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Diane Dixon’s HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS ROUND-UP 11-17-2011

The Lincoln “Railsplitters” outscored John Adams Spartans with a blowout score of 54-6!
As they secure a play-off berth in Round 2 against the Thomas Jefferson “Orange Waves”, Jefferson head coach Gus stated: “They are going to play, they have had great practices, they are getting ready for the game this Saturday, November 19th at Lincoln High School field at 12:00pm. His team is lead by junior, Al Stewart, QB; junior Kendell “Speedy” Thomas, WR; and junior Ebenezer Ogundeko.
Thomas has a “family affair” going on at Jefferson as his brother, Mark Thomas, played football last year and his mother also attended and competed in track and field.
Coach Gus stated most of his student-athletes are from the Bedford-Stuyvesant, East NY & Brownsville area. “We make sure our athletes are involved with community service by volunteering to coach our “little league” football team (Brooklyn Chiefs) to let the youth know that THEY are our future leaders.
“Most of my students are from a single-parent household with no father figure. I have to be there for all of them providing additional resources and for years they will be my sons and they know it.

Erasmus High School “Dutchmen” vs. Boys & Girls High School “Kangaroos”
I caught coach Danny Landberg “off-guard” the morning I contacted him for an interview. “I am still sleep and who are you and what?” It was 9:00am and I thought that school started at 7:35am. After I repeated who I was very politely, he then got himself together. “Everybody is a star player. Equal press, equal time. We hope for the best, we’re a close-knit family and we strive for success to be the best we can.” OK! Now he can get his morning coffee & digest on the three tough questions I asked him. Really???

The game is at Erasmus Hall Campus at Sid Luckman Field this Saturday, Nov. 19 at 12:00pm.
“The ‘school spirit’ at Boys & Girls High School is very HIGH, according to coach Elmer Anderson, Boys Junior Varsity Basketball Coach. We are tremendously excited about the team and moving on to the next stage. The coach (Clive Harding) and his staff have done a wonderful job with the team by keeping them focused. Our entire school is in full force to support them to make the championship. We have a great Boys Basketball Varsity team by winning ‘back-to-back’ City Championships and now our football team has a chance to make history. We are very proud of them”.
Sidebar: I asked coach Anderson his feelings regarding JV Basketball not getting as much press as Freshman & Varsity Basketball. He stated that the PSAL now has a City Championship Division for them and this week to promote the JV Basketball Division at his school he is hosting a JV game against the staff on Wednesday, November 23rd at 4:00pm.

In other PSAL NEWS …
Erasmus Hall senior Oluwatoni Esinsinadi won the Girls Varsity Cross-Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park this past Saturday in an outstanding time of 21min-38 sec. for the 5K Run, while teammate, sophomore Osavi Owe came in 5th place with a time of 23 min.-25 sec.
The Girls Swimming Varsity Championships are being held on Tuesday, November 22nd at Lehman College at 5:00pm. Brooklyn Technical “Engineers” vs. Stuyvesant High School “Penguins” (two of the Specialized High Schools with two different styles). Coach Maureen O’Hara from Brooklyn Tech stated: “We are very excited and confident this year. We were there last year so we know what to expect and we know what we are up against.
“Our student, Annie Zhu, received the PSAL Outstanding Senior Athlete in PSAL Swimming award last night and she will be going to the University of Georgia on a FULL athletic scholarship.”
Congratulations to Annie Zhu on her award and to ALL the schools who are competing in this week’s championships!!!
For more information or questions, contact: dd@dianedixonfoundation.org.

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