SARATOGA SPRINGS — With the threat of a snowstorm on their horizon, the Skidmore College riding team won their season-opening Stable Game competition on Saturday, totaling 42 points. SUNY Cobleskill and Morrisville State College tied for reserve with 30 points.  Skidmore riders also added 12 wins to their Blue Ribbon Challenge.

Six Skidmore open riders started the day, with Harper Sanford winning section A and Sadie Nesbitt winning section B. Isa Jensen won section B of the Intermediate Fences, and Lily Josephs and Eleanor Peterson each won their section of Limit Fences.

Thoroughbreds continued to dominate on the flat, winning the first six flat classes. Sanford won section A of Open Flat, and Kenya Sanders won section B. Charlotte Lyon and Georgia Quackenbos each won their section of Intermediate Flat, and Josephs and Peterson returned to win their sections of Limit Flat. Winning both of their classes, Sanford, Josephs, and Peterson rode off for the High Point Rider Award. Peterson came out on top, with Josephs taking the Reserve High Point title.

Two team members also made their Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association debut. Rose Reber rode to fourth in the Pre-Novice Equitation, and Sadie Applegate overcame some unexpected behavior from her mount to win her Introductory Equitation.

The day wrapped up with special awards presented to Peterson, who won Ride of the Day for her trip in the Limit Fences on Clay, and Aidan McNamara who was awarded Horse Handler of the Day. Skidmore’s Skye was awarded the Horse of the Show award, for his versatility in all levels of jumping competition. 

Currently, eight Skidmore riders are qualified for Regional Finals. Sanders leads the Regional Cacchione ranking for Open Riders with 65 points, with Sanford close on her heels with 64 points.

The team competes next at Morrisville State College on Feb. 22.

Individual Results 

Kenya Sanders ’25 Open Fences 3rd, Open Flat 1st 

Harper Sanford ’25 Open Fences 1st, Open Flat 1st 

Sadie Nesbitt ’25 Open Fences 1st, Limit Flat 3rd 

Lillard Preschlack ’26 Limit Flat 2nd 

Avery Johnson ’28 Open Fences 5th 

Aidan McNamara ’27 Open Fences 5th 

Charlotte Lyon ’25 Intermediate Fences 5th, Intermediate Flat 1st 

Isa Jensen ’27 Intermediate Fences 1st 

Georgia Quackenbos ’25 Intermediate Flat 1st 

Lily Josephs ’25 Limit Fences 1st, Limit Flat 1st, Reserve High Point Rider

Eleanor Peterson ’26 Limit Fences 1st, Limit Flat 1st, High Point Rider, Ride of the Day

Rose Reber ’28 Pre-Novice Equitation 4th 

Alice Wrede ’27 Introductory Equitation 2nd 

Sadie Applegate ’27 Introductory Equitation 1st 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Racers of the American Basketball Association (ABA) will wrap up their regular season this Sunday at home against the New Hampshire Kingz at 3 p.m. All of the Racers’ home games are played at Saratoga Central Catholic on Broadway.

Saratoga’s penultimate game will be the prior day, Feb. 22, on the road against the Connecticut Surge. Their game against the Binghamton Bulldogs on Feb. 16 was cancelled due to the snowstorm.

The 12-6 Racers are currently #21 in the ABA’s national rankings and are the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference White Division. They’re expected to begin competing in single-elimination playoff games in early March.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Skidmore College women’s basketball team clinched a spot in the Liberty League playoff tournament last Friday when they defeated William Smith College, 56 to 45. Then they beat RIT the following day, 63 to 46, in their penultimate game of the regular season.

Against William Smith, the Thoroughbreds were led by seniors Cassie Davidson and Sarah Chambers, who both scored 15 points. The pair also combined for 16 rebounds, 8 steals, and 3 assists. The victory extended Skidmore’s winning streak against William Smith to 9 straight.

At RIT, the Thoroughbreds had five players in double figures, led by Chambers with 13 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.

2025 is the fourth year in a row that Skidmore has qualified for the playoffs. The team will finish its regular season on Feb. 22 at home against St. Lawrence and Clarkson. The game is the annual Big Green Scream event, as well as Senior Day.

The Liberty League Tournament will begin on Feb. 25.

AMSTERDAM — The Amsterdam Mohawks of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) have signed three local ballplayers to their 2025 roster.

