From the soccer field to the track, athletes from Liverpool raked in medals during the 31st edition of the Empire State Games.
In more than two dozen sports spread out through Binghamton and the Southern Tier, thousands of competitors from six geographic regions (Central, Western, Adirondack, Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island) did battle. Here is how the local athletes fared.
Soccer
On a team coached by one-time Liverpool star Brian McGrane and featuring Domenico Vitale, Central’s open men took home the gold medal at SUNY-Binghamton.
Central beat Western 4-1 and took out Hudson Valley 3-1 before finishing with a pair of shutouts — 1-0 over Long Island and, in the championship game, 2-0 over New York City.
Meanwhile, Allesio Vitale played on a Central scholastic men’s team that lost 2-1 to New York City in the bronze-medal game, despite Vitale notching Central’s lone goal. Christina Ippolito, Danielle Gannon and Robin Verschneider played with the Central open women’s team that could not register a victory in three tries.
Ice Hockey
Joey Wilson brought a gold medal home as Central’s scholastic men’s team (coached by another Liverpool native, Steve Cibelli) broke Western’s long hold on the ESG crown at Broome County Community College.
After a 4-2 win over Long Island, Central got an assist from Wilson in a 4-0 win over Adirondack. A 2-1 win over Hudson Valley followed, and Wilson returned for an assist as Central topped New York City 4-1 and clinched the gold Saturday night.
But Wilson saved his best stuff for Sunday afternoon. With Central down 2-1 to Western, Wilson tied it on a goal with 12:25 left, then assisted on Mike Montagna’s winning tally with 12 seconds left as, by a 3-2 margin, Central completed its perfect run.
Central’s scholastic women, with Kathleen Conese on the roster again, managed just one tie in five games at Broome County Arena.
Track and Field
After an eighth-place finish on her own in the scholastic women’s 100-meter dash at SUNY-Binghamton, Wanetta Rodney ran with Central in the 4×100 relay. Rodney, along with Gennie DePass, Ashley Malmeister and Jessica Razy, rallied past Hudson Valley down the stretch to win the gold medal, 48.85 seconds to HV’s time of 48.93 seconds.
Harmony Cross joined in with a bronze medal in the seven-event heptathlon, finishing with 3,363 points, while Trina Bills got fourth place in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 7:43.73.
Monica Ridgeway, in the open division, finished fourth in the shot put, fifth in the discus seventh in the hammer throw as Jessica Ball took seventh place in the high jump. Ethan Hickey ran to sixth place (16:11.96) in the open men’s 5,000-meter run.
Lacrosse
Tyler Kamide played hard for a Central scholastic men’s team that earned the silver medal at SUNY-Binghamton. Going 3-2 with one-goal defeats to Western and Long Island, Central still made it to Sunday’s title game, only to fall to Long Island 14-3 to leave it in second place.
Jennifer VanderMeulen, Allison Flood and Mikey Meagher all had large roles for a Central scholastic women’s team that claimed the bronze medal at Alumni Stadium. In her first three games, VanderMeulen had seven goals to be one of Central’s top scorers. Meagher saw action in goal throughout the tournament, while Flood played on defense.
Swimming
Carly Jones won three medals, and nearly a fourth in open (age 16 and over) competition at SUNY-Cortland. She got the silver in the 200-meter breaststroke in 2:51.65, this after claiming a bronze medal in the 200-meter individual medley in 2:34.71.
With Sarah Stroup, Jones took another bronze in the 4×200 relay. Jones was also fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:19.48, 0.01 seconds out of the medals, as Stroup got fifth in the 400 freestyle and sixth in both the 200 and 800 freestyle events.
Kevin Murphy, in men’s open competition, earned his own medal as part of the Central 4×200 relay team, this after a ninth in the 100 breaststroke. Antoinette Esce, Renee Stromski, Zoe McCauley and Cory Spado all saw action in scholastic (age 15 and under) events.
Softball
Kristen Deslauriers starred throughout the ESG tournament at the BAGSAI complex for Central’s open team. With a 3-2 mark, Central ended up in the third-place game, where it used three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Hudson Valley 6-5 and snatch the bronze medal.
Volleyball
With steady play throughout the ESG tournamen at SUNY-Cortland, Aubrey Barrett helped Central win the bronze medal in scholastic women’s play, as the team went 5-3 before falling to Long Island in the semifinal round.
Both of Central’s open teams had a heavy Liverpool presence — Jamie McMullen and Erin Nicklaw for the women, Brian Bunch, Ryan Huberty, Erik Nicklaw and James VanBenschoten for the men — but neither of them would medal.
Baseball
Matt Wessinger was one of Central’s top hitters and Liverpool Mike Weakley offered ample assistance as Central went 3-2, just missing a shot at the gold-medal game. Instead, in Saturday’s third-place battle at Union-Endicott High School, Central lost to Western 3-1 and had to settle for fourth.
Basketball
Dan Cromwell, who lives in Liverpool and goes to LeMoyne College, helped push Central’s open men’s team to a bronze medal at the SUNY-Binghamton Events Center. In the third-place game, Central rallied late to beat Hudson Valley 78-76, with Cromwell picking up 14 points, by far his best total of the tournament.
Boxing
Bruce Dollinger, who boxed at 201 pounds at Susquehanna Valley High School in Conklin, was knocked out of the early rounds. Shawn Miller (Adirondack) took the gold.
Diving
Bill Werksman was part of the Central scholastic men’s team at SUNY-Binghamton’s West Gym, where he finished ninth with 263.25 points.
Field Hockey
Alyssa Renk played defense on Central’s scholastic team at Vestal High School. After going 2-2 in round-robin play, Central lost the bronze-medal game to Western in a 2-1 decision.
Gymnastics
On the Central scholastic men’s team at Broome County Arena, Todd Andrzejewski and Taylor Vogt were part of a fourth-place finish with 225.20 points.
Tennis
Representing the strong Liverpool program at SUNY-Binghamton, Kayla DiPaolo played singles as the Central scholastic women finished with a record of 1-4.
