Starpoint swimmer Smith quals for states By Nick Sabato SPORTS REPORTER
At the start of the season, Starpoint swimmer Brandon Smith had a goal of reaching the state meet in the 100-meter butterfly. Smith narrowly missed the event last year as a sophomore, but he was determined to make amends this season. Heading into state qualifiers, it didn’t look as if things
were going to go according to plan as the junior was edged out in both the Erie County Interscholastic Conference meet and in the Class B meet, which meant he was far from the favorite to win. Smith blew that up on the first day of the state qualifier meet as he made the cut time to qualify in the preliminary round with a time of 53.7 seconds. “Going into sectionals, we wanted to have him hit that state cut time in prelims so he didn’t have to worry,” said Starpoint co-head coach Marc Toth. “We told him right before his race that ‘you’re not going into this race a state qualifier and you’re not finishing unless you are a state
qualifier.’ That kind of helped him as he jumped onto the blocks.” The next day, Smith came back for the final race ranked second and, since he had already qualified for states, it was an opportunity to race free and clear. Not only did he lower his time even more, but he won the entire race with a time of 53.52 seconds, which was a career-best for him. The losses in the ECIC meet and in the Class B meet were wiped away in two consecutive races that have helped him achieve his goal. “I was upset that I had lost to my competitors before,” said Smith. “I knew I could do it because I had the deter-
mination that I was going to make it. I knew that if I just worked on my turns and stuff that my coaches showed me in practice that I would make it.” One thing that has helped Smith achieve his goal was the use of underwater cameras that help him see where he needs to improve his stroke and his turns. Many people learn by visual instruction as opposed to auditory instruction so for Smith it was an opportunity to see for himself what his coaches had been harping on him about. “It allowed me to see what I’m doing wrong instead of listening to my coach tell me,” he said. “I could actually see what I did wrong.”
Wheatfield hockey looks to four-peat “Fed” from page 6 from the point in the first period, with the second one causing Clarence to change goaltenders. This will be Stenzel’s third trip to Super Sunday but this year’s squad has a different flavor to them as opposed to previous teams. There have been a few speed bumps over the course of the season but it is undoubtedly a hard-working group that keeps plugging away until the proper results come. “What I see out of these guys is just a lot of hard work,” said Stenzel. “Sometimes the road gets rough and we’ve faced a lot of rough patches this year, but we kept our heads up and we got through it.” This was the third time in four games that Stenzel has put up multiple goals. He’s been one of the most prolific offensive defensemen in all of Western New York with 14 goals and seven assists on the season. The most noticeable thing to the
naked eye is his eye-popping statistics, but the senior captain would be just as valuable to his team and would make just as big of an impact if he had four goals rather than 14. “He brings so much more to the table,” said Wrazin. “He’s such a big, physical presence. He cleans up the front of the net in our end, he can get pucks out, and he’s so strong. He gets people irritated and they go after him, but he’s just so big and strong. He is tough in front of the net and along the walls. If he’s not scoring, he’s still a difference maker.” Torcasio and Kasey Haseley would get the final two markers of the night for Niagara-Wheatfield, while Becker, Garrett Downie, Dom Senese, Ryan Metzler, Nick Peters, and Trey Malcolm all knotted assists on the final goals. Casey Wall added 24 saves on 26 shots in net. It must be déjà vu as the Falcons will once again do battle with Wil-
liamsville North in the finals, but the roles have been reversed compared to last year. In 2014, Niagara-Wheatfield lost both regular season games to the Spartans but managed to come out with the win in the championship. This year, it was the Falcons who nipped Williamsville North twice, both by a score of 1-0, so they are hoping to prevent them from returning the favor this time around. “They are a good, hard-working team,” said Wrazin. “They grind it out. We look for tendencies and things we can adjust. North is a very strong team, they came in second in the league. We need to be ready and it’s going to be a game.” Niagara-Wheatfield and Williamsville North will square off on Monday (Mar. 2) at First Niagara Center. Faceoff is slated for 6:15 p.m.
Now in preparation for the state meet there hasn’t been any let down in his practice regimen as Smith wants to do the best that he can. Many athletes in his position would just be happy that they achieve their goal, but Smith wants to take it much further than that. “Just because he’s made the state meet doesn’t mean he has to stop,” said Toth. “He’s got a goal in his head right now that he doesn’t want to back off. He wants to keep lowering his time. He wants to go there and make some noise. Hopefully he can drop his time even more and get into the top 30 so he can make it back for the finals.” Heading into states, his con-
fidence has never been higher as a swimmer and he has the school record in his sights this weekend, which is only two-tenths of a second away. Not only does traveling to the state meet boost his confidence for this weekend, but it also gives him a lot more for next season. In fact, he already has goals in mind that he’d like to accomplish for next year. “Next year I’d like to make the top eight at states,” said Smith. “(This year has) definitely boosted (my confidence) because it feels like I’m closer to my goals and it feels like I can probably get there next year.” The state championships are slated for Feb. 28 in Ithaca.
Starpoint wins its 3rd title “Club” from page 6 it in to tie it up with four minutes remaining in the opening stanza. “It was definitely lift up,” said Graczyk. “It was incredible. You come out a little slow and you get down one and it’s tough. You just have to keep going. I buried it and we just kept going with it.” The Graczyk tally seemed to give Starpoint new life as they came out flying in the second period.Andrew Parrish found the back of the net on assists from Patrick Miklinski and Josh Krupczyk just 31 seconds in to take a 2-1 lead. After the early marker, the second period was played scoreless, but once again the captain struck early in the third on a feed from Miklinski this time only 19 seconds in to take a commanding 3-1 lead. “That first goal in the third period really gave us momentum to push us through,” Parrish said. “We slowed down a bit but we held on and got the win.”
Parrish was tremendous all evening at both ends of the ice, scoring two goals and getting an assist on Miklinski’s empty net goal late in the game, as well as coming up big on a penalty kill late in the game that gave Iroquois a chance to tie it up. He was able to clear the zone on three straight trips to keep the Chiefs off the board. The senior captain was playing in his third Super Sunday game, and apparently the third time was the charm as he picked up his first championship. “It’s our senior year,” said Parrish. “I told the boys that this was my third one and there is no way I’m going to lose another one.” Iroquois did scored on a marker from Jonathan Lavis with less than 15 minutes to play, but Starpoint was able to hold them off. Each team advances to the state tourney this weekend in Long Island. Games start on Feb. 27.