Marc Maturo’s official sports column
Neuendorf headed into SUNY Cortland Hall of Fame
Former all-American swimmer and longtime Suffern HS administrator and teacher Joan Neuendorf of Valley Cottage is one of seven new members who will be inducted into the SUNY Cortland C-Club Hall of Fame during its 46th banquet and ceremonies on September 13 in the College’s Corey Union.
Neuendorf, Class of 1983 and a native of Palisades, earned all-America honors in 11 events and at one time held seven school records during her four-year collegiate career.
As a freshman in 1980, Neuendorf was an AIAW Division III all-American as part of Cortland’s 200-yard freestyle relay. She swam on two all-America relays at the 1981 AIAW Championships and in 1982 finished seventh nationally in the 50-yard backstroke and was part of five all-America relays.
In her senior season, Neuendorf helped Cortland tie for ninth at the 1983 NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. She placed 11th in the 50-yard backstroke and swam on the sixth-place 200-yard medley relay team.
Neuendorf, who was a team captain as both a junior and senior, earned a master’s degree from Long Island University in 1988 and has taught at Suffern HS since 1983. She has been the department chair for physical education and health since 1999. Neuendorf coached girls’ swimming from 1983-2000 and boys’ swimming from 1983-93. She returned as a girls’ assistant coach in 2008 after taking time off to have three children.
Neuendorf earned 10 straight Rockland County Coach of the Year honors and was Section 1 Girls’ Coach of the Year twice. She was inducted into the Rockland County Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and was part of Tappan Zee High School’s Sports Hall of Fame inaugural induction class in 2009.
Neuendorf also was inducted in 2012 into the Suffern HS Sports Hall of Fame as a coach with her 1988 girls’ varsity swim team that went undefeated and was ranked second in the state. She will be inducted again into Tappan Zee’s Hall of Fame in November 2014 as a member of the 1977 girls’ varsity swim team that won sectional and state titles.
A Who’s Who’s Among America’s Teachers honoree in 2000 and 2007, Neuendorf is the president of the Rockland County Summer Swim League and the Rockland County Coaches Association, and the vice president of the Rockland County Sports Hall of Fame.
Other C-Club Hall of Fame inductees are:
Ross Phelps, ’43, a former soccer and tennis captain and a long-time Montgomery County and Rensselaer/Columbia/Greene Counties BOCES director of guidance and administrator;
Jack Radzavicz, ’59, a three-sport letter-winner at Cortland and former football East-West All-Star Game participant who enjoyed a successful teaching and coaching career in the Cortland City School District;
Gary Wilson, ’68, the recently retired women’s cross country and track and field coach at the University of Minnesota and former Red Dragon track and field and cross country runner;
David Cook, ’91, a two-time all-American at Cortland in both football and men’s lacrosse and current director of athletics and boys’ lacrosse coach at Maine-Endwell High School;
• Kiki Seago, ’93, an All-America women’s basketball player and one of Cortland’s top career scorers and rebounders who currently teaches at Penn Yan Academy;
• Nate Leaman, ’97, the current men’s ice hockey coach at Providence College and a former Red Dragon player who ranks in the top 20 in school history in career assists and points.
In addition to Saturday night’s official ceremony, the inductees will be introduced at halftime of the Cortland-Brockport football game earlier that afternoon.
Established in 1969, the C-Club Hall of Fame recognizes Cortland alumni who competed as athletes at the college and who have since distinguished themselves in their professions and within their communities. This year’s ceremony will bring the Hall of Fame roster to 237 alumni and 27 honorary members.
KIVLEHAN SELECTED: Seattle Mariners minor-league standout Pat Kivlehan of West Nyack, now playing for the Jackson Generals, has been selected to participate in the Arizona Fall League. Kivlehan, a one-time football and baseball star at Rutgers University, will play for Seattle’s affiliate, the Surprise Saguaros. The Saguaros will feature prospects from the Red Sox, Reds, Padres, Rangers and Mariners organizations. The Fall League season runs through November 15, with a championship game held at Scottsdale Stadium. The league’s Fall Stars Game, which will feature many of the top 100 prospects, will be held November 1, at Salt River Fields. Kivlehan, 24, who has played in 132 games this season between Jackson and the High Desert Mavericks, is batting a second-best .300 in 104 games with the Generals, to whom he was promoted on May 10. He leads the club in RBI with 68 and ranks second in homers with 11. Kivlehan, who recorded a league-leading 17-game hit streak and 29-game on-base streak – the second-longest in the league – was named to the postseason All-Star Team by the Southern League of Professional Baseball Clubs. Kivlehan, a third baseman whose batting average ranks seventh in the league, has also made starts at first base, DH and all three outfield positions. Kivlehan was selected by the Mariners in the fourth round of the 2012 draft out of Rutgers, after being named Big East Most Valuable Player in his only season on the baseball team.
