Sports

In the second year of its rejuvenated golf program, GCC found itself at the 2011 NJCAA Golf Championship held at the Chautauqua GC in Chautauqua, New York, June 6th through 10th, 2011.

The NJCAA Golf Championship field included 87 collegiate golfers representing 31 colleges from 12 states. All teams attending got there by virtue of finishing first or second in their respective Regional Tournaments.

Thirteen teams competed for the Team National Champion Team title.

In team competition, five players play and four scores count. The four day aggregate team score total determines the NJCAA National Team Champion.

Players on each team, as well as other players that qualified at regional’s, also competed for individual Medalist and NJCAA All-American honors.

In individual competition, the four day aggregate individual score total determines the winner (Medalist). In addition, the top 5 scores make All-American, 6 through 10 make Second Team All-American, and 11 through 18 make Honorable Mention All-American.

Including practice rounds and the four day tournament, the GCC Team played 108 holes of golf over a six day period, and had access to fantastic golf practice facilities at the course - which they utilized in the evening.

GCC capped off a very successful season considering the short time they’ve been in existence.

The team had a Top Four finish in the NJCAA Golf Championship, placed one player on the NJCAA First Team All-American Squad - Corey Kocent, Batavia NY, and placed another player on the Second Team All-American Squad - Kyle Harman, Orchard Park NY.

Remarkably, they bettered their season long team scoring average on each day of tournament play, but in the end a little more talent and a lot more experience prevailed, as MCC won their third consecutive national team title.

The two teams representing Region III, MCC and GCC, acquitted themselves well with both teams finishing in the top four.

Day by Day Tournament Summary

Day One, Tuesday June 7, 2011

After a two hour rain delay, tee times commenced under sunny skies at the Chautauqua GC to start the NJCAA Golf Championship. GCC players were matched against Georgia Military College, Milledgeville Georgia, and Ocean County College, Toms River, New Jersey.

The GCC team went off in the following order, Matt Ferdinand, Corey Kocent, Kyle Harman, Mark DeCook, and Alex Muench. At tee time the course was a bit wet but otherwise the conditions were excellent.

At the end of the day, GCC found itself in 1st place with a team score of 304, trailed by Cincinnati State Tech. and Community College and Rockland Community College at 306. Monroe CC shot 310. GCC’s Kyle Harman was tied for the individual lead with a career best 71, Matt Ferdinand shot 73, Corey Kocent shot 74, Mark DeCook shot 86, and Alex Muench shot 89.

Day Two - Wednesday June 8, 2011

GCC completed day two of the NJCAA National Golf Tournament on Wednesday June 8th sitting in second place, one stroke behind arch rival Region III competitor Monroe Community College. GCC added a score of 308 Wednesday for a two day total of 612. MCC led with 611, and Rock Valley CC sat at third with 613. Matt Ferdinand was in 2nd place in the individual standings, and Kyle Harman and Corey Kocent were in the top ten.

Day Three - Thursday June 9, 2011

GCC fired a 312 on Day Three of the Four Day NJCAA National Golf Tournament for a third place tie in the standings. Cincinnati StateTech. and Community College shot 299 for 919 total, MCC shot a 311 for 911, and GCC (312) and Rock Valley College (311) were tied for third at 924. GCC scores were Kyle Harman (74), Corey Kocent (75), Matt Ferdinand (80), Mark DeCook (83), and Alex Muench (85). Harman, Kocent, and Ferdinand remained in the top ten in individual scoring.

Day Four - Friday June 11, 2011

On the last day of the tournament, GCC played with Sandhills CC, Pinehurst NC, and Rochester CC, Rochester, MN. The GCC squad which performed great all week, probably felt a little tournament pressure due to inexperience, and posted a 316 score total for a top four finish.

Conditions were ideal, and MCC, which probably had the most talent of any team in the tournament, performed to their potential and shot a 294 - the best single day total of any team over the course of the tournament - to capture first place handily.

The top four finishing team scores were:

Monroe CC 310 301 311 294 (1216)

Rock Valley College 306 307 311 303 (1227)

Cincinnati State 306 314 299 309 (1228)

Genesee Community College 304 308 312 316 (1240)

The next closest team was 1262, so it was pretty much a four horse race each day.

Final GCC individual player tournament standings were as follows:

T 4 Corey Kocent 74 77 75 73 (299)

T10 Kyle Harman 71 79 74 78 (302)

22 Matt Ferdinand 73 74 80 87 (314)

44 Mark DeCook 86 78 83 78 (325)

T 67 Alex Muench 89 79 85 88 (341)

GCC will be fielding a good team next year with Corey Kocent returning , and Attica’s Chad Winkleman, Byron-Bergen’s Zach Hohn, and Oakfield Alabama’s Jon Bates on the squad. They’ll be joined by Ben Klotzbach, Rochester, NY, Jack West, Notts, England, and Chris Carroll, West Seneca, NY.

This year the GCC golf team set several team and individual records and got some tournament experience at the National level.

Next year they’ll be even hungrier.

Children and teens interested in honing their soccer skills are encouraged to attend the Genesee Lancers Camp offered by New York Premiere Soccer.

It provides full-time professional, licensed coaches from around the world; primarily UEFA B licensed coaches from the United Kingdom and Ireland. NYPS also has a full-time technical department responsible for curriculum development and player education.

Coaches will conduct a comprehensive week-long program with your team. They will work in conjunction with the team in many of the following areas: team building, team fitness, SAQ work, team shape, team tactics as well as individual player techniques.

NYPS coaches will meet with the local coaches prior to camp to assess what areas of the game they want to work on. A curriculum will be tailored for this week based on the feedback from the coach.

Date: July 11-15

Times: 9 a.m. to Noon (Open Camp); 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Team Camp -- minimum of 10 players)

Cost: $50 Open Camp; $600 Team Camp

Location: Batavia Sports Park, 8069 Bank St. Road, Batavia

Age Group: 6 to 12 years old for Open Camp; 13 to 18 years old for Team Camp

To register visit: www.newyorkpremieresoccer.com

Contact information:

New York Premier Soccer

3195 Brighton Henrietta Townline Road

Rochester, NY 14623

Phone: 292-0788

Email: info@newyorkpremieresoccer.com

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce invites the community to attend the Second Annual Pre-Season “PEP-DOG RALLY."

Our Batavia Muckdogs Baseball season is only a few weeks away and we NEED your help!

On Wednesday, June 15, just two days before the Season Home Opener, the stadium will be open to the community. We need YOU to come out and get our Batavia Muckdogs PEPPED up for the 2011 season.

Gates open at 6 p.m. Admission is FREE and there will be fun for the entire family. There will be games for the kids, local Mascots, and food concession for you to get your ball park favorites. The merchandise stands will also be open for you to gear up for the season.

Be the first to meet this year’s players!  They will be available to sign autographs and chat with the fans.  

Prizes and raffles will be given throughout the night, including valuable sports memorabilia such as: an 8x10 autographed picture of Nick Markakis; an autographed bat by Hall of Famer Earl Weaver; autographed baseballs by Ryan Howard, Lou Piniella, Jimmy Rollins, Tim McCarver and many more.

Enjoy the music of "23 SkiDOO," a strolling ragtime band sponsored by the Genesee County Baseball Club.

The season opener is at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 17 at Dwyer Stadium.

The Batavia Lions Club will host its Second Annual Bike Tour on Saturday, June 11. This year there are two tour options from which participants can chose.

In addition to the 32-mile “Tour Ride," a six-mile “Family Ride” will be available.

Check-in time for the 32-mile ride is 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. for the Family Ride.

The 32-mile ride begins at 8 a.m., and the six-mile ride begins at 9:15 a.m.

Check-in and the start of each event will be at the parking lot on the corner of Alva Place and Bank Street in Batavia.

Pre-registration postmarked by Thursday May 26 is $30. After that date, the registration fee is $35. The fee for all children under 10 years old is $15.

The first 50 riders registered by May 26 will receive a gift bag from our sponsors including an “official” ride T-shirt. All entrants must wear an approved safety helmet. All participants must be 16 years of age or be accompanied by a parent, grandparent or guardian.

The tour route winds through the beautifully rich agricultural area of Genesee County that surrounds the City of Batavia. There will again be water and snack stops, help if needed along the way, traffic guides at busy intersections, and emergency roadside assistance. The tour route is flat with very few hills.

The club's address is P.O. Box 456, Batavia, NY 14020. Email is batavialions@yahoo.com. Or contact Dominic Lovria at 343-7198.   

Once again Batavia Downs will play host to another $7,500 scholarship race for local, college-bound students. The event will feature students from area schools accompanied by professional harness racing drivers in a one-mile dash for the cash on Saturday, Sept. 10.

