Archive: Sports

The 2008 Lansing varsity volleyball team had a great season. Though it was cut short by a disappointing sectional defeat, the accomplishments of the team were not at all diminished. Lansing finished the season with a 12-4 record. Some highlights include the Tioga tournament early in the season, the second-place finish at the Dryden tournament, a strenuous and exhilarating victory over Watkins Glen that was battled out to the fifth game, one game taken from Dryden during their October IAC rematch, and a long night at sectionals that finished off a fabulous season.

The team will lose five fantastic seniors after this year: Brooke Burke, Desiree Burke, Ashley Schuster, Brittany Wilcox, and Lori McKane. They were a huge part of this year's spirit and talent, and they will be missed next year. The other team members were juniors Kari Fenner, Tory Cutting, Nicolo Gentile, Kristen Beyea, Nikki Gain, and Sunah Bong, and sophomore Tara Miller. The three captains were Brooke, Desi, and Kari.

Josh Barber proved his ability as a runner at his second State meet competition at Sunken Meadows State Park on Saturday, November 8th. He and teammate Jon Cleveland represented Class C along with 127 other runners in their class. Chenango Valley's Max Straneva won the title for Class C and Erin Cawley from Newark Valley won the girls' race.

The victories of these athletes made this the first time that two Section IV runners won state titles in the same year. The competition from around the state pushed both Barber and Cleveland as they raced through the sandy course and up Cardiac Hill. Cleveland led most of the race, but Barber kicked it in on the last straight away passing several other athletes to place 36th in the time of 18:04.

Lansing's Varsity Girls Swimming & Diving team placed second in the Section IV Class C at the Secionals in Owego last week.  Chenango Valley won the top spot with 456 points followed by Lansing (384), Watkins Glen (215), Delhi (209), Whitney Point (187) Windsor (184), Greene (161), Waverly (161), and Odessa-Montour (143).

Kali Dean was unstoppable when she sped to first place in the 50 Yard Freestyle, finishing in 24.53.  She was first again in the 100 Yeard Freestyle, finishing in 53.75, 17 seconds faster than her qualifying score.

The Cross Country team traveled to Chenango Valley State Park on Thursday, October 30th for Sectionals and fought their way to the state meet. Josh Barber had his best race of the season. His preparation and dedication during workouts was consistent all season. He knew that it would require his top performance to secure a position for the state meet and surprised his coach and competitors by finishing 6th overall with a time of 17:27 In the last 400 meters of the race Barber surged, passing teammate Jon Cleveland, who also qualified for States and placed 9th overall.

For senior Tim Shea, this was the perfect finish to his 3 year career in cross country. He ran one of his best times of the season (19:04) and placed third for the team and helping the Bobcats to capture 4th place, breaking a tie with Trumansburg for the second time. Our sixth runner, George Wigsten, pulled through and edged out T-burg's 6th man which helped the Bobcats win 4th.

During Oct. 25-26 weekend, the Ithaca 19U Shooting Stars girls hockey travel team played the Cornell women's hockey club team and the Elmira College junior varsity women's hockey team, falling 1-2 and 3-5.

Against Cornell, each goalie stopped 23 shots.  Sarah Eisenhut was in net for Ithaca. Erin Grainger scored the one goal assisted by Emily Eisenhut and Katie Long.

Lansing won the dual meet and IAC Swimming Championship Meet at the IACs Wednesday.  Lansing's IAC score of 348 beat out Dryden's second place 240.  Watkins Glen scored 180, Indians 139, Waverly 133, and Southern Springs 130.  Dryden's Alex Seymour won the IAC diving Championship Meet with Lansing's Lindsay Petry scoring in second place.  Seymour was named Most Valued Diver, and Lansing's Kali Dean was named Most Valued Swimmer.

Watkins Glen took first place in the 200 Yard Medley Relay, less than four seconds ahead of Lansing's Lexi Payton, Alex Conte, Courtney Pollack and Anna Mapes.  But Kali Dean was unstoppable as she took first in the 200 Yard Freestyle in 2:00.73.  Alex Conte sped to first place in the 200 Yard IM.

It was a tight race at the IAC Cross Country Championships in Marathon on Saturday, October 25th. Each team member contributed to Lansing's tie breaking win over Trumansburg.

It came down to Lansing's sixth man, Robin Hicks, who edged out T-Burg by 26 seconds. The Bobcats have been working well together all season, but it came down to IACs to prove their dedication. Both Josh Barber (18:15) and Jon Cleveland (17:58) were also named 2nd Team IAC All Stars. Tim Shea (19:33), Dan Comisi (19:42), Luke Davis (19:46) and George Wigsten (20:51) competed for the varsity team.

The Ithaca Shooting Stars 19U girls hockey team opened its 2008-09 season with three games against other 19U teams recording two wins and one loss.
 
Ithaca defeated Oswego, 6-0, with Sarah Eisenhut earning her first shutout of the new year.  Lauren Cole scored two goals while Gabe Klick, Erin Grainger and Emily Eisenhut each had one goal and one assist. Emma Hassen scored the other goal; assists were also recorded by Ali Pace, Katie Long and Colleen Dillon.

Not a cold October day, nor an opponent who had seen them three times previously would prove to be a barrier. There would be no stopping the #1 team in Class B girls soccer as they quest for their third straight Section IV crown. On wednesday afternoon the girls from Lansing beat for the fourth this season rival Dryden 4-0 in the Section IV semi-final at Sobus field.

The win sets up championship rematch from a year ago with number one seeded Chenango Forks, a 2-0 winner in their semi-final against Susquehanna Valley. The game is scheduled to be played on the turf at SUNY Cortland at 11am this Saturday.

Heather Miller hated running track & field in high school.  A Homer native , she grew up in a family of educators and never thought she would become a teacher.  And after leaving home to go to college she didn't envision herself coming back to this area to live. 

Things don't always work out the way you expect them to.

An accomplished long distance runner who has competed in nine marathons, Miller has taught in Lansing for almost a decade, and has coached the varsity cross country team for the past two years.  "I saw my high school coach when I went to the state cross country meet," she says.  "He couldn't believe that I was actually coaching cross country because he knew how much I hated it in high school."

Ithaca College Men's and Women's Tennis Coach Bill Austin was named Coach of the Year for the 4th consecutive year at the Empire 8 Women's Tennis Championship in Hoboken, New Jersey earlier this month.  Austin led his team to its fourth consecutive conference title, earning a place in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Women's Tennis Championship at Collins Hills Athletic Club in Lawrenceville, Georgia in May.  It is the team's third straight year qualifying for the NCAA Championship.

The Lansing resident had an outstanding 11-0 year leading up to the conference.  By the time the team got to Hoboken they were unstoppable, sweeping the conference with three doubles match wins and was victorious in two two out of three singles matches against RIT.  Along the way Ithaca College senior Alyssa Jaffee was named 'Most Valuable Player' for the tournament.  Devra Reiman (junior) and Agata Kubik (sophomore) earned first team honors.

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The Lansing Boys Cross Country team placed 3rd at the Whitney Point Invitational against eighteen other area schools. Jon Cleveland ran tight with the front of the pack placing just behind rival Mikhail Kern from Groton. Cleveland (17:37) and Josh Barber (18:14) both placed within the top ten competitors.

Working together and not far behind were teammates Tim Shea (19:45) George Wigsten (20:08), Robin Hicks (20:09) and Dan Comisi (20:43). Running for the JV were Nate Muka(23:35), Alex Rogers (24:05) and Tim Carlson (29:07). Rogers improved his performance significantly from last year and continues to show improvement at each meet.