Brian Pickup Named Rye’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year

The Osborn’s formal dining room was the scene June 13 for the 13^th annual Lions Club Athlete of the Year ceremony. Nine Rye High School scholar-athletes, their families, and coaches gathered to learn whom the RHS student body voted in as the best of the best.

Chris Lyons, Maddy Chabot, Lillian McCabe, Brian Pickup, Jennifer Lee, Kevin Hughes, Lia Bellizzi, Luis Del Pezo, and Laurel Kennedy

Lions Club Secretary/Treasurer Dave Heller presided at the dinner, the 13^th annual presentation of the award, during which retiring football coach Tom Maloney and former Mayor Steve Otis, both members of the organization, made remarks. Mr. Heller then introduced the contenders, each a winner of the Athlete of the Month award during the 2010-11 school year.

Garnets Take Sectionals, Finish High at States

The Rye girls’ golf team had a spectacular season, finishing 13-0 and sending the entire team — an unprecedented half-dozen players — to the first round of the Sectional tournament. Junior Jen Lee, freshman Alexis Hios, seniors Nancy Kelleher, Julia Pasqualini, and Kelly McRedmond, and eighth grader Frida Henningsson all teed off at Beekman Country Club.

Alexis Hios, Jen Lee, and Frida Henningsson

Head coach Rich Savage was hoping each girl would play to the best of her ability and make it to the Section finals, held June 7 at Miniscongo Golf Club. He and the team could not have been happier when every player made it. What’s more, Jen Lee — runner-up in 2010 — won the Section 1 title with a score of 161, “an amazing accomplishment for a junior,” Savage noted.

Ironwoman in the Making

Camila Perez-Segnini, a 15-year-old Rye resident, competed in the Pawling Sprint Triathlon with her father, Romulo, June 4. She was the youngest contestant in a field of 419 triathletes – and also one of the most successful. The RHS swim team member won her age category (women’s 15-17), and was the fastest overall for both gender groups in that age bracket with a time of 1:22:48. Perez-Segnini finished 171^st overall.

Camila and Romulo Perez-Segnini

She began swimming at an early age at Coveleigh Club, and then started hitting the pool in the winter with the Rye YMCA Wave Ryders. It wasn’t long before she was swimming year-round with Badger Swim Club.

Last summer, Perez-Segnini accompanied her father on long bike rides, and enjoyed it so much that she decided to participate in The Jarden Westchester Kids Triathlon. She surprised the field of 94 by winning the girls’ 11-14 age group in 23:49. This year, Perez-Segnini will compete in the adult triathlon.

 

Athletes in the News

Kaitlin Campbell, a graduating senior at Rye High School, finished 11^th in the Women’s Double event at the USRowing Youth National Championship June 10-12 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. She partnered with Mary Gail DiBuono, a junior at Mamaroneck High School, because her usual teammate, Julia Kelling, was graduating from Hackley that weekend. Campbell and DiBuono were only able to practice together ten times before the championship event, which attracted over 1,500 elite rowers from across the nation.

Kaitlin Campbell and Julia Kelling

Rye Clips Harrison in Sound Shore Championship

Front row: Niko Herrera, Ben Meyers, Ryan Hale, Connor Murphy, Andrew Dempsey; back row: Head coach Brian Dempsey, Jeff Dempsey, Peter Crowley, Greg Hale, Matt DeGraw, Jack McCartney, Kirk Holmes, and coach Terry McCartney; missing: Jake Meyerson, Andrew Hudson, and coach Eric DeGraw

The Rye Clippers won the Sound Shore Baseball League for the second year in a row earlier this month, topping Harrison 7-4 in the title game at Silver Lake. Rye’s victory was earned by the solid fielding of Kirk Holmes and Ryan Hale, the strong pitching of Jeff Dempsey and Jack McCartney, and key hits by Matt DeGraw, Ben Meyers, and Andrew Dempsey. The team is comprised of the Rye High School juniors and sophomores (as well as one Rye Country Day student) who will form the base of the varsity team in 2012.

Two of Holy Child’s Most Inspirational Honored

Holy Child seniors Mary Kate McErlean and Charlotte Knobloch received two of the school’s most significant athletic awards at a ceremony this month.

Mary Kate McErlean with Patrice Mulholland

McErlean was honored with the Herb Mulholland Award. who passed away last year. Mr. Mulholland, who passed away last year, was a great supporter of the Gryphons’ athletic program, and the father of Annie Mulholland, class of 2010. The school noted the award is given to a senior student-athlete who embodies the life of its namesake – with a passion for life, a demonstrated commitment to and love of sports, and a genuine concern for the well being of those around her.

Charlotte Knobloch and Holy Child Athletic Director John Pizzi Jr.

Knobloch won the Brenna Kelly Award, given to a senior who has overcome great adversity during her four-year athletic career at Holy Child. The award is named in honor of the 2006 graduate who was sidelined for an entire year with a major injury, but showed spirit and perseverance, a determination to succeed, and an overall positive attitude. Knobloch tore her ACL in a soccer game in the fall of 2009, but underwent surgery within a few weeks, and worked hard to return to the pitch. She was back on the soccer field way ahead of schedule the following spring.

Spring Season Athletes Take a Bow

When the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name
He marks not that you won or lost, but how you played the Game.
—   Grantland Rice, 1908

The One Great Scorer will have good things to write about the spring seasons enjoyed by our local varsity teams. Some struggled; others went undefeated. Every team had moments to savor and remember.