Division titles highlight 2006

by Eric Keppeler
Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, January 4, 2007

The recently concluded year of 2006 was a good one for Niagara-Wheatfield High School athletics, both for individuals and for teams.

The Falcons 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.

•In the spring, the baseball team went 19-4 and won the Niagara Frontier League title outright after sh
aring it with Lockport the year before. The Falcons also advanced to the sectional finals, where they bowed to Orchard Park for the second straight season.

“I already have the depth chart out for next season,” coach Jim Hagerty said. “The coaching staff works so well together. We talk all of the time and bounce ideas off one another. And of course, the kids have made a commitment to improve.”

•The softball team capped off a solid 2006 season with its first sectional playoff victory in head coach Eric Belter’s two-year tenure. The Falcons went 15-10 overall and 10-4 in the Niagara Frontier League, good for third place in that competitive bracket. They earned the No. 5 seed in the Section VI Class AA playoffs and dispatched No. 12 Orchard Park in the pre-quarterfinals, 8-2. They then lost to No. 4 Clarence.

“We got a taste of winning in the playoffs, and now we want more,” Belter said. “The only teams that beat us during the regular season were the two teams that finished ahead of us – Kenmore West and North Tonawanda. I’d say we’re in the upper echelon of our league. We’re going in the right direction.”

•The football Falcons took a giant step forward in 2006, posting their most successful season yet since moving up to Class AA four years ago. The Falcons only played seven regular season games but won five of them. More important was the perfect 4-0 record within Class AA-North that gave the Falcons their first division crown since jumping from Class A.

“We’re very proud of the kids,” said N-W coach Al Pogel. “We sure weren’t picked to finish first at the start of the season. We finished where we did because the kids believed in each other and worked hard.”

The Falcons earned a home playoff game, but were knocked out by the Clarence Red Devils in the Class AA semifinals, 7-6 in double overtime.

•After finishing second in diving at the Niagara Frontier League, senior Sarah Colton placed third at the Section VI championship – and her score of 409.20 was enough to send her to the state championship.

“I’m so excited,” Colton said. “I didn’t think about it much until the NFL meet, because that’s when I got really close. It came down to my last dive at sectionals. I knew I had to do really well because if I didn’t, it was all over.”

Senior Aaron Foote went to states for the second straight year in cross country.