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Cooperstown’s offiCial newspaper
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founded in 1808
July Concert to promote movie-making, page 9
VISIT www.ALLOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER/ONLINE Volume 216, No. 22
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, June 13, 2024
Newsstand Price $1
Lady Yellowjackets Are State Champions in 4x100 Relay By MONICA CALZOLARI
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ONEONTA welve track runners from Oneonta High School qualified to compete at the New York State Track and Field Championships on June 7 and 8 at Cicero-North Syracuse High School. The 4x100 girls team returned home as Division II State Champs, setting a school record with their time of 49.88. Two OHS girls teams and two boys teams competed, running four different relays. The second girls team ran the 4x400 meter race and finished 13th in Division II with a school record time of 4:07.82. The boys 4x800 meter team finished sixth in Division II with a season-best time of 8:14.02. The boys 4x400 team finished 12th in Division II, also with a season-best time, at 3:32:34. In the past, OHS has sent only one or two individual track runners on to the state competition. In all, there are 77
runners on the team, 42 boys and 35 girls. Dave Slater, head coach for the boys team and the sprinters, said, “It is a big deal that 12 of Oneonta High School’s runners [went] to the state competition this year. In qualifiers, the girls 4x100 team came in first overall. The girls 4x400 and boys 4x800 came in second overall, first for Division II. The boys 4x400 came in fifth overall and first for Division II.” Among the 12 runners are two sets of twins who snatched the 2024 State Championship: Madeleine and Claire Seguin and Selene and Thalia Wellman. These four high-school juniors ran 100 meters each, passing the baton to one another in the race on Friday, June 7. The second Lady Yellowjackets team—Natalie Wilde, Madeleine and Claire Seguin, and Selene Wellman— Photo by Dave Slater ran the 4x400 meter race. That Oneonta High School track runners who qualified to compete at the New York State Track and Field Chammeans each sprinted for 400 pionships last week are, front row: Madeleine Seguin, Selene Wellman, Natalie Wilde, Thalia Wellman, and Claire Seguin; back row, Jackson Forbes, Eli Wilms, Noah Cotter, James Erickson, Colin Fletcher-Foster, Ken- meters, once around the entire yon Ziaie, and Gabe Rissberger. Continued on page 8
Lady Patriots Honored as Fourth of July Parade Grand Marshals SPRINGFIELD CENTER n keeping with this year’s theme of “Hometown Celebration,” the Springfield Fourth of July Committee has announced that it will honor the Cherry ValleySpringfield Central School
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INSIDE ► banners mark town neighborhoods, page 2 ► Popular songstress to perform, page 3 ► cooperstown preps for juneteenth, page 3 ► Employers have their needs, too, page 4 ► be courteous to the american flag, page 4 ► LGBTQiA+ targeted by big tobacco, page 5 ► your neighbors in the news, page 6 ► things to do, page 12 Follow Breaking News On
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Lady Patriots varsity basketball team as Grand Marshals of the 2024 Fourth of July Parade in Springfield Center. Buoyed by community support, team spirit, and determination, the Lady Patriots—seniors Kailey Barnes, Erin Williams, Morgan Huff, Mia Dubben, and Daphnee West, juniors Sara Cortese and Brin Whiteman, and eighth-grader Mackenzie McGovern, with Coach Kelly Taggart and assistant coaches BJ Whiteman and Carol McGovern—became the first basketball team from Cherry ValleySpringfield Central School to win sectional playoffs and regionals, going on to play in the state championship Final Four Tournament. With a record of 20-4, the team amassed several championships and titles over the 2023-24 season, including: HunterTannersville Tournament Champions; Schoharie
Photo povided by Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School, 2024
The CV-S Lady Patriots varsity basketball team will lead this year’s Springfield Fourth of July Parade. Pictured are (standing) Coach Whiteman, Daphnee West, Morgan Huff, Mia Dubben, Erin Williams, Kailey Barnes, Coach Taggart, and Coach McGovern; (kneeling) Brin Whiteman, Mackenzie McGovern, and Sara Cortese.
Turkey Tournament Champions; Tri-Valley League Champions; Section IV Class D Champions; and Class D Regional Champions. The Otsego County
Board of Representatives passed a resolution on April 3 in recognition of the accomplishments of this team. Overcoming great odds to achieve their goals, the
team credits much of their success to the fact they have played together for so long that they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and benefitting from coaches who
also know them well. Many of these girls have played basketball together since the third grade, when they were coached by BJ Whiteman. Continued on page 8
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD