LATHAM — The Saratoga Springs gymnastics team won its 22nd-straight Section 2 championship last week at Shaker High School in Latham. The Blue Streaks took first place in vault, uneven bars, floor, and all around. 

The Section 2 championship team includes Lily McKinley, Ellie Ott, Maddy Austin, Ayla Skinner, Alyssa Caiano, Kate Browne, Miranda Putorti, Gia DiMaggio, Nicole Fitzgerald, Makenzie Lanning, and Isabella Trimarchi.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Last week, the Saratoga Springs Professional Firefighters hockey team played against the Troy Firefighters IAFF Local 86 in a benefit game to raise funds for the family of Schenectady Fire Department Lieutenant Mark Barkyoumb. According to Saratoga firefighter Chris Stewart, over $15,000 was raised for Barkyoumb’s family. The Saratoga and Troy hockey teams will face off again on March 21 at the Weibel Ice Rink at 6 p.m.

Barkyoumb passed away unexpectedly last month while off duty. He was 38 years old, and a married father of four. Barkyoumb most recently served as the Lieutenant of Rescue One on the 2nd Platoon of the Schenectady Fire Department.

Three players on the Saratoga Fire hockey team worked with Barkyoumb as members of the Schenectady Fire Department.

LAKE PLACID — The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup was held at the Olympic Jumping Complex in Lake Placid last weekend. Austria’s Stefan Kraft was the event’s big winner, earning titles in both the super team competition and the individual competition.

TUNIS, TUNISIA — Melissa Myers from the Jason Morris Judo Center in Glenville captured a Gold medal at the Tunis African Open on February 11. Myers went 4-0 in the 70kg division. 

The Tunis Open was the final event of a three-week tour in which Myers competed at the Grand Prix in Portugal and at the Paris Grand Slam in France. After Tunis, Myers’ world ranking improved to a career-high #73. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS —The Skidmore College Thoroughbreds baseball team announced last week its captains for the upcoming season: outfielder Jaden Torrado, lefty pitcher Ameer Hasan, and catcher/infielder Trey Bourque. The team also held its 2024 media day three days prior.

Last year, catcher Jackson Hornung became the first Skidmore athlete to be drafted by a professional team when he was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 16th round of the MLB Draft.

Just one week after being picked up by the New York Yankees, upstate New York native Matt Gage has been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson. The Dodgers also received 19-year-old prospect Christian Zazueta as part of the trade deal. The Yankees were in search of a bullpen southpaw following the departure of Wandy Peralta to the San Diego Padres.

Gage is an upstate New York native who attended Broadalbin-Perth High School. He pitched for Siena College before being drafted by the San Francisco Giants. Gage has pitched for both the Houston Astros and the Toronto Blue Jays for a combined 19.2 innings and 1.83 ERA.

SARATOGA SPRINGS —If not for his time in Saratoga Springs, Anthony Weaver might’ve never made it to the NFL. 

Blaise Juliano, who would become Weaver’s high school football coach, heard that Weaver was a great athlete, and went to the junior high gym to recruit him into the football program. Juliano said he put his arm around Weaver and said, “Tony, I know you’re a great athlete and I know you love basketball, but I think you should consider football.” Weaver took Juliano up on the offer. “We laugh about it,” Juliano said. “That’s where you are today because I happened to go down and look [you] up in junior high.”

Weaver started playing football for the Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks in 1995, when he was in 9th grade. The next year, he was brought up to the varsity team, where he played offensive guard. For the next three years, Weaver played for Coach Juliano. By the time he was a senior, he was being actively recruited by colleges with elite football programs. 

According to Juliano, Weaver weighed 238 pounds when he last played for Saratoga. The next game Weaver played, he was a starter for Notre Dame and weighed 255 pounds. “I thought that was pretty impressive,” Juliano said. After an accomplished college career at Notre Dame, Weaver was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft.

Weaver ended up playing in Baltimore for four years, then with the Houston Texans for another three years. During his playing career, he had 200 tackles, 15.5 sacks, and 57 assisted tackles. As his body began to wear down, “he decided to look into coaching and he gave me a call,” Juliano said. 

Weaver began his coaching career as defensive graduate assistant at the University of Florida, then had a stint at the University of North Texas before heading back to the NFL. In 2012, he became the New York Jets’ assistant defensive line coach. He then became defensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans before going back to Baltimore, where in 2022, he was promoted to assistant head coach. 

Weaver soon attracted attention from teams around the league, and in January of 2024, he interviewed with both the Atlanta Falcons and the Washington Commanders for their vacant head coaching positions. Ultimately, he ended up being hired by the Miami Dolphins as the team’s new defensive coordinator. 

Juliano said he thinks Weaver will make a great NFL head coach one day. In the meantime, Weaver continues to stay in touch with his Saratoga mentors. “When he comes back to Saratoga, he’ll go and visit his elementary teacher and see all of his friends,” Juliano said. “He and I are on a very close basis, and I consider him more family than just a former player.”

“When I received the Head Football Coach position at Saratoga, he was the first to text me and congratulate me,” current Saratoga Springs varsity football coach Eric Hayden told Saratoga TODAY. “Anthony is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. His Athletic achievements are amazing, but his personality is what separates him.”

Juliano echoed the sentiment. “One of the biggest qualities that you notice about him is his adaptability to people and his love for people,” Juliano said. “He’s really a great person.”

Weaver was inducted into the Saratoga Springs Blue Streak Hall of Fame in 2010. His entry on the Hall of Fame website states that Weaver “has offered financial support to the football program and reached out to needy children in the community.”

“We hold an annual youth football clinic in Saratoga and he will come and see all the kids,” Hayden said. “One year he couldn’t make the clinic, so he sent a bunch of prizes and autographed material for us coaches to give out to kids who were working hard.  He even sent a video to say hello to us all.”

Although Saratoga football fans may be fiercely loyal to the New York Giants or Buffalo Bills, Hayden said they’ll now “have a reason to turn on Dolphins games.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS —The Saratoga Springs boys varsity hockey team faced Shenendehowa last Wednesday in a rivalry game. The Blue Streaks came out on top, 3-2.

Going into the game, the Blue Streaks knew they had to put their best foot forward. With Shen having an undefeated record in their section, Saratoga Head Coach Tim Horst said that they knew it was going to be a challenge, as it is every time the two teams face each other.

“It’s a big game for us every year because Shen’s a big rival for us,” Coach Horst said. “We always know we’ve got to come to the rink ready to play, and it’s going to be a one-goal game every single time. We’re going to need every single guy on the roster to contribute in some way in order to beat a team like them.”

The team rose up to this challenge. Coach Horst praised the three goal scorers, Jayson Carpenter, Daniel Klochaney, and Jack Murauskas. He also highlighted his senior players for leading the way with their energy and experience. “They led by example. They played in three years of the Shen games and they know what it means to our community, to our school, to represent Saratoga in that game, and how big of a rivalry it is.”

Coach Horst also noted how the enthusiasm that all his players, especially his seniors, have brought to every game and practice has helped them grow as a team, and improve throughout the year. He said this improvement is what they had been striving for, and they’ve noticed a difference.

“I think we’ve seen some of the results on the ice during the games, but we haven’t really hit our peak yet. That’s our goal: just to hit our peak right during playoffs,” Coach Horst said.

With the Blue Streaks’ regular season now over, they’re turning their attention to the playoffs. They’ll aim to keep improving, and play their best once sectionals begins.

Saratoga Springs varsity cheerleading coach Ricardo Smith poses with his team after they captured first place at the Suburban Council Championship Competition at Shenendehowa High School last Sunday.