Summer
• Jason Morris Judo Center students Nick Delpopolo and Kyle Vashkulat competed at the Olympics in London. Delpopolo won his first two matches before losing in the quarterfinals, while Vashkulat lost in the opening round. Delpopolo was sent home shortly after competing when he failed a drug test.
• The New York Giants returned to the University at Albany for training camp after the 2011 camp was cancelled due to the NFL lockout. The defending Super Bowl champions spent three weeks in the area and held 14 public practice sessions. It was the last year of a three-year contract with UAlbany, and there has yet to be any decision regarding 2013.
• Saratoga Race Course had another successful season of summer tho-roughbred racing, as attendance and wagering were up from 2011. Jockey Ramon Dominguez set a new course record for most wins in a season with 68, while Todd Pletcher took the top trainer title with 36 winners. Mechanicville native Chad Brown placed second in the trainer standings with 29 winners.
• The Tri-City ValleyCats won the New York-Penn League’s Stedler Division title with a 51-25 record and reached the championship series, where they lost to the Hudson Valley Renegades three games to two. The ValleyCats had the best record in the league for most of the season until the Renegades passed them on the final day of the regular season.
• The Albany Dutch-men enjoyed the best season in their four-year existence. The Dutchmen finished sixth out of nine teams in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League with a 22-24 record, and they remained in contention for a playoff berth until the final week of the regular season.
Fall
• The fourth time was the charm for the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake football team, as the Spartans defeated Section VI’s Sweet Home 40-20 in the Class A state finals at the Carrier Dome. The Spartans had lost in their three previous appearances in the finals, including two losses to Sweet Home.
• Schalmont sought its fourth consecutive Section II Class B football title, but Glens Falls stunned the Sabres 21-14 in the finals. The Indians scored two touchdowns off Schalmont turnovers in the first half and limited junior tailback Devon Willis to 104 yards – 66 of which came on a third-quarter touchdown run.
• BH-BL’s girls volleyball team earned its second consecutive state title and its fifth since 2002 when it defeated Section V’s Pittsford Sutherland 3-1 in the Class A finals at the Glens Falls Civic Center. After losing the first set 25-21, the Lady Spartans won the next three sets 25-22, 25-21 and 25-21.
• The Schalmont girls soccer team dominated Section II for the second year in a row as it won the Class B title, but Greece Odyssey foiled the Lady Sabres’ bid for another state title as the Section V champion pulled out a 3-2 win in the semifinals. Schalmont out-scored its Section II competition 139-3 en route to the championship.
• The BH-BL girls soccer team won its eighth consecutive Section II title by beating Scotia-Glenville 3-0 in the Class A finals. However, Section III champion Jamesville-DeWitt scored an early goal and held on for a 1-0 win over the Lady Spartans in the regional finals.
• The Niskayuna girls soccer team was on top of the state Class AA rankings for several weeks, but that didn’t matter in Sectionals as Bethlehem knocked the Silver Warriors out in the semifinals on penalty kicks. Niskayuna finished the season with a 16-1-1 record.
• The Niskayuna boys soccer team turned in its best season in six years when it reached the Class AA Sectional finals. Unfortunately for the Silver Warriors, undefeated Bethlehem proved to be too strong as the Eagles won 2-0.
• For the fourth time in five years, Mohonasen’s boys soccer team defeated Scotia-Glenville in the Class A Sectional quarterfinals. But for the first time in five years, that didn’t translate into a Sectional title as the Mighty Warriors lost to eventual Class A champion Troy 3-1 in the semifinals.
• Mekeel Christian Academy came close to ending Maple Hill’s reign as Class C boys soccer champions when it tied the Wildcats 1-1 in the Sectional quarterfinals, but Maple Hill advanced on penalty kicks. The Wildcats’ reign ended when Hoosick Falls beat them 1-0 in the Sectional finals.
• The Niskayuna field hockey team defeated Shenendehowa 1-0 in overtime to claim the Section II Class A title. The Silver Warriors then advanced to the state semifinals before losing to Section III champion Liverpool on penalty strokes.
• BH-BL was also strong in field hockey, as the Lady Spartans reached the Class B regionals before losing to Section I’s Lakeland 7-1.
• Mekeel Christian Academy’s Jacob Urys had a strong cross country season. The senior placed third among Class D runners at the Sectional meet and followed that performance up with an eighth-place finish at the state meet. MCA was second to Greenwich in the boys team standings at Sectionals.
• Niskayuna’s Felicia Sciortino qualified for the state meet in Class A when she finished fifth at Sectionals.
• Niskayuna, BH-BL and Scotia-Glenville are all sending golfers to this spring’s state tournament. Niskayuna’s Aaron Simone shot a two-day total of 10-over-par 152 to tie Shaker’s Davis Jensen for fifth place at the Section II championships. BH-BL’s Tom Kenneally and Scotia-Glenville’s David Renko each shot a two-day score of 13-over-par 155 to tie for seventh place.