It's over

The 2007 ESGs are over. Phew.

There are a bunch of people who didn't get into the paper — or into this blog — for reasons entirely out of our control.

To compensate for this injustice, I will be writing a wrap-up story for Tuesday's paper that will include many of those who didn't make it in print.

We'll crank up this blog again next summer. Until then, have fun.

More Sunday info

Here are some more results from the Empire State Games on Sunday. All of these are gold-medal games:

Boys' hockey: Western 5, Hudson Valley 2.

Men's scholastic basketball: New York 76, Hudson Valley 75

Open women's basketball: Hudson Valley 61, Adirondack 59

Scholastic women's soccer: Adirondack 5, Hudson Valley 1

Open men's soccer: Adirondack 2, Hudson Valley 0

Scholastic women's field hockey: Hudson Valley 1, Western 0.

Final total medal count: Western 242, Hudson Valley 237, Long Island 175, New York City 162, Adirondack 151, Central 117

Final gold medal count: Hudson Valley 97, Western 96, New York 58, Long Island 53, Adirondack 44, Central 35.

Also, Pleasant Valley's Marisa Hanson won the open women's 5,000 meters on Saturday.

Sunday's early update

The Hudson Valley field hockey team won its third straight gold medal with a 1-0 win over Western.

The scholastic women's soccer team is down 5-1 in the second half to Adirondack.

The men's ice hockey team is down 3-0 in the second period to Western.

The open men's basketball team lost, 78-64, to Western.

The open men's soccer team got silver, losing to Adirondack, 2-0.

More on everything later.

Saturday report

Hudson Valley's open soccer team is in the gold medal game after a 3-2 win over New York City.

The scholastic baseball team have up seven runs in the fourth inning and lost in the gold medal game to Long Island, 12-6. Hudson Valley takes the silver.

Just received word that Avery Evans of Pine Plains won a gold medal, anchoring the 4 x 100 relay team for Hudson Valley. Evans, who is entering her junior year won a bronze medal for the 4 x 400 relay team as well. Evans won a silver in the 100-meter hurdles yesterday, making her a triple winner for Hudson Valley.

The scholastic men's ice hockey team lost to Central, 4-3 on Saturday.

The scholastic baseball team continued their roll, rolling over Adirondack, 15-1 at Pace University this morning. They are facing Long Island in the gold medal game at 5 p.m. at Manhattanville. Mike Benischek will have more on that game later. Against Adirondack, Jeff Freyhagen of Roy C. Ketcham earned the win, throwing four innings, Dave Ciocchi of John Jay was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Kyle Kalaka of Ketcham was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, Joe Panik of John Jay was 2-for-5 and Joe Pedevillano of Lourdes was 1-for-3 with 2 RBIs.

The scholastic women's soccer team defeated Central, 4-1, putting them in the gold medal game, which will be Sunday at 11 a.m. at Manhattanville College in Purchase.

The open softball team was defeated 4-1 by Western, eliminating them from medal contention.

The field hockey team defeated Adirondack, 1-0, advancing them to the gold-medal game. Kristin McGurl of Arlington High School scored the lone goal for Hudson Valley, who advances to tomorrow's gold medal game at Rye Country Day School at 10 a.m.

In men's open track, Philip Shea of Beacon placed sixth in 17:11.23 in the 5,000

Julia Hopson of Poughkeepsie and Arlington grad, won the women's open hammer throw gold medal at 46.21 meters.

Erica Johnson of Poughkeepsie finished second in the 100 meter dash in 12.80 seconds.

Tiere Spruill of Amenia and Webutuck High School, won the bronze medal in the 100-meter dash in 11.33 seconds.

Paul Lagno of Salt Point and Millbrook HS, won the bronze in the men's scholastic 1,500 meter run.

Tim Walker, a 2001 graduate of John Jay, won the gold medal in the men's open 1,500. Walker was competing for Central, as he is now a resident of Cortland.

The scholastic women's basketball team earned an 80-58 win over Central, putting them in the gold medal game at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Westchester Community College.

Scholastic women's volleyball, won the bronze medal, as did the open women's volleyball team.

