In 2009 the Watervliet 4 x 100 meter relay team advanced to the State Championship meet. It was an exciting experience for the small school track team but they left without gold.
In the Fall of 2010 star sprinter and anchor of Section II's defending champions, Melique Garcia tore his ACL during the operning game of football season.
Throughout the winter and much of the spring Volodomyr Myschuk was hampered with a quad and knee injury.  It was so bad that he did not participate in any individual events at the end of the season.
Ahshad Thompson had several injuries throughout the year and was unable to run during the winter season much like Garcia.
Thompson's brother Ahkiem graduated in 2009 and left big shoes to fill.  Shoes that were filled by a 2009 unknown runner, Jamal McPherson.
It was not the makings for a return to the State Championship, but as the saying goes in the Watervliet weight room this trackless track team had to "Find a way."
That is exacly what they did.  The uniquely trained 400 meter relay squad impressed everyone on their way to Vestal and the State Championship.  This time just getting there was not enough for Head Coach Erick Bernard's squad and instead the team ran their fastest time in school history and won the school's first Track & Field State Championship.
For those efforts the Watervliet 4 x 100 meter relay team has been chosen as the final Male Athletes of the month for the 2009-10 school year.

Klarissa Ricks has lit up the leaderboards over the past few years in Section II.  The multiple event phenom continued that in this her junior year.  In the month of June Ricks advanced to the State Championships in Vestal in three seperate and very different events. 
She qualified in the individual 100 meter dash on the track.  Add to that an opportunity for gold in the field event of long jump and finally she and three teammates had the fastest Secytion II time in the 400 meter relay.
Three different events over two days at the State Track & Field Championships but all three had the same result.  Gold.
The Holy Names speedsster ran the fastest time at the States in the 100 meters (11.96).  She took the title in the long jump with an unbelievable jump of 18' 0.75" .
Finally Ricks ran the anchor leg of the 4 x 100 meter relay squad that took home the gold.
Yes, she accomplished all of this and will be back next year for more.  That is surely enough to end the school year as the final NYCS Female Athlete of the Month.

There are two types of sports that an athlete can play.  There are team sports that require camaraderie, unselfishness and of course teamwork and then there are individual sports which instill independence and a sense of isolation. 
Playing high school boy’s tennis is a way of playing both styles of sport.  Ryan Schmitz is Section II’s top player in that sport and in the month of May captured two Sectional titles, team and individual.  For those achievements, Schmitz is the NYCS Play it Again Sports athlete of the month.
The senior has gone the entire season without losing a match and saved his greatest performance for the Section II individual singles championship.  Schmitz faced Niskayuna’s Chris Frost in an epic battle and narrowly defeated him 7-6, 6-4 for the title. 
Just four days earlier the Tartan #1 singles player won his match in the Class A team Championship tournament against Burnt Hills. 
It was a busy week during Tennis’ busiest month.
The month of June, Schmitz hopes, will be a busy month as well.  On Thursday June 3, he will start his next quest, the quest for a State Championship. 

Every successful coach knows that great players are not just about scoring points and playing great defense but it is the intangibles that make a player great.  Leadership, heart, toughness and unselfishness are some of the main qualities that lead to greatness. 
Watch Albany Academy girls lacrosse and keep an eye on number 10.  She is fast , quick and elusive.  She has a powerful precise shot.  She passes hits and reads with great effort but most importantly she possesses all of the intangibles mentioned above.  Number 10 is Caroline Gersuk and she is a great player.
In the month of May, Gersuk scored 24 goals and assisted on eight others.  She lead her the Bears into the playoffs and ultimately to the Section II Class C championship.  In that Championship game the senior midfielder scored five goals, matching her best output since the opening game of the season. 
Now the Northwestern bound superstar will lead Albany Academy into the State tournament and try to add to her greatness.

