Empire State Games: Track and Field

VanWagenen takes silver in ESG steeplechase

Sullivan West runner and Tri-Valley thrower Ryan Loughney among several Section 9 athletes to garner glory in area’s first hosting of Empire State Games

By RICHARD A. ROSS

BEACON, NY — For more than a quarter century The Empire State Games have been uplifting, fiercely competitive and a showcase for the state’s best amateur athletes, but this year for people in the Hudson Valley, these games became up close and personal.

For the first time since their inception in 1978, the Empire State Games were hosted by the Hudson Valley bringing local fans out in record numbers to cheer for their friends, family and schoolmates in a panoply of outstanding amateur athletic contests. With opening ceremonies held at Marist College in Poughkeepsie on July 27 and competition staged in venues across Dutchess and Ulster County from July 28 to 31, the games took on immediacy for area residents.

The Empire State Games were the first state games established in the nation and they afford amateur athletes in the Scholastic, Open and Masters Divisions an opportunity to compete in Olympic-style competition. The scope of the games is enormous and includes 16 sports in the Scholastic Division, 21 in the Open Division and 12 in the Masters Division. Featuring sports such as archery, baseball, basketball, bowling, boxing, canoeing and kayaking, cycling, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, judo, lacrosse, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, soccer, swimming, synchronized swimming, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling, the games offer something for a vast range of athletes and their fans.

Divided into regions, the Hudson Valley finished second, totaling 156 medals coming in behind the Western region, which garnered 251 medals in all. Other regions competing included New York City, Long Island, Adirondack and Central.

By far the greatest numbers of athletes compete in track and field, which is classified as Athletics in the listing of events. For those people who follow track and field during the course of the school year, many of the Hudson Valley athletes who turned in outstanding performances are well known. Among those most recognizable to people in Sullivan County is Mike VanWagenen of Hankins, NY who is about to enter his senior year at Sullivan West High School. VanWagenen, a premier long distance runner, considers the 3000-meter steeplechase to be his best event. This year’s Section 9 Class B champ finished second to Travis Wolfe of Neversink, NY in the 2004 Empire State Games. Wolfe, who was a senior at Tri-Valley this past year, ran 10:13.78 for the gold and VanWagenen garnered the 2004 silver medal with a time of 10:19.94. With Wolfe’s graduation, VanWagenen sought to capture this year’s gold medal in the Scholastic Division.

The pace of the race was faster than last year but VanWagenen moved up quickly to take the lead, which he held until the last 200 meters. Coming over the final water barrier and heading towards the finish line, Christian Thompson of Candor, NY, representing the Central Division, pulled away and won the race in 9:58.3. VanWagenen repeated as the ESG silver medalist with his time of 10:03.6, his fastest time of the year according to his coach Ron Bauer.

“I really wanted that gold medal,” said a grinning VanWagenen, “but silver’s not bad,” he added.

The ESG record for the steeplechase is 9:19.74, set by Charles Masala of Staten Island in 1982. VanWagenen’s family, girlfriend and school chums, who made the short trek to Beacon High School, cheered him on. Last year the crew followed him to Binghamton.

Over at Arlington High School where the rest of the track and field events were taking place, Ryan Loughney of Woodbourne, NY, who attends Tri-Valley, took the silver medal in the 12-pound hammer throw with a heave of 51.94 meters. Loughney’s throw was a school record for the event and his lifetime best.

First place went to Hudson Valley teammate Dan Paladino of Monroe, NY who garnered the gold with a toss of 58.65 meters. VanWagenen’s schoolmate Alan Ackermann, of Cochecton, NY, finished fifth in the discus with a toss of 41.81 meters. Jacob Schwartz of Livingston Manor, a student at Liberty High School, took sixth in the pole vault with a leap of 3.50 meters. His Hudson Valley teammate, Joe Passalaqua of Pine Bush, took fourth, jumping 3.80 meters. Nasim Siddeeq of Goshen took the gold medal in the triple jump with a leap of 14.28 meters. David McFadgen of Newburgh took the silver with a jump of 14:01 meters.

Last year, Kyle Anthony of Barryville, a student at Eldred High School, finished sixth with a jump of 12.97 meters. Anthony did not compete this year.

Other Section 9 athletes in the Scholastic Division who did our region proud include:

• Rachel Sanborn, a freshman at Tri-Valley, finished seventh in the 10,000 meter run with a time of 45:08.88.

• Jamie Schombs of Eldred Central School took seventh in the javelin with a throw of 78 feet, 4 inches.

• Nicole Burns of Newburgh and Meaghan Darling of Marlboro were part of the winning 4x400 relay (3:56.37).

• Jerrell Warren of Newburgh won the 400-meter bronze (49.82).

• Andy Cline of Washingtonville took the 1500-meter bronze (4:10.04).

• Jesse Fuca of Newburgh took fourth in the 110 high hurdles (15:47).

• McFadgen took fifth in the long jump (6.54 meters) and teamed up with Celestin Rivera of Pine Bush and Warren to take bronze in the 4x100 relay (44:30) and silver in the 4x400 (3:24.41).

• Erica Johnson of Poughkeepsie, NY, a student at FDR, took the silver in the 100-meter dash (12:41) and ran for the gold in the 4x100 relay (48:40).

• Arian Davis of Poughkeepsie and also of FDR took fifth in the long jump (4.87 meters).

• Stephanie Duffy of Monroe took silver in the pole vault (3:13 meters).

In the Open Division:

• Adam Wilson of Grahamsville, NY took silver in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54:66. Wilson is a sophomore at SUNY Delhi and it was his lifetime best in the event. Wilson won the Division III national junior college hurdle championships this past season.

•Alex Reid of Middletown took fourth in the 110 high hurdles (15:23).

• Sam Stubbs of Newburgh won the 400-meter gold (48:29) and bronze in the 4x400 with former NFA teammates Justin and Larry Pearson (3:30.18).

• Sarah Thornton of Saugerties took fourth in the shot put (11:33 meters) and gold in the discus (44:83 meters).

Many other winners for Hudson Valley team came from Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess and Putnam Counties, which form Section 1. For once it was great to have that area’s sterling athletes as teammates and not as adversaries.