Vikings Coaches Gear Up for Fall Sports

Port Washington Patch checked in with some of the Vikings coaches to discuss Schreiber High School sports programs this fall. And they're pushing hard, hoping to become the Nassau County Sportsmanship Winners by the Officials Association for the third year in a row – an honor given to the school whose coaches, players and spectators represent the highest level of sportsmanship.

The teams are also aiming to beat out their rivals in the other 57 school districts in Nassau County. 

"Our freshmen and sophomores are incredibly deep with talent," said varsity cross country boys coach Jeremy Klaff, whose first invitational is on September 15 at Wheatley High School. "Our middle school team prepares them well for high school, and we have inherited some gifted athletes. I think this year people will watch them grow into better athletes. We graduated some terrific athletes, and now we hope our young guys can fill their shoes."

"Last season we had our best finish in school history, finishing third at the New York State Meet, after qualifying with a county title," Klaff added. "Last year we were led by our two seniors – Marco Bertolotti and Jacob Levine – who were two of the fastest runners in the county. Marco was the overall champion in 2008 and 2009. This year, it's our young guys from last year: Taylor Titcomb, Sid Kakkar, and Paolo Bertolotti who will help lead this squad. All three have experience running in the most competitive meets, and are among the fastest returners in the county."

Fans might want to follow up at some point this year because Bertolotti is running at Stanford and Levine is at George Washington University. And, Klaff added, both schools have "pretty good programs."

Robin Cooper, coach of girls varsity cross country, is hoping to match the success the team had last year, if not better. "We were top 10 in the county last year and had a team member make the state meet," she noted. "We had eight girls run a mile-time trial in under 7 minutes on day one of practice. I'm hoping and expect to have my top five run 5K between 20 and 22 minutes." The girls team will also be at the Wheatley invitational.

This year, she added, "there will be faster times by more athletes, beating a team or two we didn't last year, finishing in the top seven in the county. It's too early to tell if we'll get an athlete to the state meet. It depends on what the other teams have."

Varsity Girls Volleyball Coach Steve Park has the same kind of fervor and excitement as Cooper and Klaff.

"The thing the fans can expect this season is a team that plays together from start to finish," said Park, whose first game is at Valley Stream Central on Sept. 15.  "We are adding new players from last year's JV program that will bolster our team's foundation.  Our team leaders will carry us and bring the fans some great entertainment throughout the season. The main difference from last season is that we are stronger and much improved. Looking forward to taking on the competition and giving them some tough competition."

Tough competition, and entertainment too. Looks like both the fans and the athletes have a good season ahead.