Victor lacrosse seniors forced to miss graduation to have special ceremony
VICTOR, NY − The 21 Victor senior boys lacrosse players who missed out on high school graduation to play in the Class B state championship game will have a special ceremony tonight.
Victor's official commencement was 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Innovative Field in Rochester. The Victor boys team lost 9-8 to Garden City yesterday at Hofstra University on Long Island. Game start was 12:30 p.m.; the drive home is estimated at six hours.
The plan was for the seniors to play in the game and make it home in time for graduation. According to Victor school officials, they had an agreement with the Garden City School District that would make it happen.
Earlier in the week, Garden City officials verbally agreed to change the Sunday game to 9 a.m. so Victor students could return home to participate in their high school graduation. Garden City officials, however, later went back on their word citing their team needed extra time to recover after their win late Friday night, Victor officials said.
The later start for the championship game meant the Victor students did not have enough time to travel back home for graduation.
Despite the team's one-goal loss to Garden City after a furious comeback, Victor Superintendent Tim Terranova said in a statement Monday that it was a great game.
“In my mind, we won the bigger game, which is how to honor a commitment, maintain our character, and compete at the highest level,” Terranova stated.
The Victor senior student athletes will be honored at a special graduation ceremony at 7 p.m. in the Junior High/Senior High auditorium.
Perhaps all of this would have been avoided had it not been for smoke from the Canadian wildfires last week that worsened the air quality in many New York communities − including those in the Finger Lakes region.
The championship game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but the smoke forced the New York State Public High School Athletic Association to postpone last Wednesday’s semifinal games until Friday, which then forced the championship games to be moved to Sunday.
Friday’s semifinal between Niskayuna and Garden City was played in Albany and didn’t start until after 8 p.m. due to a lengthy lightning delay. Garden City won, however, and at 10:40 Friday night, Garden City Superintendent Kusum Sinha emailed Terranova and informed him that the district changed its mind and would not agree to a 9 a.m. start time for Sunday’s game.
Sinha released a statement via email late Saturday night.
“I spoke to Mr. Terranova on Thursday and agreed to an earlier time for the championship game this Sunday,” Sinha's statement reads. “With the playoff game time being changed (Friday), I needed to keep the originally scheduled time for our students. We wish both teams the very best.”
Victor arrived in Long Island around 1 a.m. Saturday following Friday's semifinal win over West Genesee at Tompkins Cortland Community College. The Victor players checked into a motel, 350 miles from home. The Garden City players attend a high school that is a 10-minute drive from Hofstra.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Victor NY lacrosse seniors forced to miss graduation to have ceremony
