by David Flint
Perhaps it wasn’t Berlin’s best winter sports season, but the coaches at the Awards Night on March 8 pointed out some bright spots and a lot of effort and grit on the part of their student athletes. Two teams participated in post season Sectional play – the boys Varsity Volleyball team and the combined New Lebanon-Berlin Swim Team.
Coach Paul Slaver welcomed five “new guys,” all seniors, to his Varsity Volleyball team this year. Last year the team finished second to last in the league. This year they ended up in second from the top with a 7-3 record. In Sectional competition, not only did the team receive the Sportsmanship Award, but Justin Jewett was also named as Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Slaver designated Jewett MVP also for the Berlin team. “An incredible player,” Slaver said. The Most Improved Player (MIP) award went to Connor Brown.
Slaver was proud to announce that two of his players were named to the Central Hudson Valley League (CHVL) First Team All-Stars, Justin Jewett and Sakan Sadowsky. Three more, Connor Brown, Daniel von Schilgen and Michael Gerkman, placed with the CHVL Second Team All-Stars.
Tim Christiansen, Coach of the New Lebanon-Berlin Swim Team, speaking of the talent that has come through that program in recent years, noted that Kevin Weber of Stephentown, a BCS 2008 graduate, had graduated from Norwich University after completing an outstanding record as Swim Team Captain there. But Christiansen said he had never been so lucky as with this year’s group of kids.
The MIP award went to Danielle Jones, a first year swimmer who became “one of our fastest swimmers,” and managed to drop 15 seconds from her time in the 100 free style race, an outstanding accomplishment, Christiansen said.
The girl’s MVP award was given to Patricia Court, “a very versatile swimmer who puts out a lot of effort. Whatever we put her in, she’s ready to go and at a very high level.” Specializing in the 500 backstroke, Court dropped an amazing 20 seconds in her last race.
The MVP for the Boys team was Alex French, capping an excellent six year career. “An outstanding athlete and an unbelievable asset to the team,” Christiansen said, adding that in those six years French competed in 113 races and won 83 of them.
Christiansen made special mention also of Rachel Ferris who will be swimming for Assumption College next year. Ferris, he said, competed on the boys team last year and this year, enabling the boys to field a complete team and to participate in the Berkshire League Sectionals. This year at Sectionals one of the times entered for her was mistakenly that of Alex French, but Ferris managed to beat that time by one second. “One of my proudest moments as Coach; all of her time and effort paid off,” Christiansen said. Ferris also swam the 50 freestyle at Sectionals and placed 22 among 31 boys. Competing also with the girls teams in the 100 breaststroke, she was among the top 16 swimmers. “She will be a big loss to the program,” Christiansen said.
The Girls Varsity Basketball team finished with a record of 8-8 in the league. They beat Doane Stuart twice, Loudonville twice, New Lebanon twice and Hawthorne Valley once, but Coach Fleda Berschwinger said the biggest win was the home game against Germantown that the girls won by three points. The important thing was that over the season everybody on the team improved.
Maria Gordon earned the MIP award, a player who was “awesome at rebounding, hustle and all around effort on the court.” “Even though she doesn’t think she’s a good player, she is a good player,” added Berschwinger.
The MVP went to Tegan Shumway who led the team in scoring and three-point baskets. “I appreciate her hard work and effort,” Berschwinger said. Shumway was also named to the CHVL First Team All-Stars.
Although Coach Kasson Sauer characterized the Boys Varsity Basketball team’s season (5-13 in league) as “an underachieving year” lacking in consistency and scoring, he had praise for the effort put out by most of his players. Cullen O’Brien, for example, receiving the MIP award in his first year up from JV, exceeded expectations and never stopped working. In a senior-heavy team he led in 2-point field goals, was second in rebounds and third in free throws attempted.
There was no MVP award given out, but Sauer had good things to say about his sophomores – Cody Seel (athletic but derailed with an injury), John Schatz (really aggressive on the glass, lot of rebounds) and Jeff Curtis (top scorer off the bench, strong outside shooter), his juniors – Dylan Hover (point guard starting every game, named as Honorable Mention to the CHVL All-Stars) and Reid Rascoe (top notch effort as a defensive player) and his seniors – Larry Oligny (always works hard, leads by example, academically phenomenal), Tyler Baron (able to hit knock-down jumpers, will miss his leadership), Seth Hawk (led team in scoring with 197 points and in rebounds, steals, blocks, named as Honorable Mention to CHVL All-Stars) and Scott Bamba (“Mr. Intangible,” handles all the little things, steals, blocks, rebounds, hustle).
Coach Kelly Greene handed out the awards for the JV and Varsity Cheerleading Squad. Cheyenne Seel, chosen as MIP, was, in Greene’s estimation much improved in all aspects and had become much more stable in her motions. Besides that, she also helped out the JV squad a lot.
MVP went to Meygan Delevan who had built two routines from scratch and “never stood in the light but always let other people shine.”
Greene made special mention also of Jodi Thomas who, when the squad lost their captain in mid-season, was able to step in and take over.