Frank Rutigliano of Poughkeepsie placed seventh in the men's open all-around bowling final.

Janet Manfredi of Poughkeepsie was part of the women's open trio bowling event, where she and her two teammates won the bronze medal.

Brian Bolstad of Highland placed fifth after his three-meter optional dives, falling short of medalling.

Jesse Dekrey of Rhinebeck placed 15th in the 31-mile Criterium final.

The women's ice hockey team lost to Adirondack, 5-3.

Saturday's plan

If the weather holds up, which is a big if this morning, here's the plan:

Freelancer Nancy Haggerty will cover the men's open soccer team at 1; staff writer Mike Benischek will cover the women's scholastic basketball team at 2 and the baseball team in the gold medal game at 5.

Already this morning, the men's Hudson Valley ice hockey team lost its first game of the tournament, 4-3, to Central.

We'll be collecting all the other information from various sources, posting it here and publishing it in Sunday's paper.

Check back later to see what's going on.

Friday's news, notes and anecdotes

In open division swimming, Eric Culver of New Paltz is having a terrific ESGs. He took bronze in the 200-free, silver in the 800-free relay, and gold in the 800 free. (That's Culver pictured.)

In the women's open 200-IM final, Hyde Park's Brenna O'Keefe finished fifth.

Bridget Latino of Wappingers Falls finished 12th in the women's open 800-free.

Red Hook's Michael Burud took a silver medal in the men's scholastic 100-breast, then another silver in the 200-IM. Burud was two seconds faster in the 100-breast final than we he was in qualifying.

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The Hudson Valley baseball team continued its roll, hammering Central, 13-1. Read details of the game in Phil Strum's entry below this one.
They won the second game of the day 10-3, and are 4-0 going into Saturday.

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The men's open soccer team — which has 13 local players on it - is 2-0 after this morning's 5-1 romp over Adirondack.

Tom Ciovacco, an Arlington grad, scored his second and third goals of the tournament, one on an assist from John Jay grad Jason Laffin. Also scoring were Ken Hinsch (Arlington) and Josh Breitmeyer (Highland). Wayne Storms (Highland) and Steve Skonieczny (Arlington) split the goaltending duties.

The men's scholastic soccer team is 0-2 after a 1-0 loss to Adirondack this morning.

Phil Strum just checked in from the women's scholastic soccer game. Hudson Valley edged Western, 3-2, in a shootout. Caitlin Steinberg and Colleen Barry of Arlington each scored during regulation, and they also each scored during the shootout, which Hudson Valley won, 3-2.

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In ice hockey, the Hudson Valley men improved to 2-0 with a tight 4-3 win over Adirondack earlier today. Pawling's Kevin Gaughran scored for the winners.

The Hudson Valley women's team fell to 1-1, losing 5-1 to perennial powerhouse Western.

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The Hudson Valley women's scholastic basketball team lost today, 91-81, to defending champion Western.

The Hudson Valley girls, including Haldane's Brittany Shields, Beacon's Ally Biordi and John Jay's Caitlynn Moran, can still get to Sunday's gold medal game for a rematch.

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Over at the track venue, FDR High grad Erica Johnson took second in her heat in the women's open 100 meters.

In the scholastic division, Webutuck's Tiere Spruill was third in his heat in the 100 (11.40). He was the Poughkeepsie Journal boys' track athlete of the year this spring. Dan Cimino of New Paltz placed 11th in the discus.

Avery Evans of Pine Plains took silver in the 100 hurdles; and Jasmine Simmons of Beacon took bronze in the long jump.

In the men's scholastic decathlon, John Jay's Frank Risole saved his best for his least-favorite event, the 1,500 meters, and pulled off a bronze medal in the decathlon.
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In open division diving, Highland High School graduate and Marist recruit Brian Bolstad is in third place after his three voluntary dives in the 3-meter event. In the scholastic division, Arlington's Kyle Molloy is second after three voluntary dives in the 3-meter event.

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In open women's shooting, Patricia Zidek is third after the pistol event. She's from Hopewell Junction.

