A-L Principal Tim McMullen then drove Gelen to Nichols School’s Strauss Truscott Field in Buffalo. Though he missed the opening kickoff, Gelen still contributed a 30-yard field goal, four extra points two punts and four kickoffs during the Gators’ 37-0 win.
Gelen has scored 16 goals on the soccer pitch this season. In football, he’s averaging 39.3 yards per punt and has scored 17 points on extra points and field goals.
"Anytime we’re inside the 25 on fourth down, I’m kicking," first-year football coach Paul Furlong told the paper. "His leg is obviously strong from kicking a soccer ball. He comes to us a couple of times during the week and kind of fine tunes things with a football and that’s really it. As it gets closer to football playoffs I’m probably going to ask more of him, have him kick the football a little more. But it’s really nice to have that kind of a weapon."
U-E Duals field set: The state's top four large-school wrestling teams and the Nos. 1 and 2 small schools from a year ago have confirmed they'll attend the Union-Endicott Duals on Jan. 3.
Heading up the field are large-school powers Spencerport (No. 1), Brentwood (2), Fulton (3) and Chenango Forks (4). Brockport (8), Fairport (9), Amsterdam (11), Johnson City (12) and MacArthur (14) also finished in the top 15 a year ago.
The Division II schools attending will be No. 1 Phoenix and No. 2 Waverly.
Sayville, Wantagh and U-E round out the 14-team tournament, which goes a long way each winter toward settling the season-ending No. 1 rankings.
Pool woes: The Vestal High pool has been closed for two weeks on the advice of the Broome County Health Department after a member of the girls swim team experienced breathing problems during a practice, The Press & Sun-Bulletin reported.
While the health department has said the pool is in compliance with the state sanitary code, Vestal Superintendent Mark Capobianco said the facility is closed until officials can address a discrepancy between humidity sensors located on the pool deck and inside the ventilation system.
The pool closed after a swimmer complained of coughing and difficulty catching her breath Sept. 10. She was transported to a hospital, where she was treated and released. A similar incident in August involving another swimmer caused the pool to be closed briefly.
By the way, the Deomocrat and Chronicle noted last week that's there's a pool building boom taking place in the Rochester area. Spencerport and Gates Chili opened their new pools this month and Irondequoit is rennovating now. East Irondquoit is about to start work on its facility.
"We all built pools about the same time, and they're all wearing out," said Bill Domm, Irondequoit's assistant superintendent. "We were putting in a lot of time and money to keep it going. We drained it twice, to fix the leaks. Every time we drained it, the bottom would heave up. The water was holding it down."
According to the paper, the typical tab for the new pools is in the range of $4 million to $5 million.
