OBSERVER-DISPATCH | WEDNESDAY,MARCH 20, 2013

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Charity bibsoffer runnersa shot at race

BY BEN BIRNELLbbirnell@uticaod.com

Kelly McCarthy has never run in a Boil-ermaker 15K Road Race.

That will change July 14, courtesy of therace’s charity bib program, introduced thisyear.

The program, which opened at noonMonday, made 200 bibs available for run-ners to participate in this year’s Boiler-maker after slots for the 15K and 5K soldout in January. In order to participate inthe program, runners must register withone of 10 charities chosen by Boilermakerofficials and commit toraising a minimum of$500 in pledges by May31. The charity bibs canbe used for either the15K or 5K races. As ofTuesday afternoon, 45bibs had been claimed.

“I thought it was agreat opportunity,” said McCarthy, a Bing-hamton resident who ran track at Syra-cuse University. “It was an opportunity forme to run and to help a charity.”

McCarthy was the first to sign up withMake-A-Wish Central New York, one of thecharities participating in the program. Asof Tuesday afternoon, 33 of that group’s 50bibs had been claimed, and McCarthy hadraised $115 toward her $500 goal.

“(The program) is a win-win-win foreverybody,” said Diane Kuppermann,Make-A-Wish Central New York’s presi-dent and CEO. “I think it’s so exciting.Everybody wants to be involved in some-thing that is good. It’s inspiring.”

Boilermaker Executive Director TimReed said the idea for the program was“something that had been stuck” in theback of his mind for some time. Othermarathons around the country have simi-lar programs. For example, the Boston

Boilermaker participants mustraise at least $500 in pledges

Smith tohostAll-Stars eveningOBSERVER-DISPATCH

New Orleans Saints defensive end WillSmith of Utica and his Where There’s aWill, There’s a Way Foundation willhonor the Observer-Dispatch’s 2012 All-Mohawk Valley football team during thefifth annual Evening with All-Stars onThursday, March 28, at Daniele’s Banquetfacility on Seneca Turnpike in New Hart-ford.

Joining Smith as this year’s guest speak-ers are Utica College head football coachBlaise Faggiano, Hamilton College headfootball coach Andrew Cohen and formerUtica College quarterback AndrewBenkwitt, the Empire 8 Conference’sOffensive Player of the Year this past sea-son.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and tickets to thebanquet are available until Monday. All 29players will be admitted free of charge.Admission for the general public is $35.

Tickets can be reserved by contactingPaul Filletti at 269-3858 or Jerry Fiorini at404-4357.

New Orleans Saints defensive endand former Proctor star Will Smithwill honor the Observer-Dispatch’s2012 All-Mohawk Valley footballteam Thursday, March 28.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

BY JOHN KEKISThe Associated Press

SYRACUSE — Not many teams stum-bled into the postseason worse thanSyracuse. Critics surfaced after a pair ofembarrassing losses to Georgetown andanother to Louisville capped a forget-table end to the Orange’s last regularseason in the Big East.

Sophomore point guard MichaelCarter-Williams, feeding off the energyof so many former Syracuse greats in thestands, though,helped turn the tide atMadison Square Gar-den in the Big Easttournament. TheOrange, on their wayto the Atlantic CoastConference in July,regained some oftheir swagger by reel-ing off three straightwins before losing to Louisville in thetitle game and have to feel good abouttheir chances in the NCAA tournament.

Syracuse (26-9), which earned thefourth seed in the East, begins playThursday night against Big Sky-champi-on Montana (25-6) in San Jose, Calif.

The Orange will depend heavily onCarter-Williams. When he plays well,theyexcel.Whenhedoesn’t, theytendtostruggle. Right now, he’s doing all rightafter accumulating 36 assists in the BigEast tournament. That was one shy offormer Orange star Jonny Flynn’s tour-nament record, set in 2009.

SSUU UUMMRecord 26-9 25-6Avg. Pts. 71.3 71.1Opp. Avg. Pts. 60.1 65.0Margin 11.2 6.1FG Pct. .440 .474Opp. FG Pct. .377 .4273-Pt. FG Pct. .334 .385Opp. 3-Pt. FG Pct. .298 .3333-Pt. FG-Game 6.1 6.9Opp. 3-Pt. FG-Game 6.4 5.5FT Pct. .675 .768Rebound Margin 4.1 -1.2TO Diff. 2.8 0.2Avg Steals 8.9 5.9Avg Blocks 6.2 3.0

BY THE NUMBERS

ON THE TUBECarter-Williamskey player in

Syracuse’s engineWHAT: Montana vs. Syracuse.

WHEN: About 10 p.m. Thursday.TV: truTV (Channel 37 in Utica area).

THE LOWDOWNSSYYRRAACCUUSSEE:: Ugly finish to final Big

East tourney, but these Orange canplay and Jim Boeheim isone of the best minds in

the game.MMOONNTTAANNAA:: With Will

Cherry and KareemJamar in the back-

court, don't besurprised ifthe Big Sky

champs giveSyracuse some

trouble.

Untapped potential

2000 — beat Samford 79-65; beat Kentucky 52-50;lost to Michigan State 75-58.

2001 — beat Hawaii 79-69; lost to Kansas 87-58.

2003 — beat Manhattan 76-65; beat Oklahoma State68-56; beat Auburn 79-78; beat Oklahoma 63-47; beatTexas 95-84; beat Kansas 81-78. NCAA champion.

2004 — beat BYU 80-75; beat Maryland 72-70; lostto Alabama 80-71.

2005 — lost to Vermont 60-57, OT.

2006 — lost to Texas A&M 66-58.

2009 — beat Stephen F. Austin 59-44; beat ArizonaState 78-67; lost to Oklahoma 84-71.

2010 — beat Vermont 79-56; beat Gonzaga 87-65;lost to Butler 63-59.

2011 — beat Indiana State 77-60; lost to Marquette66-62.

2012 — beat UNC Asheville 72-65; beat Kansas State75-59; beat Wisconsin 64-63; lost to Ohio State 77-70.

HOW HAS SYRACUSE FARED?

INSIDEä MOVING ON: Butler, Creightonand Xavier will join the so-calledCatholic 7 schools in the new con-ference keeping the Big East name.

ä OPENING ROUND: North Car-olina A&T held off Liberty and willmeet top-seeded Louisville in thesecond round.

ä HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE?Top women’s teams could beforced to play on the road.

ä BUCKEYES COACHSTEPPING DOWN: Jim Fosterends 11-year run as head of OhioState women’s team.

PAGES 3C-4C

ONLINEä Read the full storyabout Syracuse’sMichael Carter-Williams atUTICAOD.COM.

INSIDEä Charities involvedin the BoilermakerBib Program, 3C

PLEASE SEE SYRACUSE, 3C

PLEASE SEE BOILERMAKER, 3C

PLEASE SEE ALL-STARS, 3C