By John D'Onofrio
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal
LOCKPORT —
An impressive opening-day league dual meet victory last week at Bond Lake once gain showcased the talent that has made Lockport High School cross country the elite program in northern Western New York.
Ranked in the top five in Class A already this year, according to the latest coach's polls, head coach Bob Eberhardt's boys and girls teams will try to make it three straight Niagara Frontier League wins when they take on Kenmore West at 4:30 p.m. today at Beaver Island.
Despite some key losses to graduation that gives Eberhardt a relatively young squad in 2012, the Lions are poised to make yet another run for the NFL and sectional title and hopes to send as many runners as possible to states. Both the Lions and Lady Lions were 14-0 NFL champs last season.
Key losses to graduation include Mike Feeney (Clarkson University), Zach Chenez and Chelsea Turton, but they're offset by the return of some quality runners and students that include seniors Matt Kaczmarek and Jessica Monzyk, juniors Mitch Loiacano and Dan Jones and super sophomores Abbey Lang and Hannah Kurbs.
In last week's dual meet win over Kenmore East and Lewiston-Porter, Jones won the boys race in 17:59, with Loiacano second and Kaczmarek third overall. Lang won the girls' race in 20:28, while Kurbs and Monzyk finished second and third.
Those six and several other of their teammates also shined on Saturday at the prestigious McQuaid Invitational in Rochester, where Lang won the girls' sophomore race and Kurbs was fifth.
Monzyk (33rd) and seniors Claire Whalen (59th) and Grace Ross (65th) led the LHS girls varsity squad as they finished 15th out of 34 teams (246 runners).
Loiacano (5th), Kaczmarek (19th) and Jones (31st) were top finishers for the Lockport boys varsity team (11th out of 22 teams (152 runners). Eighth graders Connor Doran (11th) and Adam Perilli (29th) and ninth grader Jacob Maurer (78th) helped the boys sophomore team finish 12th of 29 (310 runners) at the McQuaid.
Eberhardt also noted that best times of the year were turned in by juniors John Britt, Matt Buczkowski and Erin Geier; sophomores Mike Crofts, John DiCarlo, Alex Fogle, Brandon Trachte and Josh Wojcinski; ninth graders Chris Sims, Cole Twomey, Robyn Hammond and Sara Lesold; eighth graders Mark Cye, Max Feeney, Dontay Gill, Tom Wendt, Brad Straw and Brenda Bartkowiak; and seventh graders John Lang, Dan Fogle, Gianni Kahle, Sherri Kowal and Ella Swanson.
“We're very young, but we should do well in the league again this year,” Eberhardt said on Monday, after practice at Max D. Lederer Field. “It should be interesting to see how we stack up against other teams in the section down the road like East Aurora, Clarence and Frontier.”
Eberhardt said he's been especially impressed by several young and up-and-coming runners in the program that include eighth graders Connor Doran and Adam Perilli.
“We really have a lot of potential over the next several years,” Eberhardt said.
LOCKPORT HIGH SCHOOL
2012 CROSS COUNTRY
BOYS ROSTER
NAME GRADE
Kylaan Barnes 7
Conner Branch 8
John Britt 11
Matt Buczkowski 11
Michael Crofts 10
Mark Cye 8
John DiCarlo 10
Nick Doel 12
Connor Doran 8
Brad Feeney 12
Kirk Feeney 10
Max Feeney 8
Alex Fogle 10
Daniel Fogle 7
Dontay Gill 8
Will Grant 10
Pete Heinrich 9
Nicholas James 8
Brandon Jerz 12
Brian Jerz 10
Mike Johnston 8
Dan Jones 11
Matt Kaczmarek 12
Richard King 10
Nathan Landrigan 11
Johnathan Lang 7
Matt Larkin 11
Mitch Loiacano 11
Jacob Mauer 9
Austin McFall 10
Owen Monteferrante 8
Adam Perilli 8
Joey Quagliana 7
Nathan Ribbeck 8
Doug Riccobono 12
Chris Sims 9
Isaiah Stevens 7
Brad Straw 8
Ryan Torrey 9
Brandon Trachte 10
Cole Twomey 9
Tom Wendt 8
Brennan Wilson 7
Josh Wojcinski 10
Mike Yaeger 12
Andrew Zotara 9
GIRLS ROSTER
Brenda Bartkowiak 8
Morgan Cudney 9
Dazhaana Doerr 10
Lindsey Ellis 11
Erin Geier 11
Paige Grant 9
Alexis Gray 8
Robyn Hammond 9
Allison Hinton 11
Savanna Jaekle 9
Gianni Kahle 7
Sherri-Lynn Kowal 7
Jazlyn Kreutzer 9
Hannah Kurbs 10
Abbey Lang 10
Sara Lesold 9
Madeline Loiacano 11
Jessica Monzyk 12
Brooke O'Connor 8
Grace Ross 12
Leah Stutz 12
Ella Swanson 7
Claire Whalen 12
Molly Whalen 9
LHS HARRIERS'
REMAINING SCHEDULE
DATE OPPPONENT TIME
Today KENMORE WEST 4:30 p.m.
10/9 @ Niagara Falls 4:30 p.m.
10/13 @ Bulldog Stampede 10 a.m.
10/16 @ North Tonawanda 4:30 p.m.
10/20 @ Clarence Classic 11 a.m.
10/27 NFL Meet (Beaver Is.) 1 p.m.
11/2 VI Meet (Elma Meadows) 10 a.m.
