Sports Archives — The Altamont Enterprise, August 30, 2007
With new coach, Birds look for same success
By Tim Matteson
VOORHEESVILLE — A new coach, but the same old expectations.
Willie Sanchez takes over as the new coach of the varsity boys’ soccer team at Voorheesville, replacing Michael Young who left to become an assistant women’s soccer coach at the Albany College of Pharmacy. Young coached the Blackbirds for the past two fall seasons.
On a hot Friday afternoon, Sanchez was coaching a plethora of players returning from a team that advanced to the Section II Class B semifinals last year and played in the finals two years ago. Voorheesville won the sectional title in 2004.
"We have a lot of experienced guys," Sanchez said. "We have a lot of good young players. It’s pretty exciting. We have a bright future; I’m glad to be a part of it."
Sanchez said 10 players will be returning this fall. A lot of those players are juniors this year.
"It’s not just going to be this year," Sanchez said. "But it’s going to be an ongoing thing."
"A good foundation"
Sanchez comes to Voorheesville after coaching the junior-varsity team at Bethlehem, one of the most successful large-school soccer programs in the area. He also coached in the Bethlehem youth soccer program.
Sanchez has a connection to Voorheesville.
"My father coached here — basketball and soccer," he said. "There was a good foundation here."
His father, Bill Silverman, coached in Voorheesville during the 1990s and helped establish the Blackbirds among the better small-school teams in Section II.
"This is my first head coaching position," Sanchez said. "I always helped out with varsity and all levels of club for 10 years."
Sanchez also wants to work with the younger kids in Voorheesville and New Scotland, he said, which will help keep the high school program strong.
"I want to get involved with the club," Sanchez said. "I want to start from the bottom up and work with the real young kids."
Sanchez has been playing since he was a young kid and has a life-long love of the sport.
"I’ve played since I was 4 years old," he said. "I hit a point in my life when I was done playing that I missed the game."
Sanchez went to Bethlehem High School and then to the University at Albany. He has been coaching 12 years. He coached for one season at the Academy of Holy Names, the all-girls Catholic school in Albany. The rest of the time, he has been at Bethlehem.
"I got into coaching and went from there," Sanchez said. "I got my coaching license and kept working at it. I want to get better as a coach."
Sanchez might have gotten the coaching bug early in life, learning from his father.
"I used to come down with my father to practices," he said. "I’m familiar with Voorheesville."
Long-term goals
Sanchez sees his first opportunity as a head coach as being a good one.
"We have a lot of guys coming back," he said. "Most of them are juniors, so we’ll be a fairly young team. We also have a lot of good sophomores and freshmen. We’ll keep going for the next couple of years. Hopefully, I’ll get to work with the club and increase the numbers that like to play soccer here."
Two of the key returning players are junior goalkeeper Lee Fenner and junior Ryan Dimmit.
"He has played for a long time," Sanchez said of Fenner. "He’s exceptional. He’s a [Olympic Development] Region 1 goalkeeper.
"Ryan Dimmit is an excellent leader," Sanchez said. "He works hard and is a good role model. Guys look up to him."
Sanchez said that Kevin Van de Wende and Drew Altieri are another pair of good young players. Joe Cillis and Ryan Jones are also young players capable of playing key roles.
The Blackbirds have some pretty modest goals, as they continue to strive to be one of the better teams in the Colonial Council and, this year, in Class C.
"We want to be competitive," Sanchez said. "We can play for a sectional title. With the experience we have as a group, that is one of our goals. I want to create a tradition of expecting to play for the Colonial Council and the Section II title."
Dutchmen look to build on last year’s finish
By Tim Matteson
GUILDERLAND — Will the momentum from one of the biggest wins in program history carry over for the Guilderland boys’ soccer team this year"
Or will the Dutchmen have a major letdown"
"We got a lot of attention last year when we beat Shen," said Guilderland Coach Mike Kinnally. "It was great, but it also hurt us a bit. We are not used to being in big games."
Guilderland beat Shenendehowa High School in the Class AA Section II quarterfinals last fall, but lost to Saratoga in the semifinals a couple of days later.
"My goal as coach is to make sure the program is strong and not just a team," Kinnally said. "The staff is more open to some of the changes we made. The way we do things on the junior varsity is different than in the past."
Kinnally said that the goals have not changed since the first day he took over the program in 2003.
"We want to win more games every single year," Kinnally said. "But, if we have issues during the season, we want to be able to say that we had a quality season. If we have issues, we want to still win more than 10 games. That is always our target."
"We want to go a step further in sectionals," said co-captain Justin Sedefian said.
"We want to go all the way this year," Co-captain Karl Mohr added.
Changes
There will be some changes made this season, as Guilderland lost a lot of its offense.
"We lost 40 to 50 percent of our goals," Kinnally said. "They either graduated or they’re not playing."
