Is the sleeping giant of Section V football about to awaken?
Fairport (N.Y.) spent more than two decades as the gold standard of large-school football in the Rochester area, winning the inaugural Class AAA sectional crown in 1977 and 10 more championships from 1980 to ’98, with the 1997 squad tacking on a state championship for good measure.
Don Santini led Red Raider Nation to a 139-25-5 mark from 1975 to 1992, then Dave Lanning didn't miss a beat in his eight seasons as he went 66-22.
What's happened since is why Fairport is now putting its future in the hands of Dave Whitcomb, the Mr. Fix-It of the local high school football scene. Whitcomb's appointment was approved by the school board last week nearly six months after Mike Ierlan resigned.
Whitcomb, 58, has won consistently everywhere he has coached, even earning a New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship at Geneva in 2006. His 182-100-4 record includes sectional championships at Avon (N.Y.), Midlakes (Clifton Springs, N.Y.) and Geneva, making him the only man in local football history to pull off such a hat trick.
"He has a big-picture perspective on schools and what kind of commitment kids have to make," Fairport AD Jim Zumbo told the Democrat and Chronicle. "He has been a quality teacher, coach and administrator, but most importantly, he's a quality man."
Whitcomb broke the news last week to his players at Geneva, where he had been 72-48 in 12 seasons.
He inherits a team coming off a 3-6 season and a 31-40 mark overall in Ierlan's eight seasons.
Ierlan, though, wasn't the problem. In fact, his 9-9 mark over the first two seasons restored stability after Fairport took a huge swing (and a miss) with Rich Morgan in 2001. Morgan, a very serious football guy, went 2-7 in his one season. Morgan's undoing could be traced to his mistaken impression he was going to be able to tear things down and build the program back up the way he wanted it to look.
Not realizing – or at least not wanting to admit – that Webster had caught and lapped the Red Raiders in 2001 with the second of what would be three state titles in four years, the natives resisted and more or less ran Morgan out of town.
Fairport's punishment was a two-parter: The faithful had to watch their favorite football team slip to middle of the pack status in the Monroe County League as player interest waned, and they had to read the frequent updates on Morgan as he enjoyed immediate success in Virginia and turned Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake into a nationally-recognized program.
And now they are turning to another outsider in Whitcomb, an over-achiever on the field as a player at McQuaid (Rochester, N.Y.) and then Division III Ithaca College. They'll be rewarded if they show patience, because Whitcomb has inherited worse situations than this. In fact, Geneva was winless in the two years before he arrived.
"I've always felt that you get to a certain point and perhaps you've done all you can do and never want to get complacent because then you don't give the kids your best," he said.
Track and field: Going out with a bang
Honeoye Falls-Lima (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) senior Alex Deir defended his championship over the weekend in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in the New Balance Nationals at Greensboro, N.C. Deir, who'll attend the University of North Carolina in the fall, finished in 5:53.02 to beat Connor Martin of Westfield (Ind.) (5:54.87). Deir's winning time in 2009 was 5:53.13.
In the boys mile, Alex Hatz recognized the slow early pace and exploited it by sitting back in seventh through three laps for a 3:10.5 split and then roaring to victory. The Fayetteville-Manlius (Manlius, N.Y.) senior bound for the University of Wisconsin in the fall, kicked home with a :56.1 split and won in 4:08.09 over Elias Gedyon of California (4:08.42) to add to a list of titles including the mile (4:05.5) at Nike Indoor Nationals and six NYSPHSAA championships.
In the girls mile, Roslyn's (Roslyn Heights, N.Y.) Emily Lipari also kicked hard after a plodding pace, winning convincingly in 4:48.20. In the girls steeplechase, Ward Melville's (East Setauket, N.Y.) Mary Kate Anselmini took top honors in 6:42.78.
Fayetteville-Manlius ran a torrid 8:46.98 to beat Garden City (N.Y.) (8:47.90) in the girls 3,200 relay. The times rank second and third on the all-time U.S. list a week, surpassed only by an 8:43.12 from Greenbelt, Md., Roosevelt in 2008.
Senior Molly Malone anchored in 2:08.08 for F-M, the four-time defending champion at the Nike Cross Nationals, after Hannah Luber (2:16.68), Katie Sischo (2:11.43), Mackenzie Carter (2:10.48) took their turns. Sischo pulled F-M up to third place, then Carter handed Malone the stick even with Garden City anchor Emily Menges.
Saratoga Springs' (N.Y.) girls four-mile relay also triumphed even after the cancellation of a connecting flight out of Washington, D.C. The squad of Brianne Bellon, seniors Keelin Hollowd and Margaret MacDonald, and Cassie Goutos won in 20:04.34 after an overnight drive, with Cicero-North Syracuse (Cicero, N.Y.) fourth (20:23.40) and Shenendehowa (Clifton Park, N.Y.) clocking 20:46 for fifth place in the event. Saratoga's time is good enough to hold down third place on the all-time U.S. list.
In boys action, Warwick Valley was one of six 3,200 relays to break 7:40 and placed second in 7:35.66 while Liverpool placed sixth despite a jaw-dropping 1:47.99 anchor by sophomore Zavon Watkins.
Minisink Valley's (Slate Hill, N.Y.) Alec Faldemeyer defended his title in the hammer throw with a mark of 240-8 for the No. 7 spot on the all-time U.S. list as a warmup for next week's Junior Nationals.
Newburgh Free Academy's (Newburgh, N.Y.) Randy Patterson anchored the 800 sprint medley to victory in 1:30.76 with a :47.45 split and topped it off with a :46.69 effort to wrap up the 1,600 relay title in 3:13.40. The Cardozo (Oakland Gardens, N.Y.) girls triumphed in the 1,600 in 3:40.65 with the help of Chamique Francis' :53.47 anchor. Francis also defended in the 800 meters with a time of 2:07.30.
In the girls two-mile race, Foot Locker Cross Country and Nike Indoors Nationals champ Megan Goethals (10:01.16) of Rochester (Rochester Hills, Mich.), fought off Cornwall (New Windsor, N.Y.) junior Aisling Cuffe (10:02.49). Both kicked hard on the bell lap en route to PRs, as they moved to Nos. 2 and 3 on the all-time list behind former Elmira great Molly Huddle.
Softball: Somers infielder collects statewide honor
Somers (Lincolndale, N.Y.) shortstop Tammy Wray has been selected Gatorade's New York player of the year in softball. The LSU recruit hit .623, hit 10 home runs and drove in 34 runs as a senior. She also drew 29 walks, driving up her on-base percentage to .744.
"She had an outstanding senior year," Somers coach Bob Antonucci told The Journal News. "She now holds every major hitting record for Somers softball, and her defensive skills are second to none. She can do it all in the field."
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.
