Once again, thousands of athletes are gearing up to participate in the Empire State Games, held this years in the Binghamton area.
Competing in more than two dozen sports, they will represent six regions — Central, Western, Adirondack, HudsonValley, New York City and Long Island — in the pursuit of medals from July 24 to 27.
Here is a sampling of the local athletes donning the blue colors of the Central region for the 31st edition of the ESG.
Track and Field
Morrisville will be well-represented at the SUNY-Binghamton track, between Mitch Miller running in the open men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, Matt Holmes in the grueling open men’s decathlon and Carolyn Verne taking part in the open women’s 3,000 steeplechase.
On the scholastic side, Oneida standout Pat McLaughlin will be a medal contender in three different events — the 110-meter high hurdles, long jump and high jump. Canastota’s Allison Lasnicki runs in the women’s 5,000-meter event as Nick Harrison, from Verona, handles the 400-meter dash.
Wrestling
Vernon-Verona-Sherrill teammates Dylan Kavanaugh and Dan Walts both are expected to medal at SUNY-Binghamton’s West Gym. Kavanaugh, at 98 pounds, is entered in both freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines, while Walts, at 115 pounds, is only doing freestyle. Morrisville-Eaton’s Alex Meyers competes at 192 pounds on the Greco-Roman side, while Chittenango’s Wes Blanding qualified in freestyle at 123 pounds.
Up in the open division, M-E graduate Paul LeBlanc is entered in the freestyle division at 167 pounds as Vernon’s Todd Luther wrestles the heavyweights at 275 pounds.
Lacrosse
In a show of how far both of Cazenovia High School’s lacrosse programs has progressed, Chris Nourse settles in as a midfielder on the Central scholastic men’s team that will play at SUNY-Binghamton. Kara Cannizzaro is expected to star for the Central women’s side as they play at Alumni Stadium behind Binghamton Middle School.
Field Hockey
Lindsey Smith, a key member of recent Cazenovia field hockey sectional championship teams, plays midfield for the Central scholastic team vying for medals at Vestal High School.
Basketball
Two key parts of the successful VVS hoops program — Evan Croll and Adam Kemp — will be present when Central goes after a medal at SUNY-Binghamton’s Athletic Center.
Volleyball
At SUNY-Cortland, where 2002 ESG competition took place, Oneida’s men’s program is represented on the Central Open squad by Phil Pendleton and on the scholastic side by David Watson. Cazenovia’s Julie Gregg will be a key player on the Central scholastic women’s team.
Softball
On a Central open team that mostly features college players, Oneida High School pitching ace Beth Kann earned a place and could see action on the mound in the ESG tournament at the BAGSAI complex, site of the last two New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship tournaments. Oneida’s Frank Curro serves as one of the coaches.
Tennis
Continuing his fine career at Oneida, Trevor Haskell is one of four Central region singles players on the men’s side, joining Section III partners Matt Izant (Fayetteville-Manlius) and Josh Mulligan (CBA), plus Binghamton’s Alex Tsai. ESG matches are at SUNY-Binghamton’s courts.
Weightlifting
Inside SUNY-Binghamton’s Chamber Hall, Josh Lewis represents Canastota in the 169.75 pound division, while Oneida’s Amos Hall faced his fellow heavyweights.
Sailing
A veteran of many past Empire Games, Cazenovia native Andrew Smith brings his boat back to the water for events at Cornell Merrill Sailing Center in Ithaca.
Fencing
Yet another long-time visitor to the ESG, Hamilton’s Rich Hoopes, is coaching the Central team in a revamped event at Davis College in Vestal where individual titles in foil, epee and sabre replace team competitions from years past.
