LIU’s Hall of Fame welcomes a new group of Sharks

September 20, 2024 Andy Furman

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Maria Michta-Coffey, a track-and-field and cross-country member of LIU’s Class of 2008 will be inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame at the Post campus, Friday, Sept. 20 at the Tilles Center Atrium starting with a dinner at 7 p.m.

Coffey, one of the most decorated members of LIU’s prestigious track-and-field and cross-country programs, will enter the Hall with Jerry Saslow (men’s lacrosse and football, ’71), Jackie Sileo (women’s lacrosse, ’14), the 2005 football team, the 2010 softball team, the 2010-11 men’s basketball team and the 2021-22 equestrian team.

One of the top racewalkers in American history, Coffey holds four American records in outdoor racewalking and is among LIU’s top cross-country runners since the inception of the program.

She participated on behalf of Team USA at both the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and again at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In addition to her athletic accomplishments, Michta-Coffey was class valedictorian in 2008.

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Jerry Saslow was originally recruited to play football at LIU. However, by his sophomore year, he was introduced to lacrosse and it changed the trajectory of his college athletic career. He finished his senior year becoming one of the original First-Team All-American selections in collegiate lacrosse history.

Jackie Sileo was recently inducted into the East Coast Conference Hall of Fame in January of this year. She holds the ECC, Division II and NCAA all-division records with 564 points and 369 assists, while her 7.32 points per game ranks second in women’s lacrosse. She was the ECC Rookie of the Year, then a three-time ECC Player of the Year while also being named an All-American all four seasons. Sileo left her mark on LIU athletics with back-to-back national championships in 2012 and 2013.

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The 2005 LIU football team finished with a 10-3 record and were the NE-10 champions for the third time in four seasons. Led by head coach Bryan Collins, the team won two postseason rounds to reach the NCAA quarterfinals. The 2005 team still holds the record for most points scored in a season by an LIU football team, with 552.

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The 2010 NEC champion softball team compiled an eye-popping 39-18 record en route to a deep NCAA tournament run. The team, led by longtime head coach Roy Kortmann, made its first NCAA Regional Final appearance and had landmark wins over top-25 teams in UMass and Boston University. As a result, they garnered enough votes to finish the year in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 poll.

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The men’s basketball’s 2010-11 team completed their season with a 27-6 record with an NEC championship. LIU fought off Robert Morris in the NEC title game, winning in overtime and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. They played the No. 2-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in their opening round of play, with head coach Jim Ferry guiding the program to one of the most memorable seasons in school history.

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The 2021-22 equestrian team had a dominant fall semester. The group, led by current equestrian head coach Brooke Chasin, won all three of its fall competitions before winning their zones competition in the spring. They finished the year ranked fourth nationally, the first team in the young program’s history to do so.

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The St. Joseph’s University (Brooklyn) women’s soccer team earned their first win of their season, picking up a 3-0 result against Yeshiva University Sunday afternoon on the campus of the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The match marked the Bears’ first Skyline Conference test of the campaign. Junior Casey Hobbs scored twice and Katherine Barrios added a third for the winners. It was the first career brace for Hobbs and for Barrios, her 12th career goal as a Bear.

The St. Joseph’s, Brooklyn men’s soccer team and Baruch played to a 3-3 draw Saturday at Aviator Field. Victor Naci, Lorenzo LaRosa, and sophomore Bryan Lucero (Telecommunications Arts & Technology) scored for the Bears.

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Led by seven service aces from Rachel Meltsin (James Madison High School) and Taylor Knight, and an additional six from Nikiya Philemon, St. Joseph’s (Brooklyn) finished with 31 aces — three shy of matching the single-match program record for women’s volleyball at the school.

The Bears topped York College (NY) in a straight-set victory. In addition to her seven aces, Meltsin had 22 assists and a trio of digs.

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Olivia Julich slammed a match-high 34 kills to lead the Pratt Institute women’s volleyball team to a straight-set, 3-0 victory over Saint Elizabeth University on Friday evening in their 2024 home opener at the Hill Center.

In addition to her match-best kills, Julich also led all players with 16 digs for her first double-double of the season. Collen Russell matched her career-high of seven kills on .500 hitting and stuffed a match-high four blocks (all assisted).

Dylan Costa scored the equalizer to lead the Pratt Institute men’s soccer team to a 1-1 non-conference draw with borough foes Medgar Evers College, Saturday at Randalls Island Field.

The Cougars struck first on Jimmy Luna’s goal. The Cannoneers broke through in the 70th minute as Vengkheang Meng found Costa’s head for the first goal of the season.

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The Medgar Evers women’s volleyball team opened its 2024 season, falling to the Maccabees of Yeshiva University in straight sets last week at the Cougars Cave. Despite the loss, Medgar Evers was led by veteran Britonya Lloyd, as her two kills were a team best. She also tied for the team high of six digs. Aaliyah Chapman contributed six digs and a pair of assists, and newcomer Maritza Arguenta registered four digs.

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The Brooklyn College men’s cross-country team — picked to finish second in the CUNYAC pre-season coaches’ poll — took home a first-place trophy from the Purchase College Invitational on Saturday in Head Coach Eric Scrick’s first meet at the helm. Brooklyn graduate student Frank Ferrante finished first overall out of 53 runners in the 8K event. Brooklyn had five runners finish in the top-ten for the meet. Ferrante placed first with a time of 29:43.2. Aziz Sharifov followed with a time of 31.13.0, finishing third overall.

In that same meet, the Brooklyn College women took fifth out of eight teams. Sarah Lawrence won the event with the Bulldogs finishing ahead of St. Joe’s Brooklyn, Mount St. Vincent and Queensborough Community College. Danielle Gostev led the way, finishing tenth overall in the 5K race with a time of 25.16.3. Skyi Velasco finished second for Brooklyn and 21st overall with a time of 29.49.0.

The Brooklyn College women were picked to finish sixth in the CUNYAC preseason coaches’ poll. Hunter was tabbed to win both the men and women.

Ferrante was selected as the conference’s Runner of the Week for his efforts in the Purchase College Invitational.

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