Two players decided not to come out for the team this year, and, Kinnally said, six to eight goals could have been scored between the two of them.
The Dutchmen also lost a strong group of seniors who provided a lot of things including leadership and skilled play.
"We were at the point last year," Kinnally said, "that we had five guys in the Exceptional Senior Game that stood out."
Graduated are Kyle Klapp, Kyle Tassone, Phil Cassidy, and Uriah Myrie. Klapp, Tassone, and Cassidy are playing soccer in college, while Myrie came up with a save on the penalty kick that sealed the win over Shen.
Guilderland also lost a few players from the defensive end of the field as well. Though they return senior captains Mohr and Sedefian in the back.
"We should be able to score this year," Kinnally said. "But we have three main questions: Can we get pressure in the midfield" Can we get consistent play in goal" And can the defense come together"
"We could be starting two 10th-graders in the back," Kinnally added. "I was nervous about what we were going to do in the back two weeks ago."
Those two sophomores are Chris Talone and Jonathan Wheeler.
The Dutchmen will get offense from the Campagnano brothers, Tony and Frank. Both played in the Empire State Games this past summer.
A lot of younger players are starting to fill their roles on the varsity.
"We have a group of kids that are working hard," Sedefian said. "We lost a lot of players from last year."
"The younger players are stepping up," Mohr added.
"Getting in shape"
All the Guilderland players have been working hard to prepare for the season, which starts on Friday with a game against Queensbury in the Foothills-Suburban Council Challenge. Guilderland plays Scotia-Glenville on Saturday.
"We’ve done a lot of running," Mohr said. "We getting in shape for the season."
It will take more than skill for the Dutchmen to win games this season.
"Hopefully, we’ll keep our heads in the game," Mohr said. "We should have a pretty good team."
"Our goalkeeper will be a big question," Campagnano said. "We’ll score goals. We’ll need to play good in the back to win games."
The Dutchmen have only four seniors who will probably be starters this season, so a lot of the younger players will be relied on.
"The juniors and a couple of sophomores need to step up big this year," Mohr said.
"Some of the players have been there," Campagnano said. "They need to play a bigger role and get used to it.
"We’ll find out tomorrow," Campagnano said on Tuesday. "We have our first scrimmage; we’ll see if our games are polished."
"We’re in shape," Mohr added. "We now can focus on soccer."
Lady Dutch hope heart overcomes size this season
By Tim Matteson
GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland girls’ soccer team will be small in stature this season, but they will be big in other ways.
"They have big hearts," said Assistant Coach Anne Reed-Best
"We’re young and small," said Head Coach Barb Newton. "I think our average height is 5 foot, 3 inches."
The Lady Dutch did get some size in the return of Hannah Rosen. She has recovered from a knee injury and will be back in the line-up.
But Guilderland lost Abbey Fashouer, who was injured at the Empire State Games while playing lacrosse.
So the Lady Dutch will be looking at a pair of pint-sized players this season.
"We’ll be looking to midfielders Danielle Tetreault and Amanda Best to provide a lot of leadership in practices and games," Newton said. "Lauren Napoli is a scrappy forward and Jackie Deluise provides a scoring threat up on top."
The Dutch will get good play from the forwards and midfielders, but the biggest question mark will be on the defensive end of the field.
"We have a whole new defensive unit," Newton said. "We graduated a lot last year. We’re in the midst of figuring out who to put where. And we’re starting a new goalkeeper.
"We’ll look at the defensive unit at our scrimmage and that will determine what we do for the rest of the season," Newton added.
Winning the battles in the midfield will be key for the Lady Dutch this season.
Rosen provides more height for the midfield," Newton said. "The success to our team will be based on a solid performance by the midfield. They have a lot of knowledge of the game."
"Big weekend"
Guilderland will play in the Shen Scramble at Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
"This is a big weekend for us," Newton said.
Guilderland will be playing tough teams such as Niskayuna, Monroe-Woodbury of Section IX, and Averill Park.
The coach is also interested to see the play of new goalie Marissa Page.
"She’s coming off a sprained ankle," Newton said.
The Lady Dutch players battled injuries during the pre-season last year, so Newton hopes to also survive this weekend unscathed.
"We’re almost at full strength," Newton said. "We are a step ahead compared to last year. We’re waiting to see when the weekend is over."
Newton will also evaluate her players during the scrimmages.
"We’ll see who’ll emerge as our top starters," she said. "We’ll see if they are happy with the status quo or if they’ll show us what they can do on the field."
Though there are 20 players on the roster, some players have played together longer than others. Newton hopes that her team will gel.
"There are some girls that have played together for a long time in the midfield," Newton said. "They are confident with passing the ball to each other. I’m hoping for the rest of the team to work with them."
Newton is ready to get her team on the field.
