Two more Kennedy seniors sign letters of intent

When Kennedy High School senior Sydney Goldschlag was a kid, she used to love any videogame that required her to shoot at a target. Who knew that the Merokean’s fascination with target games would lead to a college scholarship? But that’s exactly what happened.

Last Wednesday, Goldschlag, who earned an athletic/academic scholarship to shoot air rifle for the University of Akron in Ohio, was one of two Kennedy students to sign letters of intent to play sports in college. The other was Louis Cuttitta, who will play lacrosse for Adelphi University in Garden City next year.

They joined Kennedy baseball player Justin Ganca and softball player Lauren Sustad, who announced on Nov. 20 that they had signed letters of intent to play for the University of Hartford next year.

Sydney Goldschlag

When Goldschlag turned 14, she tried firing a gun at the Freeport Rifle Range. She took to riflery readily because of her childhood videogame experiences. “She was just a natural,” said her father, Hal.

That led Sydney to join the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s rifle team. In the 2012-13 school year, Goldschlag, who is now 17, set the Nassau County air-rifle record, with a score of 198. That is, out of 20

targets, she hit the bull’s-eye 19 times and missed the 20th time by a fraction of an inch.

And we’re not talking about normal-size targets. These aren’t much larger than a silver dollar, with concentric rings only a hair’s width apart encircling the bull’s-eye.

Named the county’s 2013 air-rifle champion, Goldschlag qualified for the state meet. The University of Akron took notice and offered Goldschlag a scholarship to shoot for the squad’s rifle team next year.

Next week, Goldschlag will compete in the Junior Olympics qualifier. If she wins a spot on the Junior Olympic team, she will practice at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs next June.

At Kennedy, Goldschlag is studying Advanced Placement art and advanced photography, in addition to the regular battery of courses, and is a member of the National, Art and Languages Other Than English honor societies. She plans to study engineering at Akron.

Louis Cuttitta

Kennedy senior Louis Cuttitta, 17, said he wanted to play lacrosse for Adelphi because two of his cousins, Ralph Faiella and Christopher Racalbuto, are on the team there now.

“I always wanted to go to Adelphi,” Cuttitta said.

The Bellmorite said he has played lacrosse since he was in fourth grade. He is a three-year starter on Kennedy’s varsity lacrosse team and played lacrosse on summer travel teams and at various lacrosse camps.

Cuttitta plans to study business at Adelphi.