Varsity Football

The Mineola High School varsity football coaching staff has a very simple goal for the season. Head coach Dan Guido and assistants Helms Bohringer and John Tortora answer quickly when asked -"Make the playoffs," they say.

Guido has a nice mixture of returning players and new faces with talent that he hopes will make for an entertaining season. Here is the Mustangs roster:

Dave Gouveia, Sr., 6-2, 210, OT-DE

Claudio Saavedra, Sr., 6-2, 230, OT-DT

Leo Morales, Sr., 5-9, 190, OG-LB

Mike Roo, Jr., 6, 220, OT-LB

Tiago Rodrigues, Sr., 5-7, 155, DB-RB

John Cloghessy, Sr., 5-11, 180, TE-DB

Rob Olszewski, Sr., 6, 215, OT-DT

Nelson Lopes, Sr., 5-10, 150, WR-DB

Charlie Molina, Sr., 5-8, 185, OG-DT

Dan Roo, Sr., 5-9, 160, WR-D

Jon Hock, Jr., 5-10, 175, QB

Chris Orlando, Jr., 5-11, 180, RB-DB

Ian Stanisic, Jr., 6, 165, RB-DB

Mark Dadich, Jr., 6-2, 195, TE-DE

Dan Campos, Jr., 5-11, 200, OG-DT

Rob Kiss, Sr., 6-2, 215, OG-DE

Rob Maloney, Jr., 6-1, 150, WR-DB

Kurt Hetzer, Jr., 5-11, 190, RB-LB

Dom Marques, Sr., 5-11, 165, OL-DE

Kevin Brostek, Jr., 5-10, 150, OL-LB

Tom Gajgziszewski, Sr., 5-10, 160, RB-LB

Justin Gonzalez, Sr., 5-10, 160, WR-DE

Jim Logan, Sr., 5-10, 180, RB-LB

Bryan O'Malley, Jr., 6, 270, OT-DT

Matt Harrison, Jr., RB-DB

Dough Parada, Sr., OL-DL

Matt Siwinski, Jr., WR-DB

Tijo Thomas, Sr., WR-DE

Kevin Tiseo, Sr., WR-LB

The Mustangs opened their season Sept. 17 at Cold Spring Harbor.

JV Football

Mineola High School junior varsity football coach Mark Miller has a pretty large squad. But, as Miller says, "We are very inexperienced. All of our 10th graders, with the exception of Mike Brad and Mark Schiller were back-up or role players last year. We look to be competitive in all of our games and get the boys ready for the varsity level."

Here's the list of returning players:

Dan Benbow, WR-DB, good hands and blocker

Mike Brady, RB-DT, big and powerful, playing new position

Zach Chichi, OL-LB, leadership on DL

Louis Corrao, QB-DB, signal caller, dynamic rusher

T.J. Gessner, WR-DB, tall with good hands

Dave Lopez, RB-DB, tough and hard runner

Pat McMahon, OL-DE, solid lineman

Chris Ramlochan, OL-DT, solid lineman

Coach Miller also listed these players as his hot newcomers:

Rich Baierwalter, RB-LB

Leonard Dul, RB-B

Paul Krumholz, RB-DB

Kevin McCann, OL-DE

Connor McCann, OL-LB

Mike Montovano, OL-DE

Rocco Redmond, RB-LB

When asked to look at the schedule and talk about the toughest opponents, coach Miller said, "On the JV level, the teams change so much each year that we look at each opponent as the toughest."

Girls Varsity Soccer

Mineola High School girls varsity soccer coach Christine Gayson was able to celebrate a conference championship in 2004. That's the good news. The bad news is the Mustangs move up to a higher conference and tougher competition. Coach Gayson talked about her returning players:

Gigi Alas - goalkeeper, last line of defense

Katie Carter - outside midfield, phenomenal crossing abilities, speed, toughness

Alyssa Glenn - sweeper, captain, defensive master, fee kick superstar.

