BUFFALO, N.Y., July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The New York City open men's
volleyball team needed 2 1/2 hours, but was able to defeat the defending
champion Western Region to win the gold medal.  For New York City, it is
its first gold in the open men's event since 1991 and avenges last year's
loss to the Westerners.
    "It's a pleasant surprise because last year we came up with just one
different player.  This is the same team we had last year and we lost in
five to Western," said New York City coach Merlin Thompson, who's team
pulled out a 15-10, 16-17, 15-11, 15-13 win in the best-of-five games
match. "We came in here knowing we would win the match.  The problem was
keeping these guys together...I knew if I could keep them together, we had
it, and I did," added Thompson.
    "Those guys can play.  They beat us last year so we get revenge," said
team leader Elvis Rodriguez from New York.
    The host Westerners saw more success in the scholastic men's final,
but needed five sets to defeat defending champion Long Island to win the
gold medal.  It was a comeback effort for the Western Region, which was
down two-games-to-one in the best-of-five before winning the last two
games, 15-8, 15-13.  The Western scholastic men have been dominant over
the 19 years of competition at the ESG, winning the gold 14 times.
    The gymnastics scholastic meets wrapped up this afternoon with Brendan
Hoffman from Clifton Park of the Adirondack Region finishing with three
gold medals, including two today in the pommelhorse and parallel bars.
"It takes a lot of talent.  You have to work really hard to improve on
every event," said Hoffman, commenting on his gold in the all-around
yesterday.  Hoffman, who has been working on his gymnastics skills since
he was in kindergarten, also won silver in the high bar.  Darren Lewis of
Dix Hills on Long Island won gold in the horizontal bar, to go along with
two silvers and one bronze.  On the women's side,  Paige Ozaroski of
Central Square in the Central Region finished with gold in the team
competition and the uneven bars, along with silver medals on balance beam
and floor exercise.
    In athletics, Nicole Lipp of nearby Orchard Park won the women's
scholastic heptathlon, and Caryl Senn of Massapequa in the Long Island
Region took gold in the open competition.
    Brady Kattman of Rochester in the Western Region won his fourth ESG
gold medal after teaming with James Mallory of West Henrietta in the kayak
pair 500 meter final.  Kattman won three golds last year.
    Both New York City men's basketball teams have clinched a spot in
tomorrow's gold medal competition after the two beat their Hudson Valley
counterparts earlier today.  One gold medal game is set in women's
basketball -- The Central Region plays Hudson Valley in the scholastic
division.
    In field hockey, the Western team needed overtime to defeat Central,
2-1, and remain unbeaten at 4-0.  Long Island remained in the hunt for the
gold as well, but also needed overtime in a 1-0 victory over Hudson
Valley.  In women's scholastic play, Hudson Valley turned the table in a
1-0 win over Long Island to improve to 4-0.  Not as dramatic was a 16-0
victory by Central over winless New York City.  Casey Cutting of
Bainbridge scored five goals in Central's win.  Central scored eight goals
in each half and finished with 40 shots.  New York City has managed just
one shot combined in its four losses.
    The New York Lottery is the primary sponsor of the 1996 Empire State
Games.  The games are a natural extension of the Lottery's educational
sponsorship, which last year raised more than $1.5 billion in support of
primary and secondary public schools throughout New York.
    The schedule and updates of the events are available at the Empire
State Games World Wide Web Site (http://www.empiregames.org).