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KEN-TON ATHLETICS

WINTER season '21-'22 REVIEW

We are pleased to report that we reached our goal this winter season of providing uninterrupted opportunities for our students, athletes, coaches, parents, families, and community. It is with a great deal of gratitude that we acknowledge the support and heavy lifting of so many just to ensure that our programs ran.

Our coaches, athletes, and spectators were understanding of the need for protocols that were deemed necessary in order to conduct our vitally important and life-changing experiences. We worked tirelessly in the Athletic Department, our buildings, and central office to reach this goal because we know the important attributes and life skills that are forged through co-curricular activities like athletics.

A special thank you to our Medical Director, Debra Carey, the school nurses, their office staff, and our athletic trainers in committing so much time and energy to this important part of a student’s career.

With Appreciation & Gratitude,

Brett A. Banker, District Director of HE, PE & Athletics

Lindsay M. Bergman, Assistant Director of HE, PE & Athletics

What's New in Athletics

KENMORE EAST AND KENMORE WEST UNIFIED BOWLING

Kenmore East (left) and Kenmore West (right) Unified Bowling Teams at the Section VI Culminating Event on 3/1 at Airport Lanes.

This winter season saw another expansion in sport offerings for our students. Kenmore East and Kenmore West High Schools both had teams that participated in Unified Bowling at the Section level. The teams of athletes and partners competed in six bowling matches against local schools culminating in a Section-wide event. We thank coaches Keith Brophy, Bob O'Connor, John Haynes and Kim Zuccari for leading the teams through very successful seasons.

KENMORE EAST TURF COMPLEX

Kenmore East Baseball Turf Field
Kenmore East Softball Turf Field

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Congratulations to our Ken-Ton Athletics teams that competed in and won championships this winter:

KENMORE/GRAND ISLAND GIRLS ICE HOCKEY

The Kenmore/Grand Island combined team had one of their best seasons in recent years. After winning only one game in last year’s abbreviated season, the team finished 16-4-2, with two loses coming in overtime. The Viking Devil Dogs captured their 6th Sectional Championship and participated in the NYS Frozen Four in Canton.

The team came together quickly and won two tournaments in the regular season; the WNY Girls Showcase tournament in December, held at Cornerstone Arena in Lockport and the North Country Shootout in January. In the WNY Girls Showcase the team downed East High School, the eventual champion of Section I (Hudson Valley area).

At the North Country Shootout held in Plattsburgh, KenTon/GI beat the host, 5-2. Plattsburgh was the top ranked team from Section 10. The Section VI Championship saw a fantastic rivalry game in front of a raucous crowd, with KenTon/GI beating Williamsville, the three-time defending Champ, 4-3. The memorable season ended in Canton in the state semi-finals with a loss to Skaneateles, the eventual NYSPHSAA Champion.

Bella Jayme was outstanding on offense leading the team with 14 goals and nine assists in 16 league games. Carolyn Bourgeault was a brick wall in net finishing with a .928 save percentage and a 2.10 goals against average. Emiliana Cassillo registered eight goals and 10 assists while Izzy Bourgeault netted 11 goals and set up seven others. Carrissa Buyea tallied five goals and 10 assists.

Four players were honored at the end of the season. Goaltender Bourgeault and Jayme earned spots on the All-WNY 2nd Team while Buyea and Megan Pinzel were All-WNY 3rd Team. The team also won the WNY Officials Association’s Sportsmanship Award chosen by the on-ice referees and our coaching staff, led by Jeff Orlowski, was voted WNY Girls Hockey Coaches of the Year.

Coach Orlowski credited senior Captains Carissa Buyea and Molly Leggett for bonding the team together like a close knit family. They all loved each other and played hard for each other. Outside of hockey when you saw one player, you would see at least three others. Friends on and off the ice.

NFL, SECTION VI, & NYSPHSAA BOWLING CHAMPIONSHIP

Kenmore Girls

The Kenmore Girls finished the season as repeat Niagara Frontier League (NFL) Champions with a 11-1 record. The girls started the season by winning the NFL Kickoff tournament. Throughout the season, several girls were recognized for their outstanding performances. Kaelynn Weber won the High Average Award in the NFL with a 201 season average and also made the NFL 1st Team. Kaelynn’s 201 average ranked as the fourth highest overall in Section VI. Cassidy Pierce, Cailyn Willard and Alana Prentice earned 2nd team NFL All Star honors with Megan Walker and Kerri Derner being selected as 3rd team.

