Archive: Sports

As a coach, I could not have asked for a better group of athletes to work with. Not only was I able to improve my own running through our daily workouts as a team, I was able to see the progress of thirteen athletes throughout the 2008 fall season. Juniors Josh Barber and Jon Cleveland led the team in scoring at each meet but could not have done that without the support of the rest of the team.

Barber was named 2nd team All Star at IACs where he also won the Brad Sanford Scholar Athlete Award. He battled Cleveland all season as top runner for the Bobcats, showing his true determination at Sectionals and States when he finished just seconds ahead of his teammate as they raced down the last straight away. Barber clinched the 3rd individual place taking him to the State meet which was held at Sunken Meadows State Park on Long Island. He ran 18:04 and placed 36th in a field of 127. His season best was at the McQuaid Invitational in Rochester (16:39).

Cleveland came into the season with strength and summer training which provided him a strong base for the season. He ran his best at McQuaid (16:42) and did well at the Division II meet and IACs .He was named 1st team Divisional All Star and 2nd Team IAC All Star. He was determined to qualify for the State meet and squeezed in as the 5th individual to place at Sectionals, which qualified him for States. At the State meet he ran 18:11 and placed 44th.

Co-captain Luke Davis, although injured for part of the season, pulled through when the team needed him at IACs and Sectionals as the 4th and 5th man for scoring. Senior Tim Shea (inset picture above) completed his third season of cross country and ran his career best this year. Known for his high black socks, Shea was consistently one of the top three scorers for Lansing. He ran his personal best of 18:20 at the McQuaid Invitational in Rochester and followed that by running 18:30 at Divisionals and placing 14th out of 58 athletes and finished his career at Sectionals running 19:05.

 

The surprise of the season was junior Robin Hicks, new to cross country this season. Hicks started out the season in the back of the pack but by IACs and Sectionals, he was the deciding factor in a tie-breaker to beat Trumansburg. His incredible drive to better himself paid off for the team as well. He was one of the top five runners for Lansing at the Divisional meet in Groton where he ran his season best of 18:32.

 

Juniors Dan Comisi and George Wigsten were two other key athletes this season. Both were essential contributors at Groton, where Comisi ran his best (18:44) and at Sectionals at Chenagno Valley Park, where Wigsten ran one of his best times (19:43) and helped break another tie-breaker with Trumansburg. Lansing placed second at the Division II Championships, third at IACs and fourth at Sectionals.

 

 

Junior Alex Rogers also showed great improvement this year. He picked it up in workouts and kicked it in at meets. He started the season running 25:24 and ended with a personal best of 22:28 at IACs. Sophomore Tim Carlson followed his lead. His determination at practice paid off at the meets and at IACs where he ran 26:47, a four-plus minute season improvement. Sophomores Nate Muka and Alex Iacobucci completed the boys' team and ran 20:18 and 21:50 best times respectively.

 

A shoulder injury took sophomore Neila Thomas out of volleyball and put her on a path to a successful first season of cross country. Never having run distance before, Thomas fit right in with solo varsity teammate Shanna Swanson. The girls, along with 8th grader Hannah Shea, held their own and placed well at each meet throughout the season. Thomas improved from 30:52 at the Elmira Invitational to 25:12 at Divisionals in Groton. Swanson also ran her best at Groton (21:37) and was named 1st Team All Star. She ran well at Sectionals and placed 9th individually. Shea started out strong at Candor and ran 10:24 on the modified course.

At the Fall Sports Awards Night on November 18, Cleveland was named the Most Valuable Athlete and Alex Rogers was named Most Improved Athlete (pictured right).

Cross Country is a very unique and individual sport, but each team member's place is also crucial to the team score. Each athlete is valuable and each athlete improved throughout the entire season. It is difficult to choose a Most Valuable and Most Improved performer because of this but these two athletes deserve to be recognized for their exceptional talents and improvements this year.

I would like to thank all the parents and administrators who supported our program this season. I would also like to thank the Lansing Booster Club for purchasing a new canopy tent for all sports teams, Dan Veaner and the Lansing Star for their weekly sports coverage, and Bruce Barber who provided the team and Lansing Star with photos of the season.

 

I look forward to your support of our program next year.

 

Coach Heather Miller

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