Archive: Sports

Despite the weather, Lansing's Spring varsity teams have already started their seasons.  Despite the snow day on Monday, a varsity baseball game and a JV softball game were scheduled on the home fields yesterday afternoon.  Athletic Director Ed Redmond attributes that to the high quality of the fields and the school grounds crew.  "Glenn Fenner and his staff do an outstanding job on those fields," Redmond told the Star yesterday.  "Due to the quality of our fields, our grounds crew, we feel like we're going to be able to play JV softball here today vs. Trumansburg, and we're going to play varsity baseball vs. Trumansburg here also."

This Spring six Lansing teams will compete, trying to work their way to the state championships.  Varsity baseball, softball, golf, tennis, and boys and girls track & field teams are working hard.  Some of the teams practiced during Spring break last week, and some have already competed this month.  Lansing's baseball team has won five out of the six games they played so far this season.  "The kids are excited," Redmond says.  "They've been in the gym for the last two days and it's been tough.  The coaches have been trying to keep the kids on task and focussed on what they need to be doing.  It's been a struggle, but we've shortened practices."

Track and Field
Tomorrow (Saturday at 10am) Lansing hosts its annual 'Kickstart Classic' Track & Field Invitational. 13 schools will compete, and the weather is set to be sunny and warm. That will be the start of an exciting season for Lansing girls and boys. Redmond says there is a high level of participation this year with about 25 girls and over 40 boys competing. Bill Levett will coach the girls team. Levett has been an assistant coach for the indoor track program, and takes over the girls team this Spring.

Matt Scheffler has coached a variety of levels and sports at Lansing, including the head indoor track coach this Winter. This year he is the head boys coach for outdoor track & field. "I think our track program is going to do very well," Redmond says. "We usually compete for league championships at the end of May. We're usually in the top 3. We go on to sectional competition, and after that we expect to have some kids running in the state level competition in June."

Tennis

Redmond says the varsity tennis program, which started a few years ago, has taken off tremendously. With more than 30 players trying out for the team, it was more than one coach could handle. "This year it became such a popular sport that we had to lets some kids go, which is always hard," Redmond says. "But we felt that with one coach and over 30 kids it wasn't a productive environment."

Redmond says Coach Cindy Wright is expecting to compete for a league championship, and to advance some kids through sectionals.

Golf
John Kotmel has coached Lansing's golf teams to produce more than one state champion, and Redmond says he expects to have another shot at it this year. John Duthe was the state champion two years ago, and is on the team this year as a senior. "I think in the IAC we're the team to beat," Redmond says. "That's right here at Cornell University. It's nice to be able to play our home course in sectional and state competitions."

Softball
This year Sheila Bowman takes over for Adam Heck as coach of the varsity softball team. "We were fortunate to acquire Sheila Bowman, who pitched for us back in the '90s," Redmond says. "Sheila took the program over about two weeks before the season started, so there was a late transition there. But she's done an outstanding job with the girls. They are working very hard. They've won some games and lost one game. I think in the end if we can compete for a Division 3 championship and beyond, that would be great for the girls. She has some young players on the team, and she has some veterans. All in all their positive attitude has been outstanding. They've worked through the transition of coaching staff very nicely."

Varsity Baseball

Redmond himself is starting his 23rd year as varsity baseball coach. "I still enjoy it tremendously even with all my other responsibilities in the district," he says. "I find that at 3 o'clock when I go outside with the kids it's still very refreshing, and I get back into teaching. That is really where I started here in 1984. I taught here for 15 years. It's an opportunity to work with kids one on one and also in a team environment."

He reports that this year's team is very strong, and has already won five of six games played. "We have great kids in terms of work ethic," he says. "We've played in some pretty cold conditions, but the kids have battled through it and done very well."

Last week, in addition to practice and games, the team hosted a baseball and softball clinic for the Lansing Recreation Department. High school players instructed the younger ones in each of the one-day clinics. Redmond says both were highly successful, with 25 attending the softball clinic, and over 50 at the baseball clinic. "Those were great days to connect with those kids and try to touch on all levels of the program," Redmond says, adding that despite the weather all the teams are doing very well. "It's hard to imagine anywhere but New York you could have a snow day on Monday and be playing sports on a Thursday," he says.

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