Hello all Daler sports fans. Welcome to the D-Zone, a series of sport-shorts with focus on all Farmingdale School District athletic events for the 2008-09 fall, winter and spring seasons. The FFA will cover the players, teams and games you select. Players, coaches, parents, relatives, neighbors, friends and Daler Alumni should submit their highlights, articles and photos for consideration to godalersffa@optonline.net for future publication exclusively in the Farmingdale Observer.

The Nassau County High School fall sports season is officially underway and the DALERS are ready to compete. From Howitt Middle School to the Junior Varsity and on to the Varsity teams, the FFA is reaching out to "Daler Nation" to get involved. Everyone should encourage his or her child to participate by joining in as a reporter or photojournalist. Take some snapshots of your team in action or draft a story about a game or player and forward them to the FFA email address. We want to hear from all athletic/spirit support programs from the middle school to high school level.

Farmingdale stands for tradition and excellence in academics and athletics. Every student-athlete is poised to meet that challenge this year. The FHS Varsity Football team issued a defensive statement in their postponed opener at Oceanside shutting down the Sailors 20-0 in a game played last Saturday. Chris Napolitano and Andrew Pullen registered sacks for the Daler D, which held the opposition to 106 yards. Peter Mormino carried 12 times, totaling 71 yards and pulled in an 18-yard touchdown pass. Timmy Brown had a 14-yard reception from Mike Thompson for a TD. Joe Celano rushed for 52 yards on 11 tries, scored a touchdown and passed for a TD on the day. Tom Brosnan kicked for two PAT's in the second quarter. The Varsity Golf team has come on strong in their first outing of the year. Matt Lowe, a 7th grader, and Junior Brandon Ramano each shot an impressive par 36 for the front nine on the Green Course at Bethpage State Park for a 7-2 victory over rival Massapequa. The Varsity G Volleyball team began the season with two hard fought matches. They gave Oceanside a run, but lost 3-2 in highly contested games with scores of 29-27, 19-25, 25-21, 16-25 and 25-21 in the finale. The Lady Dalers spiked back with a convincing "W" against Levittown MacArthur on scores of 25-16, 25-17 and a resounding 25-4 to sweep 3-0. Stephanie Ringbauer drilled 8 aces and teammate Katelyn Destafano hammered 9 kills in the last game. The Daler B Varsity Soccer team has played steady in their first three matches. During an opening game thriller, Brandon Versaca struck in the 20th minute on a fabulous assist from Kevin Bocanegra giving them a 1-0 victory. Goalie Tom Brosnan tallied 5 saves. Their second contest was a heart-breaking 1-0 defeat to the hands of Hicksville High School. Matthew Ward had a total of 10 saves. They secured a 2-2 tie against Kellenberg with goals from Mark Ortiz and Michael Newbeck and assists from Anthony Sammut and Phil Sanabria. The FHS G Swim team went down in defeat in two very close meets. West Islip came away with a 52-47 win and Sachem North edged out a 97-90 victory. The Lady Daler G Soccer team is gunning for another solid season. There was a tough loss in the season opener, falling to powerhouse Garden City by the score of 2-1. Katie Murphy tallied the lone goal and keeper Shea Macagnone was brilliant with 11 saves. Goals by Maegan Meritz and Kelly McPartland helped the Dalers to a 2-2 tie against Island Trees. Kayla Mueger had an assist and goalie Amanda Horn handled 10 saves. The third match was a charm as Farmingdale took on Syosset and came away victorious. The "M" connection was the key to the win. Meritz and Murphy were goal scorers, Mueger had another assist and Macagnone totaled 12 saves in the 2-1 final.

DALER Alum Update: Kim Miller (06) captains for University South Carolina Women's soccer. Diane Gantenhammer (05) captains and Danielle Sheehan (06) plays soccer for Wagner College. Ken Reid (07) plays football for CW Post. Jill Cerar (07) plays lacrosse for UCONN and brother Greg (05) plays lacrosse for the Pioneer men. Katie Hogan (04), Samantha Lyons (05) and Kian Lyons (06) play lacrosse for CW Post. Lauren Cohen, Farmingdale and Maryland grad will be an assistant coach for the Lady Pioneers, as well. Krista Pellizzi, Farmingdale and Maryland grad now an assistant coach for Adelphi women's lacrosse. Submit your Daler Alum news to godalersffa@optonline.net with details for future publication.

Be a participant in the Daler Experience. Contact us for membership/donation application at the email address listed. Go Dalers!