Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Madelyn Satkowski was a double winner for Medina in the 200 and 500 Freestyle events during this afternoon’s virtual swim meet against Roy-Hart.

Defending champion Roy-Hart took over sole possession of first place atop the Niagara-Orleans League boys swim standings by downing Medina 110-60 this afternoon in a virtual meet matchup of 3-0 teams.

Carter Green doubled in the 200 Individual Medley and 100 Backstroke and Noah Stern in the 50 Freestyle and 100 Free to lead the way for the Channel Cats which also had Jay Heideman take the 200 Free and Sean Labiak the 500 Free.

Mike Marker won the 100 Butterfly and Isaac Pace the 100 Breaststroke for Medina.

Improving to 3-1, the Roy-Hart girls completed the sweep by edging Medina 86-81.

Amanda Hill was a double winner in the IM and Butterfly for the Channel Cats as Alexis Seib took the Backstroke and Nadia White the Breaststroke.

Madelyn Satkowski doubled in the 200 Free and 100 Free for Medina, which is now 2-2, as Amanda Woodruff won the 50 Free and Corrine Hill the 500 Free.

Barker’s Ryan Santarsiero doubled in the 200 Individual Medley and 100 Breaststroke during this afternoon’s virtual meet against Akron.

The Albion boys squad regained the .500 mark at 2-2 by downing Newfane 102-63.

Josh DePoty took the 200 Free, Sam Williams the 50 Free and Jacob Coolbaugh the Breaststroke for the Purple Eagles.

Ethan Niver doubled in the IM and Butterfly and Elijah Thompson in the 100 Free and Backstroke for Newfane which slips to 1-3.

The Newfane girls also regained the .500 mark at 2-2 by besting Albion 86-74.

Bridget Martin doubled in the 200 Free and 500 Free and Lauren Enderton in the IM and Backstroke for Newfane.

Hannah Pahura won the 100 Free and Rylee Pearles the Breaststroke for Albion which is now 1-3.

The Akron girls maintained a hold of first place by downing Barker 130-27 to improve to 4-0.

CC Morey doubled in the 200 Free and Backstroke and Mayah Harris in the Butterfly and Breaststroke for Akron.

The Akron boys completed the sweep by defeating Barker 93-62 to go to 2-2.

Dawson Stone doubled in the Butterfly and Backstroke and Zander Borton in the 200 Free and 500 Free for Akron.

Ryan Santarsiero took both the IM and Breaststroke and Ryan Stevener the 50 Free for Barker.

N-O Standings

Boys: Roy-Hart 4-0, Medina 3-1, Akron 2-2, Albion 2-2, Newfane 1-3, Barker 0-4

Girls: Akron 4-0, Roy-Hart 3-1, Medina 2-2, Newfane 2-2, Albion 1-3, Barker 0-4

Section VI recently opted out of participating in the state championships for the spring season. Today that decision became statewide as the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) cancelled the spring state championships.

The release on the announcement stated  “the four NYSPHSAA officers, acting on input from the 11 sections, section executive directors and member schools, announced the cancellation of the 2021 NYSPHSAA Spring State Championships. The decision will allow sections more time to schedule and conduct regular season contests.”

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Looking to help lead their teams into the upcoming Genesee Region League season are, from left, Holley’s Halee Passarell, Kendall’s Julie Coble and Lyndonville’s Ella Lewis, who are shown in action during games last season.

Two months after the originally scheduled starting date the belated area high school basketball season will get underway next Monday as Holley hosts rival Kendall in a non league girls game at 5:30 p.m. (varsity only).

Genesee Region League girls competition will then begin next Wednesday with Attica at Holley, Kendall at Wheatland-Chili and Pembroke at Lyndonville, all at 7:30. The G-R League is allowing only two spectators per player for the home team to be in attendance.

Holley is led by the returning starting trio of senior Halee Passarell, junior Tatum Gagne and sophomore Tia Hofforth. The Lady Hawks are also bolstered by the return of senior guard Hayley Skidmore who missed last season due to an injury.

“We’re very athletic and I think we’ll be able to do OK,” said Coach Sal DeLuca. “I’m optimistic and looking forward to the season.”

The Lady Hawks graduation losses include starters Olivia Radford and Jade Hofforth.

