By Rob Potter
LAKE HUNTINGTON — The Sullivan West Central School District honored scores of student-athletes at its spring sports awards presentation ceremony on June 18 in the high school auditorium.
In his welcoming remarks, Superintendent Ken Hilton praised the members of the Bulldog and Lady Bulldog teams.
“You are skilled athletes who deserve to be celebrated for your accomplishments,” he said.
While all of the boys and girls who participated in a junior varsity or varsity sport this spring were recognized, one student-athlete received special congratulations.
Colin Seidl, a junior, was applauded for winning the school’s first ever gold medal at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) track and field championship. Four days earlier, on Saturday, June 14, Seidl won the boys’ Division II (small school) 3,000-meter steeplechase in the state meet at the University of Buffalo in Amherst.
Seidl’s winning time of 9 minutes, 33.62 seconds set a new school and personal record. His old record time was 9:42.
Each of the coaches of the JV and varsity teams called their team members up on stage to be recognized by the audience.
Those teams included:
Junior Varsity Softball (Coach Billy Smith, Assistant Coach John Reggero) – Autumn Ackermann, Katlyn Berrian, Amber Cookingham, Angela DiSanto, Katerina Gaebel, Amanda Goddard, Gabrielle Humleker, Alessandra Imbesi, Brianna Kline, Samantha Knecht, Danielle Meyer, Jackie Parsons, Courtney Schadt, Joanna Trujillo, Ruby Wheaton, Jessica Zaccari
Varsity Softball (Coach Mike Ellmauer, Assistant Coach Diane Staves, Assistant Coach Ken Uy) – Lindsey Bauer, Colleen Chudik, Cara Davies, Morgan Edwards, Rachel Gruenke, Rachel Houghtaling, Sarah Lander, Stephanie Meyer, Kristen Niemann, Kayla Olsen, Jennifer Pitz, Morgan Pretty, Julianne Reggero, LeeAnn Rhodes
Miss Softball Award: Jennifer Pitz; Coach’s Choice Award: Kristen Niemann
Junior Varsity Baseball (Coach J.C. Henry, Assistant Coach Jim O’Connor) – Lucas Bauer, Erik Burton, Michael Durkin, E.J. Franskevicz, Eric Lovgren, Mark Michel, Jimmy O’Connor, Michael Pierce, Robert Rosa, Mark Schwartz, Nick Scott, Shawn Taylor, Justin Zaccari
Varsity Baseball (Coach Kurt Scheibe, Assistant Coach Anthony Durkin, Assistant Volunteer Coach Pat Donovan) – Ryan Alsdorf, Jeremy DeGori, Jesse Fadis, Logan Grishaber, Stephan Levinson, Kevin Lupardo, Ryan Michel, Eric Minton, Jim Moloney, Gaston Owen, Brad Reimer, Austin Sauer, Harold Smith, Mark Tesseyman
Mr. Baseball Award: Jim Moloney; Most Valuable Player: Brad Reimer
Varsity Girls’ Golf (Coach Jeff Molusky) – Megan Calkin, Rachel Dickey, Jillian Fife, Ella MacDonald, Samantha Sedlack, Claire Stabbert
Most Improved Golfer: Rachel Dickey; Most Valuable Golfer: Jillian Fife
Varsity Boys’ Golf (Coach Bob Fife) – Justin Armstrong, Kyle Barrett, Brice Billard, Kevin Correa, Jamie Davis, Mitch Ellmauer, Michael Hahn, Cody Keesler, Melanie Kleiner, Jason Leewe, Arthur Norden, Brandon Peters, Mike Schmidt, Stephen Smith, Luke Tonjes
Most Improved Golfer: Kevin Correa; Most Valuable Golfer: Justin Armstrong
Varsity Girls’ Track (Coach Joe Seidl, Assistant Coach David Abram) – Sara Alsdorf, Kendra Barker, Katey Dnistrian, Megan Eichele, Rianne Erlwein, Katrina Graby, Morgan Hawkins, Ashley Mahoney, Katie Manzi, Jamie Moran, Lindsey Murphy, Elizabeth Peters, Kasi Pilny, Brittany Reddish, Stephany Robison, Chelsie Schadt, Christina Scozzari
Most Valuable Track Athlete: Morgan Hawkins; Most Valuable Field Athlete: Kendra Barker
Varsity Boys’ Track (Coach Ron Bauer, Assistant Coach David Abram) – Eric DeLaurencio, Austin Erlwein, Rich Feeney, Kyle Flynn, Andy Kinch, Gabe LaGrutta, Matt Layman, Chris Murphy, Anthony Nicoletti, Dallas Ripley, Michael Sandler, Vaughn Schlott, Will Schlott, Colin Seidl, Michael Sheldon, T.J. Telesky, Brandon Wagner, Kyle Welsh
Most Valuable Track Athlete: Colin Seidl; Coach’s Excellence Award: Will Schlott
In addition, several awards were presented to seniors in recognition of their years of dedication to the SW athletic program.
Those awards were as follows:
• Sullivan West Coaches Award (given to an outstanding graduating male and female athlete who have exemplified the ideals, standards and personal discipline which is needed to succeed in varsity athletics and life): Matt Layman and Jennifer Pitz
• Milt Gaebel Awards (presented in honor of Milt’s determination, perseverance, dedication and loyalty to sports”): Will Schlott and Chelsie Schadt
• Most Valuable Senior Athletes (after using a comprehensive point system, a group of “most valuable” athletes were named from the graduating class)
The Female Senior Select Athletes included: Cara Davies, Morgan Edwards, Sarah Lander, Stephanie Meyer, Kristen Niemann, Jennifer Pitz and Chelsie Schadt.
Sarah Lander was named the 2007-2008 Female Most Valuable Senior Athlete.
The Male Senior Select Athletes included: Jesse Fadis, Rich Feeney, Matthew Layman, Jason Leewe, Stefan Levinson, Jim Moloney, Will Schlott and Luke Tonjes.
Jim Moloney was named the 2007-2008 Male Most Valuable Senior Athlete.
The final award of the evening was the Billy Moran Scholarship Award. The scholarship honors Moran, a 1980 graduate of Delaware Valley Central School who died in April 1981 after being hit by a drunk driver while he and his teammates from the Union College baseball team were in Florida for a spring training trip.
The scholarship has been presented to at least one DV student since its inception in 1983 (except in 1986 when there was no qualified recipient). When DV merged with the Jeffersonville-Youngsville and Narrowsburg districts to form the Sullivan West Central School District, Billy’s parents, William and Kathleen Moran, decided it should become a SW scholarship.
Brent Rosenberger, a friend of Billy and the entire Moran family, announced that the 2008 Billy Moran Scholarship in the amount of $2,500 is awarded to Sarah Lander.
Lander and Matt Layman were also recognized for being named SW’s two Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) scholar athletes for 2007-2008. They were honored with the other OCIAA scholar athletes at a breakfast last month at Kuhl’s Highland House in Middletown.