Sixth straight state title for rifle team

Members of the State Champion Valley Stream Central High School District Rifle Team, from left, are Eric Riker, Dean Rossano, Nick Rishkel, Danielle Cuomo and Safraz Bacchus. Not pictured is Sean Wraith.

Andrew Hackmack/Herald

Make it six in a row. The Valley Stream Central High School District’s Rifle Team continued its domination with another New York state championship, capturing the most points in both the air rifle and .22 small bore competitions at West Point on March 4.

The air rifle competition was close, with Valley Stream edging out upstate Clarence High School by just four points, 1,109 to 1,105. Senior captain Nick Rishkel said that one shot by anyone of the team’s four shooters could have easily made the difference between first and second place. The team had a more comfortable, 51-point margin over runner-up Alden High School in small bore.

Valley Stream’s team was led by Central High School seniors Rishkel and Dean Rossano, Central junior Danielle Cuomo and South High School junior Sean Wraith. North High senior Eric Riker and South sophomore Safraz Bacchus served as alternates.

Going into the state championships, the shooters felt their chances of winning it all were pretty good. “I was confident,” Rishkel said, “because we always rise to the occasion as a team.”

Valley Stream won all 14 matches during the regular season, then took first place in the county championships to move on to the state tournament. The team had about a four-week gap between the county and state meets. Coach Blake McCauley said his shooters continued to practice regularly during that time at the shooting range in the basement of Memorial Junior High School.

McCauley, like his shooters, was confident going into the state championships and called their performance “amazing.”

“I was impressed, but not entirely surprised,” he said.

McCauley said that he admires his shooters, not only because they are great athletes, but they have good character as well. He described them as friendly and polite, good students who display good sportsmanship and always treat each other, opposing teams and officials with courtesy and respect.

The students, meanwhile, praised their coaches. “If you aren’t coached right, your success stops at a certain point,” Rishkel said. “Without a coach, you can’t get any better.”

For Cuomo, the desire to work hard to be the best is instilled by McCauley and the assistant coaches. “We practice hard. We all have focus,” she said. “We all work together as a team, as a family, and we always have coach there to guide us.”

They also noted their ability to overcome challenges as a reason for the team’s success. Rossano said that in the state championships, they shoot at electronic targets, different than the paper targets they use throughout the season.

This year, the team was without Jumell Wilson, who graduated in 2011, and Wraith stepped into his spot as the fourth shooter. Rishkel and Rossano, mainstays on the varsity squad for the past three years, graduate this June leaving two open spots for next year. One of those will likely go to Bacchus, who joined the P.A.L. rifle team when he was 12 years old and has been watching and learning from his elder teammates for the past four years. “I’ve been training for this for a very long time,” he said.

McCauley will make the final decision on who will be the four primary shooters next year, as well as who will step in as alternates. But he said he will likely consult will his current team. “They recognize the talent in the young shooters,” he said.

Rossano said he has hopes the team, even without him and Rishkel, can pick up its seventh straight state title next year. “I think it could happen,” he said. “We’ve had bigger losses before.”

Next year, Rossano will be going to NYIT and Rishkel plans to become an operating engineer. Rishkel said he is confident that Cuomo is going to step up and lead the team as its senior captain next year. This year, Cuomo tied the state record with a 292 score in small bore competition during the season, and won the Clarke Burdman Award as the individual county champion in small bore. The trophy isn’t going very far — last year’s winner was Rossano and eight of the past 10 winners are from the Valley Stream district team.

McCauley noted that riflery is a tough sport, which make the accomplishments of his athletes something to be proud of. “It’s mentally and physically demanding,” he said. “It may appear to be easy, but it really takes a great deal of endurance and mental toughness.”