At the NFL Individual Championships, Weber finished with High Average as well as the Individual Shootout winner. The Kenmore team qualified for the Section VI Championships where they finished 3rd in Class A. Weber finished 5th out of 550 girls at the section tournament with a 213 average and with that effort, qualified for the New York State Championships in Syracuse. Kaelynn finished 12th out of 66 girls at the states with a 205 average for the six games.

Kenmore Boys

The Kenmore boys had another successful season qualifying for the Section VI Championships. The team started the season by winning the Kick-off Tournament. Many of the boys won awards for their season-long efforts. Jake Willard won High Average in not only the Niagara Frontier League (NFL), but in Section VI as well. His 226.39 average was a career best. For his performances, Jake also took home NFL 1st Team Honors. Josh Henderson earned NFL 2nd Team recognition and Thatcher Stevens was selected as a 3rd Team NFL All Star.

At the NFL Individual Tournament, David Celano and Noah Downes won team awards. Individual honors went to Jake Willard for Top Average and Noah Downes for Top 5 High Average.

The boys team finished 4th in Class A at the Section VI Championships and Jake Willard qualified for the State Tournament in Syracuse by finishing 2nd out of over 600 Section VI bowlers. Jake bowled a perfect 300 game at Sectionals and his average for the six games was 245.5.

At the New York State Tournament Jake finished 1st overall, winning a Gold Medal for averaging 244.83. The Section team finished 3rd overall to win the Bronze Medal. Willard bowled another 300 perfect game at the State Championships.

NIAGARA FRONTIER LEAGUE BOYS SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP

Brady Garcia (left) and David Timmerman (right)

Brady Garcia

NFL – 1st Place – 200IM & 500Free

Class A – 1st Place – 500Free, 5th Place – 200IM

Section State Qualifier – 3rd Place – 500Free, 5th Place – 200IM

David Timmerman

NFL – 3rd Place – 500Free & 200Free

Class A – 6th Place – 500Free, 13th Place – 200Free

Section State Qualifier – 14th Place – 200Free, 13th Place – 500Free

NYSPHSAA INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP

Sidney started the indoor season with something to prove, having narrowly missed out on qualifying for the state meet in cross country. He opened with two mile races, lowering his personal record (PR) from 4:59 to 4:52 in the process. Unfortunately, various circumstances then prevented him from competing again for six weeks, but when he finally raced again it was with a 15-second personal best in the 2-mile of 10:51. After running one more mile and tying his 4:52 from earlier in the season, it was finally time to tackle the 1000m. His first race saw him narrowly miss out on the sectional-qualifying standard, but he fixed that in the second run, where he led wire-to-wire in 2:45 to easily qualify. In the final race of the regular season, he moved back up to the mile, improving by nine seconds over his earlier performance to qualify for sectionals in that event as well.

Sidney entered the Sectional Championship meet as the second seed in the 1000m, and lived up to that seeding. He ran a smart tactical race, running with the lead pack of 5 athletes for the first 600m. When top-seed and eventual winner, Andrew Core of Hutch-Tech began to pull ahead, Sidney moved into second and stayed there, holding off a late charge from the Section VI Class B Cross Country Champion and Third-Team All-State selection, Evan Castlevetere of Iroquois.The strategy worked as Morris lowered his PR by 2-seconds and secured his first trip to the State Championships.

The effort made him the first Bulldog track athlete to qualify for the indoor track state meet since Gavin DiMaria and Lou Capizzi in 2013. At the state meet, Sidney ran a bold race, taking the early lead in his heat and holding on to finish 24th out of 30 runners and drop another 3 seconds from his personal best. His final time of 2:40.84 moved him to 3rd on the school record board in that event. Sidney will begin the 2022-2023 season as the top returner in the 1000m and the #4 returner in the mile, with his sights firmly set on not only returning to the state meet but also taking the school record in both events.

adpro sports/section vi scholar-athlete all wny team

Section VI and ADPRO Sports team together each season to present student athletes with All-WNY Scholar Athlete and Honorable Mention recognition. The criteria for nomination includes: a senior athlete who is a starter or important reserve and an average of 90 or higher for the last 6 (fall/winter) or 7 (spring) semesters. Congratulations to all our Ken-Ton scholar-athletes!

FALL SEASON

WINTER SEASON

NYSPHSAA SCHOLAR ATHLETE TEAMS

At the close of each sport season, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) recognizes teams that finish with an average GPA for 75% of the roster greater than or equal to 90.00. We are proud to report that 15 such teams earned that distinction this winter. Congratulations to our students, families and coaches for keeping academic achievement at the forefront.

