By KJ Allison, Staff Writer
The 48th Annual Hornell Sports Night event took place the evening of April 13th at The Main Place in Hornell, NY. Hornell Sports Night is truly a special night; the event allows the community to interact with nationally known sports icons and some of Hornell’s greatest athletes, all to support The Special Olympics and Hornell youth activities.
This year’s event featured a unique group of legends. The lineup included former Heisman Trophy finalist Ryan Leaf, four-time World Series champion Chuck Knoblauch, WWE world champion Kelly Kelly, and current Buffalo Bills starting defensive end Greg Rousseau.
The event started with a meet and greet; each athlete had their own section, where they signed autographs and talked with those in attendance. Each athlete engaged with over 400 people in attendance, providing a convivial environment. In a room with many Bills super fans, Greg Rousseau had an enormous line of fans eager to meet the Bills’ young defensive end. After about two hours of interactions between the athletes and the Hornell community, the program would begin. Mike Brewer (sports night committee member) welcomed everyone before passing the mic along to Emmy Award-winning journalist Andy Malnoske, who would be the Master of Ceremonies for the night.
Malnoske led the awards presentation, which started with recognizing athletes of the year, achievement awards, and the sportsperson of the year. Genarro Picco and Beau Zeh were co-recipients of the male athlete of the year. Picco, a trio-sport athlete since the 9th grade, recently finished his high school career as Hornell’s all-time leading scorer with over 1,600 points scored; Genarro plans to continue his academic and athletic career at Alfred University. The other recipient, Beau Zeh was the 2023 Section 5 Defensive Player of the Year in football, while also setting the Canisteo-Greenwood school record for pins on the wrestling mat. Beau recently committed to Cortland State, where he plans to study biology and compete on the wrestling team.
The female athlete of the year was also shared- Kadience Gollnitz and Lillian Mullen were the co-athletes of the year. Kadience is very active in the community and as an athlete. She is the president of the National Honor Society while having competed in 6 varsity sports throughout her career at Hornell. Kadience has won two sectional championships on the basketball team- including the first sectional title in Hornell women’s basketball history. Gollinitz plans to attend a university where she can major in one of the sciences and pursue her passion to become a surgeon.
Lillian, the other female athlete of the year, was also a trio-sport athlete. Entering her senior year she had totaled 1,784 points, but she would be sidelined for the whole season due to an ACL injury. Mullen was also the MVP on the Canisteo-Greenwood flag football and soccer team. Mullen is currently rehabbing, with plans to play flag football this spring and then continue her basketball career at Keuka College.
Two achievement awards were given to two great athletes with great personalities. The first achievement award was won by Talan Schwartz. Talan has been a participant in the Special Olympics since the 3rd grade. He is a standout performer in the race walk, an event that he won last year. Just from his speech after winning the award, you can tell how his high energy and kindness makes him a great person to be around, and the perfect person to win this award. Talan has hopes of one day working in fashion, specifically for Betsey Johnson.
Conrad Meyer was also given the achievement award. Conrad has been a Special Olympics track and field champion at Alfred State for years, while also being known as a staple for the Revolution Dance Studio, and being a member of the Hornell Drumming Circle. Out of all the speeches throughout the night, Conrad had the most iconic and touching one, and only needed a few seconds to leave his mark on the annual event.
To cap off the awards, Greg Connors was awarded the sportsman of the year. Connors’ impact on the Hornell community goes back to his playing days at Hornell, where he was a vital part of the undefeated 1987 football team that won the first Section 5 title in Hornell history. Connors would later play four years of football at Alfred University. Today, Greg is at the front of legal advocacy for the rights of injured workers. He has been a member of the Alfred University Board of Trustees since 2007. During his speech at Sports Night, he claimed that his ultimate goal was to one day play for the Bills; although those goals weren’t met, he is more proud to be a sponsor for the Bills, and he’s been recognized for having a positive impact on society as a whole.
There was a fantastic dinner, prepared by the Main Place, before the fun began. There was a raffle and an electric auction to follow. The raffle and auction consisted of various sporting collectibles, from signed jerseys to a very large poster of Kelly Kelly- which was auctioned for a long time. All proceeds will go to the Special Olympics and Hornell youth activities.
To end the night, each athlete spoke a little about themselves, their career, and where they are today. Chuck Knoblauch unfortunately had to leave early, so those present couldn’t hear from him, but it was inspiring to hear the perspectives of the others on how they’ve been able to become who they are today. Greg Rousseau broke his leg in his true freshman year at the University of Miami. He said during his speech that at the time, he thought his career would go downhill from there, but realizes now that God had a plan for him, and ultimately helped the trajectory of his career. Greg, being from the Fort Lauderdale area, claims he’s never seen a tight-knit community like Hornell. He commended the community for the support they show to the Bills, but even more important the support for each other in the Hornell community.
Kelly Kelly was the youngest female to be signed by the WWE. At the age of 19, she experienced life on her own for the first time. Kelly was super appreciative of the fan support shown in Hornell in 2024, because she left the WWE over 10 years ago.
Ryan Leaf was expected to be the next great quarterback in the NFL, and after his short-lived career ended, he spent more than 2 years in jail. Ryan is now an NFL analyst with two kids. He completely turned his life around, and gives credit to the realization that everyone is flawed, but life’s about serving and helping other people.
The 48th annual Hornell Sports Night was one to remember. Congrats to all award winners. Special thanks to Ryan Leaf, Kelly Kelly, Greg Rousseau, Chuck Knoblauch, and Andy Molnaske for their time and participation in the event. The Sports Night Committee consists of 10 people who work extremely hard to put on this event year after year and deserve all the credit for this event, and all they’re doing for Hornell. For more information regarding the tradition of this event or information on future Sports Night visit the Facebook page: Hornell Sports Night.