SPORTS

Bernstein Returns To Maccabiah, Locastro Back In The Bigs And Sivi On The Mend

By Steve Lawrence

Awhile back, I shared the good news that retired ICSD teacher and cross-country coach Rich Bernstein had been invited back to the Maccabiah Games, a year later than anticipated, given the Olympics were delayed a year due to the pandemic. Rich is there at this writing, this time as a head coach, a er serving as an assistant when he rst went to Israel for the Games in 2017. e Games—o en referred to as “the Jewish Olympics”—are underway, and Opening Ceremonies saw 30,000 spectators show up to cheer on the 10,000 athletes. e USA contingent is comprised of 1,500 athletes. I asked Rich to give me some updates on the trip thus far, and he wrote, “Our rst week is called Israel Connect, where culture and history of Israel is covered. We toured Masada, home of the Maccabees’ ght against the Romans, the Dead Sea, old Jerusalem and the Western Wall, a holy site that all Jewish people face towards when they pray. Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum had a sobering (but needed) e ect on the kids. So, our day was up at 5:30 a.m. to get to practice at 6, eat, onto the buses for this touring, coming back late. Rinse and repeat for a week. Now we are settled into our hotel in Haifa (a beautiful city on the sea) for training and then we go to Jerusalem for our meet on the 19-20th. Kids are getting excited and focused and I’m enjoying doing some track coaching again—I haven’t forgotten everything. We have only two coaches, my assistant is handling distance and I have all the other events. Kinda like being on roller skates from event to event. Having only met the kids for the rst time when we landed, I feel like I know them well and they’ve adjusted to my coaching style: short and sweet. A er the meet, a little more touring then home on July 26 so a full three weeks here. Miss my family and my pup, but my wife is holding it down for me!”

So, how about that Tim Locastro? e Auburn native and 2013 Ithaca College grad realized his dream of making the Big Leagues in 2017 (breaking in with the L.A. Dodgers), then playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Locastro’s raw speed and base running savvy are valuable commodities, and Locastro’s boyhood dreams came true when he was traded to the N.Y. Yankees last season. He spent some time rehabbing his injured knee a er hitting the wall during one of his highlight lm catches, and he hoped to come back stronger than ever. is season, he strained a lat and spent six weeks at Triple A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, and it was a thrill to read last weekend that the Yankees had recalled the speedster to e Show. Locastro took the eld—playing in right eld—against the Red Sox on Sunday, and let’s just say that any questions regarding his ability to contribute were answered. Tim went 3 for 5, had 2 RBI, scored 2 runs and launched a 2-run shot into the le eld bullpen. It was great to see, as many of us have believed for a long time that Tim belongs in the Bigs, and if he can stay healthy for extended periods, he will have a great career.

Rich Bernstein and members of the US team at the Opening Ceremonies of the Maccabiah Games (Photo: Provided)

An update on Sivasangari Subramaniam, the Cornell squash player injured in an auto accident in her native Malaysia last month. Sivi was discharged from the hospital last week, and according to posts on her Caring Bridge page, she is grateful to be back with her family as she begins what will be a long and arduous rehabilitation regimen. e post stated that she was able to begin some light, lower limb exercises and that one of her main challenges will be to pace herself as she recovers. Sivi is not one to do things in a half-hearted manner, as she is the defending NCAA Division 1 national champion and had risen to #16 on the professional squash tour.