Archive: Sports

Bundled up and dedicated fans enjoyed watching Lansing Varsity Boys Soccer win NYSPHSAA Class C State Championship Title for the second consecutive year on a chilly but sunny Veterans Day in Middletown, NY.  Heading into the Final Four weekend, the Bobcats had a 19-1 record. Their only loss, 3-1, was to a Class B school, Oneonta, during the Strong as Heck Festival in Oneonta on September 15.

Post season play started with the Section IV championship match held at TC3 October 29 against Trumansburg. This was a rematch of a regular season game played at Lansing when Lansing prevailed 2-1, one minute into OT. Senior Langston Hopkins was responsible for both of those regular season goals. For the Section IV Championship match, Langston Hopkins got Lansing on the board with 14:27 left in the half to 1-0. Lansing maintained this lead to move the Bobcats onto the Regional championships. ESPN Player of the game was Langston Hopkins who had the lone goal.

Three athletes and two teams were inducted into the Lansing Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday.  Around 95 inductees , families, and friends gathered at the Lakewatch Inn for a banquet and the 20th annual induction ceremony.   The 2018 Class includes Thomas Colt, Shawn Costello, Shane Wolf, The 2000 Girls Volleyball team, and the 2006 Boys Golf Team.  Geoff Wright moderated.

Before the inductions this years Boys Varsity Soccer Team was recognized for their recent success November 11th.  The team, led by head coach Benji Parkes, with coaches David Schlesinger and Andrew Triosi and helper Kenton Edwards, finished the season 21-1-0.  They defeated Geneseo in Middletown to become Class C final at Middletown High School, State Champions for the second year in a row (Click here for article).

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Bobcats young and old cheered and waved as the bus pulled away from the Lansing schools last Thursday with eight runners aboard, headed to Long Island for the 2018 NYSPHSAA Cross Country Championships held at Sunken Meadow State Park. Jack Thomas '20 along with the girls team (Catie Eisenhut '20, Emmy Jackson '21, Kinsley Jacobs '23, Teresa Garcia '20, Eden Jackson '19, Hana Thibault '21 and Allison Keefe '19) were sent off by teachers, parents and classmates as they began an historic trip for the program.

Sunken Meadow is arguably one of the most challenging cross country courses on the east coast, and with heavy rains the night before and wind gusting, the best runners in the state had competition from each other as well as course and conditions. Lansing competed in the Class C races. The girls team entered seeded 5th and would finish in 6th – missing their seed position by just one point. Overall team winners of the class C races were the girls of Greenwich and the boys of Saranac Lake.

The Lansing varsity girls cross-country team punched its ticket to the New York state championship round with a big team win at the Section 4 Championship Race at Chenango Valley State Park—an historic first for the Lansing XC program.

The course was one of the more challenging XC routes of the season, with steep hilly trails winding through muddy stretches of forest. Lansing dominated three of the top five finishers in the girls race, with Catie Eisenhut racing to a 2nd place finish (20:12.10), followed by Emmaline Jackson in 4th (20:15.10) and Kinsley Jacobs in 5th (20:40.7). Teresa Garcia finished 14th and Eden Jackson 17th to round out the scorers. Hana Thibault and Allison Keefe finished as a duo, 22nd and 23rd respectively, out of the field of more than 60 runners to put Lansing on top of team scoring for the event.

After a penalty, its third and goal from the Notre Dame 15. Lansing down 14-7 with the third quarter nearing the end. (Garrett) Bell in shotgun formation with a single back set, (Ben) Vincent wide left and (Brad) Lehr goes in motion right. The snap. Bell looking and starts to get pressured. He spins around at the 25 and scrambles left just avoiding a near sack. Two more Crusaders are in hot pursuit. With an eye down the field the Lansing QB calmly rifles a strike from the 20 to the middle of the end zone and a diving catch is made by Lehr for the score. Bells PAT kick (18 x 20 on the season) ties the score at 14 with 2:31 remaining in the quarter.

That was the last lead or tie the Bobcats could hold onto in this one. Vincent caught a 58 yard deep ball in stride on a one play drive to cut a mounting lead by END in the fourth quarter to ten with over ten minutes to play. Rain picked up in the second half but was not to fault. The loss of Senior captain Luke Winslow in the early in the second quarter was a challenge for the the Cats offense and especially defensively. The third head to head action between these two teams this season saw the odds play out and END attained their first win against Lansing.

The Lansing cross-country program closed out its regular season on Friday October 26th on the hilly, challenging 3.2-mile course at Marathon.

