By Lori Brown

Skiing (combined team with Tri-Valley)
Record: (Girls) 31-17, third in Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division I. (Boys) 13-35, fifth in Div. I.
Season Highlight: 12 new skiers joined the team more than doubling the number of participants.
The girls’ team came in third in the division.
Tri-Valley senior Ryan Erts came in fifth in slalom and ninth overall at sectionals. He earned a spot on the Section IX team to the NYSPHSAA Championships at Lake Placid.
Tri-Valley junior Sarah Coney finished seventh in the division. At Sectionals, Coney placed 10th in slalom and 12th overall. Tri-Valley senior Elizabeth Bracken finished 13th in the division, 28th in giant slalom and 28th overall.
The best newcomers were Zak Steingart, a Fallsburg eighth-grader who finished 16th in a slalom and 27th in the division; Taylor Pavese, a Tri-Valley seventh-grader who finished 19th at a giant slalom and 21st in the division; Megan Porter, a Tri-Valley eighth-grader who finished 22nd in slalom and 25th overall.
Coach’s comment: “This season will long be remembered as the warm one without snow, but the ski areas worked hard to run all the races as scheduled,” Carey said. “We were excited to have new team members and proud of everyone’s efforts to improve throughout the winter.
Looking Ahead: Our seniors, Ryan [Erts] and Elizabeth [Bracken], as well as Greg Bedik of Fallsburg, Hunter Kennedy of Tri-Valley and Brina Bobik of Tri-Valley will be missed by the entire team,” Carey said. “Next season we will be looking forward to returnees Cody Vegliante of Fallsburg, Dan Short of Tri-Valley, Devon Bagley of Tri-Valley, Sam Goldstein of Tri-Valley, Gabriel Paxton of Fallsburg, Liz Loarca of Fallsburg, Brooke Rappaport of Fallsburg, Bryanna Rivas of Tri-Valley, Ashlyn Mathews of Tri-Valley, Aria Paxton of Fallsburg and Brittany Leventoff of Fallsburg making some new records for themselves.”
Boys’ Basketball
Record: 14-6 overall, 8-2 in OCIAA Division V.
Season Highlight: Senior forward Michael Robinson was the top scorer and rebounder with 16.1 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per game. Senior guard Rakkir Watson was tops in assists (2.9 per game) and steals (2.1 per game).
The Comets won the Hambletonian Classic and made the sectional semifinals.,
Coach’s Comment: “Our guys committed to working hard both on the court and in the classroom,” Dworetsky said. “They put a lot of work in the offseason and, as a result, they were successful as a team. They played tough defense and unselfish basketball. It has been a pleasure watching these kids progress as I have had several of them for the past three seasons. I am going to miss the 11 seniors that are graduating.”
Looking Ahead: “We have three players returning next year – Rakkir Watson, Jarrett Madison and Austin Halchak,” Dworetsky said. “Our JV roster was made up of mostly juniors and sophomores, so we are ready and looking forward to competing at a high level next season.”
Girls’ Basketball
Record: 10-9 overall, 3-7 in OCIAA Division V.
Season Highlight: Defeating Eldred for the first time in four years; a return trip to the sectional playoffs.
Coach’s Comment: “We did not have as many league wins as we wanted, but did enough to make it back to the playoffs,” Daniel Redmond said. “The emergence of Kelsey Moody was a great highlight of the season and the overall team basketball. We played overall good, competitive games with Tuxedo and Tri-Valley, which we haven’t had in many years.”
Looking Ahead: “I am looking forward to next season as I have some nice players returning to the team,” Redmond said. “They include Nyasia Blakney, Moody and Paige Seletsky, who will return after having ACL surgery. We will need to step up with guard play to help with the solid post play that we expect to have. We will look to continue the momentum of the past two seasons and make a return trip to sectionals.
Senior Sheryl Pinder has been responsible for the Fallsburg Lady Comets returning to the sectional playoffs for two years in a row,” Redmond added. “Sheryl averaged 15.9 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game and 4.1 assists per game. She kept Fallsburg in the sectional game versus the two-seed Tri-Valley with her 28 points. Sheryl will be continuing her basketball career at Orange County Community College under the leadership of [Coach] John Lauro.
Wrestling (combined team with Eldred)
Record: 8-7 overall, 5-0 in Section IX, Division II-B
Season Highlight: Won the Section IX, Div. II-B team title with a 5-0 record; Dominique Vales winning the Section IX, Division II, 220 pound championship – the first sectional title in Fallsburg wrestling history. Vales was also the first Fallsburg wrestler to compete in the New York State championships.
Coach’s Comment: “The 2011-2012 was a very successful season for the merged Eldred/Fallsburg team,” Co-coach Tim Bult said. “We won the team title and had a sectional champion that wrestled well in representing us in the state tournament.
“Unfortunately, a few key injuries late in the season sidetracked a few of our athletes who wrestled exceptionally well early in the season and had a legitimate chance of winning the sectional title at their respective weight classes,” Bult added. “The injuries ended the season for three of our strongest wrestlers.”
Looking Ahead: “Co-Coach Jim Corcoran and I are extremely excited about the upcoming 2012-2013 season as we will have experience and depth on the team as we look to repeat the team title as well as taking a few sectional champions to the 2013 New York State Wrestling Championships,” Bult said. “Jesse Corcoran, Eddie Lulanaj, Adam Hurwitz, Shane Martin, Rafael Olan, Allenson Flores, Nick Perrello and Carl Peterson-Langeland, who took fourth place at 160 pounds at this year’s Section IX Tournament, are just a few wrestlers who look to return with valuable mat experience for us next season.”