Eighteen winter guard teams from throughout WNY and Canada were in Batavia on Saturday night for the 20th annual competition in the Batavia High School gymnasium.
Top three photos of the Batavia varsity team, followed by photos of a senior guard team, called Luminosa made up of students from throughout the region, then the team from Medina.
Camden White checked off a big life goal yesterday when he signed a letter of intent to attend Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa., on a football scholarship.
"Just growing up, I fell in love with football," White said. "The main dream was being able to go to college for free. I always wanted to get a scholarship and Mercyhurst gave me a pretty good offer. I'm almost going to college for free so the dream came true."
White will study sports medicine, strength, and conditioning.
Mercyhurst is a Division II program.
It's no surprise to Batavia's head football coach, Brennan Briggs, that White landed a football scholarship.
"He's a product of hard work," Briggs said. "He came and played football with us when he was younger and he was a little smaller and he just dedicated himself to the weight room. He decided he was going to put his mind toward playing college football. His worth ethic and effort paid off and I just know he's going to have a great career at Mercyhurst."
His father, Al White, said he's glad Cam picked a school close to home.
"It was a good option," he said. "He could have gone further away but academically and athletically, it was the right choice for him."
Top photo: Front row, Caeden White, Al White, Camden White, Tina White, and Gavin White. Back row: Ted Stevens, Buddy Brasky, Brennan Briggs, Chris Harloff, and Javaughn Johnson.
Write-up and photos submitted by Matt Holman.
It was a cold and clear night for the Batavia High School Ski Team as they wrapped up their regular season on Wednesday, with a two-run slalom race on Wheels Run at Swain Resort.
Junior Zach Wagner was the team's top skier with a combined time of 1:45.39, which put him in 14th place for the boys.
After a spectacular first run, putting her in sixth place, Aubrey Towner fell at the top of the course, but got up, hiked and finished her season and career at Swain with a two-run finish in 21st. Eighth-grader Lily Wagner was 23rd and Junior Lily Whiting missed a gate on the first run, but her second was good enough for 14th.
The season ends with the girls with a fourth-place team finish in the Southern Tier Race League.
Aubrey Towner finished in ninth, earning a spot on the league's all-star team. The first time in many years that Batavia has had a girl in the top 10. Lily Whiting also had a very successful season finishing in 14th, Lily Wagner finished 24th and Zach Wagner finished in 13th on the boy's side.
The Alpine Ski Team will next compete at the sectionals on Feb. 11th and 12th at Bristol Mountain.
Top photo: Zach Wagner
Lily Whiting
Aubrey Towner
In girls' basketball on Saturday afternoon, the Batavia Blue Devils beat South Seneca 51-27.
Brynn Wormley scored 23 points for Batavia, hitting five three-pointers. Emma Krolczyk scored 12. Mackenzie Riegle scored 10.
Even though Pittsford-Sutherland had a size advantage down low, the Blue Devils kept their home game Wednesday night close until the third quarter.
Then Pittsford-Sutherland's guards started dropping threes like gumdrops in a five-and-dime.
Drew Kull, Jalyn Moorehead and Owen Flisnik combined for seven makes beyond the arc and sealed the deal of a 58-42 win for the Knights.
For Batavia, the only player in double digits scoring was Alex Hale with 11 points. Zach Gilebarto scored nine, Caeden White, eight, and Camden White scored seven.
The Blue Devils are now 7-6 on the season.
Write up and photos submitted by Matt Holeman.
SWAIN -- The Batavia Ski Team competed Wednesday night at Swain Resort in a two-run Giant Slalom race on Wheels Run. With the recent cold temperatures and clear sky, the temperature dipped to make the race conditions nearly perfect. The snow was hard, but not icy holding together with minimal ruts and you could almost see the stars shining through.
Junior Zach Wagner was the team's top finisher, recovering from a potential crash on his second run, completing a combined two run time of 1.50.59 was good enough for seventh place.
It was a night to forget for the girls' varsity team as two of the three skiers (Senior Aubrey Towner and eighth-grader Lily Wagner) ended up crashing, losing a ski and not finishing the race. Junior Lily Whiting, however, had a great night finishing with a combined time of 2.10.92 finishing in 12th place.
Modified finishers included Ethan Bradly in 15th and Abby Bestine in 19th.
Midseason Standings had the Batavia Girls Team was tied for third with Livonia, both sitting behind Keshequa and Arkport-Canaseraga in the Southern Tier Race League.
Aubrey Towner is currently in sixth place for the season, Lily Whiting in 13th and Zach Wagner is sitting in 10th for the boys. Finishing in the top 10 for the season would send them to the league's all-star team.
From coach Matt Holman
Wednesday night was perfect conditions for ski racing, the around freezing temperatures and hard-packed snow created a slippery but not icy, fast track for a two-run Giant Slalom race on Swain's Wheels Run.
