The Hudson Independent: News for Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, NY

Sports

Sarah Moore of Irvington High School clears the high bar.                                       photo by Joe Golden

Daniel Kaplan fires a strike against Pearl River.                                                   photo by Joe Golden

Benefit Triathlon to Debut in SH in June

The first ever Sleepy Hollow Sprint Triathlon, presented by Sleepy Hollow Physical Therapy, is expected to attract at least 300 participants and 1,000 spectators to the village in late June.
 All proceeds from the June 28 event will be donated to The Westchester/Hudson Valley Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society specifically for direct patient care services.

Sports

Winter Athletes Turn Up the Heat

Genevieve Ruppel of Sleepy Hollow in the long jump at the class B Championships. Photo by Joe Golden.

Irvington Girls Aim to Elevate Game to a Special Playoff Run

 by Rick Pezzullo

Irvington Girls Basketball Coach Gina Maher (in photo by Joe Golden) knows what it’s like to take a team to the promised land, having won the State and Federation championships in the 1989-90 school year.
 Now in her 33rd year, and with a member of that stellar squad, Barbara Constantine, alongside as her assistant, Maher feels her current crop of Bulldogs have the potential to duplicate that remarkable feat 20 years later.

Scrappy Lady Bulldogs Set Sights on Basketball Crown

Irvington in midst of special season on hardwood

by Rick Pezzullo

Having roamed the sidelines for 33 years and racked up a Section 1 leading 475 victories (and counting), Irvington Girls Basketball Coach Gina Maher (in photo) recognizes a good team when she sees it, and with the Bulldogs posting an impressive 13-2 record into late January, Maher realizes a special season may be in the making.

“I think they have potential to be with the top teams in Irvington,” Maher said when asked to compare her current squad with other strong squads she has led. “They’re very, very unselfish. That’s why it’s so successful.”

Sleepy Hollow Freshman Sets His Sights on Tennis Stardom

Wayne Coffey
For The Hudson Independent

Five times a week, sometimes six,  Austin Siegel makes the 35-minute trip from Tarrytown to Brewster, his father, Jeff,  driving north on I-684,  Austin trying to drive his future in the same direction. Their destination is the Randy Mani Tennis Academy, where 14-year-old Austin is working on his backhand volley, harnessing his long-limbed power,  hoping to continue his stunning rise up the nation’s youth tennis ranks.

As 2008 began, Austin, a freshman at Sleepy Hollow High School, was ranked about 250th in the U.S. Tennis Association’s Eastern district 14-and-under age group. He had a cranky knee and a meandering commitment.

“I didn’t really want to play tennis a year ago,” Austin said, sitting at the edge of the sofa in the living room of the Siegel’s Union Avenue home. “I was more interested in playing basketball.”

And now? Now he is the No. 1 ranked 14-year-old player in Westchester County, a kid with a pipe-cleaner physique and power that is belied by his 6-foot-1 ½, 135-pound frame. It’s notoriously difficult to predict big-time athletic stardom, but Austin’s size and fast-maturing game are extremely noteworthy positives.   

Winter Sports

Following is a list of winter recreation areas close to
the rivertowns to help you spend more time skating, skiing
and snowboarding and less time traveling. It is not meant
to determine the best, but rather the best that is closest.

Bulldogs, Horsement Counting on Team Effort to Succeed

Andy Jacobs
For The Hudson Independent

Both the Irvington and Sleepy Hollow boys basketball teams face the difficult task this season of trying to rebuild after losing their major scoring threats to graduation.

Irvington went 16-6 last year and went toe to toe with eventual sectional champ North Salem in the Class B playoffs. However, gone from that squad are guards Brittain Purcelle and Nick Nedwick, who combined to average almost 42 points a game.

Sheer poetry and joy in motion!

Members of Sleepy Hollow High School’s girls varsity soccer team show their high spirits on the sidelines right after a home loss against Nanuet, which begs the question: What would they have done if they’d won? From left to right, team co-captains and sisters Jamie Bucci and Jessica Bucci, and Gillian Berger.

All photos by Joe Golden.

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Nasheem Mackey, below, starting halfback for the 3rd/4th grade Wolfpack, makes a run for it during the championship game. The team had an undefeated season, ending with a 13-0 victory last month to win the Westchester Youth Football Championship.

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