Kendall likewise returns a trio of starters in juniors Alezya Brown, Julie Coble and Elizabeth Snyder. Junior Julia Szczepanski , who saw a good amount of action last year, also looks to step into the starting quintet

“We’ve got a good group back but the big thing is I just relish the fact that we’ve got a season,” said Coach Jeff Parizek.

The Lady Eagles graduation losses included the starting trio of Brittney Marks, Lizzie Sutphen and Katie Pearson.

Lyndonville is led by the returning starting quartet of senior Kaylee Nesbitt, juniors Ella Lewis and Karlee Rounds and sophomore Lorelei Dillenbeck.

The Lady Tigers also return seniors Chloe Stinson and Prezli Silversmith along with junior Alexis Hughes, sophomore Haley Shaffer and freshman Ashlee Stephens.

“It’s a good group and the girls are ready to go,” said Coach Katelyn Draper. “This year we don’t have a lot of time to prepare for our first game so it’s good we have an experienced group. They’ve really got the desire to play.”

Lyndonville lost only two players to graduation, Savannah Poler and Danielle Weldon.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Cole Seefeldt heads toward a win in the 50 Freestyle during the Seahorses virtual swim meet against Albion this afternoon.

Medina scored a doubleheader victory over rival Albion this afternoon in a Niagara-Orleans League “virtual” swim meet. The Seahorses won the boys meet 97-72 and the girls competition 98-67.

Isaac Pace was a double winner in the 200 Individual Medley and 100 Breaststroke, Michael Marker took both the 100 Butterfly and 100 Backstroke, Cole Seefelt won the 50 Free and Austin Tompkins captured the 100 Free for the Medina boys squad which stays undefeated at 3-0.

Josh DePoty doubled in the 200 Free and 500 Free for Albion which is now 1-2.

Madelynn Satkowski doubled in the 200 Free and 100 Free and Gracie Cogovan in the Individual Medley and Breaststroke for the Medina girls as Amanda Woodruff captured the 50 Free, Brooklyn Brown the Butterfly and Corrine Hill the 500 Free.

Albion’s Devynn Pearles won the Backstroke.

The Medina girls improve to 2-1 and Albion slips to 1-2.

Albion’s Hannah Pahura in action in the 200 Individual Medley.

In the battle for the N-O girls league lead Akron downed defending champion Roy-Hart 112-56.

Rachel PeQueen doubled in the 50 Free and 100 Free for Akron as Marisa Maggiore took the 200 Free, CC Morey the 500 Free, Shea Masse the Backstroke and Mayah Harris the Breaststroke.

Amanda Hill was a double winner for Roy-Hart in the Individual Medley and Butterfly.

Akron stays undefeated at 3-0 and Roy-Hart slips to 2-1.

The defending champion Roy-Hart boys squad improved to 3-0 with a 114-55 win over Akron which is now 1-2.

Charles Rickard doubled in the 50 Free and Breaststroke and Carter Green in the 500 Free and Backstroke for Roy-Hart which also had Noah Stern win the Butterfly and Jacob Hagen the 100 Free.

Newfane swept Barker winning the boys meet 85-52 and the girls competition 95-50.

Ethan Niver doubled in the IM and Butterfly and Elijah Thompson in the 100 Free and Backstroke for the Newfane boys squad which is now 1-2.

Ryan Santarsiero took both the 200 Free and Breaststroke for Barker which is now 0-3.

Lauren Enderton doubled in the IM and Backstroke, Bridget Martin in the 50 Free and 500 Free and Kimberly Schmitt in the 100 Free and Breaststroke for the Newfane girls which are 1-2.

Natalie Bruning won the 200 Free for Barker which is 0-3.

Contributed Photo – Albion captured its first Niagara-Orleans League boys basketball title during the 1971-72 season. Here Steve Pettit puts up a shot during the Purple Eagles home court win over Starpoint which capped off a 12-0 league campaign. Surrounding him is the Starpoint trio of Mark Ammerman (25), Tom Smith (13) and Jim Smith (23) as Craig Anderson (40) moves in for the Purple Eagles.

Area high school basketball teams will begin practice tomorrow with Albion starting to tune up to defend its Niagara-Orleans League title which the Purple Eagles shared with Newfane last year at 9-3.