Lansing's varsity girls team put two racers into the top 10 finishers, with Catie Eisenhut placing third (second among scorers, with 20:27.8) and Emmaline Jackson right behind her at 5th place (20:39.0). Kinsley Jacobs (16th), Eden Jackson (32nd), and Allison Keefe (40th) rounded out the Lady Bobcat finishers in the field of 68 racers. Overall the Lady Bobcats team finished tied for 3rd place with Waverly, behind Newark Valley and the winning Elmira Notre Dame team.

As a football coach, player, parent, fan, you knew it was bound to happen. A little something called Inclement Weather. It is Upstate NY afterall and the good Lord had bid LHS some weather fortunes for the first five contests. Saturday was a different story and it was about as wet as wet could be for the noon time kickoff in Newfield.

The rain never subsided in the 40 degree temperatures and neither did the efforts of each team. Despite a few puddles and loose sod Lansing kept solid in keeping their undefeated season going with a win over the Trojans 34-8.

Cold and rainy but Lansing beat Newark Valley in the Section IV semi-finals by a score of 2-0.

End to end action!

Joe Besemer and Kyle Romeo each scored a goal.

The Section IV Varsity Boys Soccer Final game will be held in Oneonta, on Saturday, 10/27 at 1:15pm, against Trumansburg.

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First, this is the regular season. Secondly, few wins have come in such dramatic fashion in Lansing football lore. Just a couple winning examples of the rich football history at LHS are a last ditch deep ball from Kevin Snyder to John Barney in the Trumansburg snow. Barney is boys soccer coach Benji Parkes uncle. And there was "The Fumble" when Buddy Balog returned a 95 yard fumble recovery at Schoellkopf Field for a TD and sectional victory.

The Elmira Notre Dame Crusaders were in town on Lansing's Senior Night to revenge their only loss of the season to Lansing for each teams first game in September. The Bobcats first drive was taken to inside the 10 of the opponent but a sack squandered this drive. Two dropped passes by Lansing receivers in the first and second quarters for apparent touchdowns kept them off the board at halftime. It was apparent this was a different type of game that this 8-man competition has been accustomed to thus far – an actual defensive low scoring affair. LB Griffen Nelson intercepted an END pass deep in Lansing territory just prior to half and tailback Luke Winslows 57 yard run well into the Notre Dame side of the field wasn not quite enough as the clock ended the second quarter with the Bobcats down 6-0.

The Lansing Girls Cross-Country team continued to dominate the local XC scene at the Auburn Invitational last Saturday Oct. 13, with junior Catie Eisenhut and sophomore Emmaline Jackson finishing one-two for the Lady Bobcats to lead the team to a first place trophy. The Lansing XC modified boys brought home hardware as well, with a 3rd place trophy, while the Lansing varsity boys and modified girls both put finishers among the top 20 runners in their respective races.

Lansing XC head coach Becca Lovenheim was thrilled with the performance of all her athletes on the muddy 3.2-mile race course at Auburn: "Overall, the whole program saw 10 personal records set on a very wet, slippery course."

The Cornell University Women's Ice Hockey Team started off their preseason with games against the Toronto Jr. Aeros and the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) professional team Buffalo Beauts this past weekend. Cornell beat the Aeros 6-1 and the Beauts 5-2. The ceremonial puck drop was performed by Lansing's own Regina Baker Robbins, Penney Mapes Cook, and Shelley Earle Sturges, all CUWIH alumnae. Reggie started the women's team as a club team in 1971, and one year later it became a varsity sport at Cornell. Reggie's sister Reenie Baker Sandsted started the women's team at Boston College. Here are selected images from the Cornell vs Buffalo Beauts game.

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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday that the Syracuse Mets are committing to sign a lease extension to call Syracuse home for at least 25 years. New York State is committing $12.5 million to Onondaga County's major renovation project at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse, in preparation for the arrival of the Mets' minor league franchise in 2019. The $26.25 million project will result in an improved experience for dedicated baseball fans and visitors while ensuring the Mets' farm-team will stay in Syracuse until at least 2043. The Governor also announced the team has been renamed and will now be known as the "Syracuse Mets."

"Baseball has been ingrained in Syracuse's history for more than 80 years, and this critically important investment will ensure that it remains an 'amazin' part of this community's future for decades to come," Cuomo said. "By renovating this stadium, we are going to attract new and old fans alike, generate economic activity and increase tourism across the region and help foster the next generation of baseball greats."