Photo by Mike Janes
Jeff Tundo, Orchard Park
Preparation for the moment began in late fall in 2003, when the seventh-grade football players at Orchard Park were given folders containing their offseason workout programs. Printed at the top were three simple words: 2008 State Champions.
It was optimistic and ambitious. It was also dead-on accurate. The Quakers rallied from a 17-point deficit last Thanksgiving weekend and defeated Monroe-Woodbury, 21-17, for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA championship at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.
The hero that day and all season long was the athlete who had the shortest wait to get his seventh-grade assignment – the coach’s kid.
Jeff Tundo’s performance on the football field in the spring and then as a star on the Orchard Park lacrosse team that reached the state final this month makes him the pick for outstanding male athlete in the state for the 2008-09 school year.
Here’s the rundown on the 10 clutch performers who made the biggest impression in boys sports:
1. Jeff Tundo, Orchard Park football and lacrosse – Leading a senior-dominated squad that his father Gene had been molding since junior high, the Ohio State-bound senior rushed for 2,002 yards and scored 33 touchdowns as a senior, picking up 146 yards and a score against Monroe-Woodbury to cap a 13-0 season. In the spring, he earned his second All-American honor in lacrosse with 80 goals and 64 assists for the 21-2 Quakers. He’ll play lacrosse for the Buckeyes.
2. Nicky Galasso, West Islip lacrosse – Four goals and four assists in a 10-5 victory in the state Class A championship game is quite an accomplishment, but it barely rated as anything unusual for the junior attackman. Galasso was third on all of Long Island with 71 goals but topped everyone with 65 assists and 136 points. He’ll spend next spring trying to help West Islip to its fourth state crown in five years and then plans to enroll at North Carolina in the fall of 2010.
3. Lance Stephenson, Abraham Lincoln basketball – The 6-foot-5 guard with the nickname “Born Ready” completed his career with an incomparable hoops resume, a state-record 2,946 points and four PSAL championships earned on the court at Madison Square Garden. What’s next, however, is uncertain at best. Having passed up the early signing period and then delayed his decision repeatedly in the spring, Stephenson now finds himself shunned by Division I schools reportedly concerned about his pending court case and possible NCAA violations related to a reality documentary series about him.
4. Brian Rogers, Bronxville soccer – Rogers scored at least once in every game of his senior season, finishing with 44 goals and nine assists to carry Bronxville to its first NYSPHSAA championship in the sport. Down the stretch, he scored seven goals and three assists in four state tournament games, culminating with a trip to the final four in Oneonta. The Harvard recruit was selected Gatorade’s boys soccer player of the year for New York.
5. Brandon Triche, Jamesville-DeWitt basketball – Triche was both the stat-stuffing star and the guy who did the little things that carried the Red Rams to the NYSPHSAA Class A championship in Glens Falls. Triche, who’ll stay close to home and play for Syracuse University this fall, rebounded from a season-ending knee injury in December 2007 to average 22.3 points, 6.7 assists and 6.2 rebounds as a senior. He was selected Gatorade’s player of the year in the state and shared Mr. Basketball honors with Stephenson.
6. Alex Ekstrom, Palmyra-Macedon wrestling – Two of the final five high school matches of Ekstrom’s career were against Warsaw’s Ian Paddock (267-7 career record) in unheard of battles of three-time NYSPHSAA champions. Ekstrom, who’ll wrestle for Oklahoma next season, dropped the first head-to-head in the Section V state qualifier but ended his career on a positive note by winning the rematch in the state Division II final at 135 pounds in Albany to capture championship No. 4 and run his record to 236-19.
7. Connor English, Manhasset lacrosse – The Virginia-bound senior excelled on attack all season long by compiling 81 goals (breaking a 40-year-old school record) and 18 assists. But he saved his best for last in the form of a nine-goal game in a 16-11 victory over LaFayette in Rochester for the state Class C championship, the team’s first since 2004.
8. Tobias Harris, Long Island Lutheran basketball – The 6-8 forward missed most of the first half of his junior season with a severe ankle injury but returned with a vengeance to lead the run to a victory over Triche and Jamesville-DeWitt for the Federation Class A crown. Harris averaged 23.5 points and 11.5 rebounds after arriving at Lutheran as a summer transfer. College suitors – and just about anybody that matters would like to recruit him – will find Harris back at Half Hollow Hills West, where he averaged 29 points as a sophomore on a 22-2 season; Harris transferred back there during Easter break.
9. Sherrod Wright, Mount Vernon basketball – The 6-foot-4 guard flew under the proverbial radar for much of his distinguished career, but he leaves for George Mason in the fall having won four Section I and two state championships in five varsity seasons. Wright averaged 23.2 points a game as a senior, the latest in a long line of polished players turned out by one on New York’s true dynasties.
10. Chris Secky, Maple Grove football and basketball – With one season to go, the big questions are which sport he’ll play in college and how many more player of the year awards can he pick up. Secky was named POY in football following a 13-0 season and state Class D championship, putting up ridiculous numbers at quarterback. In basketball, he earned his second straight POY (sharing this one with Ryan Creighton of Greenport) after the Dragons bowed out in the state semifinals in Glens Falls. Five more who nearly made the cut:
1. Marcus Stroman, Patchogue-Medford baseball; 2. Will Cole, Hamburg track and field; 3. Chris Stogsdill, Marcellus distance running; 4. Miguel Maysonet, Riverhead football; 5. Jeff Mack, Iona Prep football.