I begin this week's column with some very disappointing news. Jess Hegmann, the Lady Mustangs basketball team center, is out for the season. Jess had a recent bout with appendicitis which required surgery. Jess, a senior, was having the season of her life. She was respected as one of the best centers in the county, and was looking forward to impressing college coaches with a great season. The team now has a big adjustment to make. Coach Zunno will call on the Lady Mustangs (eight wins, 2 losses) to individually step up their level of play. They are currently in an excellent position for a playoff spot, but they must turn on the intensity to remain a contender. We wish Jess a speedy recovery.

This week will feature the girls gymnastics team who have had some very good success this year. They recently defeated the Manhasset team. In that meet, special commendation goes to Dana Culleeny for competing as an all around gymnast, also to Jess Coulon for competing for the first time on the bars. Finally, to Patti Rose and Amelia Jiminez for competing on the beam for the first time. Coach Brenda White has submitted the following team profile:

Coaching Staff: Brenda White - Head Coach; Maureen Connolly - Assistant Coach.

HS Attended: New Hyde Park Memorial

College Attended: SUNY Cortland. BS in physical education.; C.W. Post, MS special education.

Tell Us About Yourself: Coach Connelly is a Mineola HS graduate and went on to attend St. John's University.

Coaching Style and Philosophy: Stress teamwork and improvement. Encourage effort - especially in new moves and events. While each team member competes as an individual, I stress supporting and assisting each member of the team.

Returning Players: Dana Culleeny - 5th year veteran (captain), all-around gymnast; Colleen Bowler - 4th year veteran. All around gymnast; Liza Laurino - 2nd year veteran on floor, beam and vault; Jackie Hazel - 2nd year veteran on bars and vault; Sarah Helmich - 2nd year veteran on bars, vault and floor; Nikki Webber - 2nd year veteran on beam and vault; Jessica Coulon - 2nd year veteran on beam, floor and vault; Nicole Coelho - 2nd year veteran on bars, beam and floor.

Expectations for the Season: Although gymnastics is commonly viewed as an individual sport, the teamwork experienced in competitions and the eager newcomers are sure to bring us a successful season.

"Hot" Newcomers: Diane Macedo (vault and floor), Laura McDonnell (floor and beam), Ursula Burg (floor, beam, bars), Kerrin Hughes (floor), Jolene Lloyd (bars and vault), Melissa Purdy (beam), Patti Rose (bar), Karina Tomaz (floor and bars).

1) Nikki Weber - beam; Dana Culleeny - vault and floor; Coleen Bowler - floor; Jackie Hazel - bars; Jess Coulon - floor.

The Mineola community is also very proud of the middle school eighth grade soccer team who finished its fall season undefeated, with a record eight wins, 0 losses and one tie. This team, coached by Mineola alumnus Maryann Grimm, had a very exciting season, winning most games easily. However, three games were especially exciting. The 2-1 win over North Shore, the 0-0 tie with Great Neck South, and the 2-1 win over Clarke. For the record, the members of the undefeated middle school girls soccer team were all eighth graders: Danielle Adams, Cristina Almazon, Lauren Anderson, Patricia Barbosa, Kimberly Bond, Jeanne Bridges, Maureen Cloghessy, Vanessa Gonzalez, Susan Hahn, Meridith Herrera, Laura Lupo, Nicole McAllister, Ashley McGuinness, Vikki Montalbano, Patricia Munson, Patty Ober, Melissa Paolicelli, Stephanie Pollack, Anne Rosenberg, Amy Shear, Jacklyn Silva, and Kristina Zunno. Winners of the "Strive for Excellence" award were Danielle Adams, Lauren Anderson and Jaclyn Silva. Congratulations girls for a well played season. Sounds like varsity coach Wiedman has a good group of recruits coming up to the high school.

