Sports

The Batavia High Lady Blue Devils’ season came to a resounding halt Friday night as defending champion Midlakes rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit and cruised to a 79-66 victory in the Section 5 Girls’ Basketball Tournament Class B1 championship game before a packed and raucous crowd at Caledonia-Mumford High School.

With the win, Midlakes, now 20-3, moves on to face Dansville for the unified Class B title next Tuesday at a site to be determined.

The loss ends Batavia’s fine campaign at 19-3 overall, with its two previous losses to teams in higher classifications.

At the outset, Coach Marty Hein’s Lady Devils rode some sharp long-range shooting to stay in front of the Screaming Eagles.

After sophomore guards Bryn Wormley and Mackenzie Reigle each hit a pair of three-pointers in the opening minutes, senior guard Ryann Stefaniak found the mark for four three-pointers, including a buzzer-beater off the glass on a nice assist from sophomore guard Tess Barone, to give the Lady Devils a 20-14 lead.

It was more of the same in the second quarter as Stefaniak hit a pair of threes to give Batavia its biggest lead at 26-18. Midlakes quickly managed to pull within four, but baskets by Stefaniak and Reigle gave the Devils a 32-24 halftime lead.

Stefaniak scored 20 points in the first half – one more than her average – and outplayed Midlakes’ 23-point-per-game scorer, senior guard Alaina Forbes, who had 10 points.

The Eagles came out in a press to open the second half and Forbes and senior forward Macy Kisner each scored to make it 32-28.

Batavia responded, however, as Stefaniak drove the length of the court after a Midlakes’ miss, sank a layup, got fouled and made the free throw to put Batavia up 35-28 with 6:40 left in the third quarter.

From there, the wheels fell off for Batavia, which found itself consistently watching Forbes, Kisner and sophomore guard Cara Walker beat the defense for easy layups.

Midlakes scored eight straight points – on two free throws by Walker, a three-pointer by Forbes and two layups by senior center Sydney Passalacqua -- to tie the game and then scored 19 of the game’s next 25 points to take a 54-41 advantage into the final period.

Forbes had eight of those points, all on uncontested layups.

Both teams scored 25 points in the fourth quarter, with Batavia unable to get any closer than 11 points down.

Forbes scored 11 points in the period, often on layups after accepting long outlet passes as she laid back on defense. She also hit a key three-pointer and proceeded to play up to the Midlakes’ crowd which roared its approval.

Stefaniak added two more three-point baskets in the fourth quarter and finished her outstanding high school career with 35 points.

Wormley and Reigle had 16 and 11, respectively, while junior forward Emma Krolczyk tallied four points.

For Midlakes, which will face Class B2 champion Dansville for the combined Class B title next week, Forbes led the way with 35 points while Walker scored 20, Kisner 12 and Passalacqua eight.

Hein said Midlakes’ experience (with three senior starters) made the difference, especially in the way the Eagles exploited Batavia’s efforts to crash the boards in attempts for offensive rebounds.

“They’re a seasoned team which has been here before; they didn’t get to the states last year by accident,” Hein said. “They controlled (the second half) and did what they needed to do while we we’re kind of running around like a chicken with its head cut off.”

Hein said they talked about how Forbes liked to release early and thought his team did a good job in the first half.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the one girl on top to get back on defense (after intermission),” he said. “I don’t like losing but I’m not disappointed with our effort throughout the 32 minutes. It came down to (Midlakes’) wisdom, knowledge and experience.”

Hein said he believes the returning players "will be much stronger from this" and is optimistic about this team's chances next year with the return of Reigle, Wormley, Krolczyk and their supporting cast.

Stefaniak and Reigle were named to the All-Tournament Team along with Midlakes’ Kisner, Walker and Forbes, the latter being named Most Valuable Player.

Batavia seniors Meghan Houseknecht and Jenae Colkey have been chosen to play in the Exceptional Seniors game next Thursday at Greece Athena High while Stefaniak will play in the Ronald McDonald charity contest on March 23.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene.

The Pembroke Dragons knocked off the #1 seed Marion in a Section V Class C2 semifinal Thursday 46-42 to advance to a shot a sectional title Saturday in Victor against Geneseo.

Serene Calderon scored 15 points for the Dragons. Dekari Moss scored 13 and Casey Wertz scored nine. 

Game time for Pembroke on Saturday is 1 p.m.

