Awards

Fallsburg’s winter athletes earn high marks

Comets of winter lauded for their athletic and academic achievements

By RICHARD A. ROSS

FALLSBURG, NY - For the first time in recent years, Mother Nature didn’t interfere with the attempts of Fallsburg Central School to recognize the efforts of its winter athletes. On March 28, the school district hosted its Winter Sports Awards program to extol the achievements of teams and individuals from the school year’s longest sports season.

Although the weather was erratic and played havoc with the ski team’s attempts to prepare itself for what turned out to be a very brief, and successful, season, Fallsburg students gained immeasurably by their participation in all of the winter sports, including basketball, cheerleading, skiing and Matt Moore’s Section 9 championship performance in indoor track.

Athletic director Janet Carey welcomed the parents, coaches, athletes and guests that included this writer. Carey affirmed the extensive commitment rendered by those involved with the season.

High school principal Mark Plescia pointed out the key role that parents play in support of student athletes and emphasized that success in athletics is an extension of the school’s main mission of fostering success. He noted that athletics provide an opportunity for young people to develop life-long assets that will serve them after their playing years are over. Plescia thanked the athletes for being good role models.

This writer focused his remarks on the importance of weathering the seasons of our lives, including those that are sometimes trying, and likened the change of seasons to the fluctuating periods of winning and losing.

Success in athletics should not be judged by the narrow standard of winning and losing, but rather by the personal and enduring rewards gained from the endeavors that build strength, character and the ability to deal with life’s ongoing challenges. Athletics also afford young people an opportunity to forge relationships that are positive and empowering. That includes coaches, who give tirelessly of their efforts, and parents, whose support is essential in enabling kids to engage in athletics, while still keeping up with their education.

Carey introduced the coaches, who in turn called their teams to the stage. The coaches spoke positively about the efforts of their teams and presented awards to athletes who deserved special recognition.

First up was girls modified basketball coach Lucille Carter-Harris. Coach Carter, as she is affectionately called, attested to the great improvement of her seventh-and eighth-grade girls, citing those who excelled in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocked shots. Carter selected Marie Countryman as the recipient of the Sportsmanship Award.

Darren Kenney took the podium to laud the efforts of his boys modified basketball team.

Kenney’s large team, which swelled to a roster of 20, was filled with unselfish players who put their own desire for playing time secondary to the team’s efforts. Kenney’s goal was to cut down on mistakes and strive to play perfect quarters defined by him as those having five turnovers or less, eight points scored and limiting opponents to six or fewer points.

While the beginning of the season saw precious few periods of this ilk, by season’s end, Kenney’s squad was turning in three- or four-out-of-five periods played in modified games.

Kenney chose Stephen Straker for the Sportsmanship Award and referred to him as a great leader, a fine teammate and a second coach on the floor, always ready to help out players who were having difficulty with drills. Kenney pointed to his team as living proof of Fallsburg’s bright future in basketball.

Junior varsity girls basketball coach Erika Knel had seven girls on her team and noted that the girls had fun and made a vast improvement in their play this season. Knel selected Jamie Parker for the Sportsmanship Award and Generosa Canales as the Team’s Most Improved Player.

Boys junior varsity coach Brian Garber also had two awards to present. He designated Evan Moyes as the recipient of the Sportsmanship Award. Moyes served as team captain and gave 100 percent of his effort to both his athletic and academic endeavors. Garber cited Moyes for his great character.

When it came to selecting the Most Improved Player, the choice of Victor Pacheco was an easy one for Garber. He referred to Pacheco as a standout player and “one of the most coachable athletes I ever had.”

Cheerleading coach Patricia Seletsky had a squad that was quite young this year. But that didn’t stop the girls from working hard as a team. Seletsky said she was proud to have worked with the squad and allowed them to vote for the recipients of this season’s awards. The team chose Amie Akerley for the Sportsmanship Award, Nikki Erlich as the Most Improved Player and Alyssa Olivencia as the squad’s Most Valuable Player.

Tarra Strauss, the girls varsity basketball coach, extolled her team’s efforts in the ongoing challenge of building a viable girls basketball program. Strauss said that this year that task really meant starting from scratch, that the girls worked very hard as a team and that she was very proud of them. The team had only two seniors, so Strauss looks forward to great improvement from her returning core, who will be playing in summer league basketball to hone their skills for the coming 2007-08 season.

Strauss selected Theresa Allen for the Sportsmanship Award and two starting freshmen for the other two individual honors. Rebecca Courtney was named as the Team’s Most Improved Player and Keyshawn Kennedy earned the designation as this year’s Most Valuable Player.

Boys varsity basketball coach Pete Dworetsky began by thanking the parents for their support and the members of the team for maintaining good academic standing. Moving up to Class B this year presented an added challenge for the Comets, who got off to an 0-6 start before their key win over Liberty in a game won by a put back by Kenny Corley with six seconds remaining.

From that game on, the Comets won four of their last nine to end up with a record of 5-11. Dworetsky looks forward to the returning nexus of juniors and sophomores who will help the Comets continue their ascendancy back to the level that people have always come to expect of Fallsburg’s basketball teams. The Comets made it to the state final four in 2003 before losing to Buffalo City Honors.

Dworetsky chose returnee Kenny Corley as the Team’s Most Improved Player. He noted that Corley pushed himself and his teammates toward a higher standard of success. Dworetsky credited Corley’s improvement with a newfound belief in himself.

Senior Chris York received the Sportsmanship Award. Quiet and respectful, York completed his career, which included a prior stint on junior varsity by stepping up and helping the team with his tireless and unselfish efforts.

Darius Buckner was selected as this year’s Most Valuable Player. Buckner, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, played any position he was asked to take on the floor. He was also given the task of guarding the opposing team’s best player. Buckner is a junior and will play a key role in the Comets’ ongoing rise next season.

Ski coach Carey spoke about the partnership forged between Tri-Valley and Fallsburg that allowed Matt Moore an opportunity to compete in indoor track. Moore won the Section 9 title in the shot put for the second consecutive year. Moore’s throw of 48-1 far exceeded his prior year winning heave of 44-6. Moore qualified for the state meet that was held at Cornell University. Look for Moore to be a major contender during the outdoor track season.

Skiing is another combined venture between the two schools. Of course, the pitiful lack of snow nearly converted Carey’s squad into experts at dry-land training. Despite its short window of opportunity, the team still managed to send seven of its members on to sectionals.

The boys finished with a record of 27-15, while the girls achieved a mark of 24-18. Both squads had to engage eventual state champion Onteora in each of their competitions. Aside from that, Fallsburg/Tri-Valley had great success against Kingston, Rondout Valley, Sullivan West, Middletown and John A. Coleman Catholic.

Carey extolled the efforts of Dayna Halprin and Chris Egenes. Egenes finished eighth in sectionals and at states he came in 18th in slalom and 13th in giant slalom for a combined finish in the top 10.

That earned him the right to compete at Mount Cannon along with the best skiers in the state in the eastern regionals. Both the boys and girls ski teams were designated by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) as scholar athletes. The girls team had a combined average of 93.817, while the boys team posted a team average of 91.539.

The evening concluded with the honoring of this winter’s scholar athletes that included the following:

Grade 7: James Bertholf, Tyler Buchholz, Marie Cunningham, Braiden DeGraw, SarahLee Dieudonne, Dustin Foertsch, Susan Moody, Daniel Justiniano, Tamara Williams, Shanequa Lewis, Isabel Mejia, Tiffany Perry.

Grade 8: GodDyhu Anthony, Nikki Erlich, Matthew Frunzi, Nataglie Hernandez, Katherine Mejia, Myana Patterson-DeCosta, Tamara Williams.

Grade 9: Keyshawn Kennedy, Jan Rollan

Grade 10: Joanna Blanchard, Danny Haugen, Ethan Herrera, Edina Levnjak, Sebastian Sarmiento, Matthew Seletsky Siearra Smith.

Grade 11: Reggie Bici, Demi Cruz, Martha Donis, Dayna Halprin, Joseph Perrello.

Grade 12: Adrianna Linares, Jessica Marra.

The following student athletes were on the Superintendent’s Honor Roll:

Grade 7: Valentina Gonzalez, Alison Jones.

Grade 8: Lauren Elliott, Arya Mazanek, Brody Wiles.

Grade 9: Brynn Bertholf, Evan Moyes, Jamie Parker, Vanessa Piselli.

Grade 10: Stefanie Benjamin and Wesley Castillo. District superintendent Ivan Katz handed out certificates to the aforementioned students.

Patricia Bertholf spoke about the impending resurgence of the Fallsburg Booster Club, which was scheduled to meet in the school library on March 29 at 6:30 p.m. Parents were encouraged to attend.

For a photo album of the winners, click here.