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Former PV Female Standouts Shine at the Next Level
by Dillon Chesnut
Many of PV's former female stars are continuing to show why female athletes in Putnam Valley have reigned superior. At their respective colleges, Putnam Valley's own Katye Kinsley, Beverly Beladino, Christine Kemp, and Kim Kastuk have all been keeping the strong female athlete tradition alive.
Adelphi junior Katye Kinsley was recently selected to the All- East Coast Conference First Team. Kinsley, a 2006 grad of Putnam Valley High, was a maestro on the soccer field in her days at PV. Also receiving honors was Kinsley's former classmate Beverly Beladino, who was named to the secondteam All South Region in Girls' Division III Field Hockey. This is Beladino's second-straight selection to the All South Region team. Her 7 goals and 18 points this year proved to be very consequential for her Salisbury University squad.
Any Putnam Valley sports fan can speak worlds about the prolific and inconceivably skillful Christine Kemp. Kemp, a year-round athlete at Putnam Valley, went on to play both Field Hockey and Basketball at Skidmore College. Recently, Kemp, a sophomore, received first team all-region honors, first team All-Liberty League honors, Liberty League Tournament MVP, and 2008 Liberty League Player of the Year in Girls' Field Hockey. Kemp's name pervaded the Liberty League offensive leader boards this season. Her 18 goals, 14 assists, and 2.63 ppg all led the conference. Kemp was a fivetime selection for Liberty League player of the week. One can't help but be excited to see what she does on the hardwood this winter.
Quite possibly the most decorated athlete in the history of Putnam Valley athletics is 2007 grad Kim Kastuk. The field hockey goalie set a plethora of New York State and Section One records, as well as leading the 2005 team to the school's only state title in any sport. For four years, Kastuk treated awestruck spectators to her seemingly impossible, gymnastic, cat-like saves. Disillusioned opponents would cringe when cognizant of the fact that they would be facing the impenetrable wall that Kastuk put up in goal. Now a sophomore at Boston University, Kastuk has persisted in her immaculate goalkeeping. This year, Kastuk received Northeast All- Region second team honors and posted 1.54 goals against average, in route to the Terriers' fifth-straight ten win season. As a freshman, Kastuk was named America East Rookie of the Year, while tying the school's single-season record for wins by a goalkeeper, with 17. Kastuk also recorded 7 shutouts and was ranked 12th in the nation in goals against average, with 1.25, just to name a few of her collegiate accomplishments.
All four athletes have represented Putnam Valley well at the collegiate level. They, along with a long list of other female athletes, have made Putnam Valley a hotbed for top-level girls' sports. Although I have a natural bias, being a male athlete in Putnam Valley, and I am inclined to claim that the success of our male athletes trumps that of our female counterparts, it would be a blatant prevarication, which any PV sports fan would recognize as false. As a male athlete in Putnam Valley, I can speak for my fellow PV male athletes in saying that we have all conceded that our female counterparts simply outshined us. While we have enjoyed success in lacrosse, football, and baseball, our accomplishments fail to rival those of the girls' basketball and field hockey teams. So, all I can really say is kudos to these and all other female athletes who continue to represent Putnam Valley sports at the next level. You put us male athletes in our place.
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