On Wednesday night, Oakfield-Alabama beat Keshequa to advance to the finals of the Class C3 bracket. O-A, the #2 seed, will play #1 seed South Seneca at 11 a.m. tomorrow in Victor.

For the Hornets on Wednesday, Brianna Smith scored 20 points.

Tonight in Class D2, Elba plays for a sectional title against Whitesville at 6 p.m. at Letchworth, and in Class B1, Batavia plays Midlakes at 8 p.m. at Cal-Mum.

Due to higher than anticipated ticket sales, tonight's basketball game featuring the Harlem Wizards will take place inside the Oakfield-Alabama High School Gymnasium instead of at O-A elementary school.

Doors open at 6 and the game starts at 7.

Online ticket sales ended at noon today. If still available, tickets will be sold at the door -- $10 for students and $12 for adults.

The Oakfield-Alabama Elementary Student Council, in conjunction with the Genesee Community College Baseball Team, are presenting this exciting sports spectacle.

The high school is located at 7001 Lewiston Road, Oakfield.

"Tricks, hoops & ally oops!"

The Elba Lancers lost to Belfast at Mount Morris on Tuesday night in the Class D2 Section V semifinal 44-40.

Also on Tuesday, Alexander lost to Red Jacket 71-58 in the Class C2 Section V semifinal.

There are no boys teams from Genesee County who survived past the semifinal rounds of the sectional playoffs.

Photos by David Zuppelli.

Brynn Walczak scored 19 points over Romulus in the Section V Class D2 semifinal playoff game to lead the Elba Lady Lancers to a 46-30 win.

"Well, it definitely was a slower-paced game with not a lot of shots of taken on both ends," said Coach Tom Redband. "It seemed like one of those games where every possession kind of mattered. It wasn't a real high-flying game. It didn't feel that way and statistics said that as well, too."

Leah Bezon scored 10 points for Elba as did Taylor Augello.

Bezon also had four steals.

The #1 ranked Lancers now advance to a Section V championship game at 6 p.m. at Letchworth against #3 ranked Whitesville.

"It's going to be a tough game," Redband said. "We played them last year and we could see that defensively they're a good team. Their shots weren't falling when they played us last year.

"The score was a little lopsided first in the first quarter and then in the second half, we saw what they are capable of. So hopefully we come out and a few more shots fall and we continue the defensive game plan and put ourselves in a position to win."

Tonight in girls basketball, Pembroke plays Marion at 7:45 at Canandaigua in a Class C2 semifinal, and Oakfield-Alabama plays Keshequa at 6 o'clock at HFL in a Class C3 semifinal.

Emma Krolczyk goes up for a layup.

Jenae Colkey (34) and Mackenzie Reigle attempt to stop Pal-Mac's Sophie Lyko.

Ryann Stefaniak looks to drive to the hoop.

A steal by Reigle leads to a Batavia basket.

Bryn Wormley controls the loose ball.

Part of the large contingent of Batavia fans react to the victory.

Finding themselves up by only two points with about five minutes to play, the top-seeded Batavia High Lady Blue Devils were in need of a spark, something to put some distance between them and the No. 4 Palmyra-Macedon Lady Red Raiders in their Section 5 Class B1 semifinal girls’ basketball game tonight at Caledonia-Mumford High.

Pal-Mac, a decided underdog, had jumped out to a seven-point quarter lead and hung in there through three quarters as Batavia was unable to get its offense in gear.

But just when it looked as though Pal-Mac was about to tie the game, key plays by a trio of Lady Devils in a minute’s time resulted in a 7-0 spurt and propelled Batavia to a 44-32 victory.

The win puts Coach Marty Hein’s team in the championship game at 8 p.m. Friday at Cal-Mum against Midlakes, a 58-32 winner over Greece Odyssey in the first game of the doubleheader.

On a night when top scorer Ryann Stefaniak struggled from the field (4-for-11 including 0-for-5 from three-point territory), Emma Krolczyk and Mackenzie Reigle came through with 14 and 13 points, respectively, and Jenae Colkey led a stifling defense that allowed only 15 points over the final three quarters.

Colkey, a senior guard/forward who has to play inside on defense, came up with a remarkable defensive stop when she got in position in the lane to prevent a fast-break layup that would have tied the game. The missed shot eventually made its way to Krolczyk who drove to the hoop to make it 31-27 – a four-point swing.

