Sophomore Ethan Kress breaks school track record John Best’s mark had stood almost 40 years. New record also set in pole vault by Connor Rockhill

I’ve been spending some time in the gym lately trying to stay true to this year’s New Year’s resolution, having faced the fact that serious attention to diet and exercise was long overdue.

And I’ve been running into old friends who are also “getting into shape” although, in my own defense, I was already in shape—round is a shape, isn’t it?

Among the guys I bumped into was Tim Leach, who was taking some good-natured ribbing regarding the qualifications for coaching track.

“How hard can it be? You just tell ‘em to get out there and run around in a circle as fast as they can.”

While the fellow poking fun surely knew better, others may underestimate just what goes into getting the most out of a track team, be it boys or girls.

This season the boys will be going for an unprecedented Three-Peat as Sectional Champs, so let’s look closer at the coach’s role.

First, as opposed to any of the “team sports,” there are a wide variety of events, each of which utilizes different techniques.

Running events, for example, require participants to consider stride length, pace, and breathing, among other things.

Jumping events such as the high jump, long jump, and triple-jump require completely different skill sets, although running is still involved.

The same can be said for throwing events, which rely heavily on technique and strength.

While pretty much everyone on a soccer or basketball team can benefit from learning the same fundamentals, a track team’s success is quite the opposite.

Then, once you’ve got everyone prepared for their individual events, it’s time for the really hard part—strategizing.

This is especially crucial for coaches with smaller teams such as Old Forge.

Since each athlete may only participate in four events at a meet, a lot of thought goes into who will compete and in which event.

This planning is a misunderstood and underappreciated facet of our track seasons.

A coach might, for example, keep his athletes out of a particular individual race, such as the 800 meters, in order that they be available for a relay which he projects they can score more points in.

Such strategizing requires that you not only know your own athletes’ strengths and weaknesses, but those of every other team you will be facing. That involves a lot of research and number-crunching.

For two years in a row Tim Leach has taken the information at his disposal and led his squads to Sectional titles.

This year he only has thirteen boys to work with—about half the size of recent teams.

Still, he maintains an optimistic outlook.

“We are quite small in number, but we have some truly outstanding athletes,” he said. “We’ll line up, do our best, and see what happens. Honestly, if we can stay healthy, I like our chances.”

With his experience, and the guys recognizing the rare opportunity to bring home yet another title, I wouldn’t bet against them.

Girls Varsity Track

With Spring Break behind them, and the snow finally becoming a memory, the girls traveled south on Wednesday, April 27 to take on Cooperstown and host New York Mills.

Showing very little rust, despite a complete dearth of practice leading into the meet, several of the athletes put up fine performances.

Maddie Phaneuf picked up right where she left off last year, leaving little doubt as to her level of determination to dominate her events, winning both the 800 and 1500.

Another Old Forge standout, Caitlyn Bailey, also took home two firsts in winning the 100 and 400 meter hurdles.

Lauren Holt had a remarkable day as she pointed in three events, including the pole vault (2nd), high jump (3rd), and 400 dash (3rd).

Sarah Branch also had multiple wins, placing third in both the 100 and 200 meters.

Finally, in her very first attempt at the grueling 3000 meter run, Taylor Payne impressed with a second place finish.

Boys Varsity Track

The guys were also in action at New York Mills and had an exceptional outing, losing to a much larger Cooperstown squad but besting Mills 65-62.

As he often does, Coach Leach used this early-season meet to get a feel for his athletes. Clearly, while being competitive on this day was in the plans, his primary goal centered on learning what matchups would provide an edge for later in the season.

If early results are any indication, these guys are going to present Coach Leach with a host of options.

Connor Rockhill, for example, not only won the pole vault by clearing the 12’7” mark, but broke our school record in the process! He also placed second in the 400 meter hurdles.

Kevin Kress, a team stalwart last year, finished second in the high hurdles and third in the 400. Unfortunately, he pulled a muscle along the way and had to be scratched from his strongest event, the high jump.

