Bethpage-Tribune_1999-04-16

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MR*/MRS. J. LOMISOLO
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BETHPAGE NY 11714-3202
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YOUR OFFICIAL HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER
VOL 33 NO. 15 April 16-221999 40 CENTS
Bethpage H.S. Physical Fitness Team
Memories of '98 Motivate in V9
It's incredible how time flies. It
seemed like only yesterday that the
Bethpage H.S. Male Physical Fit­ness
won its first ever United States
Marine Corps Youth physical Fit­ness
National Championship (first
Long Island team to do since
Coach Fenster's alma mater Carle
Place H.S. won in 1970). This 'thrill
victory', however, was also accom­panied
with the 'agony of defeat'.
Overshadowed by the boy's Na­tional
Championship, was the girl's
placing 4th by 1 point. Not only did
our girls narrowly miss National
placewinning honors, a scoring re­adjustment
moved them from 3rd to
4th place. Ecstasy became agony,
and emotions swung from exuber­ance
to sadness.
The events and memories of
1998 have been the prime moti­vating
factor this year. Since May
6th of 1998, our girl's have set their
sights on winning their first National
Championship. After overwhelming
victories this season at the Emmaus
Invitational (3/26), and the Beth­page
Invitational (4/1), our ladies
our firmly focused on achieving their
goal. To date, the girls have beaten
the top eastern U.S. teams. Two
time defending National Champions
Lanai H.S. (Hawaii) is the major ob­stacle
on the road to the title. If
achieved, the Bethpage Girls'
Physical Fitness team will be the
first team ever from Long Island or
New York state to win the National
Championship. Our Girls' team is
loaded with experience, as all of our
6 "A" team members return from
last year's National team. The team
includes 1998 National placewin-ners
Rachel Schneiderman and Ma-irisa
Festante, Brynn Vitrano, Jackie
Gulli, Agnes Alciviades, and team
captain, Valerie Warmhold. Lauren
Festante, Sandy Roberts and
Jackie Chiddo will compete as pilots
(exhibitions competitors) in San Di­ego.
Our Boys' team has the monu­mental
task of defending the Na­tional
Championship. This will not
be an easy task, however, as 5 to 6
team members from our National
Championship team have gradu­ated:
Christian Furey (1998 National
Champ., 2nd place in '98); Jason
Prehm (3rd place in Nationals in
'98); Chris-Anspach (6th in U.S. in
'98); Derrick Ong; and, Tassos
Koroneos. Fillking the shoes of
these outstanding athletes will not
be easy, but our young team is
working hard to achieve their goal of
becoming National placewinners.
This year's team is centered around
returning National team member
Steven Bofil, team captain Ruben
Perez, and Nick Zafiropoulos (both
Perez and Zafiropoulos completed
last year as pilots in San Diego).
New team members Matt. Laben,
Justin Horan, Andy Ritter, and Matt
Bielo will round out the 'A' team.
Matt Kirshenheiter will compete as a
pilot.
The spirit and motivation by all
team members to achieve this
year's goals has been displayed
since our first evening practice in
October. After 7 tough months of
practice, the teams' focus has hit a
high point as we have finally
reached our competitive season.
Before we compete at the United
States Youth Physical Fitness Na­tional
Championships in San Diego
on May 7-8, the team will or has
participated in three Qualifying
competitions.
On March 26, the team com­peted
in the Emmaus H.S. (Pa.) In­vitational.
Our Girl's team led the
way with an overwhelming win. The
ladies beat 2nd place Emmaus by
373 points (1684 to 1311 points).
Our rebuilt Male team placed 4th
overall (2075 pts.) behind champion
South Bronx (2230 pts.), 2nd place
Emmaus (2169 pts.), and 3rd place
Upper Darby, Pa. (2090 pts.) Five of
our athletes earned All-Meet honors
(top 5 males and females honored).
Sweeping the top 4 ladies spots
were: Rachel Schneiderman -
champion (387 out of 500 total
points); 2nd place - Brynn Vitrano
(371 pts.); 3rd place - Marissa
Festante (329 pts.); and, 4th place -
Valerie Warmhold. Steven Bofill
placed 3rd overall in the Boys' com­petition
with 466 pts. Valerie Warm-hold
also won the Jump-Rope com­petition
with 103 rotations in 30
seconds.
On April 1st, the team hosted
the Bethpage H.S. Invitational. The
1999 Bethpage Invitational Girls team champions (Bethpage H.S.)
and place (Cardozo H.S.); 3rd place (Emmaus H.S. Pa.)
(L to R) Jackie Gulli, Agnes Alciviades, Marissa Festante, Brynn
Vitrano, Valerie Warmhold, Rachel Schneiderman
1999 Bethpage Invitational team champions - South Bronx H.S.
2nd Place - Bethpage H.S.
3rd Place - Emmaus H.S.
Bethpage Boys (L to R) - Steven Bofill, Matt Leben, Nick
Zafiropoulos, Justin Horan, Andy Ritter, & Ruben Perez.
Champions Girls' team (1647 pts.)
beat runner-up Cardozo H.S. (1298
pts.) by 349 points. The Boys' team
placed 2nd overall (2091 pts.) be­hind
champion South Bronx (2213
pts.), and 1 point ahead of 3rd
place Emmaus (2090 pts). Eleven
male and female teams from New
York City and Pennsylvania com­peted
in our event. Individually, six
of our athletes earned All-Meet
honors (top 6 males and females
selected). Five of our ladies placed
in the top 6; Champion -- Brynn Vi­trano
(366 pts.); 2nd place - Rachel
Schneiderman (363 pts.), 3rd place
- Jackie Gulli (318 pts.); 5th place -
Marissa Festante (309 pts.); and,
Valerie Warmhold (291 pts.). Alyssa
Gershon from Cardozo H.S. placed
4th (310 pts.) Team captain, Ruben
Perez (443 pts.) placed 5th overall
in the Male division. Jason Haines
from Parkland H.S. (Orefield, Pa.)
took top Male honors with 469
points. In our specialized Timed
Push-UP competition, Bethpage's
Andy Ritter took top honors with a
meet record 128 timed push-ups.
(continued on page 12)
Serving the Communities of Bethpage, Island Trees, Seaford, Plainedge, Old Bethpage and Plainview
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