Kingston High School boys’ swimming and diving
The Kingston High School boys’ swimming and diving team dropped its first two meets of the season, less a reflection of their ability and more of their roster. The Tigers have just nine swimmers for their 2021-22 campaign, none of them divers. Shadowing the team this year are two swimmers from Onteora High and three from Rondout Valley.
Kingston opened the season with a tough 86-82 loss from visiting Warwick on Wednesday, December 1. The Tigers dropped ten points by not having anyone competing in diving, more than enough points to have made up the difference.
Co-captain Andrew Sammons won the breaststroke (1:04.18) and individual medley (2:12.43) for Kingston, both times qualifying him for the Section 9 meet following the conclusion of the regular season, with his individual medley time a personal best.
Freshman Henry Shannon placed first in the 200- (2:06.60) and 500-yard (5:34.78) freestyles, while junior Sam Schachter, a co-captain, was second in the butterfly and third in the 100 freestyle. Seventh-grader Philip Lettre won the butterfly in 1:04.26, earning a spot in the sectional tournament. Kingston’s Andrew Kassian, Daniel Ougrin, Jack Samko; and Onteora’s Keegan Burkhardt and Sean Foster all made the sectionals in their respective races.
Two days later, Kingston traveled to Washingtonville, where they fell 94-66 to their Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association foe.
Sammons (200 free, 1:58.76), Mark Lekaj (100 backstroke, 1:12.69) and Chris Lekaj (100 breaststroke, 1:12.69) all earned individual gold.
Kingston High School girls’ basketball
The Kingston High School girls’ varsity basketball team made easy work of host Goshen High in their season opener on Thursday, December 2, winning 56-23. The Tigers led 34-14 at the half and never looked back. It was the team’s first game since February 2020.
Kingston shared the wealth throughout, with sophomores Diamond Banks (13 points) and Asia LeBon (11 points) leading the way in their first varsity action. Tashjeona Chavis (9 points), Trista Lukaszweski (8 points), Kalia Hylton (6 points), Ava Ottaviano-Scaturo (4 points), Julia Ahouse (3 points) and Reina Lindhorst (2 points) also contributed to the offense.
The Tigers hosted their home opener against non-league opponent F.D.R. on Monday, December 6 after Hudson Valley One went to press.
Kingston High School boys’ basketball
The Kingston High School boys’ varsity basketball team opened their season with a decisive 68-47 home win over Goshen on Friday, December 4. The Tigers led 21-3, and despite the Gladiators fighting back to get within 42-33 midway through the third quarter never totally lost control.
Ke’montae Thawe (21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals) and Ryan McCardle (18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals) led Kingston, while varsity debutants Kevin Andrade (8 points), Elijah Abrams (8 points) and Demario Smith (6 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals) also contributed.
Thawe and McCardle hit from downtown to key a 14-8 run after Goshen’s late comeback, and the result was never in doubt.
The game was the first for the varsity program since March 2020. The Tigers had to Shenendehowa on Tuesday, December 7 for non-league action.
Kingston takes to the road on Tuesday, December 7, with a non-league game at Shenendehowa.
Saugerties High School wrestling
The Saugerties High School varsity wrestling team had a busy and fruitful return to the mat last week, led by the return of Coach Scott Wickham. Wickham was at the helm of the program for 14 years before stepping away in March 2011.
The Sawyers have had a perennially strong program, and they showed their form in the season opener on Wednesday, December 1, prevailing over host Kingston High School in a 47.0-30.0 result.
Saugerties saw wins from Mason Bach (102, forfeit), Isaiah Hockx (126, fall 5:07), Antony Dernier (132, forfeit), Vance Dyke (138, technical fall 16-0, 0:00), Christian Hockx (152, fall, 1:32), James Burns (160, fall, 1:49), James Bucci (189, fall, 0:31) and Christopher Brooks (285, forfeit).
Two days later, the Sawyers traveled to Goshen High for the Lance Golubinski Memorial Duals, beating Port Jervis (54.0-24.0) and Tappan Zee (55.0-18.0) and falling to Longwood (60.0-12.0) and Warwick Valley (42.0-27.0).
The Sawyers dominated Port Jervis in the middle weight classes, with Isaiah Hockx (126, fall, 3:33), Dernier (132, forfeit), Dyke (138, forfeit), Christian Hockx (152, forfeit), James Burns (160, forfeit), Sean Sasso (172, forfeit), James Bucci (189, fall, 2:26), Jonathan Lent (215, fall, 0:48) and Brooks (285, fall, 1:33) all winning.
Saugerties fared even better against Tappen Zee, with Bach (102, forfeit), Zachary Burns (118, forfeit), Dernier (132, 9-8 decision), Jackson Bucci (145, fall, 5:30), Christian Hockx (152, forfeit), James Burns (160, fall, 3:37), Lucas Pipitone (172, forfeit), Sasso (189, forfeit) and Brooks (285, fall, 0:43).
Longwood proved the toughest matchup for the Sawyers early in the season, with just Zachary Burns (118, forfeit) and Isaiah Hockx (126, fall, 2:33) winning.
Saugerties fared better against Warwick Valley in a closer defeat, with Savannah Tittelbeck (110, fall, 1:11), Christian Hockx (152, 7-5 decision), James Bucci *189, fall, 5:21), Lent (215, fall, 0:16) and Brooks (285, fall, 0:17) all winning.
The Sawyers host their season opener against non-league opponent Washingtonville on Wednesday, December 8.
Hudson Valley Pathways Academy prepare for FIRST® Robotics Competitions
Ulster BOCES Hudson Valley Pathways Academy (HVPA) students, known as young scholars, are preparing for the New York Tech Valley FIRST ® Robotics Competitions, which are scheduled for March at the Times Union Center in Albany and Hofstra University.
The students, who were broken up into seven teams, put their mettle to the test during their second Romi Robot timed trials. The young scholars programmed miniature versions of the more than 100-pound, industrial-sized robot that they will take to the competition, where they will face off against pit teams from schools hailing from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and even Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, and Istanbul, Turkey.
The young scholars, who go by the team name of HVPA 7718 Dragons, created an arena that mimicked elements of the Second and Third Industrial Revolutions. They used their planning, design and manufacturing skills to construct a conveyor belt to outfit their model course. The young scholars used Computer Assisted Design (CAD) to outfit their robots with 3D printed parts and then programmed the robots to sync with remote controls so that young scholars could use the robots to complete tasks that would have occurred in an historical manufacturing plant. Designing the devices correlated with classroom lessons on the Four Industrial Revolutions, highlighting the school’s focus on project-based learning.
Participating in the pre-game festivities was Zoey Brady, a Chapter 2 (the equivalent to Grade 10) young scholar from the Saugerties Central School District. Brady says one of the benefits of the project was learning to work together as a team. “You have to work together toward a goal and it’s especially important to learn how to communicate with each other,” she said. “This will help when we start real jobs and have to work with people we don’t know.”
A Chapter 1 young scholar, Gabriela Stokes from the Kingston City School District, agreed. “Everybody has different ideas and you have to be open to listen to their ideas. I felt appreciative that they listened to me,” said Stokes.
Brady shared she was surprised by how much she learned in addition to gaining effective communication and project-coordination skills. “We have been doing a lot with technology like CAD that I haven’t used before,” explained the young scholar. “We learned a lot working on our own without help from our teachers.”
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