With Albion getting set to defend that title it recalls the Purple Eagles first N-O championship which came during the 1971-72 season.

Albion compiled a perfect 12-0 N-O record that season. The Purple Eagles clinched the title with a 54-41 victory at rival Medina to go to 11-0 and then completed the undefeated campaign with a 91-84 home court win over Starpoint.

In the win over Medina Vic Hughes led Albion’s balanced attack with 16 points as Craig Anderson added 13 and Dave Stackwick 12.

Anderson then poured in 28 points against Starpoint as Hughes and Earl Townsend both netted 17 and Stackwick 14.

The title was a special one for first year Coach Larry Graham who had also guided Albion to the N-O football championship in the fall as the Purple Eagles shared the crown with Roy-Hart at 5-1..

The Purple Eagles kept the momentum by then scoring three straight postseason wins to claim their first Section VI championship.

Competing in Class BBB, Albion defeated Falconer 60-43 in the quarterfinals and Alden 76-68 in the semis before nipping Salamanca 67-66 in overtime in the championship game.

A driving layup by Hughes with seven seconds to go in the overtime provided the margin of victory over Salamanca and the championship for the Purple Eagles. Hughes finished with 19, Anderson 17 and Stackwick 16.

In the quarterfinals Stackwick scored 15 and Hughes 13. Hughes then netted 21, Stackwick 19 and Anderson 16 in the semifinals.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Sierra Kast, who won the 500 Free, is shown here in action for Albion in the 200 Freestyle during this morning’s virtual Niagara-Orleans League meet against Roy-Hart.

Defending champion Roy-Hart, Medina and Akron all scored doubleheader victories this morning in virtual Niagara-Orleans League swim meets.

Roy-Hart downed Albion 112-55 in the boys meet and 92-65 in the girls competition.

Chris Ulrich doubled in the 200 and 500 Freestyle events and Carter Green in the 200 Indivdual Medley and 100 Free to set the pace for the Roy-Hart boys which improve to 2-0.

Noah Stern also took the 50 Free, Sean Labiak the 100 Backstroke and Charles Rickard the 100 Breaststeoke for the Channel Cats.

Dallas Ecker won the 100 Butterfly for Albion which is now 1-1.

Dallas Ecker, who won the 100 Butterfly, here competes in the 200 Individual Medley for Albion.

Mandy Hill doubled in the 200 Free and Butterfly for the Roy-Hart girls squad which also goes to 2-0.

The Channel Cats also had Nadia White win the IM and Alexis Seib the Backstroke.

Mia Olles doubled in the 50 Free and 100 Free and Sierra Kast took the 500 Free and Rylee Pearles the Breaststroke for Albion which is now 1-1.

Medina bested Barker winning the boys meet 111-17 and the girls 102-47.

Mike Marker doubled in the Butterfly and Backstroke for the Medina boys squad which goes to 2-0.

The Seahorses also had Xander Payne win the 200 Free, Bryson Costich the IM, Ben Griffin the 100 Free and Jaxon Phillips the 500 Free.

Ryan Santarsiero doubled in the 50 Free and Breaststroke for Barker which is now 0-2.

Gracie Cogovan took both the IM and Breaststroke for the Medina girls squad as Amanda Woodruff won the 50 Free, Brooklyn Brown the Butterfly, Madelynn Satkowski the 100 Free and Corrine Hill the 500 Free.

The Seahorses are now 1-1.

Natalie Bruning was a double winner in the 200 Free and Backstroke for Barker which is now 0-2.

In the other meet, Akron swept Newfane winning the boys meet 83-69 and the girls 111-57.

The Newfane boys got double win efforts from Ethan Niver (IM and Butterfly) and Elijah Thompson (100 Free and Backstroke).

The Akron boys are now 1-1 and Newfane 0-2.

Rachel PeQueen doubled in the 50 Free and 100 Free and CC Morey in the Butterfly and Backstroke for the Akron girls which improve to 2-0.

The Newfane girls are now 0-2.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Ben Griffin in action in the 200 Freestyle for Medina during today’s season opening “virtual” swim meet against Akron.

The Niagara-Orleans League’s most unusual season ever got underway this afternoon with three “virtual” meets as defending champion Roy-Hart and Albion both scored sweeps and Medina earned a split with Akron.