"We are once again pleased to help support the education of students in our community in such a unique way," said Todd Haight, general manager of Live Racing at Batavia Downs. "We were so pleased with how well our first dash for cash was received, we immediately went back to our partners and requested we give it another go.

“Not only did the five participating students earn valuable scholarship funds, but also a greater understanding of the sport of harness racing, which was our main goal."

Last year, Kaley Falkowski, of Batavia High School, with professional Jim Mulcahy sitting alongside in a double-seated jog cart, bested four other students.

This year, Batavia, Oakfield-Alabama and Notre Dame high schools will each be represented by one student. The remaining two spots will be chosen by lottery. All schools can use any criteria they wish to pick their students.

During the summer, the students will attend at least five training sessions at the track with their driver to learn the safety and skills needed to drive a horse. Then between the fourth and fifth live harness races on Sept. 10, they will line up behind the starting gate and compete for scholarships of $3000, $2000, $1200, $800 and $500, depending on where they finish.

The approximate time of the competition that evening is between 7:30 and 8:30.

Once again, the scholarship event is sponsored by the horsemen, breeders, owners and raceways of Western New York through the Harness Horse Breeders of New York State, the Western New York Harness Horsemen's Association, Buffalo Raceway and Batavia Downs Casino.

Batavia Downs Casino, America’s oldest lighted harness track, opens for its 65th racing season on Monday, July 25, for 72 racing dates.

Post time is 6:40 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays in August. There will also be a special 1:15 matinee on Sunday, Aug. 29; Monday, Sept. 5 (Labor Day), which features a day-night doubleheader; and Monday, Oct. 10 (Columbus Day). For more information, visit <http://www.batavia-downs.com/>

GCC Golf Team Has Runner - Up Finish in Regionals, Advances to Nationals - Places Four Players on All Region Team

The GCC Golf team headed to the Region III Golf Tournament  in Cortland NY at the Cortland Country Club on May 16th and 17th not really sure about what to expect.  They qualified with a little less strain than 2010, their first year of competition for the renewed GCC sport, but there were a lot of question marks.

They were confident, but wary of Onondaga CC, who was .75 of a point behind them in team scoring average for the season at third place.  GCC was coming off an upset tournament victory over Monroe CC on May 8th  at the MCC Invitational, so they had high expectations.

Those expectations materialized with an invite to Nationals as the team performed at a level that no one really could have predicted.

In the two day aggregate tournament where four scores count from five players for the team event, and individual scores are also tallied, the teams from the nine schools that qualified for Regionals that finish first and second are invited to Nationals, and the top 5 individual low scores - not including scores from the first and second place teams - also make the trip.

On Day one, which was played in very wet and rainy conditions after a four hour delay, GCC's Kyle Harman, a transfer student from Erie CC who won Regionals in 2010, took the individual lead with a 72.

It was a personal best score for Harman for tournament play. 

GCC also positioned themselves in second place as a team, shooting 311, behind MCC (302), and one stroke ahead of Onondaga CC (312).

Day two's play got started as scheduled at 9am under wet conditions with light rain throughout the day.

Harman stumbled a bit to a 78, but every other player on GCC's team shot personal best tournament scores!  Corey Kocent and Mark DeCook each shot even par 72's, Matt Ferdinand shot a 73, and Alex Muench shot 79, for a team score total of 295 for the day, tops in the field followed by MCC (298) and Onondaga CC (308) .  The 295 score blew away the GCC team's previous best tournament score of 309 in 2010.

GCC also placed four players on the 2011 All Region Team as Harman, Ferdinand, Kocent, and DeCook each earned the honor.

Two day totals for the competing teams were:

302  298  600 MONROE CC
311  295  606 GENESEE CC
312  308  620 ONONDAGA CC
328  316  644 NIAGARA CCC       
332  315  647 JAMESTOWN CC
333  324  657 MOHAWK VALLEY CC  
351  336  687 BROOME CC 
338  352  690 TOMPKINS CORTLAND CC
334  358  692  CAYUGA CC                

Medalist for the event was MCC's Shane Dobesh with a two day total of 148. GCC's Matt Ferdinand and Kyle Harman joined Onondaga CC�s Alec Stoianoff and MCC�s Anthony Colosi in a four way tie for second place at 150.

