The spring sports season brought another truckload of titles to Saratoga County.
On the track, three county high school athletes won state championships. On the softball diamond, Shenendehowa added to its trophy case with its sixth consecutive Sectional title. And on the judo mat, a transplant from Tacoma, Wash., earned a trip to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics.
Saratoga Springs’ Madalayne Smith had one of the best individual performances for any high school track athlete in New York when she swept the public school and Federation titles in the 100-meter high hurdles at the state meet in Buffalo. Smith won the Division 1 (large school) title with a time of 14.39 seconds, and she smashed that mark with a winning time of 14.15 seconds in the Federation finals.
Shen’s Michelle Quimby was another double winner at the state meet. Quimby took first place in the public school and Federation pole vault by clearing 12 feet.
On the boys’ side, Shen’s Zac Suriano pulled out a victory in the Division 1 800-meter race by .07 of a second over runner-up Lawrence Campbell of Peekskill. Suriano finished with a time of 1:54.52, while Campbell finished with a time of 1:54.59. Great Neck South’s Terrance Livingston was third in a time of 1:54.72, two-tenths of a second behind Suriano.
Several more county runners had top-three finishes at the state meet including Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake’s Sam Roecker (second place, girls 3,000-meter race), Saratoga’s Hannah Davidson (third, girls 3,000) and the Saratoga girls 3,200-meter relay team (second). Shen placed second in the boys 3,200-meter relay and third in the boys 1,600-meter relay.
As county athletes were racking up state medals, the Shen softball team added to its collection of Sectional championships with a 4-1 victory over Colonie in the Class AA finals. Jen Mongiovi belted a two-run home run, and Amanda Ferro pitched a complete game to lead the Plainsmen to their sixth Sectional title.
Shen’s playoff ride ended with a regional loss to Section III champion Cicero-North Syracuse, but with several players scheduled to return next year, the Plainsmen are on target for a run at their seventh consecutive Sectional crown.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake nearly joined Shen in regionals, but the Spartans fell short with a 3-0 loss to top-seeded South Glens Falls in the Class A Sectional finals. BH-BL still had a strong season, finishing second in the Suburban Council White Division standings.
Meanwhile in Las Vegas, Travis Stevens became the first Jason Morris Judo Center team member not named Jason Morris to earn a berth on the United States Olympic squad. Stevens, who moved to Glenville several years ago to train with Morris, swept through his three bouts in the 81-kilogram division to punch his ticket to Beijing for the Olympics.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School graduate Jeremy Liggett nearly joined Stevens on the flight to China.
Liggett lost to top-ranked Taylor Takata in the 66kg division finals, but he bounced back to defeat Tanner Singh and gain the alternate spot.
Another BH-BL grad, Hannah Martin, also earned an alternate spot after posting a 3-1 record in the women’s 57kg division. Martin defeated JMJC teammate Carrie Chandler in the semifinals before losing to top-ranked Val Gotay in the finals. Martin then defeated Janine Nakao to lock up the alternate spot.
In other spring sports news:
Saratoga, Shen and BH-BL all won titles at the state rowing championships. Saratoga boats finished first in 12 events including the girls varsity eight first and second divisions and the girls freshman eight race, while Shen took first place in the girls lightweight duo event. BH-BL won the boys varsity eight title for the first time since 2001.
The BH-BL boys lacrosse team ended its second year at the varsity level with an appearance in the Section II, Class B finals. The Spartans upset No. 1 Scotia-Glenville 9-5 in the semifinals before falling to South Glens Falls 13-5 in the finals.
The Shen baseball team won the Suburban Council Blue Division title with an 11-3 record, but its hopes of a Sectional championship were dashed when Niskayuna pulled out a 3-1 victory in the Class AA quarterfinals.
The Saratoga girls lacrosse team kept its streak of Sectional semifinal appearances alive, but it couldn’t get past a stubborn Shaker squad. The Blue Bison scored the tying and game-winning goals late in the second half to pull out an 11-10 victory. Still, the Blue Streaks are the only team to reach the Sectional semifinals every year since girls lacrosse became a championship sport more than a decade ago.
Hannah Davidson had a strong performance at the Freihofer’s Run for Women. The Saratoga senior was the fastest high school-age runner in the field of more than 3,000 runners from around the world with a time of 17:08.`