There was the sound of a gun and then all you could see was a blur.  If this has happened to you, you were at a Section II track meet that featured one of the most talented athletes in the State. 
If you blink you may miss Kareem Morris as he crosses the finish line but you may see others follow him.  In the 2010 spring track & field season Morris has not lost a race and has broken several records this was more than enough to make him the NYCS Athlete of the Month for April.
The season started at the Fonda Steeplechase/Pentathlon meet on April 8.  The Albany High Senior does not compete in a few of the events held at the meet but it did not stop him from participating and finishing fourth overall.  This was simply a highlight of how great of an athlete Morris is, but the rest of April was owned by the sprinter, hurdler, jumper.
Two days after the pentathlon meet Morris and his teammates went on to the CBA/LaSalle relays.  Once again Kareem showed his versatility.   Morris competed in the hurdle shuttle races and his team took home gold in both.
The next week it was on to the Albright Invitational.  The speedster would now show off his greatest talents by winning the 100 and 200 meter sprints, and join his teammates to bring home gold in the 400 and 1600 meter relays. Those efforts earned him the meets Most Outstanding Track Performer.
The nest week took Kareem and the Albany High track team to the Cohoes Relay’s.  There Morris was a member of the gold medal 400, 800 and 1600 meter relay teams as well as being one of the three members to take gold in the 110 meter hurdle shuttle relay.  Four more events, four more gold’s.
This takes us to the last meet of the month.  A meet in which Morris would compete in only two races but once again be victorious in both.  He was the 200 meter and member of the 4x100 meter champions at the Schenectady Invitational.
Morris has been undefeated thus far in 2010, and as April has gone, May seems to be following suit.  For Morris though, the ultimate goal is to finish the season undefeated and bring home the coveted State Championship.

Most of the top athletes around the world are known for being perfectionists.  Very few ever truly achieve perfection.  In Section II and High School sports in general it is very rare to achieve that feat whether as an individual or as a team.  For Dani Hennel achieving perfection has already happened once and almost in back to back performances.
The sophomore pitcher for Duanesburg entered a game on a Tuesday as the starting pitcher and when the game was over she had completed a perfect game in the Eagles 15-0 win over Schoharie.  That is correct a perfect game.  Getting every batter out in order.  Nobody reached base, not by getting a hit, reaching by error, being walked or even hit by a pitch.  Hennel was perfect on the mound that day.
How can one follow up such a tremendous performance?  By trying to go out two days later and do the same thing.  This time Berne Knox would face the dynamic hurler and would nearly meet the same fate.  Dani would pitch a no hitter and strike out one more batter than in in the earlier performance by striking out 14 but perfection was just missed.  One batter reached base on an infield error.
Duanesburg has had their way with the Western Athletic Conference thus far in 2010 and mostly because of the great efforts by Dani Hennel.  Some would say that the Eagles have accomplished this by possibly playing in a week division.  They have already proven the doubters wrong.  Duanesburg traveled downstate to compete in the Red Hook tournament and while there they had the daunting task of facing the States number one ranked team in Rhinebeck.  The Eagles won the contest 2-1 and solidified themselves as a top contender in New York.
It may not have been perfection, but what Dani Hennel has already accomplished, and only as a sophomore, Is perfection at its finest.

The fifth month of the season for basketball games is not always the longest.  Some teams do not even get to play in March.  Most players only get to play a few games and just about every senior basketball player in Section II sees their high school career come to a close in March.  Therefore, the goal is to do as much as you can in March and go out on top.  That is exactly what Kameron Ritter did and for his efforts he has been name the NYCS Male Athlete of the Month for March.
The CBA Senior entered the month as the Big 10 MVP and a Division I prospect.  He left the month of March as the Section II MVP and the NYSPHSAA tournament MVP and helped to lead his team to titles in both of those tournaments.
The 6’3” forward used his smooth ball handling, long strong frame, and timely shooting, fancy dunks and as always help from his teammates to accomplish every senior’s goal.  Ritter lead the Brothers to a 5-1 record in the month of March, with the lone loss coming in the Federation tournament to New York City powerhouse Christ the King. 
The most impressive performance in the month was against defending State Champion Newburgh Free Academy.  The 165lb Ritter went eight of 10 from the field and dropped 25 points to lead Section II’s top team to a convincing 60-41 victory.  From there the Brothers went into the State Championship game against nationally ranked Half Hollows Hills West.  The Brothers played near perfect team basketball and Ritter added his own perfection to the mix shooting nine of nine from the free throw line on his way to a 17point seven rebound performance in CBA’s 71-53 State Championship victory.
The Month of March was extremely busy for Kameron Ritter, but the Senior has yet to decide where he will play his College ball.  That is the making for an even longer month of April.

