By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — Members of the Livingston Manor and Roscoe communities joined together on Monday evening at Livingston Manor Central School for the Livingston Manor/Roscoe Central School Athletic Awards dinner and program to honor dozens of student-athletes for their accomplishments during the 2010-2011 school year.
While enjoying a spaghetti dinner, the school administrators, staff members, coaches, family members and athletes watched a slide show prepared by Manor senior Victoria Taggart which featured photos from several games in the fall, winter and spring sports seasons.
“This is a special night when we recognize all of the hard work and dedication put forth by our student-athletes and coaches this year,” Manor Athletic Director Shirlee Davis said as she welcomed everyone to the ceremony.
Roscoe Central School Fred Ahart also offered congratulations to all of the coaches and student-athletes from both school districts.
“Congratulations to the Livingston Manor softball team and baseball team for winning state championships this weekend,” he said.
Coaches from the Manor and Roscoe junior varsity and varsity teams then walked up to the podium on stage to speak about their seasons. The coaches also took time to praise the team members individually, talking about that athlete’s leadership, sportsmanship and accomplishments on the field, court or golf course.
Those awards were as follows:
Football (Coaches Fred Ahart, Kevin Clifford, Dave Eggleton): MVP – Troy Correa; MVP – Brandon Smith; MVP – William Parker; Coaches Award – Adam Hendrix
Manor Basketball (Coach Charlie Hicks): MVP – Brandon Smith; Coaches Award – Lee Sharshukov; Coaches Award – Ken Fisk; Coaches Award – Troy Correa; Coaches Award – Mike Mills
Girls’ Track and Field (Coach Rebecca Piechuta): Coaches Award – Mariana Mendez; MVP – Ami Calo; Most Improved Player (MIP) – Melanie Reisner
Boys’ Track and Field (Coach Scott Branning): MVP – Neil Mock; MIP – Josh Entemann; Coaches Award – Graig Godlewski
Girls’ Basketball (Coaches Kevin Clifford and Becky Ahart): MVP – Marissa Diescher; MIP – Victoria Davis; Coaches Award – Maggi Calo
Boys’ Soccer (Coach Chris Cosmark): MVP – Ken Fisk; Coaches Award – Andrew Cummings
Girls’ Soccer (Coach Shirlee Davis): MVP – Marissa Diescher; Coaches Award – Christine Babich; Coaches Award – Paige Clancy; Coaches Award – Kiera Browne; Coaches Award – Victoria Taggart; Coaches Award – Angela Zayas
Manor JV Boys’ Basketball (Coach Adam Larson): MVP – Josh Janik; MIP – Mark Castro; Coaches Award – Devon Pagan
Manor JV Girls’ Basketball (Coach Dave Irwin): MVP – Imani Miranda; Coaches Award – Cindy Zheng; Coaches Award – Mollie Browne
Roscoe Boys’ and Girls’ Golf (Coaches Cheryl Bowers, Rebecca Ackerly and Lisa Failla): Senior Trophy Award – Alexandra Bishop; Senior Trophy Award – Martha Fassberger
The Manor baseball and softball teams were the last teams to be honored. As the coaches and players from each team walked to the stage, everyone gave them a well-deserved standing ovation for winning the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D Championships this past weekend.
Baseball Coach Jeff Loeffler thanked Assistant Coaches Ryan Edwards and Adam Larson, the players and the entire community for their work and dedication to make the goal of winning the state title become a reality.
Loeffler thanked all of the players personally before presenting some awards. Those awards included MVP – Brandon Smith; MVP – Mike Mills; Coaches Award – Ken Fisk; Coaches Award – Adam Hendrix; MIP – Andrew Cummings.
Softball Co-Coaches Kevin Clifford and Charlie Hicks introduced all of the team members and praised them for working hard all season in practices and games on the way to winning their second consecutive Class D state championship.
Clifford and Hicks also thanked the community members, T-Ball coaches, Little League coaches, Modified Coach Dave Irwin and scorekeeper Sandy Taggart for helping the program be so successful.
On behalf of fellow seniors Christine Babich, Paige Clancy, Marissa Diescher and Angela Zayas, Victoria Taggart presented a softball autographed by all of the team members to Gene Smith, who served as a mentor to many of the players and coached them when they were first playing the game of softball.
Clifford and Hicks then presented awards to several team members. Those awards included: MVP – Marissa Diescher; Coaches Award – Victoria Taggart Coaches Award – Angela Zayas; Coaches Award – Christine Babich; Coaches Award – Paige Clancy; Coaches Award – Samantha Scott; Coaches Award – Maggi Calo
At the end of the evening, many senior athletes from both schools were recognized. Gloria Gardner, a Roscoe student and a member of the Manor girls’ track and field team, received a Senior Trophy for being a senior on a varsity team. Roscoe student Adam Hendrix received a Blue Devil patch for earning eight varsity letters.
In addition, Hendrix, Willie Browne, Kiera Browne and Paige Clancy all were honored with the Letter Award Trophy for earning at least 10 varsity letters as Roscoe Central School student-athletes.
Jeff Loeffler and Kevin Clifford then presented the Livingston Manor Male and Female Athlete of the Year Awards.
Loeffler noted that Male Athlete of the Year played for the LMR football team, the Manor basketball team and was a four-year starter for the Wildcats’ baseball team. He then presented the trophy to Brandon Smith.
Clifford said that the Female Athlete of the Year is “one of the greatest athletes I have seen in my life” and one who has set multiple school records, including 1,914 career points in basketball. He then presented the trophy to Marissa Diescher.