Year in review

In the rearview mirror

By RICHARD A. ROSS

January

Bears roar out to first league win over Comets (boys basketball)

Eldred’s Laput and Anthony first in long and triple jump (indoor track)

Eldred’s Counts and Adams named NYS first team Class D all-stars (football)

Twelfth of Never arrives as Lady Dawgs beat Eagles (girls basketball)

Monticello’s Ng takes fifth at Eastern States and gets 100th win (wrestling)

February

Lakequake! Lady Dawgs sweep Burke for Division IV dominance (girls basketball)

Lady Bears and boy Dawgs cop first-ever sectional titles (indoor track: small schools sectionals)

Lady Bulldogs win first-ever Division IV title and end regular season with 14 straight wins (girls basketball)

March

Liberty’s Schwartz and Eldred’s Anthony soar to victory (indoor track: OCIAA league championships)

We are Family: Gahan propels Class D Falcons to Sullivan’s only title (boys basketball)

Live from Glens Falls: A virtual tour of the great high school tournament and its layers of atmosphere, history and melodrama (boys basketball)

Ross two-time winner of Golden Media Award (basketball)

April

Lady Bulldogs take first at Panther Relays (track and field)

Pazzalia signs letter of intent to play for Generals (SCCC baseball)

Bears shock Bulldogs in Division IV opener (track and field)

Ross garners top 2005 NYPA photography awards

Ranne wins Special Olympics medal in basketball

Tri-Valley Invitational: Tri-Valley stages Invitational despite downpour (track and field)

May

18th Annual Monticello Games are a flawless hit (track and field)

Eldred gets first Division VI victory (softball)

Panthers ride Hughes’ four-hit gem to defeat Comets (baseball)

Sullivan West’s Melanie Kleiner sets a new Section 9 standard with passion and drive (girls golf)

Prunka signs a letter of intent to play SCCC baseball

Lander shuts out Raiders with a three-hitter (softball)

Hit-and-run Eldred capitalizes on key hits and running game to edge Liberty (baseball)

OCIAA Track Championships: Quantum leap Anthony smokes the competition and takes the league title in the long and triple jumps

Fitness on display at 14th annual Highland Triathlon

Sullivan County Meet of Champions: The fast and the furious (track)

June

Sullivan West and Eldred boys cop Class C and D titles respectively; Pine Plains and Coleman win girls’ crowns (track and field sectionals)

County’s best head to states (track and field state qualifier)

Lions oust Yellowjackets in thrice-postponed final (Class D baseball)

Bulldogs top Bears for Division IV title repeat (boys golf)

Anthony soars to glory: Eldred long and triple jumper garners four gold medals in NYSPHAA Division II and Federation Meet combined

Indomitable spirit: Youth soccer coach Lenny Miret exudes aura of positivity in his bout with aggressive cancer

United and undefeated (East Hudson Valley Soccer League final)

July

Chiefs ice playoff berth with win over Renegades (Babe Ruth Teeners league)

Huge softball tourney to benefit Miret and family

Cooper Paint remains picture perfect (Sullivan County Women’s Softball League)

Matthew’s on Main refuses to lose (Lenny Miret Tourney)

Tusten Chiefs are champs! (Wayne County Teener’s League Championship)

Nick Mootz, in between the dark and the light (Seventh Annual Fremont Center Softball Tournament)

August

Cougars win final two but miss playoffs (Elite Champion Tournament Baseball)

Fitness Factory finishes first in Fremont Center Softball Tourney

Gremlins prevail in weekend of stellar softball (25th Annual Eddie Collins Memorial Softball Tournament)

Bright smiles abound at Dr. Don Games (Twelfth Annual Dr. Don Games)

Cooper Paint glistens (SCWSL A Division Final)

Hope fulfilled (SCWSL B Division Final)

September

Eldred overpowers Hancock in mistake fest (football)

Turnover stirs Bears to action in win over Ellenville (football)

Sullivan County ATV Poker Run rolls up another success

Davis Excavating takes Swendsen Softball Tournament title

Monticello’s Devine and Tri-Valley’s Roosa are victorious harriers (cross country)

Liberty’s Punt, Pass and Kick draws kids galore (football)

Sullivan West easily handles Pine Plains in league opener (football)

Garn’s eleventh-hour goal seals overtime win over Liberty (boys soccer)

Kean’s win total hits the century mark (football)

October

McCormick runs wild as Eldred shuts out Liberty (football)

One for the ages: Dawgs defeat Burke for first time ever (boys soccer)

Kean’s green machine shreds Tri-Valley ( football)

Tri-Valley transforms last week’s misery into a stunning win over Chester (football)

Backup QB Geiger leads Yellowjackets to gritty win over Devil-Cats (football)

County kids excel in OCIAA division championships (cross country)

Sullivan West unveils new strengths in convincing league win over Tri-Valley (football)

Yellowjackets soar with emphatic win over Chester (football)

November

Sullivan West earns league title and faces rematch with Bears in upcoming Class C tilt (football)

Eldred is league champs with rout of Webutuck (football)

Class C Sectionals: Sullivan West ascends Cloud Nine for third straight time with win over relentless Bears (football)

Class D Sectionals: Chester wins a sectional stunner on Eldred’s last- minute miscue (football)

Veterans, heroes, heroines and fallen warriors (NYSPHSAA Cross Country Championships)

December

Awards celebrations honor excellence in Eldred football, Sullivan West and Tri-Valley fall sports

NJCAA Cross-Country Nationals: Ackermann wins Nationals at Alfred

The remarkable return of the rock (basketball preview)

Devine excels at AAU National Cross Country Championships (cross country)

Sullivan West boys, Tri-Valley girls take Division IV titles (indoor track)

‘Bulldog Express’ races to division win over Raiders (boys basketball)

Lander-less Lady Dawgs ice gun shootin’ Lady Raiders (girls basketball)

Tri-Valley flying circus runs rings around The Family School (boys basketball)

For accompanying photos, see the print River Reporter, or visit riverreportersports.com to view an album of more photos from the year in sports.