The Saratoga Springs unified bowling team competed in the unified culminating event at Saratoga Strike Zone on March 9. The Blue Streaks placed fourth as a team. Bethlehem finished in first place, with Niskayuna in second and Columbia third.
TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN — Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School graduate Hannah Martin took seventh place at the Tashkent Grand Slam, a main event on the International Judo Federation’s Judo Tour.
Martin, from the Jason Morris Judo Center (JMJC) in Glenville, jumped 8 spots on the 63kg world ranking list up to #34. Hannah has only been back a little over a year since taking two years off to have a baby, and with this result qualifies for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, May 7-13, 2023.
The JMJC has now qualified a remarkable 37 athletes for the Worlds and are likely to qualify more for Doha.
NEW YORK — A pair of athletes from Ballston Spa capped off strong indoor track seasons by setting school records at the NYSPHSAA Indoor Track Championships on March 4.
Isaiah Hannah finished third in the 55-meter hurdles at the indoor championships, with his time of 7.50 seconds setting a new Ballston Spa school record. Hannah advanced to the Nike Indoor Nationals over the weekend, placing eighth in both the 55-meter hurdles (7.66) and the 60-meter hurdles (8.17).
Ballston Spa head coach Garry Preece said Hannah got off to a great start at the state meet, noting the senior is “one of the hardest-working kids” he has coached.
“He’s just constantly lifting, trying to get stronger, working on his starts,” said Preece. “That race, he attacked it. … It was very impressive.”
Harriet Healey placed seventh in the 300-meter (40.31), also setting her own school record. Preece said it was great to see Healey reach a podium after competing on the Section 2 Intersectional relay team at the 2022 state meet.
Healey’s personal record in the 300-meter entering this season was 42.29 seconds, according to results posted on athletic.net. Preece said Healey cut her time down to 41.52 seconds at a meet in Boston earlier this year before setting the school record at the state meet.
“She ran in Boston this year, she ran 41.52. It was almost a whole second faster than the year before, her previous PR,” Preece said. “Then, all of a sudden, she ran a 40.31 at the state meet, she ran another second faster. She’s crushing it this year with getting that time down.”
Preece said it was a successful indoor season, noting that in addition to the record-setting efforts of Hannah and Healey, the teams had strong seasons as a whole.
“We had our banquet (March 8), and I mentioned, if you go to MileSplit and you look at our team, you see PR after PR,” said Preece. “And we have such a young team. The girls have a very, very young team, and so do the boys.”
The Scotties’ boys and girls teams saw several highlights throughout the winter, including a sweep at the Viking Games at Hudson Valley Community College on Jan. 15. Preece said it was the first time both teams had won the invitational.
“It was a huge year,” Preece said. “There were a lot of great accomplishments.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Team registration has opened for the 2023 Adult Saratoga Softball League. The league offers co-ed and men’s slow pitch softball.
For fees and more information please email saratogasoftballleague@gmail.com or go to www.LeagueLineup.com/SaratogaCoed.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Second Chance Sports is having a wood racquet-only day on July 1. The event started in 1990 in Saratoga Springs.
All who play will receive a special Saratoga gift and food all day, with prizes to the winner and runner-ups in all divisions.
A beginner division is included. Games will be doubles play, with no ad scoring, to help move along play. Funds will go toward disabled sports programs through Second Chance Sports and The Learning League.
There are a limited number of players. Sign up begins this week, and is first come, first serve. The event will be held July 1, with July 8 as a rain date. To sign up, call Bill at (518) 226-5888.
CANANDAIGUA — There’s a first time for everything, and Cole Evans’ first skiing victory couldn’t have come at a better time.
Evans, a junior at Ballston Spa, won the NYSPHSAA State Championship in the boys giant slalom event, posting a time of 2:14.10 across two runs at Bristol Mountain in Canandaigua. Evans said it was his first-ever race victory.
“I’ve had a number of podiums, but never a win,” said Evans. “I was pretty surprised, honestly.”
Ballston Spa head coach Mitch Huff said it is “gratifying” to see the team’s athletes have success. Evans was first coached by Huff after he began competing in ski races at Gore Mountain at a young age.
“That’s the whole purpose of why we do it, is to see these kids have success within the high school races,” said Huff. “That’s what it’s all about for us.”
Entering states off a strong regular season, Evans said he was hoping to finish in the top 10 in both the giant slalom and the slalom events.
“Obviously I’m very competitive, but I wasn’t going to be hard on myself at all,” said Evans. “Kind of just go out, have fun, see how I do.”
Evans started in 55th place out of 64 skiers, and his first run came in at 1:08.25, the top time for opening runs. Evans said his mindset for the runs was to “hold on and stay alive.”
“It was a pretty intense course, both with the weather conditions making the snow a little bit choppy, and just the length of the course being longer than any of the regular season courses that we were doing,” Evans said. “But there’s not a lot going on in your head while you’re going, you’re just kind of blacked out, going on ‘go’ mode.”
Huff, who was assisting other Section 2 skiers, said he did not actually get to see either of Evans’ runs, instead hearing of his early lead from another coach.
