On Saturday, October 2, the Manhasset High School varsity football team found its character resulting in their first win of the 1999 season.

The East Rockaway Rocks were undefeated (2-0) and looking to remain so before an overflow homecoming crowd at sun-drenched Hermanson Field.

Aided by an intense week of perspiration and inspired by a boisterous Manhasset contingency, the Manhasset squad improved their 1-2 record with a come-from-behind 13-10 victory after two consecutive losses to Roosevelt and Malverne.

The turning point of the game came at the 11:31 point in the fourth quarter. East Rockaway pinned the Indians at their own eight with a strong punt from Mike Soto. Using a ball control offense with senior QB Dae-Hwan Kim at the helm, the Indians drove 92 yards on 15 plays while chewing up 8:01 off the clock. With fourth and goal, John Baugher's one-yard touchdown run climaxed the drive. Manhasset Head Coach Bill Cherry and his staff for their use of clock management deserve kudos.

However, East Rockaway would not quit; after returning the ensuing kickoff 39 yards, they started at the Manhasset 40 with 4:21 left on the clock and down by three points. With the Manhasset faithful screaming for a defensive stand, 11 young men dug in, and by doing just that, stopped the Rocks on fourth and four.

Offensively, Manhasset totaled 282 yards on the ground, 101 of those coming from senior Londre Blocker. On the other side of the ball, junior Adam Thoelen and Erasmo Troia each had eight tackles and two quarterback sacks.

Postgame, Coach Cherry praised the entire squad for its effort and diligence. Although disappointed with the team's current record, he singled out the individual performances of seniors Chris Mucciolo, John Baugher, Londre Blocker and junior Adam Thoelen. "We are a relatively young team and especially inexperienced on the offensive line (most played JV last season) but they are all learning on the job and I feel we will benefit from this as the season progresses," said Cherry.

Senior co-captain John Baugher also commented on the team's progress. "Coach Cherry and his assistant coaches have challenged us physically and mentally to overcome our first two losses and step up to play traditional Manhasset football-which is a team committed to excellence. We must be intense on game day, calculating in our preparation and make up for our size and inexperience by striving to overachieve. As a team we really appreciate the coaching staff's confidence in us and their never-ending pursuit in making us the best we can be," said Baugher.

Senior wide receiver Chris Mucciolo added, "At the start of the day we were looking at an 0-3 record. That was unacceptable to us. Today, we found our character as a squad and I'm confident that this will stay with us throughout the rest of the season." Senior Londre Blocker (who plays both offense and defense) believes that "when we follow the game plan that the coaches have developed for us, we feel that we can compete with anyone in Conference IV. Our offense and defense executed well today and this was evident by our level of play."

Manhasset football fans are reminded that this coming Saturday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m., portable lighting will illuminate the field as the Indians host Friends Academy in the first night time sporting event ever held on the Manhasset campus. So bring the family and friends out for an exciting night of football sponsored by the Manhasset High School Booster Club!

The Manhasset Varsity Field Hockey team began its second week of play with a win, 7-0 against Wheatley on Monday. The Lady Indians dominated the game throughout with the scoring spread out among seven strong offensive players: Maura Costello, Carol Hotarek, Katie Kileen, Shareen Mishrick, Sara Marrinan, Sally Rizzo, and Sara McCooey.The defense, as usual, also played superbly; not allowing the ball to pass over their fifty yard line in the second half.

Wednesday's game was a thriller against a tough East Meadow team which ended in a scoreless tie even after a 7 on 7 fifteen minute overtime. The goalies were tested for the first time in this game and rose to the occasion with one save for Danielle Ciampa and seven for Lauren Izzo.

The girls faced tough rival Carle Place on Wednesday. Details of

the game will be reported next week.

Last Friday's match-up against perennial powerhouse and rival, Long Beach High School, was full of surprises. Long Beach has long been a strong team but in recent years has been pestered by Manhasset's girls. The 200 yard freestyle relay, an event that has always sparked competition between the two teams, went in favor of the Indians last week. Manhasset's relay, made up of sophomore Kiera Gilhooly and co-captains Emily DePietro, Kinzey Fritz, and Lauren Gilhooly, clocked in at a all-county standard time of 1:50.70.

The 200 medley relay also looked strong against Long Beach. Coach MattMcGrane introduced freshman breaststroker Happie Palmedo into the medley line-up which included Kinzey Fritz in backstroke, Lauren Gilhooly in butterfly, and Kiera Gilhooly anchoring in freestyle. The medley chalked up a time of 2:06.00.

Manhasset's entire team came together to challenge the Long Beach squad, and the meet included many notable highlights. Senior Nicole Salamak and freshman Michelle Tempesta stepped it up to produce their personal best times in the 200 yard freestyle event. Sophomore Marissa Kinsey sprinted to her personal best time in the 50 freestyle as well.

Senior and co-captain Lauren Gilhooly set a new school record in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.91. Coach Matt McGrane said, "This co-captain is demonstrating leadership by example. Her dedication at practice speaks to the rest of the team by showing that hard work pays off. This kind of swim this early in the year portends some exciting things later on in the season.

Lauren's 24.91 would rank her among the top eight sprinters in New York State, according to the final times at last year's State Champs."

With most of the season still ahead of the team, Manhasset has time to add to their already impressive successes. Coach McGrane is most pleased with the 1999 team because of their cohesiveness and strong sense of team unity. Today, the team will swim against Wantagh; tomorrow, Manhasset takes on Freeport High School.