The Winter Varsity Sports Season is in the books and what a great season it was. Several teams and many young athletes have distinguished themselves.
Every season the academic averages of all varsity sports teams are taken collectively and each team whose average is greater than 90 percent is honored with the Scholar/Athlete Team distinction by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA).
Varsity Boys’ Basketball Head Coach Jim Frauenberg weighed in on their season saying, “This basketball season was a year of adjustment. We implemented three sophomores into the rotation throughout the season, so we were very young this year. Nick Carbone received All-County selection this season and hit his 100th career three point shot. In fact, Mr. Carbone set an OBHS record with over 100 three-pointers made. He was presented with a ball at senior night that will go in the showcase upstairs by the gym. Nick was a two year All-County selection and will be continuing his basketball career at Mount Saint Vincent College. Rob Venegas was a senior point guard and was an all-conference selection for the second year in a row.
“Our second leading scorer this season was junior, Chris Papantoniou. Chris made a nice jump this year and stepped up as a leader. He was selected All-Conference for the first time this season. We also started a sophomore this season in Rob Howes that will be the point guard of the future for the program. Rob had his best two games of the season at the end. Leading us in scoring in the playoff game and showing his maturation, Rob has a very bright future. As a team, we finished in the fourth seed and lost in the semifinals of the Class B tournament. I had a great group of kids this season and I am hoping the teaching we had to focus on this season will lead to future success of the program.”
The Boys’ and Girls’ Winter Track Teams, despite the many disruptions due to the harsh winter weather, recently completed two very successful seasons. Christopher Canadeo earned All-County and All-Conference honors in the Shot Put. Jack Sherbal was Conference Champion in both the Long Jump and the Triple Jump, and finished sixth in the Long Jump at the Nassau County Class B Meet. John Ottaunick earned All-Conference Honors in the 55 Meter Dash. The boys team finished in fourth place at their Conference Meet. For the girls, Vanessa Yu was Conference Champion in the 55 Meter Dash and earned All-Conference honors in the 300 Meter Dash. Josephine Pinnock was Conference Champion in the Triple Jump. Additionally, All-Conference honors were earned by Linda Cameron for the 1000 Meter Run and Cassandra Iacono for both the 600 Meter Run and the 55 Meter Dash. The girls completed the season by finishing in third place at their Conference Meet and with their 4 x 200 Meter Relay team of Rachel Wesley, Vanessa Yu, Caileen O’Keefe, and Cassandra Iacono, running the fourth fastest time at the Section 8 State Qualifier Meet. The Boys Winter Track team is coached by Christopher Weber and the girls are led by Coach Tom Neary.