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In field hockey, in a game played late yesterday, Kristin McGurl of Arlington scored as Hudson Valley topped Central, 2-0. Tonight, Western topped Hudson Valley, 1-0.

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In Masters track, Michael Sheets of Poughkeepsie won gold in the men's 10,000-meter run in the 60-64 age group. Tim Gunther of Poughquag took the silver in the 100 meters in the 45-49 age group. In the 50-54 age group, John Brooks of Poughkeepsie earned gold in the 100. In the same age group, Poughkeepsie Gil Anderson won gold in the 10,000.

Norman Goluskin of New Paltz, who was one of the athletes we profiled leading up to the Games, won gold in the 65-69 10,000-meter run.

Barbara Dalzell of Red Hook took home gold in the 5K racewalk (50-54), and Bill O'Neill of Fishkill won silver in the 100 (55-59).

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The Hudson Valley softball team got back on the right track this morning, beating New York City, 5-2. Later, however, Hudson Valley was on the wrong end of a 1-0 game vs. Adirondack. Our locals are 1-3.

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The Hudson Valley scholastic women's volleyball team stunned five-time defending champion Western, 20-25, 25-16 and 17-15. Later, the ladies beat Central 25-21, 25-21 and 15-1o. They are 3-2 heading into the third day of competition.

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Hudson Valley rowers had a pretty good day at the ESGs. In the women's open four with coxswain, the team of Rachel Buchanan (Arlington), Kyleen Parajon (Lourdes), Grace Rignanese (Spackenkill), Arielle Tillou (FDR) and Bria Woeckener (Wappingers) won silver. In the women's junior double, Olivia Garrity and Tiffany Schneck of Poughkeepsie also won silver. The men's open four with coxswain — Evan Chamberas, Joseph MacElveen, Michael Sussin, Joseph McCabe and William McCabe, all of Poughkeepsie — placed fourth.

Hudson Valley's bats not quiet

PURCHASE — Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

OK, so I am in the library at Manhattanville College right now, which seems apropros since just a few hundred feet away from us here in Quiet Central is the noise of the Empire State Games.

Hudson Valley's baseball team put together an offensive barrage this morning. It was quite a display. The team seems to have a confident air, but they know they need to win this afternoon's tilt and then an early-morning game tomorrow at Pace before they are even allowed to THINK about the medal round.

The fourth inning felt like the longest 40-45 minutes or so of my life. The Valley batted around before Central was even able to get an out in an eight-run fourth in their 13-1 win. The players seem really excited to play for Steve Greller, who clearly knows his stuff.

I would be remiss if I didn't also acknowledge the strong pitching performance of Mamaroneck's Sean Hagen, who threw a six-hitter to Kyle Kalaka of Wappingers Falls behind the plate, often after long stretches of waiting for his teammates to stop hitting.

Well I want to yell and scream now. Well not really, but I can see the Manhattanville cafe from here and I haven't had any coffee today. Time to take a little breather before I head over to the soccer field.

Talk to you later.
Phil Strum

Strum in the field today

Freelance writer Nancy Haggerty will be back at the track & field venue today.

Staff writer Phil Strum will attend the 11 a.m. baseball game between Hudson Valley (2-0) and Central (2-0). Later, he'll watch the scholastic women's soccer team (1-0) play Western.

Hudson Valley's captain, Colleen Barry of Arlington High, scored a goal in the team's 2-1 win over New York City on Thursday morning.

Check back later for an update from the baseball game.

This afternoon, we'll start posting anything and everything we can get our hands on.

Results trickling in

As we learned when the Empire State Games were here in the mid-Hudson Valley two years ago, when it comes to obtaining results of games you don't attend .... you're out of luck.

All of the media outlets (and any online visitors to the ESG official site) are at the mercy of the ESG workers' ability to get results up on the web site.

When we're at games, we post the scores immediately. When we're not, we have to wait for ESG people to post the scores, and they don't always come. An example? The Hudson Valley women's scholastic soccer team played this morning at 8:30. There is still no score posted. Anywhere. It's maddening. And we've got to finish the newspaper in the next couple of hours.

