Berlin Coach John Santarcangelo knew early on he had a good team of runners and pushed them toward last Saturday’s league meet in Saratoga. [private]All of his runners have been lowering their course times with almost each meet, and this held true onSaturday, October 29, as Berlin’s Nyck Styer finished 2nd overall, Ryan Gosse 4th and Alex Flowers 11th. All three were named Wasaren League All Stars. Santarcangelo said, “the team ran extremely well, showing what they are capable of when they run as hard as they did and with a purpose.” Other notable finishers were Collin Douglas, who finished 20th overall in a time of 18:30. Nolan Jones and Jack Flowers who each broke the 20-minute barrier and Joe Canam who shaved a full two minutes off his personal best in 23:12.
The Lady Mountaineers did not win the meet, but all came away with solid performances. Haley Chaykowski-Jewitt finished 16th overall and just missed being named a league all-star. Melanie deLaurentis, Gigi French and Sarah French all finished near the 24-minute mark, a full one minute faster than their previous best this season. Santarcangelo said the most improvement however, came from Deka Popov and Jordan Shupe, who each ran faster than their personal best by more than three minutes. The extremely happy coach said, “I am proud of the way they ran and the work they have put in to get to this point, but our job is not done yet. I am hoping the success of Leagues carries over into this week’s sectional meet.”
Berlin’s Soccer Teams Take Home Several Central Hudson Valley League Awards
For the third year in a row, Jewel Pietrzak has been named the CHVL’s Most Valuable Player. The Senior striker has smashed the school’s scoring in her years on the team. Joining her as first team all-stars were Senior Gabby Mazzeo, also a striker, and the person Coach Fleda Berschwinger called “the rock of her defense,” Jordan Cahill. Junior Goalkeeper Haley Maxon was named to the second team all-stars. Berschwinger expects her young all-star to develop into the top keeper in the league in her senior year.
Ryan Willis joined Pietrzak in being named league MVP. The Junior forward scored a school high 35 goals this season for the Mountaineers. He was joined on the first team all-stars by Seiji Akera and Nick Tripepi. Conner Douglas was named to the second team.
This marks the second consecutive year the league MVP’s have called Berlin home. Last year Pietrzak was joined in the honor by Jackson Burhans, who now is the keeper for Lasell College near Boston. [/private]