theLAKER | 13 a victory over the nationally ranked Herkimer Generals. Lakers starting pitcher Devin Georgetti pitched a complete game, holding the Generals scoreless for a 2-0 victory. The Lakers’ run ended when Herkimer rallied with a third game win and the right to play Niagara, which ultimately claimed the title. In another first for FLCC, the men’s track and field team, led by first-year head coach James Bathgate, claimed the NJCAA Region III Championship. The team also came home with eight first-place finishes, including Daniel DiSalvo, who picked up two wins for the Lakers, first in the 110-meter hurdles, claiming first place with a time of 19.20 seconds. He won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:07.77. The 4x800-meter relay team of Giovanni Ventura, John Zimmerman, Kyle Green, and Hunter Zangerle took first place with a time of 8:40.05, edging Hudson Valley Community College by 3 seconds. The 4x400-meter relay team also earned a first with Daniel DiSalvo, Memphis Lohnes, Tyqwan Coles, and Giovanni Ventura stringing together a time of 4:14.39. Tyqwan Coles put the Lakers on top in the men’s high jump, with a mark of 1.61 meters. Teammate Memphis Lohnes claimed a firstplace finish in the pole vault with an even 4 meters. Hunter Zangerle won the long jump, with a mark of 6.43 meters; he also won the triple jump with 12.36 meters. Coach Bathgate was recognized for his historic season by the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association as Men’s Coach of the Year for the East Region. “These guys fed off each other until the end. I can’t take full credit for this. Coach (Jay) Donahue came in and helped put together a great squad that brought us to this point,” Coach Bathgate said. On the women’s side, Leah Lloyd earned four first-place finishes in the NJCAA Region III Championship. She began her day by winning the 3000-meter steeplechase, with a time of 12:21.50. She took first in the 800 meter, completing the race in 2:37.91, and in the 1500 meter, with a time of 5:27.23. Leah capped the day winning the 5000 meter, completing the course in 21:03.04. In the national championship, Leah finished first in the 3000meter steeplechase with a time of 12:09.88, earning First Team All-American honors. In other athletics news, the Lakers eSports team had the largest participation in the history of the program with 70 students taking part this past spring. The Lakers offered the team’s most comprehensive National Junior College Athletic Association eSports (NJCAAe) participation with seven teams across the platforms of Overwatch, Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, Smash Ultimate, Hearthstone, and Mario Kart 8. Across those seven platforms, the Lakers picked up over 90 wins during the season. “Ask any professor, director, teacher, coach, trainer or staff member why we do exactly what we do,” began eSports Coordinator Michael Van Etten, also professor of modern language. “It’s almost never about the game, content, or activity. It is about the students, and what this does for the student, what we do for the student every single day.” His goal is to build a family-like culture where his team members can feel belonging. “We give our students something that they may never have had before. Students that may have been bullied, mocked, abused, marginalized, cast aside, ignored, neglected, pressured, desperate, and hanging on to hope.” “It’s almost never about the game, content, or activity. It is about the students.” – eSports Coordinator Michael Van Etten The eSports team had the largest participation numbers in the history of the program with 70 students in spring 2022. PHOTO COURTESY OF FLCC SPORTS INFORMATION
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