FROM PRESS ROW: LACROSSE TITLES BY THE HAWKS, AND BY ALUMNI AMONG THE LATEST ENTRIES TO THE CITY OF CHAMPIONS (2022-05-31)
This year the Corning Hawks became the City of Champions as team after team won titles through the Fall and Winter.
And, this spring the Hawks have kept adding to that legacy.
The boys and girls lacrosse both captured sectional titles, and former Corning residents helped win national titles at the Division I and III levels of college.
Oh yeah, and the track and field team has already won a division title, a STAC title, a sectional title and they still have state qualifiers and states to add to their gold medal haul.
That not enough? Lucia Chen was the sectional champion in girls’ golf and the softball team won its first STAC title.
Let’s start with lacrosse, because if Corning is the City of Champions, Corning might become lacrosse town USA.
The Hawks won the boys and girls Class A championships. What’s more, they did it in impressive fashion.
The girls overcame a comeback bid by Ithaca, led by Boston College commit Shea Baker, to win 13-10. It was the first title for the Hawks since 2017, as they had run into the Little Red each year, and finally took down perennial power Ithaca to claim this year’s crown.
The boys, well they were just dominant, beating Ithaca 12-3. The Hawks have won three straight sectional crowns and are 47-6 over the past three seasons.
The lacrosse championships weren’t limited to just high school, as Corning’s name was all over the college national championships.
Corning native Logan McNaney was the NCAA Division I Tournament’s Most Outstanding player after he led Maryland to the National Championship as they beat Cornell.
Maryland won 9-7 with McNaney recording 17 saves. He had 61 saves in the tournament.
The Terms were coached by Corning West graduate John Tillman as the team’s leader on the field, and on the sidelines were both from Corning.
Maryland wasn’t just a National Champion, they went 18-0 this season, the most wins in a season for a team without a loss, becoming the first unbeaten National Champion since 2006.
And, Corning also had a Division III National Champion as Seth Grottenthaler scored a goal for RIT as they beat Union 12-10 to win their second straight national title.
It certainly didn’t stop there, Aidan and Riley Olmstead were a part of a Loyola women’s lacrosse team that reached the Elite Eight in women’s lacrosse falling to the eventual national runner-up.
In girls’ golf, Chen shot a three-under-par 68, to top the field by 11 shots as she won the sectional title. Her teammate, Hannah Masaki, tied for second with a round of 79 as both qualified for states.
In track and field the Hawks have been absolutely dominant in winning division, STAC and sectional crowns, and they head to states looking to send a bus, maybe a few buses, worth of athletes to the state meet, lead by Jack Gregorski, who shattered the Section 4 record in the 3200 already this season.
While baseball and softball didn’t end the way they may have hoped for, softball fell in the sectional final to Horseheads and baseball fell to Elmira in the semifinals, it was still a strong spring for both teams. The girls were ranked as high as third in the state, they won their first STAC title and finished the year 18-2. The baseball team was strong all season, finishing just short of the division title as they reached a playoff with Horseheads for that title.
Both teams had a number of superstar senior athletes, with Atalyia Rijo, Kellie Zoerb, Ellie DeRosa and Kelsey Booker, and Landen Burch, Aidan Chamberlin and Grayson Saltzer among those who very well could earn all-state honors this year.
A Corning graduate, Ben Terwilliger, is headed to Division I NCAA Regionals as East Carolina earned the No. 8 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host the Greensboro regional. Another Corning grad, Trevor Henneman, is headed to the NCAA Tournament with the Canisius baseball team.
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