SPORTS HALL of FAME ATHLETE
Wendy 'Simonds' Weidman '89

 

Wendy Simonds packed as much action, excitement and success into a high school career as any student-athlete ever has at Sidney Central School ... her list of accomplishments are many, and now, 21 years later, her name is still being mentioned as a record holder and her place in Sidney Sports history will always be secure.

Most of her youth was spent in Sidney but her only youth sports experience came not in Sidney but in Morris where she was a Little League pitcher - with the boys! Only when modified sports began did she get involved: basketball, volleyball and field hockey, plus her first foray into track & field, the sport that best caught her interest. By 8th grade, her varsity letter collection commenced with a respectable showing in track & field. In fact, upon departing middle school, a farewell message came from Tom Robertson (HOF 2003) who wrote in Wendy's yearbook: "Be an athlete!"

The next year, she did just that. Field Hockey and volleyball teams benefited from her talents - as a wing/scorer in the former and a power hitter in the latter. Another inspirational gesture came from a second future Sidney Hall of Famer in Kris Smith (now Sanabria - HOF'05), Wendy's idol at the time, who in 1984 handed down her hockey cleats! As good as she was in field hockey, played under Hall of Fame Coach Mary Morrison ('09), Wendy lasted only two seasons. She took a "fall break" before tackling the rigors of the "two-sport routine" as a junior and senior. Those two sports were volleyball and indoor track & field. In volleyball, Wendy was the team MVP three years and a Susquenango league 1st Team All-Star twice under coach Roxy Birdsall...Her first season of winter track, she was the Section IV shot put champion, placing 5th in the New York State Meet!

This showing was coming off her success of the previous spring season, when as a sophomore, she had placed second in the shot and third in the discus in all of Section IV. In her first taste of state competition, Wendy posted finishes of 22nd (shot) and 27th (discus). There was also a trip to the Empire State Games that summer in both events. By this time weights coach Coach Larry Armour (HOF '08) knew he had the makings of a winner. By Spring 1988, Wendy captured a very difficult double, winning Section IV titles in BOTH shot put and discus, which made her the obvious choice as Outstanding Female Field Performer of the Meet. State Meet results were slightly better (20th in each event) in 1988, so with just one year remaining, coach and athlete agreed the goal had become quite clear: Win States!!

Senior year was memorable to say the least. Over the course of the winter and spring seasons, Wendy was chosen as an Athlete of the Week for WCDO (twice) and the Press & Sun-Bulletin. During her final winter as a shot putter, she won her second Sectional championship and placed 4th in the NYS meet. As the final season in her scholastic career breezed by, Wendy earned awards as the Outstanding Field Performer n the prestigious Johnstown Invitational as well as Overall Outstanding Performer in the Sus League Meet.

Then the number that has stood the test of time came to be. Already the Section IV Discus Champion, Wendy saved her best for last. She let fly a discus throw of 136 feet 4 inches. Not only was it good enough to seal her fate as Sidney's first-ever Track & Field State Champion, but that mark stood as a Section IV record for for many years. It is still a league record, and one which was chased this past spring by another Simonds from Sidney - her niece Stephanie who was also a Sectional title holder. Wendy's accolades upon graduation continued. She was the WCDO Female Co-Athlete of the Year with Michele Mancini (now Benton, HOF '08) and was named Sidney's Outstanding Female Athlete.

Wendy Simonds graduated with honors from Sidney. She firmly declined all recruiting offers in both track and volleyball to enter the work force and has never regretted her decision. Wendy did play on several champion Co-Ed recreational volleyball teams in Sidney, but much of her adult life has been spent following her many other family members in sports, including her son Nicholas, now a modified athlete at nearby GMU. Way to go Wendy...and Welcome to the Sidney Alumni Sports Hall of Fame!