Winter
• The year began with a third Shenendehowa coach announcing his departure when boys soccer coach Mike Campisi said he was stepping down from the post he held for 32 years. Along the way, Campisi won 23 Suburban Council titles, 17 Section II championships and six state titles. Campisi’s final career record was 534-91-60. Football coach Brent Steuerwald and girls basketball coach Ken Strube announced their retirements in the fall of 2011.
• The Shen girls basketball team fell short in its goal of giving Strube another Section II Class AA title when it lost to Big 10 champion Albany 52-46 in the semifinals. Strube – who announced his retirement prior to the start of the 2011-12 season – finished his career with a Section II-best 588 wins, 10 Sectional championships and four state titles.
• The Shen boys basketball team came close to ending Christian Brothers Academy’s Sectional championship streak in the Class AA quarterfinals. The Plainsmen led 49-47 late in the fourth quarter, but the Brothers scored five points in the final 4.4 seconds to pull out a 52-49 victory. CBA went on to win its fourth consecutive Sectional title with an overtime victory over Troy in the finals.
• The Shenendehowa wrestling team had another successful run at the state championships. Tony Fusco won the Division 1 195-pound title by beating Johnson City’s Reggie Williams 11-3 in the finals, while Nick Kelley (132 pounds), David Almaviva (138) and Cole Lampman (285) placed third.
• Shen pole vaulter Maddesen Weekes earned a state indoor track meet title when she cleared the bar at 11 feet, 9 inches. Weekes edged Colonie’s Kara Snyder, who beat her for the Section II Division 1 title two weeks earlier. Shen’s Caroline Hampton and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake’s Schuyler Pruyn were part of the Section II sprint medley relay team that won the state title with a time of 10:16.8.
Saratoga’s Taylor Driscoll (girls 1,000-meter run) and Spencer Patterson (boys 1,600) had third-place performances at the state meet. Shen’s Will Marois contributed to the Section II boys sprint medley relay team’s second-place finish.
• Section II had a banner day at the state alpine ski championships as Burnt Hills/Ballston Spa claimed the girls team title and Saratoga earned the boys team title. BH/BS’s Demi Feder was the individual champion on the girls’ side after she won the slalom and placed fourth in the giant slalom.
• The Saratoga Springs hockey team won its third consecutive Section II title by beating Shen 5-1 in the Division 1 finals. Mike Layman led the way with two goals and an assist, and goaltender Ryan Bourgeois made 36 saves for the Blue Streaks. Saratoga eventually reached the state semifinals, where it lost to Section V’s Pittsford 3-2 in overtime.
• Saratoga’s gymnastics team picked up its 11th consecutive Sectional title, and Rema Bianco picked up the all-around championship with a score of 35.625. Only four teams competed in Section II during the 2011-12 season after Shen dropped the sport.
• The Shen boys bowling team saved its best performance for last, as the Plainsmen won the Class A Sectional title by eight pins over defending champion Colonie. Anthony Vilardi rolled a six-game total of 1,335 pins to lead Shen, which finished with a score of 5,934 pins.
Spring
• Shen won its first Sectional championship since 2008 by shutting out hot-hitting Guilderland 4-0 in the Class AA finals. Pitcher Erika Daigle allowed only three runners to reach base, and Katie O’Gorman drove in two runs with a fifth-inning single for the Plainsmen. Caitlin Lawson added a two-run single in the sixth inning for insurance.
• The Shen baseball team reached the Class AA Sectional finals, where it lost to Columbia 3-2 in extra innings. A.J. Maney drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning off Shen pitcher Miles Kelly, who allowed four hits in a complete-game performance.
The Sectional final turned out to be James Carrese’s last game as Shen’s manager. Carrese announced his retirement two weeks later after a 22-year career that included 16 Suburban Council divisional titles, two Section II championships and five Sectional finals appearances. His final overall record was 349-163.
• Defending champions Shen and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake each played in Sectional championship boys lacrosse games in 2012. Shen fell to Niskayuna 17-11 in the Class A finals, while BH-BL lost to Queensbury 13-10 in the Class B title game.
• The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake girls lacrosse team also fell short in its bid to repeat as the Section II Class B champion, as Queensbury defeated the Lady Spartans 12-8 in the finals. It was Queensbury’s first Sectional championship.
• Shen’s Lizzie Predmore and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake’s Joe Carr each earned titles at the state outdoor track and field championships. Predmore won the girls Federation 3,000-meter race with a time of 9:54.92, while Carr took first place in the boys Federation 200-meter dash with a time of 21.53 seconds. Carr also claimed the Division 1 title in the 200 dash with a time of 21.98 seconds.
Saratoga’s Keelin Hollowood placed second in the girls 2,000-meter steeplechase at the state meet with a time of 6:49.74, while Shen’s Maddesen Weekes finished third in the girls pole vault by clearing the bar at 11 feet, 3 inches. Shen and Saratoga placed second and third respectively in the 3,200-meter relay.
We’ll look at the second half of 2012 next week.