ATHLETIC HONORS

The following athletes were selected All-Division or All-League in their respective sport:

Athletic Hall of Fame

The HOF was created in 1994 to recognize the tremendous accomplishments of our athletes, coaches, teams and contributors. Ken-Ton has a long and storied history in athletics and this process gives us the opportunity to highlight the best of the best. The induction ceremonies are one of the highlights of the year.

KENMORE EAST ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME - CLASS OF '22

Thursday, October 20 marks the induction of the next class of Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees at Kenmore East High School. Nomination forms are due by April 19th and can be located on the Athletics portion of the district’s website.

OTHER recognition

2021 WNY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM

KENMORE EAST BOYS BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME

On January 14th, the Kenmore East boys basketball program inducted two members into its inaugural boys basketball hall of fame, Coach Marv Matteson and former player Mike O'Bryan ('93).

Coach Marv Matteson (1970-2000)

▪ 331 career wins

▪ 2x Sectional Finalist

▪ Section VI Class B Champion/B1 & B2 Crossover Champion/Far West Regional Finalist (’93)

Mike O’Bryan ‘93

▪ Most career points (1,438)

▪ Most points in a season (490)

▪ Most steals in a season (93)

▪ 3x 1st Team All-Niagara Frontier League

▪ 1993 Buffalo News 1st Team All-WNY

▪ 1993 1st Team All-State Class B

NIAGARA PAL AWARDS

SECTION VI RIFLE CHAMPIONSHIP

Kenmore East High School and the Kenmore Rifle Team hosted the Section VI Rifle Championship on February 19th, in which eight schools, five high school teams, and 70 individuals participated in Three-Position Air Rifle and 30-Shot Standing Air Rifle.

The district was also host to the NYS Invitational on March 14th, in which seven Sections, eight high school teams, and 69 individuals participated. The Section VI Team, made up of the Lancaster team as well as the Section All Stars, was awarded the Championship Title in both disciplines.

Congratulations to our Kenmore Rifle Team and Coach Kristina Brown for hosting such wonderful events!

NYSPHSAA GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIP

Kenmore West High School, March 4-5, 2022

Kenmore Varsity Gymnastics was proud to host the 2022 NYSPHSAA Girls Gymnastics State Championship at Kenmore West on March 5th. Teams from all across New York State traveled to Western New York for the competition. The gymnasts representing Section III (Syracuse-area) took home the first-place team title, while the Section VI team came in third.

Many of the coaches and NYSPHSAA staff complimented Ken-Ton on our wonderful facility. A special thanks goes out to our coaches Kelly Blaszak, Chris Watson, and Amanda Hefele, our Athletics Office, supervisors, athletic trainer, and Buildings & Grounds staff that made this meet possible! Kenmore will continue to host the meet through 2025.

BRETT BANKER - NIAAA STATE AWARD OF MERIT

The Ken-Ton School District’s Athletic Director, Brett Banker, was awarded the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) State Award of Merit in March at the state conference. This is the highest distinction that can be presented by the organization representing athletic administrators across New York State.

"The recipient is chosen by the NYSAAA and is recognized nationally based on the candidate's body of work locally, at the state level, and nationally," NYSAAA announced on February 7th.

Mr. Banker has served as the Ken-Ton School District’s Director of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics since 1992. In addition to coordinating nearly 50 sports in Ken-Ton Schools, Mr. Banker oversees all physical education programs, the health education curriculum, school nurses/medical operations, facilities rentals, and wellness initiatives across the district.

Mr. Banker is among the most distinguished high school athletic directors in the nation. In 2021, the NIAAA chose Mr. Banker to be one of only 30 athletic directors out of approximately 12,500 nationwide to spend the year in the NIAAA Cohort Leadership Program. Two years earlier, the NIAAA honored him for earning his certification as a Master Athletic Administrator, making him one of a very small elite group of interscholastic athletic administrators to attain this professional level. He also served as President of the NYSAAA, which is the NIAAA affiliate organization representing athletic directors across New York State.

Locally, Mr. Banker has always been extremely involved at the league and section level. He currently serves as President of Section VI and is the only athletic director in history to serve three terms as Section VI President.

KEN-TON ATHLETICS WEBSITE

final forms - sports registration

The Athletics Department has moved to electronic registration forms for all sports signups. To complete the registration process, both a parent/guardian and student athlete must complete the required forms. Click on the button below to get started:

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