TRR photo by Richard A. Ross Liberty’s Ryan VanLieu, right, breaks out for a big run against LMR.

Football

Contact!

Sullivan County’s five varsity gridiron teams use scrimmages to tune up for 2008 campaigns

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LIBERTY and PORT JERVIS, NY—The air crackles with the sounds of cadenced shouts as football players go through their calisthenics and stretches. The reverberating clack of pad-on-pad contact is a sure sign that fall is upon us and the unmatched excitement of another football season is about to begin.

In the variorum of high school sports, football holds a unique place. With the possible exception of a big winter basketball match up, no sport draws the legions of fans that will likely flock to see how their football teams get out of the chute.

click for story

Soccer

Eastern front

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONTICELLO, NY—Across the reaches of Sullivan County, soccer teams are marshaling their forces for the coming pitch wars that begin in earnest next week. While much of the attention will be on key division match ups, several county crossover games are always noteworthy as they pit rival schools of differing size against each other for annual bragging rights.

click for story

Cross country

Off and running

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY—If you want to see the cross-country season from its start in Sullivan County, then you have to look in on the Tri-Valley Invitational each fall. The Bears lost iconic runners Courtney Roosa and Nick Denman to graduation but are still a major force to be reckoned with.

The girls team includes a host of veterans, including race winner Rachel Sanborn, Naomi Weise, Ashley Weintraub and Caroline Bertholf. On the boys side of the ledger, look for the Bears to come on strong with Jeremy Kinney, Tom Riordan, Mike Freeman, Jimmy Bernstein and Alex Dudec.

click for story

Also in this issue:

• Golf tourney to fund scholarships for Sullivan West grads
• Correction