Congratulations: Golf team takes home sectional crown First time in Town of Webb School history

As you all know, Old Forge is home to one of the smallest Class D schools around-and that’s not a bad thing. There are countless advantages to the environment our kids enjoy when they step off the bus ever morning.

To be fair, however, it can create some challenges when assembling teams. Not only is there a smaller talent pool from which these squads must be formed, but many of the student-athletes participate in two sports.

That reality makes this year’s accomplishments in Varsity Golf as well as Boys and Girls Track and Field all the more impressive.

In fact, be prepared to be blown away by the unprecedented success of these three teams.

Varsity Golf

Coming off last week’s CSC Northern Division Championship, all eyes were on these guys. After all, if they could continue swinging the clubs as they had been, there was a pretty good chance that they could make some noise at Sectionals.

Sure enough, that’s exactly what they did, although I’m not sure anyone expected things to play out quite so favorably.

On Monday, May 23, New York Mills’ Twin Ponds Country Club played host to the Section III Championships. Entrants would face a full eighteen holes on this challenging course, testing both stamina and consistency.

Apparently, they were more than up for it, as they posted a tremendous four-player team score of 338, as follows: Damon Kull (79); Colin Criss (82); Ben Hannah (86); and Devin Daiker (91).

And what did that get them for their efforts? Only the school’s first-ever Section III Championship!

Yes, it’s true. The team brought home the gold and finished their season in style, to say the least. I don’t know if a simple “congratulations” will suffice, but I hope they know how much this means to all of their fans and the town in general.

Nice work, team. Ya’ did yourselves proud. Not to mention that Hannah, Criss, and Kull are all moving on to the State Qualifiers on May 26th and 28th at Seven Oaks Country Club in Hamilton. Best of luck to you three as well.

That’s not all, though. Read on and find out what might possibly be the best Spring sports season of all time looks like.

Boys and Girls Varsity

Track and Field

New York Mills will be remembered as a particularly friendly place for local athletes as both track teams would compete in the Center State Conference Division III Championship Meet on Thursday, May 19, only a few days prior to their club-toting pals.

Competing against Remsen, Hamilton, New York Mills, Oriskany, Poland, and Owen D. Young, the girls had their work cut out for them. Suffice it to say, they never flinched.

The points rolled in from team leaders Caitlyn Bailey and Maddie Phaneuf to be sure. There were also some pleasant surprises from numerous members who all contributed mightily to the final outcome.

Bailey finished first in the high hurdles and second in the intermediates. Pheneuf had a strong showing with a second in the 1500 and a fourth in the 800.

Lauren Holt’s outing was also key, as she pointed in the triple jump (2nd), high jump (2nd), and pole vault (3rd).

Jessica Hannah earned a fourth place ribbon in the high hurdles along with a sixth place finish in the intermediates and was joined by Sarah Branch (4th-100 meters), Ada Rannels (4th-shot put), and Elizabeth Getty ( 6th-long jump; 6th-triple jump) to round out the scoring.

At the end of the day, they compiled enough points to finish in second place overall, which is the strongest showing for our girls in recent memory. Remsen, who has been a frontrunner all season, won the meet.

As for the guys… well, what can you say? Their run of excellence just rolls on and on. I’d like to use the word dominating to describe their day, but it doesn’t really do them justice.

Hitting on all cylinders, their top four scorers amassed enough points (144) to win the thing all by themselves. That was hardly the case, though, as they managed a team total of 232, enough to exactly double that of their closest competitor, New York Mills, who finished with 116 points.

As has been the case all year, Connor Rockhill and Ethan Kress were superb. They won three events each, including the high hurdles, intermediates, and pole vault (Rockhill) and the triple jump, high jump, and discus (Kress).

Not to be outdone, Trevor Godemann came in first in the 400, 800, and long jump. When you add in Ryan Queen’s win in the 1600, the team’s jaw-dropping ways are clear, with ten first-place finishes out of the fourteen individual events.

And those are just the winning ribbons-there’s a whole lot more to report.

Other points came from Kevin Kress (2nd-high jump, high hurdles, 200 meter dash, pole vault); Queen (2nd-3200); Godemann (2nd-triple jump); Ethan Kress (2nd-long jump); Lance Frymire (2nd-100 ; 3rd-200; 4th-400); Rex Rimato (3rd-800, triple jump); Rockhill (3rd-triple jump); Pat Venetz ( 3rd-discus, 4th-shot put); Dane Daiker (4th-pole vault); Ken Pastore (5th-3200); John Landl (5th-400); Will Johnson (6th-3200); Hanson Schmid (6th-intermediates).

Despite the unbelievable result, the celebration was short-lived. This team and their coach, Tim Leach, know that there is a bigger fish in the pond, just waiting to be hooked, cleaned and wolfed down.

On Wednesday, May 25, right at deadline, this squad will be in Remsen as they attempt to Three-Peat as Section III Champs. Now that would make for a tasty supper! More on their exploits next week.