25 Years Ago in Bonac Sports: 09.21.17
September 10, 1992
Eleven years after having been told she had a less-than-one-in-10 chance to survive, Karen Kalbacher, 31, a former East Hampton resident, is about to participate in a monthlong 1,662-mile fund-raising bicycle ride from Victoria, British Columbia, to Tijuana, Mexico.
The public relations director of the Massachusetts Special Olympics, Kalbacher was feted by her surgeon last year after having gone five years without a flare-up of the rare muscle cancer that was discovered in her junior year at Boston College. She hopes to raise $12,000 through her participation in the West Coast trek.
. . . “There was a stigma attached to having cancer when I was sick — there still is to some extent,” said Kalbacher. “It wasn’t talked about, but talking about it helps the healing process. I was fortunate to have a wonderful surgeon. . . . With my supportive family and surgeon, I feel pretty fortunate.”
Going into Tuesday’s men’s slow-pitch league showdown between the Tipperary Inn and Fred’s Big Guns, billed by some as “The Gunfight at the I’m Okay, You’re Not Okay Corral,” the series was tied at 2-2.
Tipperary, thanks largely to Barry Mackin, whose three-run home run in the top of the first inning set the tone, won the pivotal game, 16-3.
September 17, 1992
Jeffrey Banger, 31, temporarily of Los Alamos, N.M., and Margot Lulla, 27, of New York City and Amagansett, repeated Saturday as winners of the Fithampton triathlon in Sag Harbor.
Lulla, who was as buoyant after the demanding event as she was on exiting the water, was about five minutes slower than last year, but that was probably owing to the lack of competition. Joan Cerrina, 36, of Mattituck, the women’s runner-up, was almost nine minutes behind the front-runner.
. . . Lulla said she had only competed in one other triathlon this summer — the Danskin women’s triathlon, “the most competitive in the country,” winning her age group, and finishing “about 26th” in a field of 800.
“Margot, you stud! You looked good out there,” said a fellow competitor as Lulla, who works for a leverage buyout firm, smiled.
Turning to football, David MacGarva, the head coach, is playing a 4-4 defensive lineup this year, taking advantage of two big defensive tackles in Gus Gomez (230) and Gavin Menu (245).
They’ll be backed by Paul Poutouves and Brandon Albert at inside linebacker. The defensive ends, who’ll play opposite the offensive tackles, will be Larry Keller (235) and John Hayes (225). Ron Taylor and Trevor Darrell hold down the outside linebacker positions. Todd Carberry and Kenny Brabant are the cornerbacks and Brendan Collins is the free safety. Marcus Borowsky is the quarterback.
Diane O’Donnell, the new coach of East Hampton High School’s new girls cross-country team, and her husband, Bill, were members of the second-place coed division team in Sunday’s 50-mile Ocean-to-Sound Relay in Nassau County. . . . Ms. O’Donnell, a top Long Island masters long-distance runner, is trying hard to gain recruits for the girls running program. She’s been given the okay to have eighth graders on the team.
September 24, 1992
Joe O’Connell and Genie Gavenchak won singles championships recently at the Dunes Racquet Club in Amagansett. Tony Tarmaro and Dan Brodsky won the men’s doubles title by defeating O’Connell and Marshall Wendell. The women’s doubles was won by Ann Clemente and Ruth Preven over Jane Singer and Ester Ansel. John Goodman, the club’s professional, noted that O’Connell has now won Dunes singles championships in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.
A Costa Rican team that included a number of players who, with Deportivo Saprissa, won six Costa Rican national soccer titles in the 1970s, considered a world record, played an exhibition game with a local all-star team Saturday at East Hampton High School. Saprissa won 5-1. East Hampton’s lone goal, on a penalty kick, was scored by Jorge Contreras.
. . . The locals said that had he not been in Brazil, Pelé, the retired professional soccer great, who has a house in Springs, would have played with them.