The month of March in High School sports is truly Championship month.  Sectional Championships, Regional Championships, State Championships and in basketball Federation Championships.  One team spent the month of March playing in each of those games and capturing each one of those titles.  One player was the MVP of each of those tournaments and because of that Katie Duma is the NYCS March Female Athlete of the Month.
Duma led Averill Park’s girl’s basketball team to a Section II class A title in the early part of the month.  In the semi-finals against Burnt Hills she scored 28 points and in the Sectional Championship the Senior netted 22 while being covered by one of Section II’s toughest players, Jackie Murphy of Holy Names. 
From there the 5’11” forward was modestly held to just 51 points over the next four games of the State Tournament.   The Warriors won all four of those games and captured the NYSPHSAA Class A crown and entered the Federation tournament.
Game one was against Medgar Evers of Melville.  Duma scored a game high 21 points and led the Warriors to a 58-34 victory and into the Championship game.  Against St. Anthony’s, Duma once again led the game with 22 points and by doing so led Averill Park to its first ever Federation Title.
In all, Katie Duma scored 144 points (18ppg) including 75 of 98 (76%) from the free throw line, led the Averill Park Warriors to the Section II, NYSPHSAA, and Federation titles capturing the MVP of each of the tournaments and helped rally a community and bring together one of the most special stories  of the Year.  The month of March was surely Katie Duma’s month.

When Giuseppi Lanzi was in 2nd grade he and his parents decided he would start wrestling.  Now, after more than 10 years of hard work and sacrifice, Giuseppi is the New York State Wrestling Division I Champion at 152 lbs.  He holds a career record of 248 wins and only 32 defeats.  155 of those wins have come by way of pin fall.  He went undefeated, 42-0, during his senior year.  In the month of February alone Giuseppi won his league championship, Sectional Championship, and State Championship.  For that, Giuseppi Lanzi has been named nycapitalsports.net Boys Scholar-Athlete of the Month for February.
In the 4^th grade, Giuseppi started wrestling in a program called the Premier Club.  This group of young wrestlers traveled to tournaments across the country and battled some of the best wrestlers at their age group. 
“They took their lumps”, said Amsterdam wrestling coach Ken Benton.  “The kids worked hard and stayed dedicated and it paid off.” 
Nearly a dozen wrestlers from the Premier Club, including Giuseppi, moved directly to the Varsity team at Amsterdam around the same time, but Coach Benton new Giuseppi had something special. 
“Deceivingly strong physically, incredibly strong mentally, tough, driven, and well prepared,” is how Coach Benton describes the 18 year old Lanzi.
As many parents do, Joe and Karen Lanzi did everything possible to help their son succeed in his wrestling career and Giuseppi credits much of his success to his father.  “He helped get me involved and then sacrificed time and money to get me to tournaments and with the best people to help me succeed,” says the younger Lanzi.  “He is the one who taught me how to be mentally prepared.” 
During the off season Giuseppi works 4 days a week with a personal trainer to increase his strength, quickness, and endurance.  In between those training sessions Lanzi tries to find time to be an 18 year old kid.  If the weather is nice it won’t be hard to find him, just look on Sacandaga Lake and you will see him and his friends out there wakeboarding.
Over the next few weeks Giuseppi has some tough choices to make.  He is deciding on which wrestling National Tournament to enter, if any, later this month.  With an overall average in the mid 90’s, a favorite subject of Calculus 2, and a possible career in pharmaceuticals, Giuseppi has garnered a lot of attention from Colleges.  He has narrowed his choices down to a few Ivy League schools and will make his decision soon. 
Whichever college Giuseppi Lanzi chooses will be getting a great wrestler, a great student, and a great kid.  Certainly sounds like Ivy League material!