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Hopewell Junction's John Tullo became the region's first medalist today when he won a silver medal in the open division shot put.

Here's a look at the rest of the day's activity:

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WHITE PLAINS — Finishing with just three singles — one each from Milton’s Sara Beck (right), Hopewell’s Christine Moran and West Nyack’s Tara Ulrich — Hudson Valley fell to Long Island, 3-0, in women's open softball.

“You have to produce,” Moran said. “We have the bats there, we just have to put it all together. It will come.

“It’s tough when you haven’t seen live pitching for half the summer, but we’ll come around.”

Laura Valentino of Smithtown hit a three-run homer to left-center field in the fifth inning, breaking a scoreless tie.

Later in the day, Hudson Valley lost to Central, 3-2.

“We’ve been here before, and going down 0-1 doesn’t mean a whole lot,” said Hudson Valley coach Brealand Edwards, referring to the tournament standings. “You have to play every game like it’s the last one. That’s what we’re going to do.”

ALSO IN...
Hudson Valley beat Long Island in baseball, 5-1, to open that tournament. John Jay-East Fishkill's Dave Ciocchi hit a two-run homer in a three-run third for the winners.

This afternoon, Ciocchi homered again and Hudson Valley blasted New York City, 17-1. Phil Strum will be out there to see the baseball team on Friday at 11 for the game against Central. Both teams are 2-0 after Day 1.

Last year in Rochester, Hudson Valley won the silver medal in baseball.

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The Hudson Valley men's scholastic basketball team held on to beat Central, 67-63. We don't have any local players on that roster.

The defending champion Hudson Valley field hockey team opened with a 4-0 win over Central. Kelsey Horton and Kristin McGurl of Arlington High are both on that roster, and didn't figure in today's scoring.

The scholastic women's basketball team hammered Long Island, 77-35. Brittany Shields of Haldane scored 14, Ally Biordi of Beacon had 11, and Caitlynn Moran of John Jay had five.

In the women’s open division, Hudson Valley cruised to an 88-62 win over Long Island. Marist’s Julianne Viani in on that squad.

The men's open division squad edged Central, 80-77. Two Marist players — Ryan Stilphen and Ryan Schneider — are on that roster.

Over at Mount Vernon High School, open and scholastic track & field got going in today's heat. Pine Plains student Avery Evans won her heat in the 100-meter hurdles. Evans has been a Poughkeepsie Journal track all-star four times already, and she's only heading into her junior year.

Also in the scholastic division, Arlington's Stacey Brooks finished fifth in the javelin.

John Jay High School student Frank Risole is off to a flying start in the scholastic decathlon. He took third in the 100, fourth in the long jump — and he won the shot put.

Spackenkill High grad Kyle Barden, competing in the open decathlon for the first time, is in 7th place after the first day of competition. His best finish was second in the 400-meter event so far.

The men's scholastic soccer team lost, 3-1, to New York City. Arlington's Matt Turcio had the lone goal for the Hudson Valley.

The women's open soccer team lost a heartbreaker, 1-0, to New York City. The game-winner was scored in the 59th minute.

The men’s open division soccer team, which includes 13 local players on the roster, edged Central, 2-1. Arlington High School graduate Steve Skonieczny was in goal for Hudson Valley. Another Arlington grad, Tom Ciovacco, scored the eventual game-winner in the 32nd minute.

In swimming, Eric Culver of New Paltz won his heat in the men’s open 200-individual medley. Rhinebeck’s Thomas Byrnes was seventh in the same heat. Red Hook’s Michael Burud placed fifth in his heat in the men’s scholastic 100-meter breastroke, then third in his heat int he 200-individual medley. In the women’s open 200-IM, Hyde Park’s Brenna O’Keefe took sixth in her heat.

In bowling, Cory Srebnik of Fishkill took bronze in the men’s open single event, rolling a 931 series. The winner had a 994. In the masters division, Hopewell Junction’s Hillar Adamson shared a silver medal with his teammates in the men’s trio event.

