The grand master at Edward R. Murrow High School is hurting

January 13, 2023 Andy Furman

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MIDWOOD — The Grand Master at Edward R. Murrow High School is hurting.

Eliot Weis, the man who started the Chess Team at the school in 1981 – and created a power – is in a world of hurt.

“I had an accident and we didn’t go to the Nationals last April,” he told Scholastic Roundup. “I’ve never had surgery, anesthesia or even a band aid before March 25th.”

Well, maybe a band aid he admitted.

Besides leading Murrow to the City Championship in 1989 – and won their first City title in 1992.

“We have two students who are Grand Masters,” he notes, “Inna Krush (also a former U.S. Women’s Champion) and Alex Lendemann.”

Murrow’s Chess Team has been to Mt. Rushmore (1999) and in 2004 went to the Oval Office to be personally congratulated by the President.

Weis is taking it slow these days – he’s been playing hockey for 55 years – he played for Brooklyn College (1971-75) and for the New Jersey Rockets – semiprofessional (1977-81).

“Now,” he said, “I’m in the Long Island Ice Hockey League, and on Friday night, March 25th, I broke my leg in a game and had emergency surgery Saturday morning.”

He says he has a pipe and a bunch of screws in his leg. “It’s been 10 months and it’s still swollen,” said Weis, who teaches math at Murrow. “I’ve played in about 12 games so far, but I’m not 100 percent yet.”

As for chess—last month Murrow competed in the 2022 National Grade Chess Championships (Dec. 7-12) in Washington, D.C. with over 3,000 students from 42 states, representing 990 team from across the United States.

Murrow finished in 13th place – and the good news – no injuries to report.

* * *

The Girls High School Athletic Association announced their Fall All-League Sports teams and there is some Brooklyn flavor.

Tennis: Claudia, Bayard and Ava Castellano, Xaverian; Katherine Soto, Fontbonne Hall Academy.

Soccer: Riley Mullen, Chelsea Monderson, Caitlyn Thompson and Ella Kushnick, Xaverian; Natalie DiCapua, Fontbonne Hall (Tier2) and Bridget Leahy, St. Edmund Prep; Kara Drain, Kayla Drain and Lily Ordonez, (Tier 3) St. Saviour High School, Park Slope.

Volleyball: Claudia Bayard, Julia Turchiano and Nancy McDade, Xaverian; Emma Morgan, Fontbonne Hall Academy.

Cross-Country: Grace Lanier, Xaverian.

The CHSAA Boys’ All-League AA team included: James Doyle, Xaverian. The “B” team included Stephon Barclay and Ronny Cuji, Cristo Rey High School; and Shane Charles, Ademil Flores, Jalen King, Orese Moses, Tyseer Rahman, Bishop Loughlin and Liam Hughes, Matthew Lazo and Shane Mincieli, St. Edmund Prep.

* * *

The Clippers of Xaverian dominated the St. Peter’s Eagles at the College of Staten Island’s Aquatics facility, Sunday. Their next meet is Saturday (Jan. 14th) at Ft. Hamilton High School.

Brooklyn College senior guard Gianna Gotti has been named the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) Basketball Player of the Week – her second time for the honor this season. Helping the Bulldogs to a 3-0 record in conference play, she averaged 26 ppg, 4.5 assists and 5 rebounds for the two games. She finished with a double-double with 26 points in a win over Medgar Evers; and added another 26 in a win over John Jay College.

Four Bulldogs scored in double figures for the BC men in their first conference win of the season, 69-56. Kayin Olajide scoffed a team-high 17 points.

* * *

Pratt Institute’s junior guard Patrick O’Gorman has been selected as the Coast-to-Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. He scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Cannoneers to an 82-75 home win over St. Elizabeth University.

Five Lady Bears scored in double figures to lead St. Joseph’s University past Farmingdale State 82-43. Grace Kennedy’s 22 points led the Bears; Emma Kiley and Aaniya Telford (Fontbonne Hall Academy) each flirted with triple-doubles behind respective efforts of 12 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks and 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

* * *

LIU’s men’s and women’s track and field squads wrapped up their first meets of the new year at the Wagner College Seahawks Shootout.

Tess Duignan finished finished first in the 800-m run with a time of 2:19.57. Right behind her, Margaret McKeever, fifth (2:26.68).

London Claxton raced to a third-place finish (1:17.57) in the 500-m dash. The pairing of Josephine Critchley and Emily Ginty took fourth and fifth respectively in the 300-m run. Faith Shaw and Sade Panton hit marks just outside the final 10, with 11th and 12th place in the shot put. Shaw notched her third (15.06m) in the weighted throw and Panton took ninth (12.73m).

For the men, Jordan McKenzie raced to a fifth-place finish in the 800-m dash (1:56.55) with Tyrese Bowes right behind him in ninth (2:00.97). Keirryse Simpson rounded out the final 10 in the 200-m dash with a 22.57 time. In the longer distance events , Aidan Haughian finished eighth in the mile run (4:23.12); Bryan Villafuerte finished fourth (8:37.01) in the 300-m.

The Sharks return to action again in Staten Island at the Fastrack National Invite, January 20th.

* * *

Senior guard Alyssa Fisher of St. Francis College was named Northeast Conference Player of the Week for the third time this season. Against Central Connecticut State, she connected for 29 points – one shy of her career high – in a 65-59 won. She has now scored 20 or-more points in three of her last four games. The Terriers play their first conference road game Saturday against Sacred Heart.

The St. Francis men’s volleyball team kicked-off year four of the program with a perfect record – the Terriers were named JBJ Battle for the Boardwalk Collegiate Showcase Champions. The Terriers picked up wins against Belmont Abbey, Eastern Nazarene and American International across two-days of competition at the Harrah’s Resort. Five players finished the weekend with double-digit kills, led by Jack Hershman and Matteo Falleri with 16 kills each.

* * *

The Brooklyn College women’s swimming and diving team picked up their first win of the season, defeating Lehman College, 66-47 in their CUNYAC opener last week. Julie Huang won the 200-yard freestyle (2:26.83); she also won the100 breaststroke (1:22.28). Anastsia Gousseva earned nine first-place points for Brooklyn in the 1,000-freestyle.

The men also topped Lehman, 70-61; Christian Hoyek won the 200-freestyle (2:03.06); Ronaldo Barrios won the 100 freestyle (1:00.37) and won the 100 breaststroke (1:14.53).

* * *

St. Francis College freshman Olivia Miller earned a first-place finish (11.38m) in the triple jump, in her first collegiate meet, last week at the Wagner Seahawk Shootout.Tolulope Atolagbe rounded out the top three with an 11.2-m best and she finished just outside the top three in the long jump final with a 5.17-m best in her first action in the 2022-23 indoor season.

Malachi Aiken was the top finisher for the men taking a first-place finish in the triple jump competition (14.99-m). Xavier Wright placed sixth in the final rankings (13.55m). Lance Hubert (2:02.91) recorded a new personal best in the 800-m and earned 14th place.

* * *

Drew Witham won five matches on the day for LIU in the David H. Lehman F&M Wresting Tournament. He placed in a tie for fifth in the 149-pound weight class at the 30-team tournament hosted by Franklin and Marshall.

Witham’s most impressive victory of the day came in his final match, a 6-5 decision against North Carolina’s Wil Guida, a two-time Fargo freestyle national champion.

LIU next hosts Clarion and VMI at Pratt Recreation Center, Jan. 14th.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR