FISHING: Snapper tournament The Town of Riverhead Recreation Department will host its annual Snapper Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 7, on the Peconic Riverfront. The focus of the tournament is to get youths and adults involved in fishing and to raise money for the recreation department’s scholarship fund. A rod/reel will go to the winner of the adult (16 and older) and youth (under 16) divisions. Trophies will be awarded to the top three finishers in each division. Free T-shirts will be given to the first 100 registrants. Pre-registration is available by calling (631) 727-5744, ext. 0, or in person at the recreation department at 55 Columbus Avenue, Riverhead. On-site registration will begin at 10 a.m. on the Peconic Riverfront. The tournament will begin at 11 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. Anglers must supply their own poles and bait. In case of inclement weather, call (631) 727-5744, ext. 30 for updated information the morning of the event. The rain date is Sunday, Sept. 8.
Tag: Sports Briefs
SAILING: Condon wins his fourth Sunfish marathon John Condon of Mattituck Yacht Club won the 43rd annual World’s Longest Sunfish Race, Around Shelter Island, NY, which was hosted by Southold Yacht Club on Saturday.
With the breeze blowing five to six knots from the west/northwest, Condon was one of five sailors, including former North American champion Joel Furman, Ryan Messina, Jeff Anderson and Jim Koehler, who led the 34-boat fleet past Paradise Point. After the leaders passed the South Ferry, the wind increased to 12 to 15 knots and the group had expanded to eight with the addition of Peter Wells, four-time winner Dick Heinl and Joe Sullivan. By the time the group of eight gybed from starboard to port tack while rounding Mashomack Point, they had a 100-yard lead over the next group of sailors.
From Rams Head to Hay Beach Point in Gardiner’s Bay, the boats were on a close reach and the gap between the eight leaders and the bulk of the rest of the fleet increased to a half-mile. There were two exceptions, however, as Richard Skeen and Lee Montes made their moves and solidified their positions in ninth and 10th place while gaining ground on the lead pack.
Entering Greenport Harbor with the weekend chop and the wind blowing 15 to 20 knots from the west, the Race became a grueling test of physical fitness as the intrepid sailors in their 13-feet, 10-inch craft hiked out constantly to keep their boats flat and moving fast. But decisions had to be made, taking into consideration the still outgoing current, the wind direction and velocity, and fatigue as the leaders basically sprinted the final five miles of the approximately 24-mile course. It was during that final leg of the course when Condon passed Messina, who had led for most of the Race. Condon’s experience paid off as he focused upon the tide while Messina focused upon the wind. Once he got the lead, the 38-year-old Condon, who can keep his boat as flat as anyone who sails a Sunfish, was unstoppable. Still, the 29-year-old Messina made Condon work for his win in 3 hours, 58 minutes, 23 seconds, and crossed the finish line only 42 seconds behind him.
Condon became the third four-time winner of this nautical marathon and is one of only six sailors in the history of the race to break four hours. He is also one of only two who broke the four-hour mark twice. He did it in 2007, as well.
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The Riverhead Rotary Club will host its 22nd annual Bruce Stark Memorial Golf Championship on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at the Baiting Hollow Golf Club. Play in the scramble/shotgun format will begin at 11 a.m. The tournament raises funds for the Stark Scholarship program, which benefits deserving Riverhead High School and Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School students. Players may register for the championship by sending the name, phone number, mailing address and e-mail address for each player, with a check payable to Riverhead Rotary for $250 per player or $1,000 per foursome to: Riverhead Rotary, P.O. Box 518, Riverhead, N.Y. 11901. Players are asked to register by Aug. 15.
GARRET MEADE FILE PHOTO | Chris Ujkic is seeking his seventh straight title in the Bob Wall Memorial Tennis Tournament.
Steve Paskiewicz earned a place in the men’s singles final of the Bob Wall Memorial Tennis Tournament with a 6-0, 6-1 semifinal defeat of No. 3 seed Richard Anderson. Paskiewicz will play the No. 1 seed Chris Ujkic in Saturday’s final at Robert W. Tasker Park in Peconic. Ujkic is seeking his seventh straight men’s singles championship and 19th title overall in the tournament.
The women’s singles final will pit Rosemary Krocke against Kate Freudenberg.
Richard Chizever will get a chance to defend his title in the men’s 50-plus singles division thanks to his 6-0, 6-0 semifinal win over No. 3 Tom Cahill. No. 4 John Czartosieski recovered to take down Andrezej Kopala in a three-setter, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Saturday will be a busy day for Chizever. He will also play in the men’s 50-plus doubles final along with his partner, Bob Lum. The top-seeded pair will be matched against No. 2 Tom Cahill and Ed Lee. Chizever and Lum beat No. 4 Richard Brooks and Mark McDuffy, 6-0, 6-0, in the semifinals.
All of Saturday’s finals will be played at Robert W. Tasker Park, starting with the women’s singles final and the men’s 50-plus doubles match at 8 a.m. The men’s singles final is set for 10 a.m., with the men’s 50-plus singles contest to go at 11 a.m.