On Jan. 21, the bowling team competed against Hewlett. Both the JV and the varsity teams won their respective matches by identical scores of 11-0. At varsity they moved back into second place behind league leading Syosset. Tom Brown bowled a 255, Anthony Scapiccio a 202, John Randazzo a 232-207-202 (641 series), Dan Maloney 211-210-211 (632 series) and John Perrone a 247. On the JV team, Matt Brown bowled games of 195, 182, 185, for a 562 series. Bill D'Elia bowled a 201, Eric Kruse a 226 and Adam Tuthill a 181 and a 173. On Jan. 26, the team bowled against the league leading team from Syosset. The varsity handed the Syosset team a convincing defeat, winning all 11 points (11-0). Unfortunately, the JV team fell to the Syosset JV team losing their match 11-0. The varsity team came out of the shoot in impressive fashion. Anthony Scapiccio bowled 221-201-186 for a 608 series. John Randazzo had games of 204-202-180 for a 586 series. Dan Maloney bowled 199 and 211, and Tom Brown bowled 184 and 187. The JV team bowled, but were defeated by Syosset 11-0. High games were rolled by Eric Kruse who had a 175 and 174 game. Adam Tuthill rolled games of 179, 181 and 179. And on Jan. 28, the Keggers took on Lynbrook. It was a clean sweep for the Mineola teams as the varsity and JV won their matches. Varsity 11-0. JV won 8-3. At the varsity level, Tom Brown rolled a 215. John Randazzo had a 191, John Pirrone a 205 and 206, Dan Maloney a 244, 174, 211 for a 622 series. The JV highlights included Eric Kruse who bowled 158, 154, 165 and Adam Tuthill who had games of 182 and 212 as Mineola won 8-3.

Finally this week, we feature a sport not often recognized at the high school level; rifle. Coach Mark Miller has coached this team since 1985. Over the years, the team has had much success, and they have produced some excellent shooters. Foremost among this group is alumnus Matt Cegelski. Matt was a very successful sharpshooter while at Mineola. He won nearly every award available as a high school athlete. He eventually went on to shoot for St. John's University on a full scholarship. At St. John's, his career continued to take off. He went on to national recognition as a collegiate shooter and was invited to the United States Olympic team tryouts. All of this success started at Mineola High School, with trips during the season to the Willis Avenue School basement where Mineola has had a shooting range for many years. Coach Miller is very proud of Matt, as he is of this year's team and he submits this team profile:

Coaching Staff: Mark Miller

Head Coach Profile:

HS Attended: Mineola HS (1976)

College Attended: Nassau CC (AS), Springfield College (BS), Queens College (MS).

Tell Us About Yourself: Started working at Mineola HS in 1984 after short stays at Wheatley HS, North Shore HS and Summit HS in NJ. Rifle coach since 1985-86. Also coached JV football and varsity lacrosse, The same sports I played while a student athlete at Mineola.

Coaching Style and Philosophy: My coaching philosophy, no matter what sport, is that the right combination of hard work and fun will prove successful. No matter what the final outcome. Rifle is so different compared to other sports in that you have to hold something perfectly still. We work on technique and the mental aspects of the sport.

Returning Players: Virginia Casengal and Jenny Helmich - both Gini and Jenny were on the varsity air rifle team last year. Both placed in the top 50 in Nassau County; Juan Ayala - best cartridge shooter, returning from last year; Mark Arras - should help in both air and cartridge; Jacob Mezrahi - should help in air and rifle; Mike Ober - shot as a sophomore but missed last year. Should contribute in cartridge and air.

Expectations for the Season: Graduating two All County and one All Conference player last year leavs us without any "Big Guns" this year. I do think that we will be OK in air rifle with Jenny Helmich and Ginny Cosengal leading the way.

"Hot" Newcomers: New to the team this year, sophomore Marvin Villatoro and freshman Ryan Kersko look good so far.

With victories this past week over Jericho and Syosset, the girls varsity bowling team captured the Nassau County Conference III title, and an automatic berth in the county championships which was held at Sheridan Lanes on Feb. 7.

The highlight of the week came on Wednesday as Tracee Eger (158 high game), Melissa Danielson (169), Joanna Errico (157) and Christina Schulze (235) combined to give the varsity a record of 112-9 and an insurmountable 15 point lead over Lawrence High School, who they will meet one more time this season in the regular season finale.

The JV is one match away form capturing an undefeated season. Sonia Costa, Tara Fairgrave, Sue Gresalfi, Jenn Hettinger, Jeanette Hollwedel, Jen Pirrone, and Leonor Ribeiro have done an outstanding job throughout the season, and it has obviously paid off with the reward of conference champions. Congratulations girls!