lady Spartans defeated Lockport, 5-0, at Lockport on Sept. 6, and West Seneca West, 2-0, on Sept. 8, and Lancaster, 5-0, last Friday, at North. More ... Amherst Soccer Association will be holding tryouts for travel soccer on Sept. 28 at the North French Soccer Complex, intersection of I990 and North French Road. Children with birthdays that fall between August 1, 1989 and July 31, 2001 are eligible for travel soccer teams. More ... IT'S ALL MINE — Amherst Central's Peter Blanford, left, battles for a loose ball in the Tigers' 1-1 tie against Maryvale on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Photo by John Normile Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com More ... BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPS — The Buffalo Razors in-line hockey team won championships in consecutive weekend tournaments. As a 14U team, they won the Buffalo Wings Summer League 16U division August 23-24, led by MVP Evan Dressel. August 30-31, the team rallied again to win the Wings Cup Championship, at the Kenan Center, in the 14U division. The team once again saw outstanding play from all players, with game MVP going to Zac Carlisle. Members of the team are, from left: kneeling -Ricky Jacobs, Brett Davidson (Amherst); standing - coach Paul Dressel, Christian Curatolo (Amherst), Evan Dressel (Amherst), Mike Irwin (West Seneca), Josh Graser (Lancaster), Kevin Eberth (Depew), Tyler Casillo (Lancaster), coach Garrett Eberth, Adam Terragnolli (Amherst) and Zac Carlisle ( Tonawanda). More ... 200 games, 550 sets B. Stachowiak 268, 221 — 673; AJ Swannie 228, 214 — 617; J. Abbarno 230 — 584; J. Daniels 219; AJ Shisler 214 — 569; J. Gesel 209, 206 — 593; N. Frase 205 — 578; J. Rusin 203; M. More ... ROCK IT LIKE A HURRICANE — The Mel Ott Hurricanes' 16U fastpitch travel softball team won the 2008 Western New York Metro Girls Softball League championship with a 19-0 record. They also played in four tournaments, winning the Amherst Extravaganza Tournament and finishing second in the New Era Tournament. In late July, they took second at a tournament in Johnstown, Pa. In the Fireworks at the Falls Tournament, they were the No. 1 seed going undefeated in pool play, before being eliminated in a semi-final game. Tournament MVP winners were: Ashley Cavalier, Kristen Deschenes, Niki Grunzweig, Meg Land, Lauren Prentice, and Anna Rozansky. The team's overall record was 37-5. The Hurricanes won the 2007 division championship with a 15-3 record. The team is coached by Pat Land and Dan Deschenes. Jordan Hertel and Kris Deschenes attend Kenmore East High School. The other nine players go to Sweet Home High School. Pictured from left - first row — Jordan Hertel, Devin Gonzalez, Jesse Lewandowski, Niki Grunzweig, Ashley Cavalier; second row — Lauren Prentice, Kris Deschenes, Meg Land, Anna Rozansky, Elizabeth Link; missing from photo — Sarah Cooper. More ... DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK — The Cardinals defeated the Angels, 6-5, to win the Lou Gehrig Major 'A' championship. The Cardinals trailed, 5-3, in the bottom of the last inning and with two outs and the bases loaded, scored three runs to win the game. Pictured from left are: first row — Eric Benshadle, Anthony Paolini, Charles Carlino, Hunter Dee; second row — Blake Rickan, Trevor Beringer, Daniel Mayers; third row — Paul Hart, Kyle Topliffe, Ryan Matthews, Bradley Schober; fourth row — coaches Fred Rickan and Bob Benshadle. More ... DIVISION CHAMPS — The Diamondbacks beat the Red Sox, 11-10, for the Lou Gehrig Major "C" division title. The Diamondbacks trailed 8-2 early in the game. Every player contributed to the win. Pictured first row from left — Tyler Johnson, Al Chen, Matthew Piotrowski, Stevie Salem, Peter Battaglia; second row — Eric Verhage, Zach Kurbiel, Jacob Weissert, Jake Elgie, Jeremy Schatz Back Row Coach Bob Schatz, Manager Kyle Schraufstetter, and Coach Ken Verhage; missing from photo — Mitch Schuler and Nick Occhino. More ... The Western New York Racquetball Association Development Program will begin its winter session from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18 at the Jewish Community Center, 2640 North Forest Road, Amherst. The session will consist of six two-hour lessons and several tournament opportunities. More ... Tryouts for the Lancaster United 15U boys soccer team will be held from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 at Aurora Middle School (soccer field on Madison Avenue) and from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday, Sept. 28, as well as Sunday, Oct. 5, at Westwood Park in Lancaster. More ... Derek Andrews, a third-grader at Harris Hill Elementary, has been selected as a Top 10 finalist in the Sports Illustrated for Kids "Kid of the Year" contest. Andrews beat out approximately 5,500 other entrants to be selected as a finalist. The criterion was based upon how well Andrews does in school, community service and athletics. More ... |
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