SFC water polo adds five to roster

Coach Duretic sees 'great fit' in new arrivals to Terriers

August 2, 2022 John Torenli, Sports Editor

Seeking its next trip to the NCAA Final Four, the St. Francis Brooklyn men's water polo team announced five new additions this week. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics

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After finishing just one win shy of the NCAA Tournament a season ago, the St. Francis Brooklyn men’s water polo team is hoping that five new additions to the always-competitive squad make the difference in 2022.

“This group of young men will be a great fit in our program,” said SFC men’s head coach Ilija Duretic after announcing that Iakovos Kamchi and Ioannis Egnatiadis of Greece and Jovan Parojcic, Luka Ragac and Nikola Jovanovic of Serbia would be swimming in Brooklyn Heights.

These five will be added to a team that returns all but three from last year’s unit, which reached the Northeast Water Polo Conference Championship before losing to Princeton, which represented the league at the NCAAs.

Returnees include the program’s first All-American honoree since 2013, Aleksa Sisakovic, and fellow All-Conference First Team member Adonis Vlassis.

Kamchi, a 5-foot-11 defender, joins the Terriers after an impressive youth career with his club team Olympiakos and the Greek national team, according to the school’s athletic department.

He intends to study management at SFC after finishing his studies at St. Lawrence College in Athens.

Egnatiadis will also be making the trip from Athens to Remsen Street after competing with club team Panathinaikos.
He has received multiple medals in domestic and international competition.

With Panathinaikos, the 6-foot attacker played on teams that won bronze, silver and four gold medals in the Greek domestic league.

Parojcic, also an attacker, adds to the prorgram’s Serbian contingent. He has played on the youth teams of club Partizan since 2010, collecting hardware across Europe along the way.

The 5-foot-11 attacker chose SFC for the chance to continue his education while competing in Division I water polo. He plans to major in Information Technology.

Ragac, a 5-11 utility, arrives in Brooklyn following a prep career at the prestigious San Domenico School outside of San Francisco.

After making the jump to the United States from his native Serbia, he helped the Panthers to their first boys water polo playoff appearance.

Jovanovic, who rounds out the trio from Belgrade, was a member of club Novi Beograd’s youth program.

The 6-2 goaltender competed across Europe with the club, earning honors at multiple tournaments; including goalkeeper of the tournament at a Belgian competition.

“These five student-athletes have already achieved a great deal in their youth careers,” added Duretic, who was a member of the Terriers’ 2013 Final Four team as a player.

“And I look forward to their contributions to our program as they continue to grow in the pool and in the classroom.”

The 2022 campaign will officially kick off during the Bruno Classic at Brown University from Sept. 3-4.

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Senior Maya Avila and 16 of her teammates on the LIU softball team earned spots on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association 2021-22 Easton/NFCA Scholar-Athlete All-American team for Division I. Photo courtesy of LIU Athletics

The Long Island University softball team placed 17 players on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association 2021-22 Easton/NFCA Scholar-Athlete All-Americans for Division I.

Dallas Andrews, Maya Avila, Ryleigh Bermea, Kristen Blanchard, Kira Buckner, Kiana Cisneros, Kelsey Day, Zoe Estoppey, Sam Garcia, Priscilla Gillies, Katie Hinkle, Emily Money, Alyssa O’Donnell, Alyssa Okada, Alyssa Polemeni, Angelina Reno and Alexis Toledo all achieved at least a 3.5 GPA.

The Sharks were pretty fierce on the diamond as well, going 13-11 in Northeast Conference play before reaching the finals of the NEC Championships.

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The Brooklyn College women’s basketball team won its second straight CUNYAC crown, its first-ever NCAA Tournament game and compiled a cumulative 3.417 GPA in the classroom. Photo courtesy of BC Athletics

Over at Brooklyn College, the Bulldogs’ women’s basketball team won its second straight CUNYAC Championship earlier this year, and added a Special Mention from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

The organization released its Top 25 Academic Team Honor Roll last week and the Bulldogs were a cut above with a cumulative 3.417 GPA following their first-ever win at the Division III NCAA Tournament.

Consistently one of the best programs academically at BC, four members of the team were recently named CUNYAC Scholar Athletes for posting a 3.2 GPA or better.

CUNYAC and All-Met Division III Player of the Year Chanel Jemmott led the Bulldogs with a 3.775 GPA while pursuing her master’s degree in Business Administration.