1. By DON WILLMAN
Special to the Post-Star
SOUTH GLENS FALLS ◆
Gloversville came with the run-
and-shoot. South Glens Falls
brought a basic running game.
Both styles produced some big
plays for both sides on
Homecoming day at South High.
In the end, though, it was a big
play on defense that resulted in a
celebration for the host Bulldogs
on a damp Saturday.
Clinging to a 21-20 advantage,
South High (1-1 division, 2-2
overall) needed an interception
in the end zone by defensive
back Will Denio to secure the
Class A Division II victory
over Gloversville.
“This was an out-
standing game by
both teams,” South
High coach Al Vasak
said. “My hat is off to
Coach (Tom) Ciaccio.
It seems like they
only ran 10 times, but
they came prepared with an out-
standing passing performance.”
Actually, Gloversville (0-2, 1-3)
totaled 21 rushes on the day, led
by fullback Richard Murray
with 45 yards on 10 tries. The
offensive output came from the
arm of quarterback Kris Barone,
who was good on 23 of 37 passes
By KONRAD MARSHALL
kmarshall@poststar.com
Editor’s note: This is the first
installment in “For The Record,” an occa-
sional series of feature stories profiling
individuals who hold long-standing sport-
ing records at high schools in the area.
GLENS FALLS
alph “Rudy” St. Pierre looked
down at the gravel of the run-
ning track, wet and rough and
gray, and at the cooch grass
creeping along its uneven edge,
and sighed.
The aged athlete scuffed his feet on
the sodden surface like an old bull itch-
ing to charge.
“This is about as good as it was when I
was running on it,” said St. Pierre, 89,
who last ran on the old YMCA track
in the 1930s. “They never even
steamrolled it. We didn’t have
starting blocks. We had to dig
holes with our feet, and you
had to be careful when you
drove out of them that you
didn’t break out of the
ground.”
If anyone was going to
break out of the ground in
a singular explosion of
fast-twitch muscle fiber,
it would be St. Pierre, a
long jumper and sprinter
that some have called the
greatest track and field
competitor Glens Falls has
ever produced.
In his time,
the diminutive
black-haired
track star — “I was a midget. Five-foot-
eight, 130 pounds, soaking wet” —
racked up 12 sectional championships, a
National indoor championship and a
world record. The pint-sized rocket still
holds the record at Glens Falls High
School for the long jump — an astonish-
ing 23 feet and
1/4 of an inch, which he set as a 17-year-
old back in 1935.
Nineteen thirty-five.
That’s during the depression, and the
New Deal.
That’s before “Hometown USA.” It’s
before your 70-year-old grandfather was
even born.
That was also the year Jesse Owens
set a world record in the long jump. The
legendary athlete leapt just 3 feet far-
ther than the teenage St. Pierre.
“Yeah, I spent many a day up here,”
said St. Pierre, looking at the track, the
scene of so many sweet summer victo-
ries. “You wanna know the truth? No one
could really come near me.”
In his entire high school career, St.
Pierre was only beaten once — in any
event — when his spikes clutched the
ground too tightly, tearing the sole off
one of his track shoes.
He kept running anyway.
CMYK
DSPORTS
T H E P O S T - S T A R
NFL D3
College Football D5
Local Sports D10-11
SUNDAY
September 24, 2006
◆ ◆
Golf
The Europeans
take control over the
American team at the
Ryder Cup. PAGE D2
Your online home for
high school sports is PS Varsity.
Look for scores, stats and blogs
by clicking on the PS Varsity
logo on our free Web site —
www.poststar.com.
ONLINECORRECTIONSCORES
AMERICAN LEAGUE
◆ Tampa Bay 8,Yankees 0
◆ Toronto 5, Boston 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
◆ Mets 12,Washington 6
(See Page D9)
For questions about a story or to report sports news, please contact
the Sports Department at 792-3131 at the following extensions:
Greg Brownell, Sports Editor, Ext. 3277
To report scores, Ext. 3388
CONTACTS
A lasting
DEREK PRUITT—DPRUITT@POSTSTAR.COM
Ralph St. Pierre not only continues
to hold track & field marks at
Glens Falls H.S., he also eventually
went on to help set a world record
legacy
R
Please see ST. PIERRE, Back Page
COURTESY PHOTO
Hickok strong in girls Division I race
Bulldogs make
late stand on ‘D’
Interception lifts SGF over Gloversville
T.J. HOOKER—THOOKER@POSTSTAR.COM
South Glens Falls’ Zach Coffinger heads down the field for a 55-yard
touchdown against Gloversville on Saturday at South High.
By WILL SPRINGSTEAD
springstead@poststar.com
QUEENSBURY ◆ Technically,
Ticonderoga’s Lee Berube was
racing up in class Saturday. And
it was a different class — a class
by himself.
The junior Class D runner
posted the day’s fastest time in
the Division II (large-school)
race at the third annual
Adirondack Cross Country
Classic at Queensbury High
School on Saturday. On a wet
morning, Berube covered the 3.1
miles in 15 minutes, 41.74 sec-
onds, about 19 seconds faster
than second-place finisher, Matt
Flint of Queensbury.
The Spartans, however, had a
lot to cheer about themselves.
Their top five runners placed
between second and 15th to earn
a total of 36 points, two better
than Shaker in the most hotly
contested of four boys and girls
varsity races.
Berube said he probably could
have run faster if he were
pushed.
“I probably led 600 yards into
the race and pulled away gradu-
ally from there,” said Berube,
who finished fifth in Class D at
last year’s State Championships
on the same course. “It’s a little
bit hard to push yourself when
you’re all alone. I’ve been want-
ing to win this race since I was a
freshman.”
Berube’s next individual goal
— to win the state Class D cham-
pionship — looks very attainable.
“Berube was very impressive
today, wow,” said Queensbury
boys coach Kevin Sullivan,
whose own runners stepped up
to the task at hand and defeated
Shaker at a large meet for the
second time in three weeks. On
COURTESY
PHOTO
NATHAN PALLACE—NPALLACE@POSTSTAR.COM
Lake George’s Steven Petramale
approaches the finish line Saturday.
SGF
21
Glove.
20
Forthe
record
T R A C K A N D F I E L D
Please see BULLDOGS, Page D10
In the high school volleyball preview that appeared in Friday’s edition,
a category was mislabeled for all teams. The category listing “Key
returning players” should have read “Key players/potential starters.”
Please see BERUBE, Page D10
Berube, Qby boys
winners at Classic