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John Moriello's NYSSWA blog
Wednesday, July 28, 2010: Poughkeepsie swimmer Gorgen, 17, dies in crash
   Leading off today: Poughkeepsie is mourning the death of Natia Gorgen, 17, an accomplished swimmer killed yesterday in a traffic accident.

   Gorgen was driving on Route 299 when her car drifted into the oncoming lane and was struck by a tractor-trailer, New Paltz police told The Poughkeepsie Journal. She suffered head injuries and was pronounced dead by the Ulster County Medical Examiner's Office about two hours later.

   As a junior last season, Gorgen was named to the newspaper's girls swimming all-star team after she set school records in the 200-yard individual medley, 200 and 500 freestyles, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke. She was a member of the National Honor Society.

   "Natia brought a positive energy everywhere she was," school swim coach Ken Hartling told the paper. "In the pool, she was so ambitious and driven to succeed. Anything she put her mind to, she was driven to achieve it."

   He may not be done just yet: Don't count Vince Laino out just yet, The New York Daily News is reporting.

   Though Laino, 55, announced his retirement in April as the head football coach at Fort Hamilton after going 150-60 in 20 seasons with four PSAL titles, the paper cites players and his son Frank as indicating the coach is likely to resurface in the sport -- beyond being spotted working the Big Apple football camp at Abraham Lincoln last week.

   Laino, though, was adamant that he's done after handing the reins to longtime assistant Daniel Perez. With his son having recently graduated, Laino and his wife have purchased a home in Phoenix; the coach told the paper he qualified for his pension this year after 30 years as a phys ed instructor.

   "That's totally out of the question," Laino said of a possible return. "I envision being there in a supportive role for Coach Perez, but he's the guy."

   Ex-McQuaid coach dies: Tom Seymour, who coached McQuaid to a 98-63-4 record from 1962 to '81 and its only Section 5 football championship (1978) died Monday in Ogdensburg after a long illness. He was 83.

   Seymour was inducted into the Section 5 Football Hall of Fame in 2001 and the school's inaugural hall class in 2008. He taught at McQuaid for 33 years.

   "I’m thankful to him for giving me a start in my profession,” Bob Thomas, the former University of Notre Dame and NFL kicker, told the Democrat and Chronicle. "I was just very impressed in how he coached with such professionalism and dignity and composure. He reminded me a little bit of a high school Tom Landry."

   Five to be inducted: Five new members will be enshrined into the NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame during its summer banquet next Wednesday at the Inn at Holiday Valley in Ellicottville.

   Those being inducted are Sweet Home and Cuba-Rushford girls volleyball coach Sally Kus, hockey coach Stanley Moore of Massena and administrators Nicholas

  

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DeCillis of Section 11, Martha Slack of Section 10 and James Tolle of Section 8.

   Kus posted a 794-29 record at Sweet Home from 1974 to 1996, including 20 straight Section 6 championships and the first six New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A championships in the sport beginning in 1990.

   Various publications tabbed Sweet Home as national champions in 1987 and '91. Sweet Home set a national record in the sport with 292 consecutive victories.

   Kus, who coached at the University at Buffalo, now coaches at Cuba-Rushford, where she is 57-7.    Moore, who died last year, won 522 games, 17 Section 10 titles and two state hockey championships at Massena. He also served as the sectional hockey chairman for eight seasons and coached the school's golf team for 23 years.

   DeCillis has been an administrator for more than half a century, including more than two decades on the NYSPHSAA Executive Committee. He spent 38 years as the Middle Country AD, during which time the district grew from one basketball and baseball team to 150 teams. He went on to be the part-time AD at Sag Harbor for another 12 years.

   Slack worked her way up through the ranks in the Massena school district after beginning as a phys ed instructor in 1973. She served on multiple NYSPHSAA committees and coached soccer, swimming and softball in addition to 31 years as the Section 10 secretary and treasurer.

   Tolle is a past president of the NYSPHSAA and the New York State Federation of Secondary School Athletic Associations. After beginning as a teacher and administrator at Uniondale in 1959, he moved to Malverne and served as superintendent from 1979-92. He coached swimming and rifle at Uniondale. He remains active as a consultant to Section 8 and has been a member of the NYSPHSAA Championship Advisory Committee since 1988.


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