GLENS FALLS — The Adirondack Thunder, an ECHL ice hockey team affiliated with the New Jersey Devils, beat the Maine Mariners at home, 2-0, in th decisive game 7 of the Kelly Cup Playoff North Division Semifinals last week. After winning the series, the Thunder advanced to the North Division Finals to take on the Norfolk Admirals.

In game 7, goalie Isaac Poulter stopped 21 shots for the shutout, while Ryan Wheeler and Tristan Ashbrook scored the Thunder’s two goals.

In game 1 against the Admirals last Friday night at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, the Thunder fell, 7 to 4.  Ryan Smith scored two goals in the contest. His second goal came at the end of the second period, putting Adirondack ahead 4-3. But Norfolk erupted offensively in the third, scoring four goals and taking the first game of the series.

Game 2 on Saturday was a closer contest but the Admirals got the better of the Thunder once again, scoring three goals in the final period to take the W, 5 to 2. Yushiroh Hirano and Tristan Ashbrook contributed Adirondack’s two goals. 

Down 2-0, the Thunder traveled to Norfolk for game 3 on Wednesday night. 

MILL SPRING, N.C. — The Belmont Stakes isn’t the only horse show in town.

The Skidmore College riding team finished third overall with 39 points at the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association National Championship in North Carolina last weekend.

Skidmore narrowly lost out to Sacred Heart University, which took second place with 41.5 points. Savannah College of Art and Design were crowned national champions with 59 points.

“We are very proud of this team’s hard work and dedication,” Head Equestrian Coach Belinda Colgan told Saratoga TODAY. “It is a pleasure to coach these outstanding individuals who demonstrate such wonderful sportsmanship and camaraderie.”

Among individual Skidmore competitors, Kenya Sanders finished fourth, Harper Sanford was third in the Team Open Equitation on the Flat, and Isa Jensen was sixth in the Team Intermediate Equitation on the Flat. Skidmore’s horse “Crosby” also won high point horse of the show.

To reach nationals, the Thoroughbreds first captured the Zone 2 Region 3 Championship with a score of 48 last month at Long Island University – Post.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — When Donna Barton Brothers retired from horse racing in 1998, she was the second-winningest female jockey in the country by money earned. Since then, she’s become one of the sport’s most prominent advocates, using her talents as a broadcaster and reporter for NBC Sports to explain the complicated world of horse racing to the masses.

“We have a lot of language that is specific only to our sport,” Brothers told Saratoga TODAY, “and it doesn’t make people want to know more about our sport if we constantly use language that excludes them from understanding what we’re talking about.” 

On June 4, she’ll bring her explanatory skills to “Embrace the Belmont,” an event at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame that aims to teach the Saratoga community about its upcoming Triple Crown race. 

“I just wanted the people who are in town and the ones most affected by the Saratoga circus coming to town every year, to have an event for them,” Brothers said.

Fox Sports analysts Acacia Courtney Clement and Maggie Wolfendale will join Brothers at “Embrace the Belmont” and discuss all things Saratoga, which ranks as Brother’s second-favorite track in the country.

“Saratoga is such an iconic venue,” Brothers said. “When you walk in and look at that structure, you feel the 100 years plus of history ingrained in the wood.”

Brothers said that much like Keeneland in Louisville, Kentucky, people in the Saratoga paddock “still have a deep reverence for the sport.”

That reverence is part of the reason why Brothers said people in the horseracing industry are eagerly anticipating this year’s Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. But there are some aspects to this year’s race that insiders are less excited about, such as the New York Racing Association’s (NYRA) decision to run the event at a mile and a quarter instead of the traditional mile and a half.

Brothers also said that there’s been a push in the industry to change the Triple Crown schedule to make each race about a month apart, with the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May, the Preakness on the first Saturday of June, and finally Belmont on the first Saturday in July. Brothers said NYRA has been resistant to these proposed changes.

“I think it was a little bit surprising that they were willing to change the distance so quickly without any sort of discussion with people in the industry, but yet they seem to have very little willingness to change the dates, the spacing, of the Triple Crown races,” Brothers said.

Nonetheless, Brothers said that the primary response among horseracing insiders to this year’s Belmont is excitement.

“We love the history of horse racing and we love that some things will never change. But it’s also fun to have a little bit of excitement and have things shaken up just a little bit here and there,” she said.

One organization that has shaken up the industry a bit is Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga, organizers of the “Embrace the Belmont” event. Brothers visited the nonprofit’s facilities in March and came away impressed.

“They’re helping people who are marginalized in one way or another, and they’re treating those people in a proven, effective way,” Brothers said. “I think that kind of work is very important but also very underrated.”

Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga rescues retired racehorses and matches them with humans who can benefit from equine-assisted therapy. Some of those who benefit include both adults and children with mental illness, veterans, families, couples, and victims of domestic violence.

In support of the organization, Brothers will emcee “Embrace the Belmont” on Tuesday, June 4 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the National Museum of Horse Racing and Hall of Fame. To learn more about the event or to purchase a ticket, visit thsaratoga.org/events.

Last week in a victory over Scotia-Glenville, Schuylerville varsity lacrosse player Ollie Bolduc surpassed 250 career points.

 Image via the Schuylerville Lacrosse (@Sville_Lax) X account.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame announced its 2024 Hall of Fame class last week: 

• Jockey Joel Rosario and racehorses Gun Runner (KY) and Justify (KY) in the contemporary category

• Jockey Abe Hawkins and racehorses Aristides (KY) and Lecomte (KY) were selected by the Pre-1900 Historic Review Committee

• Harry F. Guggenheim, Clement L. Hirsch, and Joe Hirsch were chosen by the Pillars of the Turf Committee

Rosario, Gun Runner, and Justify were all elected in their first year of eligibility.