Krolczyk then rebounded a Pal-Mac missed and kicked the ball out to Reigle, who sank Batavia’s first three-pointer of the game to make it 34-27 at the 3:52 mark. Following a Pal-Mac timeout, Reigle stole the ball and flew in for a layup to give the Lady Devils a 36-27 edge.

Another three-pointer, this one by Bryn Wormley, and pair of baskets by Stefaniak in the closing 1:30 sealed the win.

The decisive seven-point run came just after Stefaniak had been called for her fourth foul, sending her to the bench. The fact that her teammates picked her up should give Batavia a lot of confidence heading into Friday’s match against No. 2 Midlakes, 19-3.

Hein credited the defense for saving the day while lamenting the team’s offensive execution.

“In all the interviews that I have been giving, I have said I’m not worried about the offense, but I almost shot myself in the foot (with this game),” Hein said. “We were helter-skelter and impatient and didn’t move the ball very well. Hopefully, we will put the pieces together on Friday.”

He called Reigle (she also had five steals and three rebounds) a “huge sparkplug” and praised Colkey, one of three seniors on the team, for “taking on the leadership role tonight and settling the team down.”

Colkey had three assists, six rebounds and two steals to go with her two points, while Stefaniak, who was coming off a 35-point outburst in the quarterfinals, finished with 10 points – nine less than her average -- along with four rebounds and four steals.

Overall, Batavia was 18-for-50 from the field (36 percent) and just 2-for-10 on threes.

For Pal-Mac, senior forward Gretchen Earl was the top scorer with 12 points while junior guard Katie Smith sank a pair of three-pointers in the first quarter and finished with seven points.

Photos by Steve Ognibene. To view or purchase photos, click here.

Press release:

TicketReturn announced today that it will become the exclusive ticketing provider for the Batavia Muckdogs professional baseball team.

The club’s box office will be able to take advantage of TicketReturn’s strategic partnerships and dedicated client support representatives to best serve fans across Genessee County.

TicketReturn, a leading provider of box office, online and mobile ticketing services, offers nearly two decades of technology management experience to help clients across the country exceed their goals.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based company offers a full suite of ticketing innovations, including event marketing, access control, attendance reporting, accounting and fundraising features for sports and entertainment venues.

The Muckdogs will benefit from TicketReturn’s strategic partnership with Groupmatics, which offers a streamlined process for the sale and distribution of group tickets. The club will also be able to add its own color palettes and logos on TicketReturn’s enhanced mobile design for customer transactions.

Batavia can now offer non-ticket inventory items during the online transaction. TicketReturn has shown a proven ability to deliver incremental revenue for its ticketing partners.

The Muckdogs will be able to offer fans a variety of ticket packages, including season tickets and mini-plans.

“We’re looking forward to working closely with Batavia’s box office team as they prepare for the season.” said Christie Hussey, TicketReturn’s vice president of Sales and Marketing.

“We pride ourselves on offering client support representatives that are available to provide support and fast onboarding as the Muckdogs prepare for the new season.”

The Batavia Muckdogs competes in the New York-Penn League as the Short-Season Class-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.

This partnership furthers TicketReturn’s commitment to provide ticketing solutions and services to professional sports teams, colleges and universities throughout the country.

About TicketReturn  

TicketReturn is a leading provider of box office and online ticketing services serving more than 250 client venues and issuing more than 38 million tickets annually. As the leading provider of ticketing services for Minor League Baseball (MiLB) in the United States and Canada, TicketReturn also serves minor league hockey teams, soccer, basketball and lacrosse. TicketReturn’s diverse client venues range from theater and casino showrooms, motorsports, horse racing, university arenas and sports stadiums reflecting the ease of use and scalability of the platform.

For more information about TicketReturn, visit us at www.ticketreturn.com

All Section 5 Girls Basketball Tournament semifinal games scheduled for tonight have been postponed until Tuesday night at the same locations.

Those games include:

Class B1 -- Batavia versus Palmyra-Macedon at Caledonia-Mumford High School at 7:45;

Class B2 -- Attica versus Wellsville at Honeoye Falls-Lima High School at 6:00;

Class D2 -- Elba versus Romulus at Dansville High School at 7:45.

Section 5 Boys Basketball Tournament games now scheduled for Tuesday are as follows:

Class C2 -- Perry vs. Lyons, Alexander vs. Red Jacket at Pittsford-Sutherland High School, 6:30 and 8:15 p.m., respectively.

