Victor lacrosse seniors who missed graduation get their diplomas during special ceremony

VICTOR, NY – Seconds before Victor senior C.J. Palmiere was to receive his diploma, he stopped his walk across the stage and, playing to the crowd a bit, slipped a hand under his graduation gown.

After reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out his cell phone and convinced Senior High School Principal Brian Siesto to pose for a selfie.

Palmiere and his 20 other senior boys lacrosse teammates already had waited an extra day for graduation. What’s a few seconds more of a delay?

As many know by now, the Victor boys team lost 9-8 to Garden City on Sunday afternoon at Hofstra University on Long Island. Victor High School graduation was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Rochester.

Victor and Garden City had worked out a deal for their Class B state championship game to start at 9 a.m. − giving the Victor team time to make it home in time for graduation – but Garden City reneged on the deal and the game started later, according to Victor school officials.

So they missed graduation, but only temporarily, as Victor staged another ceremony Monday night in the Junior High/Senior High auditorium.

In many ways, it was hard to tell the difference.

School administrators provided remarks. Class officers and other student speakers shared experiences of their four years as the Class of 2023 while barely holding back their excitement as they looked ahead to bright futures.

What happened was acknowledged – senior class vice president Ava Zaccour offered congratulations to the team: “I hope today is special because you all deserve it,” she said.

And to open the festivities, Siesto cracked, “Welcome to the conclusion of graduation.”

But the events over the weekend were not dwelled upon; instead, chants of “Victor! Victor!” and lots of shouting and laughter made for a raucous celebration at times.

In other ways, however, it wasn’t what these 21 seniors really wanted. More than 300 of their Victor classmates had already walked across the stage, some of whom they had shared good times and bad over the past four years.

Brady Robinson said he understands where Garden City was coming from but said the New York State Public High School Athletic Association let the team down for not stepping in and making the right decision.

“It’s a lot of kids to miss graduation,” Robinson said.

Teammate Liam Wheeler said he thinks it’s kind of dumb how the whole situation played out.

“It’s just kind of a different feel than what you always hoped for going through high school,” Wheeler said.

School Superintendent Tim Terranova earlier in the Monday issued a statement that read: “In my mind, we won the bigger game, which is how to honor a commitment, maintain our character, and compete at the highest level."

Terranova said the ceremony was a time to celebrate the accomplishments of an incredibly resilient group. Yes, the rug was yanked out from underneath them, Terranova said, but they just kept their heads up and kept fighting, which is what he loves about them.

“They are going to remember each other and stay together really, I’d say love one another for the rest of their lives,” Terranova said. “It’s really put the team together in a close way.”

Robinson said he was glad the superintendent and his principal set this up and did not leave the seniors "high and dry."

"They stood by our side throughout the entire time," Robinson said.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Victor NY lacrosse seniors get their diplomas during special ceremony