Fallsburg Winter Athletic Awards

Something of value

Fallsburg winter athletes derive lifelong lessons from striving hard

By RICHARD A. ROSS

FALLSBURG, NY — The true value derived from sports is measured in terms of one’s personal growth. While some people deem performance to be the only real standard to evaluate an athlete, the truth is that every young person, who applies himself or herself to becoming better, forges something that endures a lifetime, regardless of how his or her performance ranks against others.

The word value brings to mind different things for different people. Say the word and some will immediately conjure up things that have great monetary worth. But what is of great value often has nothing to do with money. Rather, it is about that which is precious to us: our relationships with family, friends and mentors, our guiding precepts, our health and our worthiness.

Sports is a potential treasure trove of value as it has the capacity to merge many of the things that matter to us into memorable experiences that help define us and create memories that we can share with others. Sports fosters pride in one’s individual efforts and as a part of a team. Photos, plaques and words of praise become things of value that people hold dear.

This past winter season at Fallsburg was indeed a valuable one for the more than 100 athletes who were part of 11 teams fielded by the Comets of winter. While other schools may have grabbed more headlines for their surfeit of wins and success, there is no denying that Fallsburg kids emerged big winners from this past season’s experience.

On March 19, the winter athletes, their coaches and parents gathered in the school auditorium for a night of celebration. As each coach from the modified, junior varsity and varsity teams took the stage, certain words were often repeated in reference to the young men and women who stood by to receive their certificates and awards: dedicated, hard working and respectful.

Those attributes are unquestionably things of enduring value.

Athletic director/Alpine ski coach Janet Carey welcomed the audience as they honored the passing of winter and the welcoming of spring.

Modified boys basketball coach Phillip Motl thanked parents for their great support. The team posted an impressive record of 12-1 and scored 90 points in one of its games. “The future is bright for Comet basketball,” said Motl, who gave the Sportsmanship Award to Russell Corley. The players gave their coach a signed basketball and T-shirt to show their appreciation.

Modified girls basketball coach Neil Sopolsky credited his team’s efforts. They went 9-2-2 and outscored the teams 416-280. Highlights included posting 60 points against Liberty. Sarah Hallenbeck received the Sportsmanship Award.

This year, Fallsburg added modified wrestling to its array of winter sports. Coach Russ Alger commended his team’s improvement from its initial difficulties in getting out of the first period of matches to its late season increase in fortitude. Fallsburg wrestled against such powerhouses as Minisink Valley, Pine Bush, Valley Central, Middletown and Port Jervis. School superintendent Ivan Katz is a strong proponent of the sport, which is bound to grow and prosper at Fallsburg. Kyle Maxwell was named the team’s Most Improved Wrestler.

Varsity boys basketball coach Pete Dworetsky noted the emphasis on academics for his team. “We finished up with the same number of players we began with,” he said. The team had an up and down season and nearly qualified for sectionals. They began the season by coming in second in the Oneonta Tournament. Many of the games came down to the buzzer. Evan Moyes received the Sportsmanship Award and Jason Corley was chosen as the Most Improved Player. Darius Bucker was named the team MVP. Dworetsky described Buckner as “a great athlete and a great floor leader.” Buckner was one of 10 Section Nine players chosen to the Times-Herald Record boys basketball All-Stars. He has a couple of college tryouts coming up. Dworetsky closed his presentation by noting, “We’re looking forward to the summer and to next year.” Dworetsky had just returned from Glens Falls where he had watched the teams that were the most successful in the state.

Girls junior varsity basketball coach Lucille Carter-Harris, affectionately known as Coach Carter, thanked the parents and her players. Numbers dwindled but she did retain her “power six,” who stuck it out all season. Carter’s team was comprised entirely of freshmen. Shanice Tisdale was named as the Most Improved Player. Myana Patterson-DaCosta received the Sportsmanship Award.

Junior varsity boys basketball coach Darren Kenney thanked varsity coach Dworetsky for giving him pointers. He joked that his team had a “bookend” season with wins at the beginning and end and losses in between. Kenney started the season with nine players, who had never played junior varsity basketball before, and showed a lot of drive and willingness to learn complex plays. Rodrick Cash received the Sportsmanship Award and Jonathan Quinlan was designated the Team’s Most Improved Player.

Junior varsity cheerleading coach Kiffanie Sanchez named Bianca Molina as the Most Improved Cheerleader and Brynn Bertholf as the recipient of the Sportsmanship Award.

Varsity cheerleading coach Patricia Seletsky told the audience that working with her girls was lots of fun. She thanked Amie Akerley and Alicia Buckner, who continued to come to practices and games despite being injured. Lauren Olivencia was named the Most Improved Cheerleader. Heily Flores won the team’s Sportsmanship Award and Alyssa Olivencia was chosen as the Most Valuable Player. All the awards were determined by the team.

Varsity girls basketball coach Frank Godlewski told the saga of how he was “drafted” to coach the girls team. Although he initially noted that he “had retired in 2000” from the sidelines, he agreed to assume the reins of the team and they went on to win their first game of the year against Rhinebeck. “We improved a lot this last season but I was still disappointed. We were right there in a lot of our games,” said the coach, who felt that avoiding mistakes at the end of some of those games would have yielded more wins. Godlewski noted that the “future looks bright.” Generosa Canales received the Sportsmanship Award. Godlewski thanked junior varsity coach Carter as being a great role model in the community.

The team presented Godlewski with a framed series of pictures. “Thank you for being a great coach and to coach Carter for being a bench buddy,” said senior Jessica Brignoll.

Alpine ski coach Janet Carey noted that snow was the word on everyone’s lips this season. Either there was too much, too little or too many snow days. The team, which is comprised of skiers from Tri-Valley and Fallsburg, did very well. The girls compiled a record of 24-12 while the boys went 30-12. The division has nine schools, some of which are Class A and Class AA.

Samantha Adriaans from Tri-Valley and Fallsburg’s Chris Egenes both qualified for states. Egenes finished 12th in his combined slalom and giant slalom runs at states. He was sixth at the Section Nine meet. Stefanie Benjamin was the recipient of the girls ski team Sportsmanship Award. Lauren Elliot and Arya Mazanek were chosen as the Most Improved Skiers.

Wesley Castillo was awarded the boys ski team Sportsmanship Award and Uddhava Stowell was named the Most Improved Skier. Chris Egenes was the obvious choice of Most Valuable Skier. After States, Egenes skied on New York State’s second-place finishing team at the USSA Eastern High School Alpine Championships held at Cranmore Mountain in North Conway, NH on March 14 to 16.

A musical slide show assembled by this writer capped off the evening as it chronicled this past season with pictures accompanied by a stirring music track.

For more photos of award winners, see the sports section in this week's print paper, or visit riverreportersports.com for an album of pictures from Fallsburg’s award ceremony.