“As I get the athlete in his skis, (the coach) goes, ‘Hey Mitch, do you have Live-Timing?’, which is the app that you have for results,” said Huff. “I radioed, ‘No, I’m putting so-and-so in their boots,’ and he says, ‘Well, Cole just won the first run.’”
Evans’ second run was even quicker than his first, finishing with a time of 1:05.85. With a combined time of 2:14.10, Evans beat out Queensbury’s Hudson Montgomery (2:14.94) for the giant slalom state championship. Evans also finished 10th in the slalom.
Evans said “it feels good” to be recognized, noting that he is not only receiving congratulations from his school and classmates, but that it is also helping highlight the sport of skiing.
“I’ve had a lot of classmates congratulate me, my school has recognized me,” said Evans. “It feels good for the sport in general, which doesn’t get a lot of attention.”
Huff, along with other district parents, helped revive the Ballston Spa skiing program in recent years. The program had success in the past, with the girls alpine ski team (combined with Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) winning back-to-back state titles in 2011 and 2012.
“It’s been a pleasant surprise to see how many kids have shown interest in it,” said Huff, who noted he is in his eighth season as the team’s coach. “It’s very gratifying for me to see those kids progress, and have success.”
Evans said he found the balance and team aspect of the high school team to be a great fit.
“Throughout the whole season, the guys on the team are my closest friends, really, because we’re in the weight room every day,” said Evans. “We’re just spending a lot of time together, so you build the social relationship while you’re doing the sport. I think it’s really good.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Nine racehorses, six trainers, and one jockey account for the 16 finalists that will comprise the National Museum of Racing’s 2023 Hall of Fame ballot, as chosen by the Museum’s Hall of Fame Nominating Committee.
The finalists are racehorses Arrogate, Blind Luck, California Chrome, Game On Dude, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold, Lady Eli, Rags to Riches, and Songbird; trainers Christophe Clement, Kiaran McLaughlin, Graham Motion, Doug O’Neill, John Sadler, and John Shirreffs; and jockey Corey Nakatani.
Hall of Fame voters may select as many or as few candidates as they believe are worthy of induction to the Hall of Fame. All candidates that receive 50 percent plus one vote (majority approval) from the voting panel will be elected to the Hall of Fame. All of the finalists were required to receive support from two-thirds of the 15-member Nominating Committee to qualify for the ballot.
The results of the voting on the contemporary candidates will be announced on Tuesday, April 25. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Friday, Aug. 4, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony is open to the public and free to attend.
To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years, while jockeys must be licensed for 20 years. Thoroughbreds are required to be retired for five calendar years. All candidates must have been active within the past 25 years. Candidates not active within the past 25 years are eligible through the Historic Review process.
Chaired by Edward L. Bowen, the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee is comprised of Bowen, Caton Bredar, Steven Crist, Tom Durkin, Bob Ehalt, Tracy Gantz, Teresa Genaro, Jane Goldstein, Steve Haskin, Jay Hovdey, Alicia Hughes, Tom Law, Jay Privman, Michael Veitch, and Charlotte Weber.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Capital Region ballet dancers ages 12 to 18 will represent Saratoga Springs Youth Ballet this May at the Regional Dance America Northeast Festival.
In August 2022, Saratoga Springs Youth Ballet (SSYB) was accepted as a new Regional Dance America Northeast member company. It is the only ballet company in New York State to have been accepted into the organization.
This May, 20 SSYB dancers will be traveling to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to attend the RDA Northeast Festival. During the three-day-long festival, participants attend master classes, seminars, and college roundtables during the day, as well as perform each evening.
In preparation for their festival performance, on March 19, RDA’s adjudicator Carla Stallings Lippert will visit SSYB to evaluate and select the works to be shown at the Festival performances. She will watch SSYB dancers in class and perform choreographic works. She will then provide feedback and professional guidance to facilitate both artistic and technical growth.
Capital Region residents can support these young dancers at “Ballet at the Bar,” a fundraiser being held from 2 to 7 p.m., Saturday, March 11 at Artisanal Brew Works. $1 from each draft beer, wine or cocktail will be donated to SSYB. The brewery is located at 617 Maple Ave. in Saratoga Springs.
SCHUYLERVILLE — Schuylerville junior Luke Sherman reached a major milestone in boys basketball action, scoring his 1,000th career varsity point in the Black Horses’ Class B quarterfinal loss to Tamarac.
Sherman averaged 22 points per game, scoring 484 points in total for Schuylerville this season, who finished 13-9 overall and 7-7 in the Foothills Council.
The Black Horses opened sectional play with a 68-55 win over Mechanicville before falling 83-58 to Tamarac, the 3rd-ranked team in NYS Class B by the New York Sportswriters Association, in the quarterfinals. Schuylerville trailed by just five points at halftime, 39-34, before the Bengals pulled away in the second half. Sherman scored 22 points in that game to lead Schuylerville, while Griffin Brophy added 16 points.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Team registration has opened for the 2023 Adult Saratoga Softball League. The league offers co-ed and men’s slow pitch softball. For fees and more information, email saratogasoftballleague@gmail.com or go to LeagueLineup.com/SaratogaCoed.
