25 Years Ago in Bonac Sports: 12.28.17
December 3, 1992
Undaunted by Thanksgiving’s downpour, 77 runners of all ages turned out last Thursday in Montauk for the 3 and 6-mile Turkey Day races co-sponsored by the East Hampton Town Recreation Department and John Keeshan, Inc., a real estate firm.
Keeshan made sure there were turkeys galore to hand out to sodden prize-winners. The Recreation Department fliers say these races will be run “rain, shine, or snow,” and indeed they have been. “The best race was when it snowed several years ago,” said a longtime competitor, Howard Lebwith.
Paul Blodorn, the 17-year-old Mercy High School senior cross-country star from Sag Harbor, won the 3-miler in 16 minutes and 36 seconds, outkicking Rich Webber of Shelter Island at the end. . . . Blodorn’s time was about a minute off the course record, set in 1989 by Artie Fisher, whom Blodorn may follow to Virginia Tech.
Kevin Barry, Blodorn’s coach, won the 6-miler in 36:11.
December 17, 1992
Coming off a rare losing season, Jim Stewart, East Hampton High School’s wrestling coach, is hoping for a better showing this winter. But because just about all of the wrestlers are underclassmen, the Bonackers probably will not be kings of the hill, as Stewart’s teams were between 1985 and ’90.
The turnout was huge — as of this week there were 46 hopefuls on Stewart and Mark Sucsy’s roster.
A not-so-funny thing happened to Duane Bock, the young East Hamptoner who joined the pro golf tour last August, on his way to the Professional Golf Association’s qualifying tournament two months ago.
His right knee, which had undergone arthroscopic surgery last April, gave out during a practice round — and trying to break his fall, Bock broke his right wrist.
“The injury came at a bad time,” Bock said. “It hurt me a bit . . . I’d worked so hard. But I’m in better spirits now. The wrist is even stronger than it was before.”
The former East Hampton High School and Campbell University star won the prestigious North and South amateur tournament last May.
Golf Digest’s ninth-ranked amateur in 1992 — behind Justin Leonard, David Duval, Allen Doyle, Danny Yates, Warren Schutte, Phil Mickelson, Brian Gay, and David Howser — Bock began his professional career in the money by finishing as the second pro in the Frank Collins pro-am tournament at the Maidstone Club at the end of August.
David MacGarva, East Hampton High’s football coach, will meet with other Division IV coaches in March to rank one another’s teams and to draw up schedules “separating the very strong from the very weak,” according to Suffolk’s football coordinator, Nick Schroeder.
A power-rating system launched this year provides a counterweight of sorts to coaches’ subjectivity. It is an involved system whereby a team’s wins and losses are weighted by those of its opponents.
Thus, according to Schroeder, “you want the teams you beat to win as much as possible, and if you lose to somebody, you hope you lost to a real good team.”
Power points can make for interesting twists at season’s end. MacGarva thought at one point this year that if East Hampton upset Mount Sinai in the finale (it didn’t), the power points gained would have vaulted it over Southampton, with which it had been tied at 4-4, even if Southampton won (it did). East Hampton’s 21-20 loss to the undefeated Mustangs rendered the question moot.
When all was said and done, said MacGarva, “What you want to do is win every game.”