Spadaford, Lonergan Named Conference Players of the Year

Despite not taking home any Nassau County titles this winter sports season, South Side High School's winter sports athletes took home a lot of individual hardware, with two earning conference player of the year honors.

Captains of the boy's and girl's basketball teams, junior Ryan Spadaford and senior Megan Lonergan, were both recently named Conference A-II players of the year. Spadaford led the Cyclones to an 11-1 regular season record and a Conference A-II title while averaging 17 points and 9 rebounds per game. The Cyclones were upset in the first round of the playoffs by No. 15 seed Great Neck North.

Lonergan also led the Lady Cyclones to a Conference A-II title with a 15-5 record, and took her team to the county semifinals before falling to Garden City.

Athletic Director Carol Roseto said the recognition of South Side athletes is a testament to the amount of hard work put in by the entire athletic staff.

 “It is a wonderful reflection on the athlete, their coaches and the athletic department as a whole when so many athletes earn all conference and all county honors," she said.

Junior point guard DJ Nickelson was also named to the All-County team with Spadaford, while juniors Kevin Coyle and Bobby Akeson received All-Conference honors. Lady Cyclones Christina Merrifield and Lauren Lopresti joined Lonergan as All-County selections, while Brianna McNally was named to the All-Conference team.

Girls varsity gymnastics finished the season as Conference champions with an 8-1 record. Kayleen Malizia was selected as an All-County honorable mention, while Ellen Buchner, Sydney Duncan, Erin Feltkamp, Kayleen Malizia and Amanda Matos were all named to the All-Conference team.

Though they finished at 6-9, the varsity wrestling team had two wrestlers finish in the top 7 in their respective weight classes in the county. James Rodriguez finished in third, while Thomas Cozier finished in sixth.