Great Dawgs of Fall

Sullivan West honors its fall sports teams

and outstanding individual athletes

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — It’s hard to imagine that the fall season has already come and gone. No longer will avid fans line the sidelines of the fields to cheer on their football or soccer teams. The gymnasium that recently echoed with the somewhat muted sounds of volleyball play will now resonate with the ardent cheers of basketball fans.

Only the runners, who spend their days traversing the grounds and trails, will remain outside now as long as the weather permits as they prepare for indoor track. Then, they, too, will head indoors, leaving only the skiers to brave the elements of winter.

But in a fitting farewell to the glorious fall sports season at Sullivan West, athletes, parents, coaches, administrators and the media gathered on November 15 to honor the achievements of the teams and the season’s most exceptional individual athletes.

After a brief welcome by superintendent Kenneth Hilton, the audience sat back to watch a panorama of slides, accompanied by pulsating music, put together by this writer in celebration of the fall sports season.

That was preceded by a few remarks reminding students about the enduring rewards of trying their best and assessing their personal victories as valuable, regardless of how their performances stacked up against others.

Athletic director Dave Franskevicz introduced the coaches, who, in turn, recognized the efforts of the group and named a pair of athletes for special awards.

Junior varsity soccer coach Mike Mahoney spoke about the valuable life lessons absorbed by his 7-4-2 team, which discovered its real potential in an overtime victory over Tuxedo.

Varsity soccer coach Mike Ellmauer sang the praises of his team that put together a six-game winning streak and made it to sectionals for the first time since 2001. “We had a great ride,” Ellmauer said, who thanked outgoing seniors Sarah Lander, Kristen Niemann, Audryanna Ward and Morgan Edwards. The four combined for 17 years of varsity experience.

Ellmauer named Jillian Fife as the team’s Most Improved Player. He described her as a “little bulldog.” Team leading scorer Sarah Lander was named as the team’s Most Valuable Player.

Football cheerleading coach Nina Verderber’s squad may have been small in number, but it was large in spirit. Verdeber named Casie Lebron as the Most Improved Cheerleader and Michelle Dresch as the recipient of the Coaches Award.

Junior varsity football coach Anthony Durkin talked about his young team comprised of 16 freshmen and five sophomores. He credited them as being dedicated and hard working.

Varsity football coach Ron Bauer noted that this year’s team had a lot of learning to do, as they absorbed a new offense. “They did a great job. We started five sophomores and still got to Dietz,” he said. The team scored 256 points, rushed for over 1,600 yards and passed for 1,043 yards. Bauer thanked the community for its support of both the team and of his family this fall.

He named quarterback Jim Moloney as The Most Valuable Back with 606 rushing yards, eight touchdowns and over 1,000 yards in passing. Moloney completed 69/120 passes for nine touchdowns and ended up with an 86.1 quarterback rating. He was named the Most Valuable Offensive Player of this year’s Class C Championship game, which was won by Tri-Valley. Moloney was ranked seventh among Section Nine quarterbacks.

The Coaches Award went to four-year varsity veteran Will Schlott, who Bauer noted gave a 110 percent effort day in and day out.

Volleyball coach Cliff Kelly sang the praises of his team that earned Sullivan West’s first-ever volleyball sectional win by defeating Tuxedo. “We set out to beat the schools of our own size,” noted Kelly. The team played against some of the best programs in the area and lost a couple of close matches during its fine season.

Kelly named Brittney Gieger as the team’s Best Offensive Player for scoring the most total points. Cara Davies was named the team’s Most Valuable Player. Gieger, Davies and Samantha Vandiver were selected to the OCIAA All-Star team.

Varsity boys soccer coach Debbie Owen noted that “each team is an entity unto itself.” This year’s team had to find its identity, following the loss of fine players who graduated over the past two years. Without the benefit of a junior-varsity program or early season scrimmages, the team was thrust into the heat of competition against S.S. Seward and showed its grit as it learned quickly on the fly. Using the few remaining veterans in the middle of the field, Owen and assistant coach Rick Ellison tried to quickly build team chemistry. The only player in the same position as last year was keeper Logan Grishaber.

The team finished second in the Downsville tournament and lost a tough overtime match to Monticello. Its overall record of 4-13-1 didn’t reflect how many close games there were. Owen quoted Vince Lombardi: “We didn’t lose; we just ran out of time.”

With the exception of captain Rich Feeney, Jesse Fadis and Spencer Oliver, the team will be back in force for 2008. A number of players expect to participate in indoor soccer to hone their skill levels for the ’08 campaign. Eric Minton received the Coaches Award. Owen described him as, “quick, agile and gutsy.” Rich Feeney was chosen as the team’s Most Valuable Defensive Player for his intense competitive fire and his unbridled love of the game.

Boys cross-country coach George Rose said his team “ran like banshees.” They beat Tri-Valley five times this season and were crowned as Division IV champions. Russell Bryan was selected as the team’s Most Improved Runner.

It came as no surprise that Colin Seidl was named the team’s Most Valuable Runner. Seidl was the Division IV and Section Nine Class C champion. He finished seventh in the state among Class C runners and is the fourth runner in the Rose era to make it to the Federation Championships.

Girls cross-country coach George Shakelton praised his team for a fine season that was hampered somewhat by injuries. Led by the preseason verve of Chelsie Schadt, who piled up over 1,000 miles of training, the team hit the trails hard in the early going. They took third at the Washingtonville Invitational, against some of the biggest schools, and then beat Tri-Valley at home, sparked by Schadt’s first win. They took second at the Tully Invitational and went on to win the Division IV title for the sixth straight year.

Schadt and Rianne Erlwein took turns finishing first and second in the early going.

A fine showing at the Disney Classic, which included 2,400 athletes, had Erlwein finishing eighth and Schadt finishing ninth among the 151 girls in the 2A race.

Shakelon named Katey Dnistrian as the Team’s Most Improved Runner. Dnistrian lowered her 5K time by an impressive three minutes by season’s end.

Rianne Erlwein was chosen as the team’s Most Valuable Runner. She was the Division IV champion, finished 18th in the OCIAA league race, took fifth in Section Nine and finished 36th in states. It was her third trip to states and she is only a freshman.

Franskevicz noted that many of the fall athletes are already engaged in winter sports activities and he encouraged the audience to come out and support their endeavors. The Billy Moran Tip-Off basketball tournament will unveil the girls team on December 3 and 4 and the boys team on December 6 and 7.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of pictures from the awards ceremony.