Zach Wagner was Batavia's top skier with a two-run combined time of 1.55.46 which would account for an 8th place boys finish. Aubrey Towner continues her strong senior season by finishing in 6th place with a combined time of 2.05.05. 8th Grader Lily Wagner finished 19th 2.25.71. The girls finished in 5th place.
Modified Skiers Ben Stone, Abby Bestine, and Brody Swinehart finished 18th, 19th, and 23rd
Batavia will race next on Wednesday, January 22nd
Tech is increasingly part of the learning environment in City School classrooms and at Tuesday's Board of Education meeting, two teachers -- Alexander Veltz, Social Studies (photo), and Andrew Kiebala, Math -- shared how they're using Chromebooks and Google classroom tools to aid in their instruction.
Their presentions came as part of the information technology review by Director of Technology Jeff McKinney.
Veltz shared how he can use Google tools to share assignments, worksheets, handouts, and ensure that not only are they available in the classroom, but students (and their guardians) have access to the material at home. The availability of the material is helping him meet the new demands for greater reading comprehension in state exams.
With the tools, students can answer questions and get immediate feedback on their responses.
Another tool allows students to sort through documents, which is especially helpful for a project that requires them to write an essay based on pre-assigned material that they must study, find a common theme, and then organize in order to write the essay.
"There is a shift in New York State where it's less about retention and more about argumentation based on perspective and point of view," Veltz said. "Retention is a skill New York is moving away from."
Trustee Shawn Murphy, who teaches at Genesee Community College, asked if the use of the tools was taking away from classroom engagement. Veltz said not at all.
McKinney added, "We are not switching over to where kids just sit in front of a computer. That's not the intent at all."
Kiebala shared tools that students can use to study geometric properties.
He also shared a program that allows students to work on quizzes that he guides from his own computer and see where they need help. He said the program allows students to ask questions and make observations that he can then share with the class. The process allows students who might normally be shy about raising their hands to contribute more readily to classroom learning.
"This is my favorite thing to do," Kiebala said. "It allows them to be independent and also allows me to have control, so it's the best of both worlds for a teacher."
Kiebala shared a study published by NPR that indicated most people in the work world don't spend a lot of time doing trigonometry or geometry but they do spend a lot of time working in Excel, so his statistics class is heavy into spreadsheets.
"I tell the class, 'this is what you're going to spend your time doing because this is what you're going to use,' " Kiebala said. "You don't have to do anything by hand anymore because you either have a calculator or a spreadsheet but you still need to know what the numbers mean."
Photos and information submitted by Coach Matt Holman.
SWAIN -- The Batavia Ski Team and Southern Tier Race League began their race season Saturday at Swain Resort with a double race.
Two runs of Giant Slalom in the morning, followed by a single run of slalom in the afternoon.
It was an above-average temperature day for ski racing, spring-like conditions and morning mist turned to sleet and back to rain that making the top layer of snow soft and lumpy like mashed potatoes and also exposed the hard-packed ice base in spots of Wheels Run at Swain.
The Batavia Alpine Ski Team had a successful day, senior Aubrey Towner had the best finish of her career and led the way in fourth place in the giant slalom, and sixth in slalom. Junior Lily Whiting came in ninth in giant slalom and 13th in the slolam. Junior Zack Wagner finished in 11th in giant slalom and 12th in the slalom on the boys' side.
Modified skiers Lily Wagner (11th/13th), Ethan Bradley (12th/12th), Ben Stone (16th/18th), Elijah Abdella (18th/15th), Brody Swinehart (23rd/20th) and Abby Bestine (24th/23rd) all had strong first races.
The ski team will next compete at Swain on Wednesday, in a two-run Giant Slalom race at 5:30 p.m.
Team photo: Aubrey Towner, Lily Wagner, Lily Whiting, Elijah Abdella, Abby Bestine, Zack Wagner, Ben Stone, Ethan Bradley, and Brody Swinehart.
Zack Wagner
Aubrey Towner
Twenty four-quarter points helped lift Batavia over Greece Athena for a 64-53 win Wednesday night.
Zach Gilebarto scored 21 points, Cam White, 16, Stone Siverling, 14, and Caeden White, 8.
Photos by Steve Ognibene.
To view or purchase prints, click here.
Batavia couldn't quite close the gap at the end Friday night in their home opener against Honeoye Falls-Lima, falling 59-57.
Zach Bilebarto had a big game for the Blue Devils, scoring 25 points while hitting seven three-point shots. Caden White hit three three-pointers and finished with 13 points. Camden White scored 10 points and had eight rebounds.
Photos by Steve Ognibene.
To view or purchase prints, click here.