GARRET MEADE FILE PHOTO | Chris Ujkic is two wins away from yet another singles title at the Bob Wall Memorial Tennis Tournament.
TENNIS: Chris Ujkic, the winner of six straight men’s singles titles in the Bob Wall Memorial Tournament, is two wins away from making it seven straight championships.
The top-seeded Ujkic has a semifinal opponent awaiting him in John Czartosieski. Ujkic advanced by virtue of a 6-0, 6-0 quarterfinal defeat of Greg Quist.
Czartosieski triumphed in three-setters in his last two matches, including a third-set tiebreaker over his quarterfinal opponent, fourth-seeded Eric Digons, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2). Prior to that, Czartosieski topped Richard Chizever, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The other semifinal will pit No. 2 seed Steve Paskiewicz against No. 3 Richard Anderson. They both scored two-set quarterfinal victories. Paskiewicz, an eight-time tournament champion and runner-up last year, blanked Southold High School standout Josh Robinson, 6-0, 6-0. Anderson was a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Jim Christy Jr.
Kate Freudenberg and Rosemary Krocke have a date to play in the women’s singles final. In the semifinals, Freudenberg beat Mary Beth Corazzini, 6-2, 6-0, and Krocke ousted Melissa Hickox, 6-2, 6-2.
Corazzini had reached the semifinals through an 8-10, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Dina Rose.
The defending men’s 50-plus singles champion, Richard Chizever, secured a semifinal place thanks to his 6-0, 6-0 defeat of John Rosselli. Chizever has a tough task ahead of him, though. His semifinal opponent will be the fourth-seeded Czartosieski, a 6-0, 6-1 quarterfinal winner over Myron Kaplan.
The two other quarterfinals were two-set affairs as well. The No. 1 seed, Andrzej Kopala, proved too much for David Newmark, winning by 6-0, 6-0. No. 3 Tom Cahill got the better of Mike Greene, 6-2, 6-2.
One half of the men’s 50-plus doubles final has been booked. The second-seeded Tom Cahill and Ed Lee have claimed that spot with their 6-4, 7-5 victory over the No. 3 pair of John Gregory and Richard Suter.
The finals of the tournament, which is sponsored by TimesReview Newsgroup, are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 3, at Robert W. Tasker Park in Peconic.
GIRLS LACROSSE: Carrera comes up big for LI Carolyn Carrera played for Team Long Island at the Brine Classic National Championships in Boyds, Md., earlier this month. Carrera, who will be entering her senior year at Riverhead High School, had 2 goals, 1 assist, 6 draw controls, 2 ground balls, 3 takeaways and won 8 of 10 draws in a 9-3 championship game win over New Jersey.
RUNNING: 5K run in Cutchogue The Fleet’s Neck Property Owners Association will sponsor a 5K run in Cutchogue on Saturday, Aug. 17. The run will begin at 9 a.m. A family 5K run/walk will kick off at 9:05 a.m. at Pequash Park, tucked away at the end of Pequash Avenue and West Road in Cutchogue. The course offers scenic views of Peconic Bay, creeks and wetlands. The event will help support the maintenance and restoration of the Fleet’s Neck Beach.
The registration deadline is Friday, Aug. 9. Pre-registration fees are $25 for runners ages 16 to 65 and $15 for runners under 16 or over 65. The day of race registration is $30.
For online registration, go to www.islandrunning.net. For more information, e-mail [email protected] or phone (631) 734-8027.
DANIEL DE MATO/ROBERT O’ROURK PHOTOS | Riverhead seniors Jeff Pittmann (left) and Nick Ross will represent Long Island in Tuesday’s Empire Challenge at Hofstra University.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Riverheaders playing for L.I. Two Riverhead seniors, wide receiver Jeff Pittman and defensive end Nick Ross, will play for the Long Island team in the Empire Challenge all-star game against New York City on Tuesday night at Hofstra University’s James M. Shuart Stadium. Riverhead coach Leif Shay is one of the Long Island coaches. The kickoff time is 7:30 p.m. Long Island has won the game the last two years.
RUNNING: Shelter Island race on Saturday The 34th annual Shelter Island 10K Run is scheduled to start on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in front of Shelter Island High School. Simon Ndirangu of Kenya set a course record last year with a time of 28 minutes 37 seconds. He snapped three seconds off the previous mark that Alena Reta of Ethiopia set in 2010 when he won the race for the second time in four years. A Moroccan, Malika Mejdoub, won the women’s race in 34:28.
GIRLS GYMNASTICS: Team holding fund-raiser Members of the GymNation gymnastics competition team will hold a car wash fund-raiser on Sunday to raise money to help cover coaching costs and entry fees for the USAIGC World Gymnastics Championships in California at the end of the month. The car wash at the Cutchogue Fire Department will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A bake sale and a 50/50 raffle are also planned.