In the women’s scholastic division, Hudson Valley lost to Long Island, 25-20, 25-23 and 14-16. Danielle Etta, Meg Lyons and Caitlin McConville from Haldane High are on that team. Later in the day, Hudson Valley rallied to edge New York City 26-24, 26-24 and 15-11. In the men’s open division, defending champion Hudson Valley lost both games on the day, falling to Central 25-0, 25-16 and 17-15; then to Western 25-12, 22-25 and 15-4.

The Ceremonies have opened

VALHALLA — The Games have begun … that’s the Empire State Games, of course! Technically, they’re the Gov. Hugh L. Carey Empire State Games, so named for the former chief executive who helped put the inaugural event in motion back in 1978.

This year’s Opening Ceremonies have just begun, with the parade of athletes into Kensico Dam Plaza still underway as I type.

Here’s a shot I snapped of keynote speaker Jeremy Schaap (center) preparing for his speech before the thousands in attendance. Admittedly, I'm no Ansel Adams, hence the "amateur" in that pro-am I spoke of earlier.

I just spoke to a slew of local athletes and coaches, who were getting ready to enter the Opening Ceremonies.

“It’s just a good experience to get to this level, and know that you had to make it to this level,” said Brenna O’Keefe, a Hudson Valley swimmer who will be a junior at Hyde Park’s Roosevelt High School in the fall. “All these people are good at what they do.”

An hour 'til kick-off

VALHALLA — As I sit here at my improvised press box (that being an empty picnic table here at the Kensico Dam Plaza), we're little more than 60 minutes away from Opening Ceremonies.

Arriving even before the athletes get here, a school bus filled with media members pulled up to the plaza in a yellow school bus like this one (yes, I drove over an hour to get to Westchester County, only to take a ride in a school bus!) just like the thousands of spectators who are still filing into the venue, folding chairs and entertainment waiting to greet them.

A local marching band has just finished its performance, keeping the fans on hand pumped until the festivities here commence at 7:30 p.m.

Here's another shot I just snapped — this one of the grand stage where dignitaries and tonight's keynote speaker, Emmy Award-winning journalist Jeremy Schaap, will greet all in attendance.

(Just call me a "Mo-Jo" ... that's mobile journalist, taking pictures and writing stories! It's a "pro-am" approach.)

Well, time to wait for some local athletes to arrive so I can talk to them for stories I'm working on for tomorrow's edition of the Poughkeepsie Journal.

It's almost time to hear those four words we've been waiting a year for: Let the games begin!

Greetings from Westchester!

(Posted by Journal sports reporter Sean T. McMann)

PLEASANTVILLE — Two hours before tonight's Opening Ceremonies, I've settled into the media center here at Pace University's Miller Hall.

Driving down on the Taconic State Parkway earlier this afternoon, I passed several electronic signs along the way that alerted drivers of tonight's events and warned them to avoid the Taconic between 4 p.m. and 12 a.m.

Additionally, I saw several police cars making sure drivers on the Taconic obeyed the posted speed limits.

The lesson here? If you're heading to the Opening Ceremonies, try an alternate route than the Taconic, and by all means, budget extra time so you don't speed.

Another heads-up: There is no parking at Valhalla's Kensico Dam Plaza, site of tonight's event. Shuttles for fans will be departing Westchester Community College to the plaza, so you'll have to go to WCC for parking.

For more information on the kick-off event, click here.

Opening ceremony is approaching

From assistant sports editor Dan Pietrafesa

Poughkeepsie Journal sports writer Sean McMann has arrived at the media center for the 2007 Empire States Games and is preparing to cover tonight's opening ceremony at Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla at 7:30 p.m.

If you're going to tonight's ceremony, here are the directions courtesy of www.westchestergov.com/parks: Take Taconic Parkway south to Bronx River Parkway south to Kensico Dam Plaza. A short distance after passing the Valhalla Train Station, at next traffic light turn left and follow route to the huge open park on your left.

Check the Empire State Games blog, the Poughkeepsie Journal's Web site www.poughkeepsiejournal.com and the Poughkeepsie Journal each day for complete coverage of the Empire State Games.