Class C3 -- Caledonia-Mumford vs. Naples at Letchworth High School, 6 p.m.

Class C3 -- Lyndonville vs. York at Batavia High School, 5:30 p.m.

Class D2 -- Elba vs. Belfast at Mount Morris High School, 5:30 p.m.

For complete information about Section 5 girls basketball, go to www.sectionvgirlsbasketball.net.

To reach the Section 5 boys basketball website, go to www.sectionvsoccer.net.

A bus driver for the Le Roy Central School District by day, an avid league bowler by night.

That is what retired Genesee County sheriff's deputy Roger Stone is up to now and, on the lanes, he's been doing very well lately.

The 64-year-old Batavia right-hander nearly had a couple of perfect games this week -- posting 298 in a 747 on Wednesday night in the County Line Stone League at Scopano's Lanes in Oakfield, and 287 in a 730 series in the Sunday Rolloffs League at Medina Lanes.

In the G&W Vending League at Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen, Ryan Flaherty of Rochester fired a 300 game en route to a 760 series.

Several other league bowlers hit the 700 mark last week, and you can see the list of high rollers by clicking on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page.

On his own Friday night, Colton Dillon outscored the entire Bradford team in a second-round, Class D1 Section V playoff game in Elba.

Dillon scored 31 points and the Lancers beat Bradford 70-30.

Jon Boyce was the only other Lancer player to notch double digits with 13 points.

Jordan Suteyk scored eight points for Bradford. Steven Spina scored six points.

Next up for #2 ranked Elba (16-6) is #3 ranked Belfast (14-6).

Also in boys basketball yesterday:

• Alexander beat Geneseo 62-55. Alexander (16-5) is ranked #2 in Class C2 and will play #3 ranked Red Jacket (16-5) in the semifinal.
• York beat Pavilion 68-52 to advance to the Class C3 semifinal.
• Oakfield-Alabama lost to Naples 55-42 in a Class C3 quarterfinal. Joey Burdick scored 16 points. Nick Wissinger scored 12.

At 2 p.m. today, #2 ranked Batavia (11-10) plays #2 ranked Newark (16-3) at Newark.

Tonight #2 ranked Le Roy (12-8) plays #7 ranked Mynderse Acadamy at 7 p.m. at Le Roy in a Class B2 quarterfinal.

In girls basketball, Batavia (18-1), ranked #1 in Class B1, beat #8 ranked Livonia 73-48 (game story).

In Class C2 today, #9 ranked Alexander (7-14) plays #1 ranked Marion (16-4) at 2 p.m. at Marion in a quarterfinal and #10 ranked Byron-Bergen (6-14) plays #2 ranked Red Jacket at 2 p.m. and Red Jacket. And #4 ranked Pembroke (14-7) plays #5 ranked Lyons (14-7) at Pembroke at 2 p.m.

In Class C3 #8 ranked Pavilion (9-12) plays #1 ranked South Seneca (19-1) at South Seneca at 2 p.m. Oakfield-Alabama, ranked #2 (16-4) plays #5 ranked York (11-9) at O-A at 2 p.m.

In Class D1, #1 ranked Elba (18-1) plays #9 ranked Northstar Christian (4-15) at 2 p.m. at Elba.

Senior point guard Ryann Stefaniak, playing in the final home game of her stellar career at Batavia High School, came out shooting tonight and she didn’t stop until she scored 35 points – including eight three-point baskets – in her Lady Devils’ 78-43 victory over Livonia in a Section 5 Class B1 girls’ basketball second-round contest.

“I knew it was my last home game and I came out with so much energy,” Stefaniak said. “I worked with my shooting coach, Billy Truitt, before the game and I felt like I was going to be on.”

She certainly was “on” – scoring nine points in the first quarter with a pair of three-pointers and exploding for 14 points in the second quarter as top-seeded Batavia turned an 18-12 advantage into a 44-22 halftime lead.

Stefaniak had four three-point baskets in the closing three minutes of the half to help Batavia, now 18-2, blow the game open. She added two more three-pointers in the third quarter as the Lady Devils maintained their 22-point cushion.

Sophomore point guard Mackenzie Reigle put forth another fine all-around effort, scoring 13 points on a variety of drives and spin moves while coming up with six steals. Sophomore guard Bryn Wormley sank a trio of three-point shots and finished with 10 points.

