By John Schiano
MaxPreps.com
Fourth-year Canandaigua football coach Dave Nieman, who directed a pair of state championship teams at Aquinas earlier this decade, told his players this week that he is resigning his position but will remain as a physical education teacher.
Nieman was 29-8 in four seasons with the Braves after inheriting a program that was 2-6 in 2004. He won New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at Aquinas in 2001 and 2002.
Nieman said he intends to pursue a degree in educational administration.
"What I really have done with football is a smaller scale of what administrators do," Nieman said. "I believe I have a strong ability to lead, and have always worked well and collaborated with staff. Motivation is an area I feel very confident about. Having a good game plan and knowing how to implement it is something I think I have done well. I think in many ways what I have done as a coach translates to administration. The difference is, instead of only having a select few students I will be dealing with the entire school population. That excites me."
Recent developments made the move easier for Nieman. Canandaigua was rejected for membership in the Monroe County League this month, meaning Canandaigua may have to scramble for games again after having to schedule the likes of Camden (Section III) and Slippery Rock, Pa., in 2008.
Though Monroe County schools have offered scheduling help this year to reduce travel, the prospect of having to scout and prepare for multiple unfamiliar opponents once again isn’t appealing to coaches who already have increasing responsibilities during the offseason.
Boys Basketball
* Here’s why basketball is more intriguing than football: Not only is the proverbial David willing to take on Goliath, he’ll even throw Goliath’s big brother onto the schedule just to make it a little more interesting.
Class D Maple Grove, fresh off a NYSPHSAA football championship Thanksgiving weekend at the Carrier Dome, traveled up to Buffalo on Monday and came away on the short end of a 79-64 score against St. Joe’s, which primarily plays a rugged schedule of Class AA and A teams.
Junior guard Kyle Wojciecowski scored 24 points and senior forward Evan King, the lone returning starter from the Manhattan Cup championship team, added 16 in the victory. King was also responsible for guarding Chris Secky and kept the 2007 Class C state player of the year to just two points after halftime and 18 overall.
St. Joe’s has already committed to travel to southwestern New York to play at Maple Grove next year.
* Irondequoit pulled off an eye-opening win in Section V with a 62-54 victory over host Wilson, hanging on after building a 16-point lead in the third quarter. Jordan Heath, a 6-foot-8 senior, scored a career-high 27 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked six shots as he exploited the absence of Wildcats center Melquan Trotter, who suffered a broken leg last week.
* Center Fred Russ and guard Brandon McNair, cousins who helped Richfield Springs win its first league and Section III championships a year ago, have transferred to Center State Conference rival New York Mills. Russ, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, averaged 13.2 points and 12.4 rebounds a year ago as the team went 21-3. McNair averaged 3.9 assists as a junior.
* Abraham Lincoln's quest for a third consecutive Federation championship in boys basketball begins with the Railsplitters holding down the No. 1 position in Class AA in the first New York State Sportswriters Association rankings of the season.
Also holding down No. 1 positions are defending NYSPHSAA Class A champion Jamesville-DeWitt, Collegiate (Class B), Avon (Class C) and Maple Grove (Class D). Maple Grove won the NYSPHSAA Class C championship last March in Glens Falls.
A League of Their Own
Girls have played ice hockey alongside the boys for more than a quarter of a century across New York. In recent years, though, an increasing number of schools have started sponsoring girls-only teams that conform to NCAA women’s hockey standards – as in no checking allowed.
The only school west of Central New York that currently sponsors a girls team is Nichols, a private school in Buffalo. But now there are nine school districts coming together in the Buffalo area to explore forming a girls league by 2010.
“We now have the best boys league in the state, and eventually we’ll have the best girls league in the state.” Williamsville AD Jim Rusin told The Buffalo News.
Administrators from Williamsville, Amherst, Clarence, Kenmore-Tonawanda, Sweet Home, Hamburg, Niagara-Wheatfield, West Seneca and the Monsignor Martin Association spent 90 minutes recently discussing starting up a regional league.
There could be some full-fledged teams on the ice next season, but the committee is looking toward 2010 as the more realistic time for a league to debut. Rusin cited concerns about conflicts with travel teams, questions about sustaining interest, the availability of ice time and the cost to the districts.
Odds And Ends
* Irondequoit junior Mary Cushman has been selected the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in girls volleyball. The 6-foot outside hitter led the Eagles to the NYSPHSAA Class AA championship last month. She had 339 kills, 233 digs and 56 aces en route to the Eagles' third consecutive Section V championship.
* Spencerport (Division 1) and Phoenix (Division 2) open the season at No. 1 in the NYSSWA wrestling rankings. That’s where they finished the 2007-08 season, posting records of 18-0 and 22-1 respectively in dual meets.
* Fayetteville-Manlius, fresh off its third consecutive Nike Cross Nationals championship, placed five girls on the All-NYSSWA Class AA first team. Senior Meaghan Anklin, sophomore Courtney Chapman and juniors MacKenzie Carter, Hannah Luber and Molly Malone all made the seven-girl list in arguably the most competitive classification in the entire country.
Class A all-star Emily Lipari, a Rosyln junior, was selected runner of the year.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
