GENEVA - Where Jake Currie goes, so goes success - on the football field, at least.
After winning a pair of New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C state football titles with Coach Jay Sirianni and the Trojans, the 2011 Southwestern Central School graduate is contributing on another highly touted squad - the Hobart College Statesman.
The Statesman, at 6-0 overall, recently rose to No. 7 in the American Football Coaches Association poll and No. 11 in the D3football.com rankings.
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Frewsburg Central School graduate Seth Johnson will be entering his fourth season as the head coach of the St. Bonaventure University women’s swimming & diving team.
Photo courtesy of St. Bonaventure University
Hobart is second in the nation in total defense (190.5 yds/g), second in pass defense (99.33 yds/g), seventh in sacks (3.83/g), eighth in scoring defense (11.5 ppg) and 10th in tackles for a loss (2.42/g).
Currie, a 6-foot, 240-pound sophomore defensive end, has played in five games, making three tackles and a sack.
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Tess Follman (Salamanca/Killbuck) had no trouble finding the back of the net last season at Salamanca High School, and she's having no trouble this season as a freshman for the Pitt-Bradford women's soccer team.
So it should be of little surprise that Follman was recently honored for the second straight week as the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference's (AMCC) Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Panthers to a pair of conference victories and extending the squad's winning streak to a school-record seven matches.
The Panthers remain unbeaten in AMCC play.
Follman, who as a senior led the Lady Warriors with a Section 6-leading 36 goals and left Salamanca as the school's all-time leading scorer, has now netted 11 goals this season, good for second on the team.
She ranks fourth in the conference in both goals scored and total points (26).
A week prior she earned the award after delivering three goals in a pair of wins, including a two-goal performance in the Panthers' slim, 2-1 victory over Penn State Altoona.
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After finishing sixth in both the 200-yard butterfly and the 100-yard butterfly at last year's Atlantic 10 Championships as a freshman, Lauren Caldwell (Jamestown/Jamestown) has taken on a new leadership role for the Seth Johnson (Frewsburg/Jamestown)-led St. Bonaventure women's swimming and diving team.
And, in the squad's first meet of the season - the WNY Invitational - she's already filling that role.
Caldwell took fourth in the 200 individual medley (2:12.98), second in the 400 IM (4:36.59), second in the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.05) and fourth in the 100 butterfly (58.45).
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Led by junior quarterback Zack Sopak (Southwestern/Falconer), who completed 15 of 23 passes for 138 yards, the Alfred University Saxons toppled the 11th-ranked St. John Fisher Cardinals, 26-13, to remain unbeaten in Empire 8 Conference play.
With Sopak under center the Saxons have gone 4-1 overall and 3-0 in Empire 8 competition.
Sopak has completed 64 of 127 passes this season for 591 yards and four touchdowns.
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B.J. Monacelli (Cassadaga Valley/Cassadaga) made five tackles, broke up one pass and returned a kickoff for 28 yards to help the Washington & Jefferson College football team edge Westminster, 24-21.
Monacelli, a junior, leads the Presidents with 29 solo tackles, two interceptions, seven passes broken up and nine passes defended. He has also forced one fumble.