WILDCATS TEAM NOTES & INFORMATION 

Tom Hopkins and Kaitlyn Richards were in the huge 9970 runner international field for this year's edition of the Utica Boilermaker 15k. It was a good effort by both. Both followed up good efforts at the Cazenovia July 4th 5k race. Tom broke the hour barrier and was 251st overall while Kaitlyn ran to 3rd in her 1-14 age group. Also on the roads were Matt Ullrich, who was #6370 across he line with teammate Mike Plunkett close behind in the #6372 spot. In the Boilermaker 5k, former West Genesee distance runner standout  Pat Gaffney placed 2nd in that 1859 runner field. It was a good day for the Wildcats.

A small group of Wildcats XC team members participated in this year's Cazenovia July 4th races. Tackling the 10 mile cruise around the lake, Matt Ulrich and Mike Plunkett paced each other to identical 1:28.07 times, with Matt being awarded the 233rd spot and Mike one back. In the 460 runner 5k race, Tom Hopkins finished 11th overall and 5th in his 14-19 age group with his 17:56.0 effort. On the girls side, Kaitlyn Richard got summer training off to a great start with a 2nd place 14-19 age group finish in 21:49.

A group of Wildcats were in the mix for the annual Thanksgiving road races at Baldwinsville. Tom Hopkins placed 14th overall in the 10K race field which also included WG alumnus Mike Bott, who ran 8th overall. The 5k field contained four Wildcats. Pete Brogan finished 100th, Zac Karpinski was 33, Andy Incaudo placed 13th and Billy Gabriel won his age class with a 5th place overall effort.

A number of Wildcats tackled the Tromptown Half-Marathon. Team members going the long miles were:

West Genesee was well represented at the annual Cazenovia 4th of July races this year, sweeping the 5k  0-13 age bracket for both boys and girls. Freshman Kaitlyn Richards put one high note in her summer training with her first-place effort in the girl's 5k race's 0-13 year age group while freshman Mike Schrank took first in the boys 0-13 age group. Tom Hopkins also ran well, placing third in the boys 14-19 age bracket. Another Wildcat 5k finisher was Zac Karpinski(14th - 14-19 age group). In the 10 mile race, Mike Plunkett was 13th in the boys 1-19 age group, and teammate Matt Ulrich was right behind, 14th in that same group.

There will be an important meeting for the parents of Modified and Varsity Cross-Country runners this coming Monday, June 18th, from 6-7pm in the high school library. Coaches for both teams will discus the seasons ahead, hand out important team information and answer all your questions. Here's our Wildcat Pledge: the meeting will end at or before 7pm. Please try to have one parent attend to help get great XC seasons started.

Coach Vermeulen

Wildcats XC 2007 has arrived. The boys and girls Varsity teams will hold their annual Summer Packet Night on Tuesday, June 19th from 6-7:30pm at Erie Canal Park. Meet in the pavilion behind Sims Store at 6:00pm prepared for a moderate workout. Your summer packet will contain summer training information, summer team activities and mileage targets. Time to get rolling....be there.

Coach Vermeulen

The Girls Outdoor Track team continued a distinguished tradition by again earning designation as a New York Scholar-Athlete team with a 95.869 team composite. High honors for the girls went to junior Katie Rothenberg with a 98.000 average. Individual scholar-athletes for the Wildcats were: Elizabeth McMahon: Stefanie Radford: E.J. Reedy; Katie Bott; Katie Riley; Allison Reichel; Brittany Jones; Kristin Waters; Jamie Kurtz; Katie Naton; Meg Kennedy; Rachel Hefti; Sara Smacher; Maggie Nealer; Adrianna Rosati; Kayla Murphy; Rasha Awwad; Jamy Bliss; Liz Johnston; Jessica Murphy; Kelly Cordon; Kelly Fredericks; Sarah Kibby; Jamie Hamilton; Kathleen O'Meara; Sarah Burgess; Brianna McGraw; Bridget Greene; Krystal Herrick; Mary Sheedy; Sarah Olson; Sarah Whelan; Andrea Perkins; Ruth DeLallo; Stephanie DeStantis.

Congratulations to both the Boys and Girls Varsity Indoor Track Teams. They were designated New York State Scholar-Athlete Teams for the winter sports season. The boys team earned a composite Grade Point Average of 91.935. Individual Scholar-Athletes(average <90) for the boys were Billy Gabriel, Tom Hopkins, Ben Seigal, Dave Wells, Sam Reedy, Ron Ta, Jon Richardson and Ben Zachariah. The girls team composite Grade Point Average was 96.237. Individual Scholar-Athletes for the girls were Elizabeth McMahon, E.J. Reedy, Katie Rothenberg, Brittany Jones, Katie Riley, Katie Bott, Maggie Nealer, Liz Powell, Kristin Waters, Allison Reichel, Sarah Kibby, Amanda Bingham, Kayla Murphy, Jessica Andrianos, Brianna McGraw, Colleen Smith and Natalie Seigal.

The West Genesee boys/girls Indoor Track teams enjoyed a team dinner at Syracuse's Spaghetti Warehouse on 3/1. Athletes received post-season packets. Congratulations to this year's team award winners:

MOST VALUABLE ATHLETE: Boys--Mike Bott; Girls--Elizabeth McMahon

MOST IMPROVED ATHLETE: Boys--Mike Hopkins; Girls--Kristin Waters

HAMMER AWARD:  Boys--Steve Houghmaster; Girls--Katie Rothenberg & Brittany Jones

Wildcat freshman Steve Houghmaster will compete in the Nike National Freshman Mile on March 11th in Landover, Maryland. Steve's achievement follows an excellent freshman cross-country season where he was designated the Section III Freshman-of-the-Year. The section's top-ranked freshman in the 1600m this winter, Steve recently lowered his personal record to 4:30.76 at the 2/27 sectional Select Meet where he placed 2nd in that event. Steve's time will likely place him in the seeded heat of freshman mile race and may be a national top-10 seed. Nike National Meet results may be accessed at http://www.dyestat.com/ or http://nikeindoor.nationalscholastic.org/index.php.

Congratulations Wildcats boys and girls teams. For the 15th consecutive year, both boys and girls teams were designated New York State Scholar-Athlete teams. The boys earned a 94.883 team average while the girls carried a 96.693 average. High individual average for the boys belonged to Pete Brogan at 96.714. Elizabeth McMahon led the girls with a 98.667 average. The boys earned the 8th highest Section III XC team score of 42 qualifying schools. The girls enjoyed the 4th highest Section III team score of 38 qualifying schools. Once again, West Genesee Cross-Country excelled off, as well as on, the trails.

Both girls and boys 2006 track teams scored among the highest team averages of qualifying Section III track NYS Scholar-Athlete Teams. To qualify as a scholar-athlete requires a team average above 90. Of the 40 Section III boys track teams qualifying, the WG boys were 4th highest. The girls team were equally impressive, scoring 4th among 49 Section III qualifying teams. Both were also the highest ranked of any WG spring sports teams.

Congratulations to the 2005/06 Girls Varsity Indoor Track Team which was again designated a NYS Scholar-Athlete Team this year. The girls composite Grade Point Average was 93.817.