Michael Mack, a graduate of Saratoga Springs High School and currently a freshman at Northeastern University, will pitch for the Mohawks this summer after recovering from an injury. The right-handed, former Suburban Council Pitcher of the Year has a low 90s fastball “with legitimate secondary pitches,” according to the Mohawks.

Joining Mack on Amsterdam’s pitching staff will be Ballston Spa native and Stony Brook University freshman Matt Sgambati. The right-hander pitched for Albany last season in the PGCBL. He’s a Christian Brothers Academy grad who posted a .95 ERA and hit .380 during his senior season.

Also appearing on the mound in Amsterdam this summer will be Joe Gold, another B-Spa native and Christian Brothers Academy alum. Gold pitched for the Mohawks in 2023 as a high school senior, showing off a 93 m.p.h. fastball and an effective breaking ball. He’s currently a sophomore at Boston College.

The 13-time PGCBL champion Mohawks will open their 2025 season on May 29 at the Rao Family Stadium at Shuttleworth Park in Amsterdam.

GLENS FALLS — A black Cybertruck adorned with “Anthony Constantino for Congress” stickers pulled into an empty parking space near the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls last Friday night, signaling that MAGA world had rolled into town.

The guests of honor at the arena’s “Cage Wars 69” mixed-martial arts (MMA) event were the 21st congressional district hopeful Constantino, and Roger Stone, a man once dubbed the “boastful black prince of Republican sleaze.” Stone – whose long career in conservative politics has landed him a front row seat to the Trump, Reagan, and Nixon presidencies – was dressed, per usual, to the nines, with a gray and blue suit draped over his famous back tattoo of Richard Nixon’s face.

His mentee Constantino was clad in all black, with a “fight fight fight” t-shirt appropriately referencing both the MMA event he self-financed (reportedly to the tune of around $50,000), as well as the memorable words shouted by Donald Trump after his assassination attempt last year at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

Stone and Constantino posed for photos inside the arena in front of a step and repeat banner that featured a picture of Constantino. Then the aspiring congressman entered the octagon through a cloud of smoke and multi-colored lights as the song “We Are the World” blared, delivering a campaign speech to thousands of spectators.

“I watched on the sidelines for eight years as people were very disrespectful to our favorite president and, more importantly, to his supporters,” Constantino said while imitating Trump’s signature hand gestures. “I ended up deciding to speak up after he was shot. I saw him shot in Butler and I immediately spoke up and endorsed him. It became the most viral endorsement of the 2024 campaign cycle.”

Constantino’s rapid ascendancy to political fame began around the end of last year, when he stationed a 100-foot-wide, lit-up “Vote for Trump” sign atop the Amsterdam, New York headquarters of Sticker Mule, a printing company he owns. The sign and the subsequent kerfuffle it inspired resulted in a New York Times article that caught Trump’s attention. When Elise Stefanik was nominated to serve as Trump’s United Nations ambassador, thus likely leaving a vacancy in the 21st congressional district (which now includes the northeastern parts of Saratoga County), Constantino decided to leverage his celebrity into a bonafide political career.

“I want to be honest. I’m interested in running not just to be your congressman, I’m interested in being the best congressman in the United States of America,” Constantino said to the chattering, half-interested crowd.

Constantino elaborated on some of his political priorities, which include bringing high-speed internet and cellphone service to the district to encourage the creation of internet businesses and remote jobs; securing the Canadian border to prevent “drugs, crime, terrorism, and low wage workers from pouring into our district”; cutting regulations that hinder the sale of raw milk; finishing the Fort Drum missile defense system; and enticing people to live in New York to help offset the state’s recent population loss. 

Regardless of how the thousands of fight fans felt about the political nature of the event, none could complain about the cost. Admission to the event was free, and the arena entrance was stocked with complimentary “Constantino for Congress” merch. Constantino later said that the 4,000 people in attendance constituted “the biggest amateur MMA event in [New York State] history.”

The fight card included Joe Crabill defeating Stephen Persaud in the main event lightweight title contest via unanimous decision, Malang Susso beating Alex Williams in a co-main event welterweight title fight, and Arben Loga besting Husan Jamshidov via unanimous decision in a flyweight championship bout.

The event was held at the Cool Insuring Arena after Cage Wars’ former host, the Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady, severed ties with the fight promoter earlier this year. The casino said the decision to send Cage Wars elsewhere was strictly business, but Constantino has alleged it was politically motivated.