This past fall sports season produced three definite high school All-Americans and the possibility of four more.
The definite All-Americans and those still waiting played four sports. Saratoga Springs senior Ryan Farr was named in boys’ soccer; Columbia junior Kennedy Ring earned the honor in girls’ soccer; Shenendehowa junior Reagan Ennist got the honor in girls’ volleyball, while the Burnt Hills/Scotia 200-yard medley relay team of Jenna Hart, Kendall Gilbert, Tia Jack and Juliet Percenti is under All-America consideration in girls’ swimming.
For the swimmers, who swam their best time of 1 minute, 44.97 seconds in the state championships at Ithaca College, good for second place, a time of 1:44.27 is given automatic All-American status. A time of 1:46.16 or under is given All-American consideration, but then the swimmers/teams with the top 100 times in All-America consideration from across the country are reviewed and named All-American. The times are currently being reviewed.
Farr became the first Section 2 boys’ soccer All-American since 2019, when Shenendehowa’s Jaylin Sykes earned the honor. The 5-foot-11, 155-pound forward – who was named a preseason All-American player to watch – finished the season with 20 goals and six assists. He was one of 80 nationally to earn the honor and one of eight in New York.
Both Farr and his coach Jeffrey Geller noted that having so many talented teammates helped Farr earn the award.
“Having kids you can give the ball to and knowing they’ll make a play is huge,” Farr said. “We had lots of goal-scorers. I can’t thank them enough for their help.”
“I think Ryan being named an All-American was a total team effort,” Geller said. “Obviously, Ryan is a tremendously gifted player who has put in years of training to put himself into a spot to potentially earn this award. Additionally, the unselfish play of his teammates and their ability to get the ball to him in dangerous spots on the field allowed him to showcase his talents to the fullest and lead our team to a successful season.”
Farr will have to miss the Saturday ceremony in California because he’s also a key member of the boys’ basketball team, which is playing its rival, Shenendehowa, Friday night.
“You can’t miss the Shen game,” Farr understatedly said.
“It’s always been a goal of mine,” he added. “I can’t thank coach, my parents and teammates enough.”
Farr is still weighing his options of where to attend college. Geller said whoever gets him is getting the total package.
“He's quick and agile on the ball, able to create dangerous scoring chances off the dribble,” Geller said. “He reads the game so well. He knows when it's time to combine with his teammates or when it's time to take the team on his shoulders and do it himself.”
Ring, a forward, had 12 goals and 14 assists this season and helped lead the Blue Devils to an 18-1-2 record, the Section 2 Class AA title and a state final-four berth.
Ring was just one of 56 girls nationally to receive the award, and one of five in New York. She has verbally committed to play college at Penn State.
When Ring’s coach, Scott LaMora, was asked if he thought this honor was possible, he immediately said, “100%.
“She’s been on varsity since eighth grade – I pulled her up during the season my first year as head coach – and in her freshman year she made first-team All-Suburban Council, and that spoke volumes about her ability.”
“It’s always a goal to accomplish all these things, but I don’t change my style of play for them. It’s nice to receive another honor,” said Ring, who also noted her teammates’ ability helped her game.
“Oh, 100%, they’re the reason I’m getting this,” Ring said. “Assists, passing, on-field, off-field they’re there for me.”
LaMora said that against some of the weaker teams, when Ring could have easily scored multiple goals, she’d do everything in her power to get teammates in the scoring column.
“She’s a leader on the field, and very humble,” LaMora said. “People follow her because of the type of person she is. As to her game, it’s her overall game. Sometimes she’ll make passes where you’re, like, ‘How did she see that opening?’ And her dribbling skills, she’s going in between two, three defenders and making it look easy. Her field awareness is phenomenal.”
Like the soccer players, while it’s a big honor, it’s not a complete surprise that Ennist, a 6-2 outside hitter for the Plainsmen, earned PrepVolleyball.com’s Third Team All-American honor. Verbally committed to West Virginia, she became one of the country’s top players to watch between her sophomore year at Shenendehowa, when she helped lead them to a Class AA state championship, and her club season. This season, she had 518 kills for Shenendehowa.
“I didn’t think I’d get something like this, especially because it’s the whole country, not just my grade,” Ennist said. “When I found out, I was super excited.”
Shenendehowa won the Section 2 Class AAA championships and advanced to the state semifinals, where it lost to Massapequa.
“Even though we didn’t go as far as we wanted to, we overcame a lot and we played super well. We struggled here and there, but we overcame them,” said Ennist, who, like Ring, said having her college decision over freed her up mentally for the season.
“It’s really cool to have these accomplishments, but it doesn’t affect me or make me think that I have to get to the next level,” Ennist said. “I know how I can play, and I just want to do that and do the best for my team.”