Each team swam in its own pool with no spectators on hand as a computer program was used to compare times and determine the winners of each event and the overall meet.

Roy-Hart, which captured both the boys and girls titles last season defeated Newfane 112-49 in the boys meet and 81-73 in the girls competition.

Gracie Cogovan competes in the 200 Individual Medley for the Seahorses.

Carter Green doubled in the 200 Free and 500 Free and Noah Stern in the 50 Free and 100 Free to lead the way for the Channel Cats boys team as Charles Rickard added a win in the 100 Breaststroke.

Amanda Hill was a double winner for the Roy-Hart girls in the 200 Individual Medley and 500 Free as Sophia Santella took the 200 Free, Alexis Seib the 100 Butterfly and Nadia White the 100 Breaststroke.

Albion swept Barker winning the boys meet 117-19 and the girls 95-49.

Dallas Ecker doubled in the IM and Butterfly and Finn McCue in the 50 Free and 100 Free for the Albion boys which also got individual event wins from Jacob Foote (200 Free),  Josh DePoty (500 Free) and Declan McCue (100 Backstroke).

Sierra Kast won both the 200 Free and 500 Free  for the Albion girls as Mia Olles captured the 50 Free, Hannah Pahura the 100 Free and Rylee Pearles took the 100 Breaststroke.

Natalie Bruning was a double winner for Barker in the IM and Backstroke.

The Medina boys defeated Akron 105-61 as Isaac Pace doubled in the IM and Breaststroke and August Pietrafesa in the 100 Free and Backstroke. The Seahorses also had Cole Seefeldt take the 50 Free and Mike Marker the Butterfly.

Akron defeated Medina in the girls meet 103-65.

Rachel PeQueen doubled in the 200 Free and 100 Free and C.C. Morey in the IM and 500 Free to set the pace for Akron.

Amanda Woodruff won the 50 Free, Brooklynn Brown the Butterfly and Gracie Cogovan the Breaststroke for the Seahorses. Click here to view video from the start of the girls and boys 200 Medley Relay in Medina.

Nick Saia in action for defending champion Roy-Hart in the 100 Butterfly in the meet against Newfane

Story is updated with additional information from Section VI

Following concerns raised by the Western New York Region county health directors (which includes Niagara and Erie counties) the Section VI Executive Council today voted to postpone the high school wrestling season which will now run from May 10 to June 30.

In addition, the Executive Committee voted to have Section VI opt out of the state spring sports championships. It also added that the current policy of allowing no spectators will be reassesed in several weeks.

The concerns raised by the WNY Region county health directors about the possible spread of Covid-19 in wrestling matches is a sharp reversal from their decision made earlier in the week to allow the start of the High Risk Winter sports of basketball and wrestling as of February 1.

Wrestling will now join  the “Spring” sports season which already includes baseball, softball, tennis, track and lacrosse.

The basketball season is still scheduled to begin practices on February 1 with games expected to get underway the week of February 8.

The section’s press release stated: “Our Executive Committee met with representatives from all five counties and chose to follow the pleas of our health officials and the CDC, to pause our wrestling season, “Section President, Brett Banker said. “We never discussed canceling wrestling completely although that was an option. We know that a move to spring may cause conflicts with athletes and coaches, however we are thankful we had this alternative.”

“Wrestling moves to the revised spring season of May 10-June 30 along with baseball, softball, tennis, lacrosse and track. The Section voted to inform the state association that they will not participate in state play this spring.

 “As difficult as it was, by removing our teams from state competition in the spring, we can now extend our calendars and offer more contests for our athletes,” Banker continued. “We anticipate that with this move, our athletes will likely complete full seasons, which they lost last year.”

“The current winter season which will include basketball and ice hockey will begin on February 1 with Sectional Championships completed by March 27. Bowling, Rifle, Swimming and Skiing were allowed to start on January 4th. The state had already canceled state championships for Fall 2 and winter. The season that NYSPHSAA refers to as Fall 2 with football, volleyball, and cheerleading will now run March 22-May 15.

“For now, the Section is not allowing spectators to attend contests however according to Banker, “We are prepared to reassess where we are with infection rates and other data, the week of February 22. We certainly want families to be able to watch their athletes compete. But we need to offer districts the opportunity first to roll out protocols and gauge how successful they are.”