GCC Golf Head Coach Tom Tucker and Assistant Coach Tom Moynihan will be accompanying the the GCC Golf team to the NJCAA Division III Nationals at the Chautauqua GC, Chautauqua NY on June 6 through 10

GCC Golf Team Has Runner - Up Finish in Regionals, Advances to Nationals - Places Four Players on All Region Team

The GCC Golf team headed to the Region III Golf Tournament  in Cortland NY at the Cortland Country Club on May 16th and 17th not really sure about what to expect.  They qualified with a little less strain than 2010, their first year of competition for the renewed GCC sport, but there were a lot of question marks.

They were confident, but wary of Onondaga CC, who was .75 of a point behind them in team scoring average for the season at third place.  GCC was coming off an upset tournament victory over Monroe CC on May 8th  at the MCC Invitational, so they had high expectations.

Those expectations materialized with an invite to Nationals as the team performed at a level that no one really could have predicted.

In the two day aggregate tournament where four scores count from five players for the team event, and individual scores are also tallied, the teams from the nine schools that qualified for Regionals that finish first and second are invited to Nationals, and the top 5 individual low scores - not including scores from the first and second place teams - also make the trip.

On Day one, which was played in very wet and rainy conditions after a four hour delay, GCC's Kyle Harman, a transfer student from Erie CC who won Regionals in 2010, took the individual lead with a 72.

It was a personal best score for Harman for tournament play. 

GCC also positioned themselves in second place as a team, shooting 311, behind MCC (302), and one stroke ahead of Onondaga CC (312).

Day two's play got started as scheduled at 9am under wet conditions with light rain throughout the day.

Harman stumbled a bit to a 78, but every other player on GCC's team shot personal best tournament scores!  Corey Kocent and Mark DeCook each shot even par 72's, Matt Ferdinand shot a 73, and Alex Muench shot 79, for a team score total of 295 for the day, tops in the field followed by MCC (298) and Onondaga CC (308) .  The 295 score blew away the GCC team's previous best tournament score of 309 in 2010.

GCC also placed four players on the 2011 All Region Team as Harman, Ferdinand, Kocent, and DeCook each earned the honor.

Two day totals for the competing teams were:

302  298  600 MONROE CC
311  295  606 GENESEE CC
312  308  620 ONONDAGA CC
328  316  644 NIAGARA CCC       
332  315  647 JAMESTOWN CC
333  324  657 MOHAWK VALLEY CC  
351  336  687 BROOME CC 
338  352  690 TOMPKINS CORTLAND CC
334  358  692  CAYUGA CC                

Medalist for the event was MCC's Shane Dobesh with a two day total of 148. GCC's Matt Ferdinand and Kyle Harman joined Onondaga CC�s Alec Stoianoff and MCC�s Anthony Colosi in a four way tie for second place at 150.

GCC Golf Head Coach Tom Tucker and Assistant Coach Tom Moynihan will be accompanying the the GCC Golf team to the NJCAA Division III Nationals at the Chautauqua GC, Chautauqua NY on June 6 through 10

Leadership Genesee’s eighth annual Golf & Bocce Ball Tournament is set for Monday, June 13.

It begins at 11:30 a.m. at Terry Hills Golf Course. The Gold Sponsor of the tournament is Innovative Energy Systems.

Teams may sign up for the four-person scramble that includes lunch, green fee, cart and buffet dinner for $100 per person by May 27. On June 8, the price is $110.

Registration for Bocce Ball is $50 per person by May 27 and $60 by June 8. Bocce registration includes lunch and dinner. Dinner only is $30 per person and must be pre-paid by June 8.

For team registration, sponsorship information, or information about Leadership Genesee, contact Leadership Genesee Director Peggy Marone at 343-3040, ext.118.

Registration forms are available at leadershipgenesee.shutterfly.com or you can pick up a registration form at Cornell Cooperative Extension Genesee County, 420 E. Main St. in Batavia.

Leadership Genesee creates an experience promoting active leadership for Genesee County and is a program of Cornell Cooperative Extension that offers equal program and employment opportunities.

On the six year anniversary of her perfect game, Katie Brownell throws out the ceremonial first pitch at the Oakfield Little League baseball game between the Dodgers and the Athletics.  At the time, Katie was the only girl playing Little League baseball, she played for the Dogders .  This year, the only other girl to play, Hannah LaGrou will retire after playing on the Athletics for four years.  Since her perfect game, Katie has excelled in Soccer, Basketball and Softball.  When asked about the transtion to softball, Katie remarked that it took a while to adjust but now that she plays Varsity Softball at OACS, she loves it.