All-Greater Rochester Spring Teams to be revealed Tuesday

Hello Section V high school sports fans,

This and every Varsity Voices high school sports newsletter is put together to keep you informed about what's ahead, what's happening and what's taken place in area high school sports.

All-Greater Rochester Spring Teams to be revealed Tuesday

We are ready. The final All-Greater Rochester for the past school year will be published online Tuesday morning. You'll find out who made the teams and who the players of the year are for the spring sports. The teams will be published in print on July 17 and July 24.

All-American swimmers and divers in Section V

When the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association released its All-America girls and boys divers and swimmers, a group of six from schools in Section V were deemed one of the top 100 in their events.

Joleigh Crye, who just completed her senior year at Avon, is on two of NISCA's All-America lists, the 100-yard butterfly and 100 breaststroke. The New York State Public High School Athletic Association swimming and diving season for girls is in the fall, but Crye began to show she is one of the best athletes in Section V during the boys season in the winter.

Crye won the butterfly race at the Section V Class C Championships and advanced to the state championship meet at Ithaca College. Earlier in the meet, the 2021 Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Softball Team member was the runner-up in the breaststroke.

Swimming and diving coaches in Section V selected her as one of 19 members of the 2022 Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Boys Swimming and Diving Team. She signed a letter of commitment in November to swim with University of Cincinnati's women's team.

Section V is a region with standout divers, based on this year's NISCA girls and boys All-America list. Kate Cooper, who will be a senior next school year at Pittsford Mendon, and Fairport junior Sophie Meuwissen were in the girls diving top 100.

Boys state champion Daley Fraser, who just recently graduated from Pittsford Mendon, and Irondequoit rising senior Michael Wood made it four divers from Section V who received NISCA's All-America honors.

Alex Crossing made the NISCA All-America 500-yard freestyle list in his senior year season at Victor. Crossing, the 500 free state champion, and Fraser are the 2022 Democrat and Chronicle Boys Swimming and Team co-Athletes of the Year.

Fraser, a member of the Pittsford Panthers headed to Pittsburgh, won the state diving championship. Wood placed third at Ithaca College.

Chatter in Section V baseball

Sometimes the question comes up in back-to-back years, or maybe every other baseball season.

This is one of those times when Section V baseball coordinator Jason Bunting expects to hear suggestions to change the local high school tournaments. Why not change sectionals to a double-elimination format?

Bunting will listen, that comes with his role as coordinator. But he also said the hurdles to change the tournament grow larger when it's time to talk about details, such as whether to require teams to qualify for the postseason rather than continuing to have tournaments open to all teams.

"There are many problem that arise when you try to change a sectional format," he said.

If area high school teams want to change the format of sectional tournaments, the Section V baseball committee would put together a proposal for Section V to review. Section V would then have to approve of the changes.

Should Section V baseball teams play best-of-three series during postseason?

An Olympian you can talk to

Not only was world-class pole vaulter Jenn Suhr an Olympic gold-medalist who still lives in the area, she was also connected to area high school jumpers.

Suhr announced her retirement after 18 years in track and field in June. It is correct to say that Suhr, who lives in Riga, inspired pole vaulters in Section V, and maybe athletes in other events.

During her career, Suhr and her husband and coach Rick included vaulters at Section V schools at meets they set up. She helped present awards and signed autographs during the 2011 high school meet at Hilton known as the Cadet Classic. The Suhrs also coached local high school jumpers at camps and at semi-private sessions.

"They are very supportive of local pole vaulting," Brighton pole vault coach Reggie Henderson said. "About five or six years ago, they began spending half of the year in Texas.

"Prior to that, they would show up at track meets in Rochester very frequently."

Rick Suhr wrote a book called "Running into the Headwind: The Price of Olympic Gold The Untold True Story that was published in 2020. Until next time, keep up on Section V's sports scene by going to our high school page.

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JAMESJ@Gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: All-Greater Rochester Spring Teams to be revealed Tuesday