By Rob Potter
LAKE HUNTINGTON — Notable individual and team accomplishments highlighted The Sullivan West fall sports season, including two teams earning state recognition for academic achievement.
Cross country runner Reed Scott qualified for the state championship in Vernon, while girls’ counterpart Dani Myers won the OCIAA Division IV championship.
The girls’ volleyball team qualified for sectionals for the fifth straight year; the football team returned to Faller Field in Middletown for the playoffs after a one-year hiatus and also was named a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete Team, an honor also earned by the girls’ soccer team.
Here’s a recap of each fall sports team:
Girls’ Cross Country
Record: 7-5
Season Highlight: Placed in four very competitive invitationals...Won the Ben Boice Invitational in Millbrook... Won the OCIAA Division IV championship...Dani Myers won the OCIAA Division IV individual championship.”
Coach’s Comment: “This was the best Sullivan West team in terms of times,” Shakelton said. “We had a good season. All of the girls worked very hard and did their best.”
Looking Ahead: “Rachel Deppa is our only senior,” Shakelton said. “We will miss her leadership and competitive spirit next year.”
2011 team members: Rachel Deppa, Kelsey Dutton, Rosa Martinez, Courtney Meyerer, Dani Myers, Catherine Rhodes and Corrine VanWagner.
Boys’ Cross Country
Record: 5-8
Season Highlight: Reed Scott qualified for state championship.
Coach’s Comment: “The older guys on the team like Reed [Scott], Eric [Haberli] and David [Schultz] really showed leadership when they made an effort to show the younger guys how to compete and work hard,” Shakelton said.
Looking Ahead: Most of the team members will return next season as just two of them – Shaughn Goggin and David Schultz – are seniors.
2011 team members: Shaughn Goggin, Eric Haberli, Dale Mercado, Jack Rajlevsky, David Schultz, Chris Scott and Reed Scott.
Girls’ Soccer
Record: 5-10-1
Season Highlight: Showing improvement as season went on -- in the first game against Burke, SW lost 7-0. In the second game later in the year, they lost 2-0 on two “odd” goals.
Coach’s Comment: “The way the girls learned to have respect for each other and the game of soccer and the improvement they made,” Mike Ellmauer said.
Looking Ahead: Despite losing seven seniors, “we have a good group of players coming back next season,” Ellmauer commented. “The future is bright.”
2011 team members: Dana Borowski, Jasmine Davis, Marianne Durkin, Hannah Feinman, Carly Grishaber, Stephanie Hauschild, Jasmina Mujanovic, Jordan Parsons, Hayley Puerschner, Amanda Rosenberger, Cassidy Sauer, Emma Seidl, Alika Simon, Kristina Sumfleth, Kaitlyn Taylor, Kassie Thelman and Giselle Vega.
Boys’ Soccer
Record: 3-12-1
Season Highlight: Improvement, especially playing better in the second half of the season than the first half as well as playing better in the second half of every game than in the first half.
Coach’s Comment: “We were a very unselfish team,” Debbie Owen explained. “We scored 28 goals and had 18 assists. Ten players scored at least one goal this season. And our three goal keepers combined to average 17.6 saves per game.”
Looking Ahead: Owen noted that the Bulldogs will be losing several seniors, including four-year players Tyler Groh and Sam Smith and third-year player Christian Calvo.
“But we have a good core group of players returning,” Owen said. “Among them are Richard Lander, who led the team this season with 17 goals and four assists, and Andrew Siegel, who played well wherever he was on the field.”
2011 team members: Brandon Baggatta, Jonah Bauer, Christian Calvo, Jared Ellsworth, Joseph Flora, Tyler Groh, Richard Lander, Connor Lovgren, John Masten, Adam Murphy, Gavin Owen, Karl Schmidt, Andrew Siegel, Sam Smith, Greg Stevenson and Eli Vaknin.
Volleyball
Record: 10-10
Season Highlight: Winning 10 games for the fourth consecutive year and qualifying for the sectionals for the fifth year in a row.
Coach’s Comment: “These kids worked very hard,” Cliff Kelly said. “We had a great season. I’ve been coaching a long time and to make sectionals five years in a row is pretty good.”
Looking Ahead: The Lady Bulldogs will only lose two seniors, Rebecca Corcillo and Brittany Milk, to graduation next June.
2011 team members: Alexa Buday, Rebecca Corcillo, Olivia Grady, Courtney Landers, Melissa McCormack, Brittany Milk, Karalii Rabii, Chelsie Stauch, Erika Stauch and Barbara Whitaker.
Football
Record: 5-4
Season Highlight: “Our game against Liberty was one of the best games I have been involved with,” Coach Ron Bauer said of the Bulldogs’ 21-20 overtime victory over the Liberty Indians in a Section IX Class C game which clinched a spot in the Class C playoffs for the Bulldogs. “There were many coaches who told me after the game that is one of the greatest games they have ever seen. Both teams played well and it was a great game.”
Coach’s Comment: “This team was great to coach,” Bauer said. “All of the players worked really hard and they are good kids. This is the first football team in Sullivan West, Delaware Valley and Jeffersonville-Youngsville history to be named a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete Team. The team had a 90.601 average.”
Looking Ahead: The Bulldogs will lose five seniors – E.J. Franskevicz, Chris Lang, Tom Mootz, Andrew Parsons and Todd Roeder – to graduation.
2011 team members: Kitt Borowski, Scott Erdman, Sawyer Erlwein, Cody Franskevicz, E.J. Franskevicz, Brad Hemmer, Scott Herbert, Ben Kline, Mike LaGrutta, Chris Lang, Cody McGroder, Jared Meola, Tom Mootz, Zach O’Connor, Andrew Parsons, Blain Reddish, Todd Roeder, Travis Roeder and Joe Schroeder.