Kasey Hughes - goal scoring forward, speed demon

Marisa Jeter - outside midfield, great crosses

Allie Kain - center midfield, great stamina, speed, short passing and scoring

Lauren Massa - defense, the most consistent player

Christine Medlock - forward, goal scorer, good header

Jenn Port - defense, always helping goalie out

Coach Gayson's hot newcomers this season are Amanda Breen, Jil Caputo, Liz Furuya, Amanda Klein, Kristin Mobyed, Kim Stillwell, Julia Yan, Maggie Garcia and Nicole DeStefano.

Coach Gayson quickly listed winning the conference title and getting into the playoffs as her chief goals. But, as she says, "The entire season will be tough for us because we moved to another conference. I believe that Roslyn will be one of our tougher opponents, although all of our games are going to be competitive. We are playing Roslyn on Sept. 30 under the lights at Denton Avenue Stadium."

Mustangs Girls JV Soccer

Mineola High School girls JV soccer coach Kim Stopanio is up front about her squad. "We expect to have a great season. We have very talented players who play extremely well together," she said.

The key returning players are:

Maria Massa - starting midfielder and defender, hard-working and determined

Vicky Dos Santos - captain, starting defender, great leadership qualities, works hard at all drills, never gives up

Coach Stopanio lists her hot newcomers as Melissa Pastoressa, Maryann Sanderleaf, Michelle Wenz, Emily Kain, Emily Glenn and Mary Phelan.

Mustangs Volleyball

When second-year Mineola girls varsity volleyball coach Diana Nick looks at her coming season, she can only admit, "Our whole conference will be tough this year. We lost almost the entire starting lineup fromlast season, yet we are in the same league as 2004."

Still, she has expectations for the season as she wants the team to work together, communicate and improve all-around skills.

Coach Nick talked about her returning players:

Liz Campbell, Sr., captain, All-County, strongest hitter, strongest all-around player

Jill Shanahan, Sr., captain, strong hitter, good defensive player

Magda Jackowicz, Jr., good passer

Jamie Medlock, Sophomore, blocking is a strength

Cassie Olivos, Jr., setting is a strength

Manda Ward, Jr.

Coach Nick also lists senior Roseanne Mercurio and newcomer Danielle Rivera as players who should make an important contribution.

Mustangs Cross Country

Mineola High School cross country coach Kristin Frazer may not be a familiar name. Don't worry. The Mustangs did not lost their excellent track and field coach. Kristin Degnan got married this summer. New name, same great coach. She also has more boys and girls out for cross country than Mineola has had since it re-instituted the sport. "We have 10 boys this season. Previously, our best division finish was sixth place out of eight teams. We are working toward a top five finish," said coach Frazer.

Here are the runners on the squad:

Edgar Galindo, Sr., captain, second year, shows leadership qualities

Zane Kerney, Jr., second year, hard worker, constant improvement

Matt Wojis, Sophomore, second year, last year's Strive for Excellence winner, hard worker

Coach Frazer's hot newcomers are Joe Wellbrock, Tobin George, Bryan Vesely and Kevin Baruguese. They are all freshmen and have been training very hard.

As far as the girls cross country team, coach Frazer is looking ahead to the season, saying, "the girls are very excited. They achieved their best division record (3-3) last year, which placed them fourth in a division of seven teams. They also finished seventh in the conference championship missing the county meet by one spot. We've added all-stars from the track team and are setting a goal of making the county meet this season."

Here are the returning players:

Samantha Hegman, Sr., extremely hard working, lots of determination

Sarah Lasorsa, Sr., hard worker, lots of team spirit

Lauren Napolitano, Sr., school record holder in spring track

Chelsea Rosner, Sr., very hard working, lots of team spirit

Jaimie Silva, Sr., missed last season with an injury

The three all-stars from the track team that coach Frazer mentioned are:

Lauren Mobyed, Jr., holds seven school records in winter track, state and national qualifier

Alia Fater, Jr., holds three school records, state qualifier

Nicole Wissler, sophomore, holds two school records.