Photo of Mike Eglintine via Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
GENEVA, NEW YORK — Mike Eglintine, a 2018 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School, was hired last week by Hobart and William Smith Colleges as an assistant Strength and Conditioning coach.
Eglintine was a strength and conditioning graduate fellow at Merrimack College, where he earned a master’s degree in exercise and sport science earlier this year. He earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science/fitness development from SUNY Cortland in 2023. During the spring 2022 semester, Eglintine served as a football strength and conditioning intern at Syracuse University.
At SUNY Cortland, Eglintine played tight end for the Red Dragons football team, which captured two Empire 8 Championships during his tenure. He played in a total of 24 games, catching a pair of touchdowns. In 2022, he was named the Empire 8 Football Sportsman of the Year. Eglintine also played football and basketball at Saratoga Springs High School.
CLEVELAND, OHIO — Joe Tessitore, a sportscaster from Schenectady, will join World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) “Monday Night Raw” broadcast team as a play-by-play commentator beginning Monday, September 2. The news was announced by fellow commentator Michael Cole during WWE’s SummerSlam event on Saturday.
“This is absolutely not the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, New York when I was a little kid seeing Chief Jay Strongbow and skipping school to go to PYX 106 parties with Big John Studd,” Tessitore reminisced during SummerSlam.
Tessitore attended the Christian Brothers Academy in Albany, and later worked at WRGB, the CBS affiliate TV station in Albany, early in his career. Since then, he’s called both boxing matches and NFL games for ESPN. He was also an announcer on “Holey Moley,” a miniature golf competition show on ABC.
The Miss Scotties Terriers softball team wrapped up their season by winning the Halfmoon 16U Tournament last month, despite only having eight players. The team is part of Miss Scotties Softball, a developmental girls softball league founded in 2006. Photo via Miss Scotties Softball.
A Not This Time colt was sold for $3.4 million during the first session of the 103rd Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale on August 5. Photo via Fasig-Tipton.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The 103rd edition of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale set new records for gross, average, and median, the company announced on Wednesday.
The two-session horse sale was held at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs on August 5 and 6, resulting in 154 yearlings sold for a record gross of $82,160,000. This broke the $75,055,000 record set last year.
The average and median figures also surpassed 2023 records. The average rose from $487,370 to $533,506, and the median climbed from $375,000 to $425,000. The sale also posted an 18.5% reserve-not-attained (RNA) rate, the lowest since 2015.
“It’s been a remarkable two nights of selling horses,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning in a statement. “We felt very confident coming here this year that the quality of horses in this catalog is the best we’ve ever had. I think the buyers proved us right.”
The highest individual sale was $3.4 million for a Not This Time colt, which was the fifth most expensive colt offered in the history of the Saratoga Sale. The colt was sold to Donato Lanni, an agent for Zedan Racing.
The second-highest sale was $2.4 million for an Into Mischief colt. Lane’s End, agent for Pamela Wygod and The Wygod Family Revocable Trust, consigned the bay colt.
Other notable sales included:
A Gun Runner colt out of Secret Sigh, sold for $1,900,000 to M.V. Magnier/White Birch from the consignment of Lane’s End, agent for Summer Wind Equine.
A filly by Curlin sold for $1,900,000 to West Bloodstock, agent for Robert & Lawana Low, from the consignment of Gainesway, agent for Don Alberto Corporation.
A colt by Gun Runner sold for $1,700,000 to Resolute Bloodstock from the consignment of Bluewater Sales, agent.
A Gun Runner filly out of multiple Grade 1 winner Pure Clan, sold for $1,500,000 to Whisper Hill Farm from the consignment of Gainesway, agent.
A colt by Tapit sold for $1,500,000 to Flying Dutchmen from the consignment of Lane’s End, agent for Don Alberto Corporation.
A colt from the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Charlatan sold for $1,500,000 to Resolute Bloodstock from the consignment of Warrendale Sales, agent for Stonestreet Bred & Raised.
A Ghostzapper filly out of Seeking the Blue, sold for $1,200,000 to Resolute Bloodstock from the consignment of Gainesway, agent.
Saratoga rower Kristi Wagner competes with her double sculls partner Sophia Vitas. Lauren O’Connor, another Saratoga rower, is seen in competition with her quadruple sculls partners. Wagner and O’Connor both competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photos via U.S. Rowing.
PARIS, FRANCE — Two members of the Saratoga Rowing Association competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics this week and last week: Kristi Wagner and Lauren O’Connor. As of press time, Wagner was scheduled to row in the women’s double sculls B Final on Thursday. O’Connor was slated to compete in the women’s quadruple sculls B Final on Wednesday.
Wagner had finished third in a prior event on Saturday, which allowed her to advance to the semifinals held on Tuesday. In the semifinals, Wagner and her doubles partner Sophia Vitas placed fifth with a time of 07:04.12.
O’Connor’s quadruple sculls team also placed fifth in their repechage event on Monday morning, sending them to the B Final.
Both Wagner and O’Connor have been knocked out of the running for medals, but their overall placement in the games will depend upon their performances on Thursday and Wednesday, respectively.
The Paris 2024 games marked Wagner’s second Olympic appearance. She previously finished fifth at the 2020 games in Tokyo. For O’Connor, the Paris games were her first time in Olympic competition.
Wagner and Vitas previously won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Rowing Championships. Wagner is the host of a podcast, “The Other 3 Years,” in which she discusses her journey to qualify for the Olympics. Her profile on the Team USA website notes that she enjoys hiking in the Adirondacks. She is currently the Regatta Director for the Saratoga Rowing Association, where she plans the “Head of the Fish” race held in October on Fish Creek.