Junior forward Emma Krolczyk added seven points and senior guard Jenae Colkey had four. Senior center Meghan Houseknecht and sophomore guard Tess Barone scored two apiece.

For eighth-seeded Livonia, 13-8, junior forward Sydney Lockwood tallied 21 points – eight in the final quarter as the teams traded baskets. Junior forward Vanessa Galbraith had nine and junior guard Sara Shellenbarger added seven.

Batavia Coach Marty Hein stated that he was impressed with his team’s offensive prowess, but said his defense need to tighten things up.

“The defense wasn’t as sound as I wanted it to be,” he said. “We allowed too many open shots and drives, especially against number 12 (Lockwood). And we had three girls in foul trouble (Krolczyk, Reigle and Stefaniak).”

Still, top-seeded Batavia moves on to the next round where it will face No. 4 Palmyra-Macedon in the second game of a doubleheader Monday night at Caledonia-Mumford.

Pal-Mac, 15-5, defeated visiting Notre Dame of Batavia, 50-43, tonight.

The first game of Monday’s twin bill has No. 2 Midlakes facing No. 3 Greece Odyssey, with a 6 p.m. starting time.

The BHS vs. Pal-Mac game is expected to tip off around 7:45.

The Blue Devils squad was on a mission in the first half to control the game over visiting Palmyra-Macedon of the first round of class B1 sectionals last evening at Batavia High School.

Opening minutes were led 10-5 by senior Mason McFollins and junior Jake Humes. Tanner Thompson for Pal-Mac scored five. Blue Devils led 23-10 after the first quarter.

Second half Pal-Mac could not stop the Devils' rush as Camden White added six points. Blue Devils' Joseph Martinucci, Andrew Francis, McFollins and Luke Grammatico also contributed points to dominate the half 44-18.

Batavia then opened the floodgates rolling through the next eight minutes as Cayden White and McFollins added another 16 points combined along with points from Francis and Tyler Hale.

In the final minutes of the third quarter, both teams pulled their starters, Batavia led 69-27.

Senior Tyivon Ayala scored nine points in the fourth to close out the quarter as Batavia wins the game 87-41 and will travel to play this Saturday at #2 Newark Reds, 2 p.m. tip off.

Top photo is Batavia's Zach Gilebarto defending Pal-Mac's Paul Goodness.

To view or purchase photos click here.

Notre Dame dominated Hammondsport in their first-round Class D1 Section V playoff game at Notre Dame on Wednesday night, winning 85-40.

Gabe Macdonald scored 27 points, Colin McCulley scored 17, and Keith Szczepanski added 14 to pace the Fighting Irish.

Spencer Misit scored eight and Andrew Moore scored six. In all, nine Irish put points on the board.

"I think this was a team effort and I thought everybody contributed," Coach Mike Rapone said. "We played really well on both ends of the floor and rebounded well, passed the ball well. Keith was dominant inside and we got him the ball in areas where he could be effective."

Rapone thinks the road to the Class D1 finals runs through Mount Morris, which is where the Irish, now 12-9 on the season, head to next at 7 p.m., Saturday. Mount Morris is ranked second and is 17-3.

"Mount Morris is a very good team," Rapone said. "They got a few guys who have been starting for three years. This is the year they've been pointing to. They think they got a chance to win it all which they do. So this is a big test for us."

Also on Wednesday night, Batavia beat PalMac 87-41. Coverage is coming.

Tomorrow:

• Elba vs. Bradford, 7 p.m. at Elba
• Alexander vs. Geneseo, 7 p.m., at Alexander

Number 8 seed Pavilion knocked off #9 seed Dundee on Wednesday night at home in a Class 3 Section V playoff game, 36-31, in girls basketball.

For the Golden Gophers, Lindsay Lowe scored nine points, Aprile Beehler and Bri Hirsman each scored eight points, Lauren Kingsley scored seven, and Karlee Zinkievich scored four.

For Dundee, Mckenzie Strait scored 11 points and Megan Sutherland scored 10.

Pavilion is now 10-11 on the season and plays #1 seed South Seneca (18-1) on Saturday at South Seneca at 2 p.m.

In other girls basketball action Wednesday:

• Pembroke 68, Bloomfield 56
• Alexander 72, Rochester Academy 49

Tomorrow's games:

• Batavia vs. Livonia, 7 p.m. at Batavia HS
• Notre Dame vs. PalMac, 7 p.m., at PalMac

Top photo: Karlee Zinkievich.