SOCCER: Summer program North Fork United Soccer Club will host a summer soccer program for children ages 4 to 11 on evenings from July 8 to Aug. 8 at the Cutchogue East Elementary School. E-mail [email protected] or call Lisa Fox at (631) 834-1685 for registration information.
ROBERT O’ROURK FILE PHOTO | Genevieve Kuczewski competes in a relay for Shoreham-Wading River at last year’s indoor state qualifier.
WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD: Wading River runner cited Genevieve Kuczewski, a resident of Wading River, was named to the All-American team as a member of Suffolk County Community College’s 4×400-meter relay team.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Peconic Bay tournament Peconic Bay Medical Center’s Employee Activities Committee will host a beach volleyball tournament on Sept. 7 to benefit heart health. Registration will start at 8 a.m. on the day of the tournament. Tournament play will start at 9 a.m. at Tiana Beach in Hampton Bays. Teams will consist of four to six players. The cost is $25 per person per team. Individual players are welcome. For more information, contact Priscilla at (631) 548-6217 or Jennifer Miglino at (631) 548-6219 before Aug. 16, 2013.
SOCCER: Summer program North Fork United Soccer Club will host a summer soccer program for children ages 4 to 11 on evenings from July 8 to Aug. 8 at the Cutchogue East Elementary School. E-mail [email protected] or call Lisa Fox at (631) 834-1685 for registration information.
FARMINDALE BASEBALL COURTESY PHOTO | David Zilnicki of Riverhead was named MVP of the Farmingdale State College baseball team.
David Zilnicki, a former three-year varsity starter for Riverhead High School, was named the most valuable player of Farmingdale State’s team this year and selected to the ABCA/Rawlings Division III All American third team.
Zilnicki was a four-year starter for Farmingdale State, helping the Rams to four conference championships and four trips to the NCAA New York Regionals. He was named to the All-Skyline Conference team three times during the four years he played for Farmingdale.
In Division III this season, Zilnicki ranked fourth in stolen bases (37), fifth in both stolen bases per game (0.9) and on-base percentage (.552), and 14th in batting average (.434).
Over 41 games this year, Zilnicki had team-high figures in hits (53), runs scored (44), walks (29), stolen bases, batting average and on-base percentage. He was second on the Rams in slugging percentage (.541) and third in runs batted in (24).
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Senior pitcher Tim Velys of Riverhead helped Muhlenberg College (Penn.) to a 20-win season this year. Velys appeared in 12 games as a reliever and was 1-0 with a 4.15 earned run average. He held opposing hitters to a .212 batting average and struck out 12 in 13 innings. The southpaw picked up his lone win of the season by pitching two-thirds of an inning in a 14-11 victory against Centennial Conference rival Ursinus.
For his career, Velys was 6-3 with a save and a 4.25 ERA in 55 innings. He ranks third on the Mules’ all-time list with 50 career appearances.
Muhlenberg posted the fourth 20-win season in program history, finishing with a record of 20-20. The Mules were 7-11 in the Centennial Conference, doubling their league win total from 2012, and set a school record with 84 doubles.
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Oneonta State pitcher Steve Ascher of Mattituck completed his sophomore season with a 3.02 earned run average. He pitched 50 innings, allowing 52 hits and striking out 43.
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The Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League will open its season on Sunday when the first of more than 140 games on tap for this summer will be played. The Riverhead Tomcats will begin their season at home against the North Fork Ospreys.
Each team will play a 40-game schedule, with the top four squads advancing to the playoffs. The postseason will kick off in late July, with a champion being crowned on the first weekend in August.
The season also includes the fifth annual MLB Scout Day, to be held on Tuesday, June 25, at SBU Southampton, as well as the first annual HCBL All-Star Game at Cochran Park, home of the Ospreys, on Saturday, July 13.
Approximately 175 players who hail from more than 100 universities will descend on the East End this summer.
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The North Fork Ospreys have named Husson (Maine) assistant coach Chris Morris as their pitching coach. Morris is coming off his first season at the helm of the HU pitching staff, helping guide the Eagles to their North Atlantic Conference championship in three years. Husson finished the year 26-18 and boasted a conference-best 3.50 earned run average, and that figure dipped to 2.76 in NAC play.
GARRET MEADE FILE PHOTO | Chris Ujkic won his third straight men’s singles title at last year’s Bob Wall Tennis Tournament.
TENNIS: Bob Wall tournament Registrations are being accepted for the 2013 Bob Wall Memorial Tennis Tournament. The tournament, sponsored by Times/Review Newspapers of Mattituck, will be held over a six-week period this summer from the last weekend in June through the last weekend in July. A portion of the proceeds from this year’s tournament will be directed to assist with the rehabilitation of Robert Wall, a former Riverhead High School tennis player left paralyzed following a boating/diving accident. Robert is the son of Bob Wall, the late founder of this tournament. Additional proceeds will support college scholarships for North Fork area student-athletes. The final matches will be played on Saturday, Aug. 3, at Robert W. Tasker Park in Peconic. For more information, contact Jim Christy at (631) 298-8085 or click here to register online.