O’Connor finished 11th in quadruple sculls at the 2023 World Rowing Championships. She is originally from Belleville, Wisconsin. She has been a coach and athlete at the Saratoga Rowing Association for the past three years.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs City School District is looking to hire a handful of assistant coaches for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year.
Vacant assistant positions include girl’s soccer at Maple Ave Middle School, girl’s cross-country at Maple Ave, modified 9 boy’s soccer, and junior varsity girl’s volleyball.
The positions are all for the Fall 2024 season and come with a stipend per the Saratoga Springs Teachers Association contract.
For more information, visit saratogaschools.recruitfront.com/JobOpportunities.
Image of Brett Rodriguez via the Tri-City ValleyCats.
TROY — The Tri-City ValleyCats, a professional baseball team competing in the Frontier League, announced Tuesday that they had signed Queensbury native Brett Rodriguez to their roster. Rodriguez made his debut for the team on Tuesday night against the New England Knockouts, playing right field.
Rodriguez was signed to a minor league contract by the Seattle Mariners in 2020. He spent time with the High-A Everett AquaSox, the Single-A Modesto Nuts, and the Indios de Mayagüez team in Puerto Rico. In 2021, he reached the AAA level, playing in two games for the Tacoma Rainiers.
Last year, he had 153 plate appearances for Modesto, finishing with a .693 OPS and 15 stolen bases. In July 2023, he was released by the Nuts. Earlier this year, he played 39 games with the Milwaukee Milkmen, an independent team based in Wisconsin.
After a three-game home series against New England, the ValleyCats will hit the road for three games against the New York Boulders. Prior to the New England series, Tri-City was 35-31 on the season, placing them fourth in the Frontier League’s East Division.
GLENS FALLS — The Glens Falls Dragons, an amateur baseball team that competes in the Perfect Game Collegiate League, wrapped up its season last Sunday with a 7-1 loss at home to the Saugerties Stallions.
Overall, the team had a rough season, finishing with a 8-30-1 record. Despite this, the Dragons had some standout individual performances. Dominican outfielder Odilio Cespedes had a .290 batting average in 100 at-bats. He also led the team with 11 RBI. Utility player Cody Meier earned a .282 average across 110 at-bats, and had the second-most RBI with 8.
On the mound, pitcher Riley Orr (a Queensbury native) led the way with 29 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched. Not far behind was southpaw Alfonso Lombardi, who had 27 strikeouts across 26.2 innings. JJ Trudeau, a freshman from Cohoes, had a 3.48 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 20.2 innings.
The Dragons roster this season featured a number of local competitors from Clifton Park, Mechanicville, Ballston Lake, East Greenbush, and other communities. The team plays its games at the East Field in Glens Falls.
The logo for the Saratoga Racers, a new professional basketball team based in Saratoga Springs. Image provided by team co-owner Mike James.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Spa City will soon be adding a new attraction: a professional basketball team called the Saratoga Racers.
The Racers will be part of the American Basketball Association (ABA), a re-launched version of the legendary 1970s league that once featured stars such as “Dr. J” Julius Erving and Moses Malone. Saratoga will compete in the East Region’s White Division, which also includes the Albany 518 Ballers, Buffalo eXtreme, and Hudson Valley Rivermen.
The team plans to hold its regular season games at the Saratoga Central Catholic gym. The season will consist of around 20 to 25 games, beginning in late October and finishing at the end of February. Single elimination playoff games will follow in March.
The Racers are owned by Keith Harrington, a former Director of Communications and Media for the Glens Falls Dragons baseball team, and Mike James, a sports announcer and Saratoga Springs High School graduate.
“It’s a dream come true to be an owner of my own team,” Harrington said.
“We’re really pleased to [welcome] Mike and Keith as part of the ABA; they bring a lot of experience to the league and I have no doubt that they will be successful on and off the court,” ABA CEO Joe Newman said in a statement.
Saratoga was previously represented in the ABA by the Spa City Gamblers, which left the league in 2020, and the Saratoga Yankees, which went kaput at the end of the 1951-1952 season.
“I knew Saratoga used to have a team and then they folded,” James said. “I wanted to bring it back to Saratoga and make it fun again.”
Harrington and James have been steadily piecing together their new franchise, landing sponsors such as Greenwich Ford, D’Andrea’s Pizza, Pinnacle Roofing, and G&S Printing. They also found an experienced coach/general manager to build their roster: Bob Catherwood, a well-known fixture in the Capital Region basketball scene.
“I called up [Mike James] and I said, we have to hire this guy. This is the guy right here. So we’re excited to have him on board with us,” Harrington said.
Catherwood’s prior coaching experience includes stints with title-winning teams such as the Albany Legends and Albany Patroons. He’s also coached at the collegiate level with Schenectady Community College and Hudson Valley Community College.
“I count my blessings every day that I have the opportunity to coach the game that I love,” Catherwood said. “I’m not looking to make money. I’m looking to make these guys better by teaching them the right way to play the game.”
Catherwood is still assembling his roster, which will include a number of players with professional-level experience overseas.
“We have about 35 guys now that are looking to play for us and every day we get more calls,” Catherwood said.
The public can get its first glimpse of the Racers in an exhibition game against the Bennington Martens on Saturday, August 10 at 6 p.m. in the Gavin Park gym. Admission is free. Drinks and food will be available.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Work began Monday on Skidmore College’s $3.4 million turf baseball field. The new diamond will be on Daniels Road, northwest of the school’s main campus, and will be ready in time for the spring 2025 season.
The facility is expected to accommodate more spectators and “enhance” player experience, the college said when the project was announced in March.