"This is going to get us started," she said. "I’m looking to get equal play out of them. I hope they start to shine and rise above what’s predicted for this team."
Hot weather, finish for Altamont 5K
By Tim Matteson
ALTAMONT — The competition at the 10th Annual Altamont 5K was just as hot as the weather.
The race, held on a humid Satruday morning, came down to the wire as winner Victor George and Robert Irwin burned up the track to the closest finish in the history of the event.
George, 30, of Schenectady, won the race in 15:51. Irwin, 34, of Guilderland was just one second slower to come in second.
"It was the closest finish we’ve ever had here," race director Phil Carducci said. "It was a great race between those two."
Arthur DeGraw, 27, of Watervliet finished third in a time of 16:17.
Ada Lauterbach, 17, of East Berne, was the top female racer. She finished the race in 20:09. Teresa Alger, 40, of Middle Grove, was second, covering the course in 20:32. Kimberly Bowles-Miseno, 37, of Amsterdam was third in 21:04.
"It was great," Carducci said of the event. "It was a little better than last year. It was a little hot. It rained last year, but this year is humid, hot, and sticky. But we had enough water on the course and drinks afterwards. People were happy with that."
The water stops were staffed by a local Girl Scout troop, which Carducci wanted to thank for its diligent work.
Carducci said that 273 people signed up for the race and 232 runners competed.
"A bunch of people probably saw the heat and said, ‘I don’t want to do it,’" Carducci said. "That hurt the numbers. One year, I want to get a nice day. I think I might have had one in 10 years."
The race brought in "lots of food for the food pantry," Carducci added.
There was also a festive atmosphere at the race. A two-person musical group played at the starting line in Bozenkill Park and there were also wellness groups set up in the gazebo at the park, including Albany Massage Therapy Associates who were doing free massages for competitors.
There was also music on the course.
"The music was great, especially on the course," Carducci said. "They were on the corner of Main Street and Gun Club Road. People were applauding. All in all, it worked out well."
Carducci said that there were no problems with traffic, as in years past, and he thanked the Altamont Police Department as well as the rescue squad and fire department for their help.
The only glitch on Saturday came at the end of the race when it was time to post the results. Computer problems delayed the posting.
"The comments I got were good," Carducci said. "Other than waiting for the results, people were pleased. It was a good time for everybody."
The computer problem was solved and Carducci was able to get the results and will make sure everybody gets their awards.
"We fixed it and the results I have are now correct," he said. "Some people switched bids and that did not help at all. If this was a much bigger race, they would be disqualified. But a lot of people were nice enough to let us fix it and we got it done; we were able to deliver the trophies."
Carducci wants to keep expanding the race even though he is happy with where the course is now.
"The course is good," he said. "This is the third year of this course"But we want to get it bigger and better next year. Maybe have more music on the course."
Carducci thanked all the sponsors and volunteers who offered their services to help make the race run smoothly, including Saturn of Albany, Clear Channel Radio Network, First Niagara Bank, and The Altamont Enterprise.
Age group results
The 12-and-under top finisher was Luke Caton, 11, of Delmar. Trey Coryell, 12, of Ravena was second and Kyle McCullen, of Altamont, was third.
Courtney Tedeschi, 12, of Westerlo was the first female. Allison Friesen of Stillwater was second and Brianna Phillips of Schenectady was third.
Christopher Cure, 16, of Altamont won the 13-to-16 age group. C.J. Sousis, of Troy was next and Nathan Bub of Voorheesville was third.
Lea Cure, 13, of Altamont was the top female finisher in her age group. Christina Bartonicek of Berne was second and Courtney Davis of Schenectady was third.
Justin Veldhuis, 17, of Albany won the 17-to-19 age category. Sam Dikeman of Altamont was second and Nicholas Buxton of New York was third.
Chantal Little, 17, of Voorheesville won the female group. Michelle Giwerc of Slingeralnds was second and Laruen Cagino of Slingerlands was third.
Michael O’Brien, 21, of Auburn won the 20-to-24 age group.
Marisa Bates, 21, of Delanson won the top female. Jessica and Erica Balint, both 20, of Stuyvesant Falls finished second and third respectively.
Jospeph Hayter, 27, of Schenectady was first in the 25-to-29 age group. Max DiOrio of Schenectady was second and Chris Blakeslee of Albany was third.
Desma DeGraw, 27, of Watervliet won the female category. Stacy Massner of Ghent was second and Tuanh Turnball of Albany was third.
Matt Gokey, 33, of Delmar won in the 30-to-34 age group. Charles Petraskie of Saratoga Springs was second and Erik Koenitzer of Fultonville was third.
Ellen Gokey, 33, of Delmar was the top female. Heather Davis of Ballston Spa was second and Joanie Anderson of Schenectady was third.
Chuck Tanner, 38, of Guilderland was awarded in the 35-to-39 age group. John Furgele of Demar and Ronald Gill of Albany also got awards in the age group.
Denise Van Der Werken, 35, of Cobleskill won the female group. Nancie Tindale of Altamont was second and Christine Reese of Earlton was third.
Gary Longhi, 43, of Coxsackie topped the 40-to-44 age group. Wayen Richardson was second and Terry Seery was third.
Jane Hawksley-Ogle, 43, of Schenectady was first in the female group. Joanne Lebel of Schenectady was second and Kathleen Campbell, of Schenectady was third.
Vladimir Ilin, 49, of Albany was first in the 45-to-49 age group. Mark Warner of Guilderland was second and Rich Lesiak of Galway was third.
Josie Bates, 47, of Delanson was first in the female category. Janine Groves of Gilboa was second and Kathleen McElwain of Ballston Spa was third.
The 50-to-54 age group was won by Rick Munson, 50, of Prattsville. Eric Freedman of Duanesburg was second and Chester Tumidajewicz of Amsterdam was third.
Patti Dietrich, 50, of Greenville was first for women. Barbara Sorrell of Delmar was second and Susan Klim of Altamont was third.
Ken Lohmeyer, 56, of Forestburgh won the 55-to-59 age group. Thomas Constatine of Amsterdam was second and David Dietrich of Greenville was third.
C.H. Trombley, 57, of Albany topped the female group. Natalie Drahzal of East Berne was second and Alice Carpenter of Delmar was third.
Thomas Miller, 63, of Altamont was first in the 60-to-64 age group. Greg Taylor of Delmar was second and Michael Connelly was third.
Virginia Mosher, 61, of Delanson was first in the female group. Nancy Johnston of Ballston Lake was second.
Ken Connolly, 68, of Voorheesville was first in the 65-to-69 age group. Bob Knouse of Voorheesville was second and Donald Rexford of Pattersonville was third.
Joe Kelly, 74, of Menands was first in the 70-to-74 age group. Richard Eckhardt of Albany was second and Donald McBain of Wynantskill was third.
Pat Fitzgerald, 77, of Greenville was first in the 75-to-79 age group. Ken Orner, 77, of Albany was second and Kenneth Clikeman of Altamont was third.
Regina Tumidajewcz, 80, of Amsterdam was the lone finisher n the 80-plus category.
Leading the walkers was Pete Wells, 59, of Ulster Park. Tom Fitzgerald of Niskayuna was second, James Matera of Middle Grove was third, and Leslie Newell of Ravena was third.
Anne Femia, 40, of Altamont was the first female walker. Kelsey Moak of Guilderland Center was second, Tara Parks of Delanson was third, Joanne Ives of Troy was fourth, and Melinda Barnes of Niskayuna was fifth.
Something fishy about river Grass Carp
By Tim Matteson
A grass carp was pulled out of the Hudson River earlier this summer.
What is most worrisome to Ward Stone about that is that the female fish was fertile.
Stone, the state wildlife pathologist for the Department of Environmental Conservation, was shocked to see a 70.3-pound female grass carp that was full of eggs.
The fish was found at the Henry Hudson Park in the town of Bethlehem.
Grass carp are native to Siberia and northern China.
"I was halted by its size," Stone said. "I looked at the chromosomes and it was diploid. It was shocking because the fish is supposed to be triploid, which means it’s not fertile. It was full of eggs. And that is not normal."
The process for producing triploid fish involves shocking eggs with rapid change in temperature. The young are supposed to be tested before being sold.
What is worrisome about the finding is that there could possibly be a male fish that is also fertile and spawning could be taking place.
Grass carp fish eat a lot of the vegetation that a lot of native fish in this area hide in and also use for food.
"There is a good chance there is a male," Stone said. "We’ll have to check for little ones. We’ll watch the river for any small-size grass carp. If they are successfully spawning, that is not a good thing."
It also presents other dangers.
"Like any amphibians or reptiles that come into places," he added, "they can take hold and introduce new diseases.
"It was an invasive species," Stone said. "As we keep becoming a global economy, a lot of things arrive alive and become invasive species. That has big ecological ramifications. There are a lot of species that we can get globally."
Stone said that the fish that he looked at had been in the Hudson River for a long time to be the size that it was.
Grass carp, Stone said, are mostly used locally for people who own ponds.
"People buy them locally and put them in their ponds," he said. "They eat the vegetation in the pond. The ones that are for sale are sterile, in theory anyway.
"This fish could have escaped from some pond into a stream and gotten to the river," Stone said. "And then it grew to that size."
Stone said that the fish could have been bought at a market without the person knowing it was fertile or not. Buyers have to be careful to make sure a fish like that is infertile.
"You can go to a store and get a wide variety of fish," Stone said, "including grass carp."