Sachem Extends Far Beyond Long Island

Within the last 24 hours the amount of success that Sachem alums have garnered is remarkable. As I'm writing this, hundreds of Sachem alums are probably doing something newsworthy - and I don't mean for the police blotter.

I'll often get emails from proud parents, from the friends of former Sachem students and athletes, sometimes even from Sachem Superintendent James Nolan when he stumbles upon a unique story about someone who used to walk the halls at Sachem East or Sachem North.

This alumni success streak I stumbled upon all started with an email about Samantha Picco, a Sachem North alum from 2010, who last week earned an appointment to The United States Military Academy at West Point. I'm always extremely proud to hear of the young men and women from Sachem who want to protect and serve our country. Knowing that Ms. Picco's dream is to serve America via the military I know she will do great things in her career and keep close to her Sachem roots.

Then the weekend rolled around and it meant the start of college lacrosse and other spring college sports seasons. Obviously Sachem has a rich history and tradition of lacrosse and there are more than 40 current players and coaches with Sachem roots competing at the next level. 

Sachem North alum Michael Andreassi, who graduated last year and spent the fall at Massachusetts, scored his first goal in college lacrosse for Stony Brook in a loss against Fairfield on Saturday. Andreassi, if you recall, was out for most of his senior season at Sachem because of a torn UCL in his arm. He battled back throughout the off-season, transferred during his first semester of college and settled in at attack for the Seawolves. He also picked up a game-high five ground balls in his regular season college debut.

A teammate of Andreassi's at Sachem, Brandon Gamblin, scored five goals in a 12-3 win for New York Institute of Technology on Friday, opening up his college career in a big way. He was at Massachusetts with Andreassi for the fall as well.

Then the baseball folks started emailing. Sachem North assistant baseball coach Chris Clark let me know about alum Alec Sole, who also graduated in 2011. That name should be fresh in your memory considering Sole helped Sachem win its first Suffolk County baseball title since 1987 last year. He also won the Yastrzemski Award, given to the top player in Suffolk.

Sole is a freshman shortstop playing Division I baseball at Saint Louis University and this weekend he picked up right where he left off at Sachem. Playing in the Mule Mix Classic - yes, that really is the name - in Nashville, he recorded his first collegiate hit in an 8-4 loss against Lipscomb University. In a double-header on Saturday, he went 2-for-4, driving in his team's only two runs in a loss to Middle Tennessee, and he went 2-for-3 in a win over Bowling Green. In three games he's 5-for-9.

Sachem North alum Kelly Kuerner got her name on the scoring sheets over the weekend at Stony Brook. She scored her first career goal on February 15 against Manhattan and scored two more against Central Connecticut on Saturday. Stony Brook is 3-0 and ranked No. 17 in the nation.

In the midst of posting all this information on Facebook and Twitter Saturday night for the community to see, I learned that Sachem North alum Keira Wood, also a freshman in college, set a school record in the indoor 800-meter race at SUNY Geneseo, which has outstanding track & field and cross country programs.

Sachem North alum Jaclyn Pandolf made 16 saves for Hofstra women's lacrosse in a 9-8 win over Colgate lacrosse. It's one off her career-high and many are saying she will have a great season in 2012.

There's more ... Sachem East alum Dan Candemeres, who is a freshman basketball player at Keystone, was named CSAC Rookie of the Year. Out of the gates, Candemeres, Sachem East's all-time leading men's hoops scorer, was a floor general for Keystone. He averaged 10.8 points per game and compiled 92 steals for an offense that is ranked No. 5 in the nation. He also lead the team in free throw shooting, hitting 77 percent of his attempts, while also knocking down 39 shots from beyond the arc.

Sachem East alum Billy Alvino, who graduated in 2005, will be taking part in the inaugural Independent League Prospect Tournament next week in Florida. Alvino, who signed with the Tigers out of High Point Univeristy, spent last season with the Newark Bears in the Can-Am League and was hand selected for this tournament.

Don't forget Sachem East alum Keith Kinkaid who is playing in the AHL for the Albany Devils and could one day be the successor to legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Sachem alum Jeff Ruland, the only alum to have played in the NBA, is the head men's basketball coach at the University of the District of Columbia, and has led his team back from the basement of college baseball to a legitimate Division II playoff contender in less than a year.

And to finish it off, on Sunday morning, Sachem alum Brian Brecht, the head men's lacrosse coach at Rutgers University, recorded his first win with the Scarlet Knights when his team beat Air Force, 11-10, at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

I can't possibly mention everyone who is doing something special and unique with a connection to Sachem - though I'd sure like to. I can click onto ESPN New York and read Rich Cimini's work about the New York Jets. I can tune into Fox 5 and watch Jill Nicolini talk entertainment news. If I lived in Los Angeles, I'd tune into NBC to watch Alycia Lane report the news. I can tune into Sirius/XM Radio and listen to Sal Governale make a fool of himself and others on The Howard Stern Show. Then there are the fire men, police officers, doctors, lawyers, politicians and people making a difference in society, who somewhere have a diploma and yearbook from Sachem.

Normally, I'd post individual stories about all of these moments list above, but there are just so many rolling in. It's a testament to people following Sachem Patch and letting me know about news items, which I greatly appreciate, and more importantly, it's a testament to the young men and women who come out of Sachem ready to take on the world and make us proud.

Have something you want mentioned on Patch? Email Chris@Patch.com.