It’s time to take a glance back at the recently completed spring season in Colonie.
Team of the spring: Shaker girls lacrosse
The Blue Bison earned their second Section II Class AA title in the last three years by edging defending champion Guilderland 8-7 in the finals May 21.
Julia Lennon scored four goals to lead Shaker to the championship. Her final goal gave the Blue Bison the lead for good with 50.7 seconds left in the second half.
“I just saw the opening really fast, and I had to release (the shot) very quickly to catch the goalie off guard,” said Lennon.
Shaker entered Sectionals as the No. 1 seed for the first time in program history after winning its first Suburban Council regular season title. Along the way, the Blue Bison edged Guilderland 12-11 in their lone league match-up.
The Lady Dutch tried to put Shaker away early in the Sectional final by jumping out to a 3-0 advantage. But the Blue Bison slowly clawed their way back until they grabbed their first lead in the second half.
Shaker coach Kara DePaula-Lynch said the key was getting her players to remember how they defeated Guilderland the first time they met in 2014.
“We were down two goals with 40 seconds left in the second half in that game, and we came back and won,” said DePaula-Lynch.
The Blue Bison’s season ended with a 15-9 loss to Section I champion Suffern in the regional finals May 31.
Runner-up: CBA baseball
The Brothers pushed Suburban Council champion Shenendehowa in the Class AA Sectional final May 30 before the Plainsmen pulled away for a 10-4 victory.
CBA scored twice in the top of the fifth inning to tie the score at 4-4, but Shen plated four runs in its half of the fifth to regain control. The Plainsmen added two more runs in the sixth to knock out the Big 10 champions.
John Novenche led the way for Shen with three hits and five RBI, including a clutch double during the Plainsmen’s four-run fifth inning. Zachary DeThomasis, Alex Koshgarian and Lorenzo Horvath all had a pair of hits for CBA.
Shen went on to claim the state championship.
Honorable mention: Loudonville Christian softball
The Lady Eagles got to the Class D Sectional final before losing to eventual state champion Fort Ann 14-0. The championship game took two days to complete, thanks to a heavy rainstorm that halted play on May 30 with Fort Ann leading 3-0. Loudonville Christian finished the season with a 16-3 record.
Top individual: Julia Lennon
Lennon turned in a stellar senior season for Shaker, as she scored more than 93 goals in leading the Blue Bison to the regional final.
No matter what opponents did, Lennon found a way to score goals. Guilderland tried double- and triple-teaming Lennon in the Sectional final, only to see her find the back of the goal four times.
“She’s really good. That’s all there is to it. She’s just that good,” said DePaula-Lynch.
Runners-up: Jake and Jordan Johnson
These brothers from Colonie Central High School ruled the track at Sectionals. Sophomore Jake Johnson won the 1,600-meter race at the state meet qualifier, while senior Jordan Johnson finished first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Under-the-radar team: Shaker crew
In a region where Saratoga Springs dominates the rowing world, Shaker proved that it also develops some strong rowers.
At the state championships May 11, Shaker’s girls varsity lightweight quad team of Taylor Alix, Victoria Schaefer, Kate Feeney and Emilia Ball won its division. The same team earned a silver medal at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America’s national championships two weeks later, as did twin sisters Lucy and Gretchen Geraghty in the women’s lightweight varsity double race.
Shaker also had a winning boat at the inaugural National Schools’ Regatta June 8 in Saratoga. The duo of Manmeet Gujral and Jeffrey Endler edged Saratoga’s top boat by less than one second to claim the gold medal.