The Mineola High School varsity boys basketball team in about to step into its conference season. This season looks to be very interesting; we have a lot of new faces from a year ago. Our returning players include co-captains, seniors Nelson Lopes, Mike Santopetro and John Cloghessy along with seniors Claudio Saavedra and Chris Lang. Cloghessy has been chosen to wear the number 35 jersey in honor of the late Reggie Carter.

The juniors are Mike Flores and Chris Orlando. The sophomores are T.J. Gessner, Terry Mooney and Dennis Rios along with freshman Sammy Seda.

The Mustangs completed its non-league schedule with a record of 1-5. "We have shown great growth, beating a very tough Wheatley team in double overtime behind 21 points from Sammy Seda ad played a tough Seaford team over the holiday break to a 10-point loss, [which was close right into the fourth quarter]," said Coach Scott Donnellan.

In the lone conference contest, the Mustangs lost to defending county champion Floral Park in a competitive game. In looking ahead, Coach Donnellan said, "The outlook for the season is positive. I continue to see growth. We are looking for people to step up and fill the roles they might not be used to. I think we can compete for one of the playoff spots in the conference. It should come down to five teams for the final two spots. Westbury and Floral Park should lock up two spots and then the rest of the conference will compete for the last two. We'll battle Great Neck North , Division, Roosevelt and Hewlett. We play each league team twice so our goal is to make sure we sweep at least three of the teams and put ourselves in a good position."

The Mineola High School girls winter track team is again off to a strong start. During the first meet, the 4X400 relay team of Kristin Mobyed, Katie Carter, Julia Yan and Lauren Mobyed ran 4:20 to win the event. That time also qualified them for the Millrose Games Trials, which were held Jan. 11. Coach Kristin Frazer listed some more highlights of the season to this point:

* Junior Katie Carter has been running very well. She has led the team in the 55 and 300-meters. She is a member of the aforementioned 4X400 relay team as well as the sprint medley relay squad, which ran the qualifying standard for the National Championships to be held in Andover, Maryland in March. Joining Carter on that relay will be Kasey Hughes, Lauren Mobyed and Kristen Mobyed.

* Junior Jenn Pawlowski has had a great season in the mid-distance events. She earned a fourth place medal at the Spiked Shoe Invitational in the 1,000 meters, running her personal best time of 3:35.6. Her previous best time was 3:44.

* Senior Allie Kain has been a leader on and off the track all season. She has approached this season with a confidence and comfort level that has led to her success. She has improved her time in every event she has run. She set a school record in the 55-meter hurdles with a 10.7. She earned a medal in the 55-meters at the Friendship Games, running her personal best time. She has improved in the 200 and 400 and will be an integral part of the run for the conference title.

* Some of the newcomers who have shown lots of potential include Julie Novak and Maureen Metzner in the mid-distance events; Michelle Wenz and Josephine Manzella in the sprints and Alyss Palma in the shotput. Palma has been right behind veteran thrower Meredith Minsky all season. The two will do well at the conference meet.

* The girls team has won two conference titles in the past three years and senior captains Kasey Hughes, Allie Kain, Grace Martorella, Lauren Massa and Julia Yan want to go out in style. They looked to capture their third conference title in four years on Saturday, Jan. 14.