Lew-Port football turnaround led 2006 highlights

by Eric Keppeler
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, December 30, 2006

The rapidly receding year of 2006 was a good one for Lewiston-Porter High School athletics, both for individuals and for teams.

The Lancers began the calendar year with a strong finish to the winter season, and then carried on that success into the spring. After a brief hiatus over the summer, they picked up the pace in the fall, and they’ve started off strong again in the winter.

Here is a look at some of the top performances.

•A dramatic turnaround in the standings was the highlight of the season for the Lewiston-Porter football team. Just one year removed from the team that suffered through a winless campaign in 2005, the Lancers posted the greatest single-season improvement in school history by rolling up a 5-4 record a year later.

Lew-Port coach Brian Gunby says the cause of the turnaround is no secret.

“A lot of it is the kids,” Gunby said. “We had 13 seniors who weren’t happy about what happened the season before, and they wanted to do something about it. Even the four games we lost were close – we were in every game this year. The kids just didn’t want to lose, and I’m glad they were really able to enjoy themselves.”

•The Lew-Port girls cross country team had a solid season.

Freshman Kelsey McGill caught a lot of attention by winning the Niagara Frontier League championship at Bond Lake. She also had a solid outing at the Section VI Championship that was conducted in six inches of snow.

McGill wound up 14th at sectionals, missing out on a trip to states by two places.

“Kelsey came into sectionals after winning the NFL Meet and five of her last seven races overall,” Lew-Port cross country coach Gary Raby said. “Everyone gave it the best they had – we peaked at the right time, but the last two races were in bad conditions. Some of the girls had real problems slipping in the mud. It was tough.”

•Going with seventh and eighth graders because he otherwise didn’t have enough swimmers to fill out a lineup, Lancers coach Joe Lauzonis was pleased to discover that his youngsters could compete with the older, more experienced girls from other schools.

The Lancers didn’t place at sectionals, but their times continued to drop – and most of them will be back for several more years.

“We’ll be even better next year,” Lauzonis said. “The girls are already a lot faster than when they started out, and this year of experience has only helped them. We’re definitely looking forward to next year. We’ll be ready.”

•The Lew-Port girls tennis team night not have finished with a great record, but there was a definite bright spot in the play of the Lancers’ first doubles tandem as senior Lindsay VanHarssel and junior Katherine Petrozzi won their first five matches of the year and were Lew-Port’s most consistent performers all season.

“I think we work really well as a team,” said Petrozzi. “There are girls that have better strokes, but we’re very effective together. She’s good at net, I’m good at back, and it just works well.”