Every coach has specific qualities that they look for in an athlete.  Every parent has qualities that they attempt to instill in their children.  It is very rare for these qualities to come together in a young student-athlete, but in the case of Carly Wynn the rarity has become reality.
In a sport that does not get much press, the Queensbury Junior has brought life to Nordic Skiing by winning her second straight State Championship, a feat worthy of being named NYCS Female Athlete of the Month for February.
We could talk about her times and accomplishments, but for this phenom it is more important to talk about how she has made it all happen.
Being raised by a mother that she describes as “a great competitor and great athlete, even though she would never admit it,” and a father that she explained as her “longest running coach and simply brilliant,” it is not surprising that Carly has had tremendous success.  Her parents on the other hand give Carly all the credit.
“Don't let her give me any credit, she's a type-a kid with talent in all respects.” Explains Mike Wynn, Carly’s  father.  “Her work ethic is more than anyone could ask and we as parents mostly try and talk her down from her own expectations!”
A quality that Mr. Wynn surely does not see as a problem.
So what is it about the Junior ski champion that makes her so good?  Take a few minutes to talk to Carly about her workouts and you will soon understand.
“I pretty much train in blocks broken down by year, time of year, and time of season,” explained Carly, from a training facility in Plattsburgh. “At this time I really do a lot of volume to build my aerobic ability.”
A student of the game.  A quality that every coach looks for.
From there Carly taught me how grueling of a sport Nordic Skiing really is.  For example, a Cross Country runner will run a 5 kilometer race, while a Nordic Skier may battle a 7.5 kilometer path or more.  The sport requires you to use your entire body and drain the energy out of all of your muscles, so the fact that after all of the abusive training that Carly puts her body through it is no surprise that she hopes to Major in Kinesiology or another muscle science after Graduation in 2011.
How will she be able to handle such a tough major?  Just as she does in athletics, she sets very high goals in the classroom as well.
The Junior, who will be competing in next weekend’s Biathlon Nationals in Fort Kent, MI, is carrying a 97 average this year, and a 98 overall average.    Any parent can be proud of that.
So where does Carly go from here?
She has short term goals such as earning another State Championship as a Senior, competing in Nordic Ski in College and continuing her Biathlon training during her college years.  She also has lofty long term goals, such as making a Skiing World Cup Team and ultimately the Olympic team.
With a work ethic like she has, a support team that is second to none, and the focus of a true champion, Carly Wynn may be our areas next Olympic Hero.

Teenagers are challenged everyday to make the right choices.  Which group of friends to hang out with, who to ask to the prom, whether to have a tuna sandwich or the potatoes with the neon gravy.  For Senior Alney Tobias, the list of decisions is a lot tougher.  Louisiana State University, University of Texas, Nebraska, Georgia Tech and the list goes on.  There are many suitors for the Senior who has aspirations of earning a degree in engineering, and because of that the pressure to perform at the highest level has pushed the mid-distance champion to new heights.  After an average start to the decade by his standards, Tobias finished the month of January with a bang and because of that he has earned the NYCS Male Student-Athlete of the Month. 
After finishing second in the 800 meters at the Yale Invitational, the soon to be graduate of Lansingburgh High promised himself to not have any more let downs. 
The Colonial Council Championships seemed like the perfect place to showcase his talent and new motivation.  First place in the 1000 meters, first place in the 1600 meters, and the anchor leg of the first place 1600 meter relay team proved to NYCS that he was the months top athlete.
With the Sectional Championships, State Qualifier meet and State Championships still to go, we all look forward to seeing what Alney Tobias will accomplish next.

If you have not heard of Kyle Plante yet, I feel that it is my duty to inform you that George W. Bush is no longer President of the United States. 
Plante has accomplished more before getting her license than most athletes will accomplish in their careers.  In the first month of 2010, the Sophomore Phenom has continued her assault on the record books as well as making a bigger name for herself, not only in Section II and New York State but across the nation as well.
So what has the versatile track star accomplished thus far in the new decade? She is undefeated in the 300 meters including wins at the Dartmouth Relays and the Suburban Championships.  She also won the high jump at each of those venues by clearing 5’4”.  Add to the resume a win in the 55 meter hurdles at the Dartmouth Invitational and it sounds like enough.  We have not even mentioned the Yale Invitational yet.  There Kyle finished first in the 400 meters with a time of 55.43 and finished second in the 55 meter hurdles behind state record holder and Suburban council rival Madalyne Smith.
Plante continues to learn, grow and mature as most teenagers do and she has handled her recent fame well.  You will find her next accolade in an upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated.