Welcome to this week’s breakdown of the High School Sports Beat, your behind the scenes look at the production, from the producer and the shows many contributors. It’s week 28 of the Sports Beat season, and part 1 of our “Best of the Winter Season” two-parter.
The change-over of sports seasons each year is an opportunity for us to look back at some of our favorite stories of the just completed season. In this case, as we wait for the spring sports season, and hope for weather that allows for the outdoor sports, we take a look back to week 16 of this season.
The Spencerport Hockey Team had a couple of rough years coming into the 2018-19 season. Win totals from the past were forgotten when the Rangers came out of the gates to start this year 7 – 1.
The Rangers finished the year with a loss in the Class B Championship game, still an impressive turnaround for the squad.
Paul Gotham from Pickin’ Splinters joins Dave Yates for the Dunkin High School Notebook, to talk basketball, and especially the Pittsford-Mendon teams. Both the boys and girls teams are in the hunt for a state title.
Kyle O’Gara returns for Making the Grade, this time honoring Nick Andrews from the Brockport Track & Field team. The Section V Spotlight shines this week on some Section V female athletes, including the recently profiled Monique Hardy of Webster Thomas – who competed at the National level last weekend, and the Royal Comet making a name for herself at USC.
Our top story, and one of our favorite stories from the just-completed Winter Sports Season, takes us back to Week 20 of the Sports Beat season.
Othman and Mohamed Damlakhi came to America via Turkey, where they had separately fled from Syria. A bomb had hit their home, and not knowing whether each other was still alive, the brothers persevered on. One brother was with his mother. The other with his father. Fate would bring them together in Turkey for a tearful reunion. From there, they found a new home in Canandaigua.
The Damlakhi Brothers competed mostly on the JV squad for the Braves wrestling team. They, and their family, have found a home – on the team, and in the community.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t point you to a very detailed account of their story from Bob Chavez of the Messenger-Post. It’s an amazing read.
And that’s a wrap on week 28! Be sure to check out the full episode– and tune in Every Saturday night on 13 WHAM after the late news, and on Sundays at Noon.
Follow the High School Sports Beat on Twitter, and be sure to check back here each Monday for the latest Insider!
We leave you this week, with an Insider weekly feature – looking back at some of our stories from the past 7 years. From December 20, 2014 – a look at the Monroe County Wrestling Championships, and a fierce battle between the Hilton and Fairport teams. A featured showdown in the story is between Yianni Diakomihalis of Hilton and Penfield’s Parker Kropman. Yianni, of course, is the NCAA Champion at Cornell, while Kropman is now at Drexel.
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