Contributed Photo – Melanie Green in a photo taken at the U.S. Women’s Amateur 4 Ball qualifier

Medina High senior Melanie Green has earned Honorable Mention on the American Junior Golf Association’s (AJGA) 2019 Rolex Junior All American Team.

Green, who has verbally committed to attend South Florida University, is ranked 32nd on the Rolex AJGA rankings.

A first time Rolex All American, Green has three top three AJGA finishes including a recent second place finish at the Billy Horschel Junior championship.

Recently she also teamed up with Bailey Shoemaker to win a U.S. Women’s Amateur 4 Ball qualifier.

This past summer she placed sixth at the Junior PGA championships.

In her high school competition this past spring Green captured a third straight Section VI title and a second straight state championship.

Breaking way from a 21-21 deadlock midway through the third quarter, Southwestern exploded for 32 unanswered points to defeat Wilson 53-21 in the Section VI Class C football championship game on Saturday night at New Era Field.

Tywon Wright led the way for Southwestern scoring 5 touchdowns and rushing for 346 yards.

Drew Westmoreland accounted for all three Wilson touchdowns one rushing, one passing and one receiving.

The contest was tied 14-14 at the half.

8 Man Playoff Semifinals
No. 3 seed Maple Grove defeated No. 2 Pembroke 44-30 and No. 1 Oakfield-Alabama/Elba downed No. 4 Frewsburg 55-0 over the weekend in the semifinals of the 8 Man Division football playoffs.

Oakfield-Alabama/Elba will now face Maple Grove for the title next weekend.

Volleyball

Undefeated (20-0) Byron-Bergen downed Genesee Region League foe Attica 25-23, 25-23, 25-19 this afternoon to capture the overall Section V Class C volleyball championship and earn a berth in the state playoffs.

Madison Farnsworth had 22 kills, 1 ace and 11 digs; Hannah Catalino 5 kills, 1 ace and 10 digs; Lexi Vurraro 28 assists, 4 aces and 3 digs; Abby Vurraro 16 digs and 2 aces and Hannah Van Skiver 2 aces, 2 kills and 8 digs for B-B.

Lexi Vurraro catapulted a second set comeback win rallying B-B from a  17-23 deficit by serving 7 clutch points three of which were aces.

Byron-Bergen had advanced by downing LeRoy 26-24, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17 to capture the Section V Class C2 title as Farnsworth  had 29 kills, Catalino 10 kills and VanSkiver 6 aces and 3 kills.

Farnsworth was named the C2 Tournament MVP while Lexi and Abby Vurraro were both named to the All-Tournament team.

In the Section VI Class C1 final Eden defeated Akron 25-13, 25-23, 25-13.

Field Hockey
The semifinals of the Class C state field hockey playoffs, which will be held at 10 a.m. next Saturday at Williamsville North, will have Barker vs. Bronxville and Johnstown vs. Carle Place.

Improving to 4-0, the Niagara County Community College women’s basketball team romped to a 97-46 victory over visiting SUNY Broome this afternoon.

Newfane graduate Paige Emborsky had 17 points, 4 assists and 4 steals and Albion grad Caitlynn Snook 9 points for 4 rebounds for NCCC.

Alaina Forbes led the Lady Thunderwolves with 20 points as Aubrey Halloran added 14 points and 6 rebounds.

Many lost shoes while racing in freezing temps

Photos by Tom Rivers

EAST AURORA — Hundreds of cross country runners in Section 6 had to run through deep mud for parts of Friday’s cross country Sectionals race at Knox Farm in East Aurora.

This photo shows Zach Sanford, right, of Akron running up a muddy hill. His teammate Joshua Kidder is close behind. Sanford was the first Akron runner to complete the course. He was 31st overall in a time of 18:35. Kidder was 38th in the Class C boys race in 18:50.

These runners struggle to get through the mud on one of the hills. They include Alex Martinez of Wilson (72nd at 20:06), Alex Glynn of Frederick Law Olmsted (76th at 20:31) and Josh Depoty of Albion (77th at 20:34).

Lauren Wagner, a sophomore at Akron, won the girls Class C race in a time of 19:56.

Some of the Albion runners are together at the start of the race, where the temperatures were at freezing with snow on the ground. From left include Josh Depoty, Kyle Pappalardo, Reuben Rivers, Brian Spall, Greg Neptune and Landin Chaffee. Zack Fuller also ran for Albion.

Hannah Heil of Medina fights the elements at Knox Farm. She would finish 67th in 25:23. The Silver Creek runner is holding one of her shoes that came off.

Alanna Holman of Albion was one of the top finishers from the Niagara-Orleans League. She battles to get up a muddy hill. Holman, a junior, was 7th with a time of 20:48.

These runners, including Brian Spall and Landin Chaffee of Albion, head for the finish line. The backs of their legs and covered in mud.

Greg Neptune, an Albion freshman, looks for his lost shoe after his race. Neptune’s shoe got stuck in the mud after about a half mile and he ran the remaining 2.5 miles with one shoe.

Greg Neptune smiles after pulling a shoe from the mud. After closer examination he realized it wasn’t his shoe. Several of the runners had their shoes dislodged from their feet.

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Contributed Photo – Long time Holley soccer Coach Dan Orbaker, second from right, was inducted into the Section V Hall of Fame Thursday evening. He is shown here with several members of his family, from left, Maggie Orbaker, Caleb Orbaker, Colton Orbaker and Dr. Eugene Orbaker. Also attending but not in the picture was Darlene Orbaker.

The achievements and contributions of his 33 years of coaching at Holley were recognized and honored as longtime Hawks soccer Coach Dan Orbaker was inducted into the Section V Hall of Fame Thursday evening.

During his years at the helm which began in 1986, Orbaker, who taught Physics and Chemistry at Holley for 36 years, guided the Hawks to 13 Genesee Region League titles, 9 Section V titles and 2 state championships while compiling a record of 457-149-51 which is sixth best on the all-time Section V list.

Orbaker’s achievements over the years earned him G-R Coach of the Year honors 15 times, Section V Coach of the Year 10 times as well as New York State Coach of the Year and Northeast Regional Coach of the Year honors.

In a speech on behalf of their father Orbaker’s sons, Caleb and Colton, pointed to “another side of this coach, our father, which truly made a difference in the lives of over 1,200 Holley student-athletes in those 33 years.”

They pointed to three important core values on which their father built the Hawks soccer program on – Loyalty, Sportsmanship and Sacrifice.

“Loyalty to his community, his school, his players and his family,” they said. “He truly understood the value of building meaningful relationships with his players and the community.

“Our father was more than a technical coach,” they noted. “He coached his teams to truly appreciate the sport of soccer through sportsmanship, leadership ad character. He taught us what it meant to represent our community and our school with pride. He reminded us we were creating a legacy for younger generations and its importance for the sport.”

“Of course, it goes without saying that Dad’s level of success doesn’t come without thousands of hours of sacrifice,” they added noting the number of conferences, planning and practice sessions, scouting trips and attending and hosting soccer clinics and camps he had over the years. “His sacrifice came in the form of ‘not being home’ with his family. However, what Dad did so effectively was include all of us in his passion for the sport and in coaching by allowing us to be an active part of it daily. We were in this tougher – and we didn’t see it as a sacrifice, but as a team sport.”

“Let us celebrate not only the amazing record of achievements he worked tirelessly for and earned over his 33 years, but also his lasting impact on the lives of players he coached over the years,” they concluded.  “We know our success in our soccer careers was largely due to his coaching and guidance, but it is his demonstration of a Man of Character, that is what we will be forever grateful.”