Student-Athletes Dominate Once Again

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Student-Athletes Dominate Once Again

Written by Ed Rotondo, gardencity@antonnews.com Friday, 15 March 2013 00:00

Trojans have a strong winter season

across the board

Garden City High School is blessed to have one of the stronger student–athlete populations on Long Island. Regardless of the sports season, the teams, coaches and players compete hard on both the field and in the classroom. On the academic side this is no more evident each year then when the list of scholar athletes is presented and the universities that they will be attending are announced. For some sports the verbal commitments are made in junior year (lacrosse), but in many it is the spring of their senior year. Typically you will see schools like Harvard, Georgetown, Boston College and Notre Dame on that list – schools where even the best athletes need to also excel in the classroom.

This winter session was no different for the Trojans as they had several outstanding performances, great team results and four County Championships.

The boys swim team had an undefeated season for coach Anne Sullivan and capped it with their first County Championship since 1999 at the Nassau swimming championships. Led by MVP Joe Lozano winning the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM in school record times, and then coming back to win as part of the 200 (another school record) and 400-yard freestyle relays. With Lozano in the 200 were Matthew Finnegan, Connor Brown and Frank Caponegro, while Finnegan, Brown and Daniel Finnegan joined him in the 400.

Nassau County Girls Basketball Champions The girls basketball team exceeded even their top fans expectations by capturing the Nassau County Championship with a victory over Floral Park in the finals at CW Post. The young team was led by County MVP Sam Auricchio (sophomore) and County Tournament MVP Taylor Carpentier (junior). The team also had stellar performances from junior Tara DeAngelo, freshman Kerry McCarraher and sophomore Becky Riefler throughout the season. Although they had terrific basketball seasons, Carpentier is headed to George Mason and DeAngelo to Villanova University, both to play lacrosse.

On the boys side, the team didn’t fare as well as they barely missed out on the playoffs although seniors Spencer Bais, Ed Blatz, Dan Bonchonsky, Andrew Granville and Kyle Skramko kept the team in every game with both a strong inside game and some timely outside shooting. Blatz and Skramko are both committed to play lacrosse in college at Georgetown and St. John’s respectively.

One of the top performers of the winter session was girls track star Emma Gallagher who helped lead the team to a seventh consecutive County title, as well as grabbing two State titles along the way. Emma won her second consecutive 600-meter race and anchored a repeat NYS championship performance in the 4x400-relay, these are on top of her Nation leading 600 meter time of 1:30.35! Running with Emma on the champion relay team were Kelly Lawson, Katie O’Neill and Laura Jaeger. Also coming away from the NY State meet with a title was Jen Gerland who was a member of the Section VIII relay team.

Another standout performer in track was Andrew Morra. He proved to be one of the best middle distance runner’s on Long Island with several stellar performances including a fifth place finish in the 1000 meters at States and a first place performance at the conference meet in the 600. Morra has signed a letter of intent to attend Lafayette College. Tim Josephs also had several outstanding runs that were highlighted by a first place finish in the 3,200 meters at the Conference championships.

The girls fencing team delivered a County Championship for Garden City this season as they capitalized on a late season run through Nassau County. Top fencers on the team throughout the season were Julia Cupolo, Emily Fallon and Katherine Tomasi. The girls had entered the playoffs as the number 3 seed as they had a somewhat up and down season but pulled together for the Championship.

Garden City also had an excellent season at the lanes as both the boys and the girls bowling teams had better than .500 records. Throughout the season for the girls it was Jeanette Oellrich, Allison Miller and Brooke Schlatter rolling high games and strong series to lead the team. On the boys side it was Dan Combatti and Thomas and Joey Rocco leading the way while dropping the most pins for the Trojans.

The boys fencing team, as well as the wrestling team were two squads that were focused on rebuilding this season and will look to come back next winter for runs at county championships.

News

Friendship Circle Luncheon Turns 10

Thursday, 23 May 2013 00:00

Kroplick and Kammerer honored

On May 8, more than 500 fashionably dressed women converged on the Garden City Hotel for the Sid Jacobson JCC’s tenth annual Friendship Circle Luncheon. Notable celebrities on hand were Good Day New York co-host Rosanna Scotto, who was also the event’s MC, and singer/actress Megan Hilty from the Broadway play Wicked and NBC’s hit drama Smash, who entertained the ladies with her favorite songs from both shows.

The Friendship Circle Luncheon was started 10 years ago by Denise Silverberg, as a way to raise money for programs providing support for adults in their 30s, 40 s and 50s that are afflicted by Alzheimer’s. Silverberg’s mother has the disease, so she understands firsthand the role of a caregiver and the stresses involved in taking care of someone who has it.

Revised HUB Transportation Study

Thursday, 23 May 2013 00:00

Deputy Mayor Nicholas Episcopia attended the HUB Stakeholders Meeting held by Nassau County’s consultants on the Transportation Project. He was joined by EPOA President Judy Courtney, Vice President Chris Mullaney, and Director Leo Stimmler, as well as William Bellmer, a member of the Garden City Planning Commission, Dorothy Episcopia, past EPOA president, and former mayor Robert Rothschild. Bob Schoelle and Brian Ridgeway attended the afternoon session. Garden City is a stakeholder because a large portion of the village lies within the defined HUB area.

As presented, the currently preferred alternative transportation plan appears reasonable and eliminates the construction of a light rail system that would run from the Mineola Station, south behind Arthur Street, and east along the spur adjacent to St. James Street South, as was initially proposed. Nonetheless, as we have consistently done over the years, we will continue to monitor plans for the transportation project and strongly express our opinion if we believe any aspect of this project would be detrimental to the quality of life in Garden City.

Sports

Almost Perfect

Thursday, 23 May 2013 00:00

Boys JV lacrosse team goes undefeated

The Garden City JV lacrosse team finished the year with a stellar 14-0-1 record. Led by Head Coach Tom Flatley and Assistant Coach Brett Hepworth, the Trojans overpowered most of their opponents with explosive offensive bursts, tough-nosed gritty defense, and rock-solid goaltending. The offense averaged over 15 goals per game, while the defense allowed just over three goals per game.

The season commenced with a hard fought, triple overtime thriller against Syosset that ended in a 7-7 tie. As the team became more cohesive, most of the next few opponents, including Hewlett, Lynbrook, Carey, Roslyn, Kellenberg, and others, found themselves overmatched against this Trojan team. However, that did not dissuade Ward Melville from putting forth an inspired effort on their home turf for three quarters, before finally falling to Garden City 12-7.

Playing With A Big Stick

Thursday, 16 May 2013 00:00

Defense keys successful lacrosse seasons

The boys and girls high school teams are both rolling and have their sights set on a long run in the playoffs. Both team have faced a number of formidable opponents throughout the season and have successfully navigated their schedules. One thing that has been consistent for both teams has been that their defenses have had to stand tall at key times and shut down very active offenses. Both Coach Finnell and Coach Chapman have made sure that the non-league schedules of their teams will ensure that their teams are prepared for whatever the playoffs can throw at them.

After going the full season last year undefeated, the boys team has three blemishes on their record with losses to powerhouses Ward Melville, Manhasset and LaSalle of PA. With a 9-3 record the Trojans are looking to wrap up the number two seed in the playoffs to force a rematch of the Manhasset game in the County finals. The boys have excelled defensively only allowing 4.25 goals against per game. And if you remove those three tough losses the goals against average drops to 3.1.