Taylor Robey will be the Kingston High School girls’ swim team’s sole representative in the state meet after taking first place in the 100-yard freestyle at the Section IX qualifying meet last weekend.
The Tiger senior had already made the grade by hitting the state qualifying mark with a time of 54.34 in preliminaries on Thursday, Nov. 3. In the Valley Central pool on Saturday, Robey cut her time back to 53.37 to win the individual event.
Robey will next compete in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association meet at Ithaca College on Nov. 18-19.
Robey almost doubled up events, finishing eight-hundredths of a second behind Abigail Santos in the 50-yard freestyle. Robey’s time of 25.01 wasn’t enough to meet the state standard on its own.
The Tigers placed fifth out of 17 overall in the qualifying meet with a score of 186. Washingtonville’s 339 was just good enough to edge Monroe-Woodbury’s 337 for first place.
Minisink stops Tigers
All good streaks must come to an end. For the Kingston High varsity volleyball team, a win streak that carried them through the second half of the season and into the playoffs ended in the Section IX, Class AA final in a wild five-set defeat to Minisink Valley.
The two teams traded wins in the match, played at Mount Saint Mary College on Sunday, Nov. 6. Ultimately, the Tigers were undone, falling 25-17, 25-27, 25-12, 23-25, 25-22.
The give and take wasn’t just set-to-set, but was also seen within sets. The Tigers and Warriors traded wins in the first set until Minisink went on a 12-5 tear to close it out.
The Tigers were led by Tori Boulay (40 assists, 12 digs, two kills), Suzy Boulay (28 digs), Jaid Harrell (15 kills, five digs, three blocks), Shannon Bonewit (14 kills, six digs, four blocks), Tori Ost (14 digs, six kills) and Grace Longendyke (eight kills, six blocks, dig).
Kingston earned its way into its first sectional final in 17 years three nights earlier, sweeping two-time defending Class AA champion Pine Bush in a 25-19, 25-16, 25-22 semifinal victory. Pine Bush made it all the way to the state final in 2015.
Tori Boulay (21 assists, 10 digs, two kills, ace), Suzy Boulay (14 digs, two aces, kill), Bonewit (10 kills, six digs, two blocks, ace), Ost (10 digs, two aces, one kill), Harrell (nine kills, four blocks, two digs), Longendyke (five kills, block, dig, assist), Ashley Hintz (five digs, two aces), Sydney Jankowski (four kills, three digs) and Ashly Costello (two digs).
Kingston will lose just four seniors — Jankowski, Hintz, Costello and Suzy Boulay, who closed out her high school career as the program’s all-time digs leader with 861.
Kingston Head Coach Nicole Molinaro said her team’s successful season all boiled down to relentless hard work. “Effort was everything,” Molinaro said. “Winning 10 games in a row after being down several times throughout sets speaks for itself. It was absolutely a team effort that focused on teamwork, passion and strategy.”
The Tigers’ return to the Section IX finals after a 17-year absence was a long time coming, but was also on the team’s radar from the beginning of the year.
“We set a goal the first day of workouts to be present at the sectional finals and we did just that,” said Molinaro. “Winning would have been absolutely amazing, but we also need to be proud of the history made leading up to that event. We beat several teams we theoretically were never supposed to even compete with. My libero, Suzy Boulay, surpassed the lifetime digs record at KHS, we made it to the finals for the first time in 17 years. Our season was beyond successful.”
Molinaro said even in the season-ending loss to Minisink Valley, the Tigers had much to be proud of.
“I simply thanked them,” she said. “They played together and gave it their all. As a coach, that’s all I could possibly ask for. I told them they have nothing to hang their heads about, and we leave this gym without any regrets. We never gave up. I was beyond proud.”
With most of the team’s starting lineup returning in 2017, the sky is the limit for the Tigers. “Now the girls know what it feels like to not only make it to sectional finals, but to also lose,” Molinaro said. “I personally won’t need to do much motivating. They know now what to expect. These girls are driven, passionate, and determined. They’re not leaving without the title next year.”
Bad time for first loss
It took all year for an opponent to earn a win over the Kingston High School varsity field hockey team, and it happened in the Class A regional finals as Section I champion Scarsdale blanked the Tigers in a 5-0 result.
Kingston played tough in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association game on Saturday, Nov. 5, but Scarsdale’s relentless attack proved the difference. Scarsdale was only up 2-0 at the half, and they led 3-0 with around six minutes remaining. Kingston goalkeeper Abby Brocco didn’t allow a goal until Sophia Franco knocked in her first of two with 17:05 remaining in the first half. Elizabeth Scarcella added a second just before the half. Franco and Scarcella each finished with a pair of goals, while Erin Nicholas (goal, three assists) also did plenty of damage.
The Tigers closed out their 2016 campaign with a 14-1-1 record.
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