ELITE TRYOUTS SET: The Rockland Elite youth baseball organization, which captured league and tournament championships this year, will hold open tryouts for the 2015 campaign on September 6 and October 18 beginning at 9 a.m. in Kings Park, located at 34 Kings Highway in Congers. Tryouts will be held for the Elite’s 7U through 13U teams; prospective players must attend at least one tryout session to be considered for a team. Home games are played at fields in the New City/West Nyack/ Congers area. Prospects should visit /www.elite-nation.com
BOULDERS ROCK & ROLL: The Rockland Boulders are aiming for their first-ever Can-Am League Championship after having won their first pennant with a 7-3 victory over the nearby New Jersey Jackals in the regular-season finale. The Boulders (56-40), skippered by Jamie Keefe, defeated New Jersey in a playoff preview behind the starting pitching of Greg Terhune, who went six innings while allowing one run on three hits. The Boulders opened the best-of-seven Championship Series at Yogi Berra Stadium on the campus of Montclair State University, before the series shifts to Provident Bank Park in Pomona for Games 3, 4, and 5 if necessary. The Sept. 5 game is scheduled at 7 p.m., the Sept. 6 game at 6:30 p.m. and the game on Sept. 7, if necessary, at 7 p.m. Should a Game 6 or 7 be needed, they will also be played at Yogi Berra Stadium. Besides winning the pennant, the Boulders had three players named to the All-Star team. Outfielders Antone DeJesus, Ryan Stovall and first baseman Jerod Edmondson were honored while DeJesus was also named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Edmondson, a Can-Am League veteran and native of Quincy, Mass., is fourth in the league in RBI with 66, tied with teammate Joe Maloney. His 26 doubles ranks second-most in the Can-Am League, and he is tied with former college opponent and close friend Chris Colabello for the all-time doubles record with 166. The first baseman already owns the league’s career record for hits and runs. A catalyst for the Boulders both at the plate and in the field, Stovall has made an immediate impact in the Can-Am. His .315 batting average is tops on the team and fourth in the Can-Am while also ranking third in home runs (17) and second in RBI (71). The Thomas University alum has eight outfield assists, tied for second-most of all outfielders. DeJesus ranks third in the league with seven outfield assists and boasts a .981 fielding percentage in 215 total chances. DeJesus has played every game of the season for Rockland in center field, making multiple highlight reel catches and helping the Boulders pitching staff to a league best 3.60 earned run average.
QUICK HITTERS: Junior Morgan Miller of West Nyack, an alumna of Nanuet High School, is playing on the back line for the women’s soccer team at LIU Post. The Blackbirds are hosting the Women’s Soccer Classic at Pioneer Park in Brookville on Sept. 5 and Sept. 7, featuring American International College, the University of Bridgeport and Southern Connecticut State University. LIU stays on the road on Sept. 11 to meet Holy Family University in Philadelphia, and visits Nyack College at 1 p.m. on Sept. 13 … Sophomore Victoria Grix of Pearl River led the team with 17 digs as the Cortland women’s volleyball team finished 3-1 at the Red Dragon Classic. Host Cortland was one of three schools, along with Lebanon Valley and Richard Stockton, to finish with 3-1 records in the 11-team field. … Junior Meghan King of New City, an alumna of Clarkstown North HS on the road back following shoulder surgery, had a match-high 13 kills as The College of New Rochelle volleyball team placed second in the Silver Bracket at the 12th Greyhound Premiere in Bethlehem, Pa. The Blue Angels, who also feature junior Diana Desir of Spring Valley, are home for a doubleheader on Sept. 6, meeting Medgar Evers College at 11 a.m., and The College of Old Westbury at 3 p.m. … Defensive lineman Gabe Ostrow and linebacker Peter Smith, both of Nanuet, and sophomore kicker Shane Cronin of West Nyack will open their SUNY Cortland football season on September 6 with a noon contest at Buffalo State. The Red Dragons will host Brockport in their home opener on September 13, also at noon. Suffern HS alum Phil Tomassi of Hillburn is a junior linebacker at Brockport.
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