ESG coverage coming

Sean McMann will be at the Opening Ceremonies on Wednesday, then out in the field on Thursday. Phil Strum will be down there on Friday; Mike Benischek will be there on Saturday, and Nancy Haggerty will be there on all four days.

We'll have photos, news and notes, anecdotes, scoring updates ... all right here on the ESG blog. The ESG official web site doesn't exactly have "live" results - that is to say, it takes a while to get them up on the site, so our people in the field will be filing to here each day to let you know what's going on in a more urgent manner.

If you're taking photos down there, send them to us. We'll create a gallery and post them on the web site.

Here's hoping for nice weather for every day of the event.

Games are almost here

In Sunday's paper, we'll have a full page of ESG information inside, including tips on traveling, news and notes from some of the venues, a look at some ESG athletes who went on to be pro stars, and a first-person story from Shannon Minter.

Shannon recently completed her basketball career at Marist College - but she also played in four ESGs, including being on last year's women's open team, which took the gold medal.

Next week, when the Games start, come to the ESG blog for live scoring updates, medal counts, photos and more.

ESG profiles winding down

Hey! The Games are almost here. We passed the halfway point of our 30 profiles in 30 days this week.

Friday's profile is about Chris Malet (pictured), who is a coach for the Hudson Valley lacrosse team. They medaled last year for the first time in ... forever. First time in a long time, anyway.

After Malet, soccer player Sarah Porco, cyclist Jesse Dekrey of Rhinebeck ... and women's open soccer player Kara Green, formerly of Spackenkill High.

For my own planning purposes, I broke down our local participation in each sport for this summer's ESGs. We've got 30 local people playing soccer this year, including 13 guys on the men's Open team.

Nineteen locals are doing track & field in the Open and Scholastic divisions; we've got 13 wrestlers, 12 rowers, eight softball players, six basketball players and five players each in baseball, ice hockey, swimming and volleyball.

This doesn't include all the local Masters folks, and most of those entrants are doing track & field.

That's a big dude

Friday's ESG profile is about Carl Pappalardo of New Paltz, who qualified in masters Greco-Roman wrestling.

Carl is an interesting fellow. He has competed successfully in sumo wrestling here in the states, and actually had to lose a bunch of weight to qualify for ESGs.

Carl has some rather interesting training methods, like this one you're seeing in the photo here. He actually does a shoveling motion with that dumbbell you see. Perhaps it's so that he doesn't get tired shoveling the grave of his opponent after the match is over.

I joke, of course. This guy is a serious wrestler who last competed in the ESGs in 1982, as a 192-pound eighth-grader. Woof.

Grab Friday's paper to read about Carl.

For the love of field hockey

Wednesday's ESG profile is about Kristin McGurl (pictured), who is heading into her senior year at Arlington High.

Before coming here, I was a sportswriter in Connecticut for a while, and the level of high school field hockey there was quite high - just like it is here.

So I gained an early appreciation for field hockey in my learning years as a sportswriter. The key to enjoying it is understanding why the whistle blows all the time. It's quite simple, really. If a player is advancing the ball and it's stopped by the foot of another player, it's an obstruction, the whistle blows, and the player who was advancing the ball basically plays on.

Unlike many sports, a whistle blowing in field hockey doesn't mean to relax. It's just a quick stoppage most times, then the battling resumes.

Other than that, like ice hockey, the game is about being aggressive and controlling the ball. I saw the Hudson Valley ESG field hockey team win gold in person in 2005; they won it again last year.

If you have a chance to watch some ESG field hockey this summer, don't blow it off. It's intense and it moves, which is what most people look for at sporting events.

Profile-mania

Our ESG profiles roll on. Tuesday's feature is about David Speranza (pictured), a local guy who will be umpiring ESG baseball games. I enjoyed talking to him. He's a nice guy.

After David, field hockey player Kristin McGurl, then sprinter Tiere Spruill.

I couldn't help but notice that Julianne Viani and Ryan Stilphen of Marist are on the open basketball rosters. We wrote about Viani last summer; we'll profile Stilphen later this month.

What do you think of the profiles?