Photos by Ryan Paddock.

 Lauren Kingsley

Aprile Beehler

Jordan Barrett

Colby Tillotson scored 17 points to help lead Pavilion over Keshequa 59-46  in a first-round  Section V playoff game in Pavilion on Tuesday night.

The #6 seed in Class C3, the Golden Gophers have been without Zach Wiedrich, a top scorer on the team, since the 10th game but Tillotson, Ryley Elliott, Cameron Milligan and Luke Milligan have all stepped up to help fill the gap, said Coach Rob Milligan.

Weidrich, a junior, was diagnosed with a heart condition and may not be able to play competitive basketball again.

As an example of Weidrich scoring prowess, Milligan said he got hot one game last season and scored 36 points.

Tuesday, Elliott scored nine points, as did Cody Penders. Nate Swede scored six points. Tillotson hit three three-point shots.

For Keshequa, Cameron Chestnut scored 17 points. He also hit three three-point shots.

One of the five bowlers in the Toyota of Batavia Thursday Night League at Mancuso Bowling Center in Batavia who had a shot at perfection this week made it to the promised land and, not surprisingly, that one was Batavia left-hander Rich Wagner.

Wagner continued his spectacular season with 269-300-235--804, raising his average to 248.7 with six weeks left. The current Genesee Region USBC record for a season is 242, shared by Scott Culp of Honeoye Falls and Curtis Foss of Medina.

The other four who came close -- Vin Pontillo, 278--733; Jim Pursel, 279--725; Geoff Harloff, 277--724, and Alex Morris, 278--700. Jason Gallo, Wagner's teammate, posted a 217 triplicate.

At Oak Orchard Bowl in Albion, Foss nearly had a monster triplicate, firing 279-279-276--834 in the Friday Night Mixers League.

And at Medina Lanes, Mike "Pook" Bielak notched his first 800 series -- 290-289-243--822 -- in the Thursday Firefighters League while Foss had another 300 game, his fifth of the season.

For a list of high scores, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page. Mike Pettinella's next Pin Points column is scheduled for this Thursday.

Girls indoor track teams from Le Roy and Batavia, and the boys team from Batavia came away with sectional titles after competing at meets at RIT on Friday and Saturday.

Le Roy garnered 78 points, far outpacing second-place Warsaw at 38 points in Class D.

In Class C, the Batavia girls team also finished well head of the next closest team with 132 points to 47.5 points for Palmyra-Macedon.

For the boys, they notched first with a dominating 152 points to 56 points for Wayne Central.

First-place showings for Le Roy:

• McKenna Cone in the 55 Meter Hurdles with a time of 9.03.
• McKenna Cone in the Long Jump with a distance of 6-07.25

The Le Roy Boys Track Team finished second to East Rochester with 43 points to 53 points.

First-place finishes for Batavia girls:

• Arianna Brown in the High Jump with a height of 4-08.00
• Emily Caccamise in the 1500 Meter Race Walk with a time of 9:04.69

First-place finishes for Batavia boys:

• Zakariah Jantzi in the 1000 Meter Run with a time of 2:40.24
• Garrick Havens in the 1600 Meter Run with a time of 4:46.34
• Garrick Havens in the 3200 Meter Run with a time of 10:25.96
• Batavia won the 400 Meter Relay with a time of 9:03.44
• Daemon Konieczny in the High Jump with a height of 6-01.00
• Alex Rood in the Shot Put with a distance of 53-10.00
• Matt Grover in the Weight Throw with a distance of 51-02.25

Batavia Coach Nick Burk also sent along this meet report:

The Batavia Indoor track and field team competed in Sectionals last night at RIT and came away with the double championship (boys and girls) for the third year in a row. The boys team won their eighth overall Sectional Championship and seventh title since 2008. The girls' team won their 15th Sectional Championship in 17 years with this being their sixth consecutive title. Both teams came into the meet very confident and excited to continue the high level of excellence that our program has developed.

For the boys' meet, our dominance in the throws continued with Alex Rood winning the Shot Put (53-10), while Jaheim Smith (48-7.25) and Evan Bartz (44-4.5) took second and fourth, respectively. Not to be outdone, our boys' Weight Throwers were even more impressive taking the top four places with Matt Grove (51-2.25) winning the event, followed by Evan Bartz (50-0.75), Alex Rood (49-11.25), and Cody Eisenberger (48-6.75).

Batavia's distance crew certainly shined in this meet, particularly Garrick Havens who won the 3200m (10:25.96), the 1600m (4:46.34), and was part of the winning 4x800 Relay (9:03.44) with Zak Jantzi, John Bruggman, and Mario Rosales. Zak Jantzi also won the 1000m (2:40.24) and Mario Rosales took second in the 1000m (2:43.32) and fourth in the 1600m (4:57.67). John Bruggman finished in fourth in the 600m (1:28.77).

Daemon Konieczny had a phenomenal meet as well winning the High Jump (6-1), placing third in the Pole Vault (12-0), and fourth in 55 Hurdles (8.52). Also in the Pole Vault, Andrew Lin placed fifth (11-0) and Matt Adams placed sixth (11-0).

Senior Taiyo Iburi-Bethel had a very impressive meet with a fourth-place finish in the 55m (6.76) and second-place finish in Long Jump (20-11). Other scorers for Batavia were Joey Gefell finishing fifth for Triple Jump (38-9), Terrez Smith finished fifth in the 55m (6.78), Troy Helsdon finished fifth in the 3200m (11:12.23), Brock Every finished sixth in the 600m (1:31.89) and the 4x400 Relay with Joey Gefell, Colton Martin, Leo Liang, and Zack Anderson finishing fifth (3:49.80).

Batavia's boys finished first out of 17 scoring teams with 152 points, followed by UPrep with 71 points and Wayne with 56 points.

The Batavia girls' indoor track team had a truly gritty performance last night led by a group of seniors that have been a part of our success for a long time. Liz Cohen had an incredible meet placing second in the 55 Hurdles (9.20), second in the Pole Vault (9-0) and third in Triple Jump (33-3.5). Emily Caccamise earned a repeat championship in the 1500m Racewalk (9:04.69), Jalesa Smith placed second in the High Jump (4-6), second in Long Jump (16-4), and fourth in the Weight Throw (32-8.75), and Caitlin Kingston placed fourth in the 600m (1:45.96) These four athletes finish their indoor track careers having never lost a Sectional meet and contributing 56 points toward last night's team championship.

Arianna Brown earned a Sectional Championsip in the High Jump (4-8) while also running on the 4x200 Relay with Sarah Adams, Jadin Vasciannie, and Caitlin Kingston, which placed third (1:56.04). Sarah Adams also place second in the Triple Jump (34-0.5). The girls' 4x400 Relay of Caitlin Kingston, Noelia Ventura, Aurelia Colby, and Piper Harloff finished third (4:30.43), and the 4x800 Relay of Sadie Loria, Maddie Taggart, Sam Davis, and Makayla Andolora finished sixth (11:14.87).

The girls' Throwers also had a tremendous meet! Along with Jalesa Smith's fourth-place finish in Weight Throw, Maggie Andersen finished in second (41-7.5) and Rebekah Daniszewski finished sixth (32-2.25). Rebekah also earned a second-place finish in the Shot Put (32-2).

Other scorers for the Blue Devils last night were: Melanie Quinones-Santiago, who finished fifth in the 3000m (12:05.91) and fourth in the 1500m (5:40.03); Sydney Konieczny, who finished fourth in the 1000m (3:20.56); Elizabeth Kingston, who finished fourth in the 1500m Racewalk (9:22.23); Gavin Konieczny, who finished third in Pole Vault (8-6); and Camryn Buck, who finished third in High Jump (4-6).

Batavia's girls finished first out of 19 scoring teams with 132 points followed by Wayne with 72 points and Pal-Mac with 47.5 points.

This performance really demonstrates the tremendous effort by our Blue Devil athletes and also the guidance from our incredible coaching staff. Dan Geiger (Throws), Rich Boyce (High Jump/Distance), William Buckenmeyer (Hurdles/Distance), Eric Allen (Jumps), Alex Veltz (Sprints), Wayne Wadams (Pole Vault), and Brandon Stevenson (Sprints) provide our athletes with the essential skills and motivation necessary to continue our very successful tradition of track and field at Batavia High School.

Between indoor and outdoor track, we've been blessed with so many great athletes and great individual performances, which have directly led to 33 Sectional Championships (Indoors and Outdoors) for our program since 2003. Batavia's Indoor Track Team rose to the occasion once again to represent our community and our school as a tough and dedicated team! Go Blue Devils!

Submitted photos.