The 2024 Hall of Fame class will be enshrined on Friday, August 2 at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Museum website at www.racingmuseum.org. The event is open to the public and free to attend.

GREENWICH — The NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals signed undrafted free agent wide receiver Cole Burgess last week. Burgess is a Greenwich, New York native who played for SUNY Cortland, where he totaled 3,133 receiving yards and 35 touchdowns in his college career. 

Last month, Burgess had lunch at the Front St. Deli with Ballston Spa Mayor Frank Rossi. In a social media post, Rossi wrote that Burgess is “somebody that exudes not just confidence, but also positivity in every step he takes in his journey.”

In an official draft profile, NFL Analyst Lance Zierlein wrote that “Burgess has the size, testing, and production to create some league interest. He thrived against a lower level of competition but plays with a consistently competitive demeanor.”

DELHI — The Skidmore College softball team walloped SUNY Delhi last week, taking both games of a two-game series on the road. The contests ended after only five innings, thanks to the mercy rule, which occurs when a team is ahead by eight or more runs after five innings of play. The dominant victories may provide a spark for the struggling Thoroughbreds.

Game One

Skidmore – 16
SUNY Delhi – 3

In the first game, four Thoroughbreds had triples and five had stolen bases. Three players had three hits: Grace O’Connell (3 RBI), Hailey Clarke (3 RBI), and Franchesca Casillas (2 RBI). Clarke, a freshman, was a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate and pitched all five innings, striking out four and allowing two runs. She earned her first win of the season.

Game Two

Skidmore – 12
SUNY Delhi – 0

In a shutout victory, O’Connell went 3 for 4 with a double and a triple, driving in two runs. Outfielder Bernie Berner and catcher Jessica Nachamie also went 3 for 4. On the whole, the team had 15 hits, scoring multiple runs in three of their five innings. On the mound, freshman Mallory Allen earned the victory, giving up only one hit. Allen’s ERA for the season is now an impressive 1.43.

After the pair of wins, Skidmore improved to 5-18 on the season.

Last week, O’Connell was also named to the Liberty League’s Honor Roll thanks to an eight-game hitting streak. During the previous week, she was 9 for 16 with 3 RBI, 4 stolen bases, and one dinger.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Hang on to your hats (or helmets), some buckin’ broncos (or bikes) are headed to town. 

On May 9, at the East Side Recreation Park, the Saratoga Springs City School District is hosting a Bike Rodeo event that will include mechanics on site for minor repairs, a helmet fitting station, a bike safety station, games, a bike obstacle course, and a physical education teacher race. The district will also have its bike fleet available for those who don’t own their own bike.

Last year, said Lake Avenue Elementary physical education teacher Jake Zanetti, about 200 kids attended the rodeo. But he and the district are hoping even more will come galloping in this year.

“This has been a very big year as far as the Saratoga School District and bikes go,” Zanetti said. “We’re actually the first school district in the entire country to have a comprehensive, K-12 bike program in our schools.”

The Bikes in Schools program, launched earlier this month by Saratoga Shredders, is designed to enhance the physical education curriculum by integrating cycling into the daily activities of students across the district’s six elementary schools. 

The program is one of several recent bike-related happenings in Saratoga. Last weekend, Biketoga had its first monthly Slow Roll in Congress Park.

“We have a great biking community here,” Zanetti said. “It’s really becoming a more and more bike-friendly community as far as adding bike lanes around the city.”

Zanetti cited the new Graphite Range Community Forest in Wilton as one of several recent examples of the area offering more trails for bikers. 

“Saratoga the city is just a great place to get from point A to point B on a bike,” Zanetti said.

This year’s Bike Rodeo will take place on Thursday, May 9, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the East Side Recreation Park’s track and in-field off Caroline Street. The rodeo will be followed by Bike-to-School Day on Friday, May 17.

GLENS FALLS — The Adirondack Thunder, an ECHL ice hockey team affiliated with the New Jersey Devils, faced off against the Maine Mariners in the first two games of the Kelly Cup Playoff North Division Semifinals last weekend. The games were held at the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.

Game One

Thunder – 1
Mariners – 2

The Mariners took game one in front of a sellout crowd in Glens Falls. The Thunder’s lone goal came courtesy of Tristan Ashbrook, with assists from Shane Harper and Connor Blake. The Thunder held the Mariners to only one shot in the third period but couldn’t manage a second goal to tie the game. 

Game Two

Thunder – 2
Mariners – 0

The Thunder came back with a vengeance in game two, claiming a shutout victory. Goalie Isaac Poulter blocked 21 shots, while Shane Harper scored both of Adirondack’s goals. The Thunder evened the series at home, 1-1, in front of a near-capacity crowd.

If the Thunder are able to win at least one of the next three games in Maine, the series will return to Glens Falls on Tuesday, April 30 for game six of the seven-game series.

• Game 3 – Friday, April 26 at 7:15 p.m. – Adirondack at Maine

• Game 4 – Saturday, April 27 at 6:00 p.m. – Adirondack at Maine

• Game 5 – Sunday, April 28 at 3:00 p.m. – Adirondack at Maine

• Game 6 (if necessary) – Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m. – Maine at Adirondack

• Game 7 (if necessary) – Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. – Maine at Adirondack