Cortland Standard .net

The 2015 Empire State Senior Games officially opened Monday with short-course golf, with the remainder of the schedule to get underway Wednesday at SUNY Cortland and other area venues.
The torchlighting ceremony and barbecue will take place Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the SUNY Cortland Alumni Ice Arena, with the actual torchlighting set for 6:30 p.m. There will also be dinner and dancing both Friday and Saturday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Corey Union Function Room on the SUNY Cortland campus.
All participants in the Senior Games are at least 50 years old as of Dec. 31 of this year. The sports in which competition will take place include golf, pickleball, shuffleboard, track and field (including a race walk 5K and 10K road races and triathlon), orienteering, badminton, bowling, tennis, disc golf, swimming, archery, basketball, ping pong, cycling, volleyball and racquetball.
The Olympic-style event hands out gold, silver and bronze medals to the top three men and women finishers in their respective age groups.
While SUNY Cortland is the site for most of the competition, events will also take place at Walden Oaks Country Club (golf), Lime Hollow Nature Center (orienteering), Cort-Lanes (bowling), Cortland High School (tennis), Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden (disc golf), Virgil’s Greek Peak (cycling) and DeRuyter Lake (triathlon).
Cortland is four years into a five-year deal to continue staging the Empire State Senior games after funds were no longer available in 2012 when the state cut its budget. The Cortland Regional Sports Council and Cortland County Convention and Visitors Bureau came to the rescue for the popular event which has drawn 1,000 competitors on occasion and provides a boost to the local economy.
The 2015 National Senior Games will be held July 3-16 in Minnesota, with Bloomington, Minneapolis and St. Paul the host cities. That event is expecting over 12,000 athletes to participate over a two-week span.

WEDNESDAY’s SCHEDULE
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8:30 a.m. Pickleball: Mixed Doubles, SUNY Cortland
9:00 a.m. Golf : Long Course, Walden Oaks CC (shotgun start)
9:00 a.m. Shuffleboard: Doubles, SUNY Cortland
9:00 a.m.. Tennis: Doubles, Cortland High
9:00 a.m. Shuffleboard: Doubles, SUNY Cortland
9:30 a.m. Orienteering: Lime Hollow Nature Center
10:00 a.m. Badminton: Singles, Lusk Fieldhouse
11:30 a.m Bowling: Singles Squad B, Cort-Lanes
2:00 p.m. Bowling: Singles Squad C, Cort-Lanes
2:30 p.m. Tennis: Mixed Doubles, Cortland High
THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
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8:00 a.m. Road Race: 5K, SUNY Cortland
8:30 a.m. Pickleball: Doubles, SUNY Cortland
9:00 a.m. Shuffleboard: Women’s Singles, SUNY Cortland
9:00 a.m. Bowling Singles Squad D, Cort-Lanes
9:00 a.m. Golf: Long Course, Walden Oaks CC (shotgun start)
9:00 a.m. Tennis: Singles, Cortland High
9:15 a.m. Shuffleboard: Women’s Singles, SUNY Cortland
10:00 a.m. Badminton: Doubles. Lusk Fieldhouse
10:00 a.m. RaceWalk: 5K, SUNY Cortland
11:30 a.m. Bowling: Singles Squad E, Cort-Lanes
12:00 p.m. Badminton: Mixed Doubles. Lusk Fieldhouse
2:00 p.m. Bowling: Singles Squad F, Cort-Lanes

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
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8:00 a.m. Disc Golf: Singles, TC3
8:00 a.m. Road Race: 10K, SUNY Cortland
8:30 a.m. Pickleball: Singles. SUNY Cortland
9:00 a.m. Shuffleboard: Men’s Singles, SUNY Cortland 9:00 a.m. Swimming: 70-100 Age Group, SUNY Cortland
9:00 a.m. Bowling: Doubles Squad A, Cort-Lanes
9:00 a.m. Tennis: Rain Date, Cortland High
9:15 a.m. Shuffleboard: Men’s Singles, SUNY Cortland
10:00 a.m. Archery: 65-and-Older, SUNY Cortland 11:00 a.m. Track & Field: Throwing Events, SUNY Cortland
11:30 a.m. Bowling: Doubles Squad B, Cort-Lanes
1:00 p.m. Disc Golf : Doubles, TC3
2:00 p.m. Bowling: Doubles Squad C, Cort-Lanes
4:30 p.m. Basketball: Women, SUNY Cortland

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
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9:00 a.m. Basketball: Men, SUNY Cortland
9:00 a.m. Bowling: Mixed Doubles Squad A, Cort-Lanes
9:00 a.m. Cycling: 5K. Greek Peak
9:00 a.m Ping Pong: Men’s Singles, SUNY Cortland
9:00 a.m. Swimming: 50-69, SUNY Cortland
9:00 a.m. Track & Field: Running and jumping events, SUNY Cortland
9:30 a.m. Volleyball: SUNY Cortland
10:00 a.m. Archery: 50-64, SUNY Cortland
10:00 a.m. Racquetball: SUNY Cortland
10:30 a.m. Ping Pong: Women’s Doubles, SUNY Cortland
11:00 a.m. Cycling: 10K. Greek Peak
11:30 a.m. Bowling: Mixed Doubles Squad B, Cort-Lanes
12:30 p.m. Ping Pong: Men’s Doubles, SUNY Cortland
1:00 p.m. Ping Pong: Women’s Singles, SUNY Cortland
2:00 p.m. Bowling: Mixed Doubles Squad C, Cort-Lanes
2:00 p.m. Cycling: 20K Road Race, Greek Peak
2:30 p.m Ping Pong: Mixed Doubles, SUNY Cortland