Not to be outdone was Kevin’s younger brother Ethan Kress, who won, as a sophomore, the long jump, triple jump, and high jump while placing second in the discus.

Trevor Godemann added points in the 800 (2nd) and triple jump (2nd), while Lance Frymire came through in the 100 (3rd) as well as Ryan Queen in the 1600 (2nd).

Godemann, Rockhill, and Ethan Kress then had the honor of participating in the New Hartford Invitational on Friday, April 29.

They were the only representatives from a Class D school and should be applauded for their fine efforts.

Godemann placed sixth in the 800 meters while Rockhill managed a fifth in the pole vault—both lofty marks considering the level of competition.

Ethan Kress was the top story of the day, however, as he placed third in the triple jump with a 42’ 4.5” flight.

That mark was good enough to pass a school record held by John Best that has stood for nearly 40 years, since 1972!

Again, that makes two school records broken in a single week.

Clearly, there was no hyperbole being bandied about when Coach Leach stated that he has some outstanding athletes on this squad.

Keep it up, boys, and great things just may be on the horizon.

Girls Varsity Softball

The ladies had three games on the schedule last week and were suffering from the effects of, literally, no outdoor practice time.

Their schedule and Mother Nature conspired to keep them in the gym, which is not conducive to great timing with a glove or bat.

First up, on Monday, April 25, was state-ranked Hamilton, led by their star pitcher Rebecca Rogers who pitched a no-hitter.

It was a brilliant performance by the eighth-grader and our girls can certainly learn something by being exposed to this level of talent.

Next on the schedule was a home game against Morrisville-Eaton on Wednesday, April 27.

This one, while a non-division contest, proved to be quite a thriller.

Down by a single run going into the sixth inning, their foes drove in four runs to take an 11-6 lead.

To their credit, the Eskimos answered back with three runs of their own, drawing to 11-9.

This see-saw battle then saw the visitors score twice more to take a commanding 13-9 lead into the final inning.

Showing true grit, the girls responded in kind and then some, rallying for five runs in their last at-bat to bring home their first victory of the season, a 14-13 spine-tingler.

Finally, the Remsen Rams hosted the Eskimos on Friday, April 29, and earned their third victory of the season by a final margin of 8-1.

Make no mistake, the divisional realignments have made things much tougher for our squad, who now face Oriskany, Poland, New York Mills, and Rome Catholic in addition to the aforementioned Hamilton and Remsen.

These are all very good teams, and Old Forge will have their work cut out for them.

That said, this team has no seniors and is in a rebuilding phase. Matching up against top-notch squads can only serve to make the girls better, showing them exactly what it will take to reach that level.

Boys Varsity Baseball

Facing a similar situation to the girls softball team, the guys must try and make up for lost time.

While other teams were practicing and playing their first contests, our boys were on vacation. That’s not an excuse, just a fact of life based on the schedule.

On Monday, April 25, Hamilton came a-calling. This ended up being much closer than many might have expected, with the visitors having to come back from a 4-3 deficit before finally taking an 8-5 decision.

Highlights for the locals included a long home run in the first inning as well as a double down the stretch by Garrett Pavlus, as well as an RBI single by Austin Down, who managed three hits in all.

Freshman Griffin Kleps chipped in a single and scored a run to boot.

Then, on Friday, April 29, the guys took to the road for a game against Remsen.

Despite scoring eight runs, the Eskimos couldn’t keep pace with the Rams, who recorded a comfortable 13–8 victory.

Garrett Pavlus provided a triple in the contest, which was the only extra-base hit in the game for the Eskimos.

The difference in this outing was Rams pitcher Nate Corr, who struck out thirteen batters and allowed only one walk.

It was a matter of keeping the damage to a minimum for his team and, while the Eskimos were able to cross home plate with some regularity, it wasn’t quite enough.

Hopefully, the learning curve will start to spike as the season progresses and the guys get into full swing.