Katie Moore, a standout with Batavia High School's soccer team, signed a Division I scholarship offer this week with Jacksonville University in Florida.
Photo: Steve Moore, Katie Moore, Melissa Moore, William Buckenmeyer, Roger Hume, and Chris Chilano.
Submitted photo.
Batavia High School's Production Club this weekend presents "Shrek: The Musical."
Tickets are $10 at the door and $8 for students and seniors. They're available in advance for $9 through showtix4u.com.
Showtimes are Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Tim Martin, born and raised in Batavia and a 2014 graduate of Batavia High School, is now in the Marine Corps and a tool he invented to assist in maintenance on the brakes of MV-22 Ospreys is getting the attention of even some of the highest-ranking generals in the Corps, thanks to its ability to reduce maintenance time and save money.
Martin's tool is now patent-pending and being deployed throughout the Corps for use on Ospreys, a type of multi-use aircraft that can take off and land both vertically (like a helicopter) and then fly like a fixed-wing plane.
After graduation from BHS, where he took several advanced-placement classes, Martin started college in an engineering program but decided he didn't like college life much so he joined the Marine Corps. He's now an aviation mechanic.
In his email to us, Martin said, "I have loved my time in the Corps since the day I joined, and wish for everyone to seek out what they are truly called to do. I never thought in my life that I would drop out of college as an engineering student and go on to be patent-pending on a tool I invented a few years later. The opportunities in life are endless. Once you find your calling everything else falls into place."
It's Make a Difference Day for Batavia High School seniors with students and teachers taking on several community projects, including cleanup at the Peace Garden despite the rain.
Top photo: Leah Wroten. Second photo, Wroten along with Carolena Williams, Gabrielle Lawrence, Andrea Kraus, Katie Metzler and Ethan DiLaura.
At the Batavia Agri-Business Child Development Center on Brooklyn Avenue, Ron Williams, Alesia Schmidt and Sherry Crumity.
Marcello Harris, Jacob Bondaruk and Joshua Wasiulewski clean toys at the Batavia Agri-Business Child Development Center.
Jacob Crimes cleaning a display case at the Holland Land Office Museum.
Charlie Burton and Ayden Dowd-Devay paint a door at HLOM, while in the background Eddie Goodenough vacuums.
Van Detta Stadium was filled with soccer players and soccer fans on Saturday for "Super Soccer Saturday" with five soccer games on the pitch, including an alumni soccer game in the afternoon (top photo).
Games:
Photos and info submitted by Carolyn Della Penna.
Batavia senior girls: Syd Della Penna, Maddie Taggart, Erica Flint, Azalea Wierda, Katie Moore, Liv Ells, Emily Janes, Bri Gutman.
Occasionally, a Batavia High School student completes their graduation requirements out of cycle with the rest of their class and receives their diploma at a Board of Education meeting. That was the case Tuesday night for Hezekia N. Burch.
The Blue Devils soccer team has historically faired poorly on artificial turf but Monday, they got a chance to start a new tradition -- one that is now necessary -- by winning their first home game in the new Van Detta Stadium.
Batavia beat Dansville 3-2 behind three goals by Garrick Havens. Two were on penalty kicks and the third was assisted by Andres Mateos.
Batavia took 16 shots on net and Dansville, 14.
Unique to the current roster are three pairs of brothers, all starters.
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Batavia High School held its annual Athletic Hall of Fame Dinner on Saturday night at Batavia Downs.
Inducted were:
The Blue Devils appear to have found their own four horsemen of destruction, capable of shredding defenses and leaving despair in their wake.
Cody Burns, Terez Smith, Alex Rood and Jesse Reinhart are establishing themselves, since Head Coach Brennan Briggs realigned the backfield before last week's game, as a dominant offensive force.
Last night Burns gained 118 yards on nine carries and scored a TD. Smith ran for 99 yards on 21 carries. Rood rushed 14 times for 95 yards and two TDs. While Reinhart was 7 for 16 passing for 113 yards and a TD.
Batavia beat Bishop Kearney 33-18.
Daemon Konieczny caught two passes for 58 yards. Bannon Moore had one 30-yard TD reception.
On defense, Isaiah Hill had nine tackles and Rood had eight. Max Rapone snagged two interceptions and returned one 90 yards on the last play of the game, getting caught from behind two yards from the goal line. Reinhart had five tackles and an interception.
In other Friday night football:
Photos by Steve Ognibene.
Top photo: Bannon Moore, who caught a key pass from a double QB move from Rood to Reinhart with seconds left before halftime to give the Devils the lead.
To view and purchase prints, click here.
Reinhart intercepts the ball during the first half.
Alex Rood scores from the ground.
Blue Devils defense stopping senior Nathan Carter from scoring.
Maximus Rapone incercepts the ball.
Cody Burns on the run for a touchdown.
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