Scholastic Roundup: 2 new faces for the St. Joseph’s Bears
Sean Salomons, a 2019 St. Joseph’s University, Brooklyn, graduate, is the new head coach of the women’s volleyball team for the Bears. The former All-Skyline Conference honoree, has led the men’s volleyball program since their return from COVID-19 in 2022.
As a student-athlete, Salomons was a member of the program’s first appearance in the Skyline Conference tournament, leading the squad to a third-place regular-season finish in 2019. Aside from his achievements in volleyball, Salomons was a three-year member of the basketball team. Currently, Salomons is the head coach of the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams at the Packer Collegiate Institute — he’s also the assistant coach of the institute’s basketball teams.
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St. Joseph’s University, Brooklyn has also tabbed Patrick Horne as head coach of the women’s soccer program. Prior to joining the Bears staff, Horne was the head coach at Division-I South Carolina State University. He was also responsible for the formation of the women’s soccer program at Brooklyn College. coaching the Bulldogs from 2012-18. In just his second season, he won the first of back-to-back CUNY Athletic Conference titles; earning consecutive automatic bids to the NCAA Division III Tournament. He was named the conference’s Coach of the Year in 2013.
Before his successes at Brooklyn, Horne led the women’s soccer team at Concordia College. He also had accomplished stints with the Molloy College women’s squad and the men’s teams at Southampton College, SUNY College at Old Westbury and Globe Institute of Technology.
A four-year member of the men’s soccer team while a student at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville; Horne played professionally for clubs in the North American Soccer League and American Soccer League. In 2019, he also published the book “Black Pioneers of the North American Soccer League (1968-84),” which tells the story of the Black players contributions to the development of soccer in North America.
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The Kingsborough Community College Wave are CUNYAC Community College Baseball Champions — again — defeating Bronx Community College, 8-4, last week at Kingsborough.
For a second-straight season, Thomas Laino was named the championship’s Most Valuable Player. The lefty went two-for-four with three RBIs and one run scored in the championship game. Jayden Caro was the winning pitcher — in his one inning of work, he held Bronx CC to one run and two hits.
The Wave’s men’s volleyball team completed their inaugural season in the NJCAA Region XV Conference, and were coached by veteran women’s coach Paul Watson.
The Wave defeated Monroe College of The Bronx in straight sets (3-0) in the playoff game to earn the fourth seed at the NJCAA Region XV Tournament. They advanced to face No. 1 Monroe, losing in straight sets (0-3) in the semifinals. “Reaching the semifinals was an incredible achievement, and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” said Coach Watson.
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Michael Hipscher, longtime Brooklyn College coach, who most recently attended Boston Red Sox Fantasy Camp during spring training, had this to say on Danny Lynch Jr. the former baseball coach at Brooklyn’s St. Francis College:
“Danny is best known for coaching those Terrier baseball teams,” he said. “I should know, since my Brooklyn College teams played many a hard-fought game against St. Francis in the ‘70s.”
As for Kenny Lam, Hipscher said: “Kenny (Lam) was a terrific basketball player. I remember playing in Manhattan Beach with and against him many summers prior to spending the rest of the summer as counselors at sleepaway camps in the Catskills and the Poconos.”
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Medgar Evers College just scored the Hat Trick in the 2024 men’s outdoor track and field seasons, winning City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) three major awards.
Chrisnel Nicolas won the Field Athlete of the Year, Rupert Luard Charles was named Rookie of the Year. and Hugh Reid was tabbed Coach of the Year.
Coming off an indoor championship, the first-year coach Reid helped the men transition to the outdoor season and paced them to a title. The Cougars captured the CUNYAC outdoor title with 199 points.
Nicolas produced the league’s top mark in the pole vault and decathlon along with top-five marks in the shot put, discus and javelin throws. At the CUNYAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Nicolas medaled in five events — including a gold in the pole vault and a silver medal in the discus.
Winning the Rookie of the Year award, Luard-Charles also earned the Most Valuable Performer honor at the 2023-24 Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Luard-Charles led Medgar Evers to a pair of gold medals in relay events at the outdoor championships while earning a pair of silver medals in the 100m and 200m dashes. He also picked up a bronze in the long jump.
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The historic, record-breaking season for the LIU women’s lacrosse team came to an end in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament.
LIU, which earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after clinching the NEC Championship, fell short against Virginia last week, ending the Sharks’ 10-game win streak.
LIU earned its matchup against the Cavaliers after beating Sacred Heart, 10-7 in the NEC Championship – marking the first-ever NEC title for LIU.
Olivia Fantigrossi, LIU’s leading scorer with 45 goals, scored the first goal of the game, giving the Sharks an early 1-0 lead. She finished the game with a team-high three goals.
Amanda Weber, Jen Gaffney and Julia Trainor each scored a goal in the game. Mylie Norton, the NEC Championship Most Valuable Player, made seven saves against the Cavaliers.
LIU finishes its season 11-8 under the NEC Coach of the Year, Meghan McNamara-Cafiero, who just completed her 17th season at LIU.
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LIU women’s tennis head coach Chad Davis has been named the NEC Coach of the Year. A veteran of more than 20 years, he led the women’s program to the NEC Championship in his first season with the Sharks.
Davis, a reigning NEC Coach of the Year and three-time winner of the award, coached the women to an 11-5 record. Davis is also the head coach of the men’s program. He led the women to a three-match sweep after beating Stonehill, Saint Francis and FDU in the finals.
He led Leo Boisseau, Saki Oyama, Mia Tsoukalas, Clara Tardivel and Lucy Garrigues to the 2024 NEC All-Conference honors. Tsoukalas was also named to the 2024 NEC All-Rookie Team.
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It is Handball for the Cure — the 29th annual City Council Speaker’s Cup Handball Tournament, July 27-28 at Coney Island — to increase awareness of the effects of Leukemia/Lymphoma Cancer in Memory of Jim Jacobs. Further info, visit: www.icha.org to register.
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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
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