The winter season saw sectional championships earned by high-school teams and individuals in a wide range of sports.
Those titles — as well as other noteworthy athletic feats — include:
Boys’ skiing: McQuaid Jesuit’s Alpine team won the Section 5 Class A championship. The Knights were led by Max Sertl, who tied for first place in the slalom and finished third in the giant slalom to capture first place in combined scoring. Sertl went on to place third in the giant slalom at the state meet.
Girls’ bowling: Bishop Kearney won the Section 5 Class C title with a total pinfall of 5,212. Shanna Chepelsky led the way for BK with a first-place individual pinfall of 1,218 for six games, and teammate Kate Whiteman had the high game of 265. At the state tournament, Chepelsky went on to log the second-highest series among all girls — a 1,296 total — to help the Section 5 squad place second.
Another fine sectional performance came from Our Lady of Mercy’s Meredith Anderson, who was the top finisher in Section 5 Class B with a 1,178 total as the Monarchs placed third.
Cheerleading: Bishop Kearney won the Section 5 Class A2 championship.
Boys’ indoor track: Aquinas Institute placed second at the Section 5 Class C meet behind first-place finishes from Matt Denk in the 600-meter run and the 1,600 relay squad.
Bishop Kearney finished fourth at the Section 5 Class D meet as Quinten Gause won the 300 meters, Quinton Washington captured the long jump and the 800 relay triumphed.
McQuaid took fifth in Section 5 Class A as Mike Tripp placed first in both the 3,200- and 1,600-meter runs.
Girls’ indoor track: Aquinas placed second in Section 5 Class C competition behind victories from Camaria Long in the 55 and 300 meters, Mandi Hochheimer in the 600, and the 1,600 relay.
Our Lady of Mercy placed third at the Section 5 Class B meet, with the Monarchs’ 1,600 relay earning a first-place finish.
Bishop Kearney finished sixth in Section 5 Class D competition, with the Kings’ 800 relay placing first.
Boys’ swimming: Individual champions for McQuaid at the Section 5 Class B meet were Doug LeClair in the 50-yard freestyle, Sean Wurster in the 500 free and Patrick Bedard in the 100 backstroke. McQuaid finished fourth in team scoring.
Boys’ bowling: Aquinas’ Tyler Breitung had the high six-game series of 1,334 at the Section 5 Class C tournament.
Girls’ skiing: Our Lady of Mercy’s Katja Sertl placed fifth in the slalom at the state-championship meet.
Wrestling: Brian Beachump (96 pounds) and Chaz Milly (130 pounds), wrestling for McQuaid, reached the final of the Section 5 Class A tournament in their respective weight classes. The Knights placed seventh as a team.
Hockey: Aquinas posted a pair of upsets in the Section 5 Class A tournament. Following a 2-1 first-round overtime win over the seventh-seeded Greece Thunder, the 10th-seeded Little Irish shocked No. 2 McQuaid by the same 2-1 score in quarterfinal play. AQ was eliminated by eventual champion Pittsford in the semifinals.
