Scholastic Roundup: James Madison High School churns out future volleyball stars

January 3, 2025 Andy Furman

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Looking for top female athletes? James Madison High School is the place.

For the second consecutive season, Madison alum Rachel Meltsin represents St. Joseph’s University, Brooklyn volleyball team on the College Sports Communicator’s Academic All-District Teams. The All-District teams, selected by CSC recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performance on the field and in the classroom. Student-athletes must have a grade point average of at least 3.50.

Meltsin ranks fourth in the Skyline Conference with 559 assists and 7.26 assists per set. She distributed 46 assists against Pratt in September, a season-best. She also brought up 10 digs against the Cannoneers; the first of her five double-doubles this season. Meltsin’s 37 assists against Farmingdale State saw her eclipse 1,000 career assists, becoming the third Bear in program history to reach the accomplishment. She currently has 1,061 assists. The junior political science major, also served-up 39 aces, good for fourth on the squad, contributing to the program’s NCAA Division III-leading 3.66 aces-per-set.

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Joining Meltsin on the Academic All-District Volleyball team is Brooklyn College sophomore outside hitter, an information systems major, and yes, a grad of James Madison High School — Kela Duncan.

Here’s yet another Madison grad, this time in soccer. The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) named junior defender Dionisia Payamps to the ECAC Second Team. Already a first-team CUNYAC All-Star this postseason, the 5-3 captain helped Brooklyn to a three-win improvement from last season and semifinal appearance in the CUNYAC Championship Tournament. She finished the season with 13 points on six goals and an assist as a back; and also scored her first collegiate hat-trick in a non-conference win over Yeshiva, Sept. 29.

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The Barclays Center is the start of conference play for the LIU men’s basketball Sharks. They were slated to host LeMoyne Friday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.

Morgan Allison-Prokhin is the new head coach of the men’s and women’s water polo teams — removing the interim tag from the former assistant — at LIU. She previously served as assistant coach for the men’s and women’s teams at St. Francis College, Brooklyn during the 2022-23 academic year. Since she joined LIU, the women’s team went 22-7 last season and finished 10-2 in MAAC play. She was a two-sport athlete for the Terriers, competing for both the women’s water polo and swimming and diving teams.

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Catching up on some holiday scholastic basketball, Medgar Evers College Prep enjoyed a cozy 62-46 win over EBC/Bushwick. Kameron Tucker and Tyree Keitt led the way for MEP; Tucker scored 13 and Keitt dropped 23. Abraham Omorodion had 8 points and 11 rebounds. The Prep next faces Tilden, Jan. 8. EBC/Bushwick meets Prospect Heights the same day.

Transit Tech walked away with a 93-84 victory over the Tigers from Bushwick. The Tech followed-up with an 88-57 win over Gaynor, and Bushwick followed with an 80-70 defeat to Bedfiord Academy.
Erasmus Hall fell to Eagle Academy II, 87-51 – it was the Academy’s 19th straight win at home, dating back to last season. The Dutchmen next play Jan. 7 against Lincoln.

Midwood’s Hornets made-off with a 71-70 victory over the Summit Academy Eagles. Despite the loss, Summit Academy saw an underclassman step-up: Sophomore Justin Rodriguez posted 25 points. Dimarco Dixon was another key player, putting up 17 points.

The Lafayette Patriots lost to Sunset Park on the road by a 68-54 margin — they followed that with a 43-42 squeaker over Roosevelt. As for Sunset Park, they followed with an 80-41 loss against Grady.

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Some 1,581 student-athletes competed in the Night of Sports Indoor Track and Field Meet at the Armory Track and Field Center during the holidays. Some running events highlights:

Varsity Girls 300m Dash: Aisha Wajid (DeWitt Clinton), 40.83, edged Skylar Skevelair (South Shore), 41.05.

Varsity Boys 300m Dash: Nicholas Sealey (Harry S. Truman) 34.17; Lee Colas (Lafayette Educational Complex), 36.41.

Girls 4×200 Relay: Springfield Gardens, 1:48.30; Frank J. Macchiarola, 1:51.31.

55m Dash, Girls Final: Rosoria Augustine (Benjamin Banneker Academy), 7.46.

Weight Throw, Girls: Breanna Reid (Erasmus Hall); 38-08.

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Julian Champagnie was back in Brooklyn playing the game he loves — basketball. The Bishop Loughlin High star — now a member of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs — was at Barclays Center Christmas Day facing the Nets. The 6-8 Champagnie, who played his collegiate basketball at St. John’s, is averaging 12.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and shooting 37% from three on 7.1 attempts in 28.3 minutes.

He was a two-time All-Big East First-Team selection at St. John’s, but went undrafted in 2022 and was waived by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2023. The Spurs signed him to a partially guaranted four-year, $12 million deal that July. Last year he played in 74 games and averaged 6.8 points in 19.8 minutes.

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Brooklyn College sophomore midfielder George Koufos, a Fort Hamilton High School graduate, was named to the All-ECAC Second Team. He tied for first in CUNYAC with eight goals, led the conference in points with 19 and scored his first collegiate hat trick in a conference win over John Jay, Oct. 23. He was also named an Academic All-District performer by CSC with his 3.79 GPA.

Despite outscoring the home team in the second half, the Brooklyn College women’s basketball team fell at Whittier (Calif.) College, 67-47 on Monday night. Brooklyn drops to 5-6 overall and meets Farmingdale State on Jan. 4 at noon. Junior guard Anna Kitch produced her second double-double of the season, finishing with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds.
In the first of their two-game California trip, Brooklyn fell to Chapman University, 94-60, last Saturday evening. Senior guard Alina Estrella paced Brooklyn with a team-high 10 points.

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The St. Joseph’s University, Brooklyn men’s basketball team opened their Skyline Conference in the win column, defeating the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, 69-61, on Saturday afternoon. Colin Mills had a team-best 16 points. The Archbishop Stepinac grad has already been named Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week twice in the month of December.

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Former LIU soccer forward Emil Jaaskelainen was selected seventh overall by St. Louis City SC in the 2025 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Jaaskelainen played for the Sharks from 2020-2023 and is the program’s all-time leader in goals (43) and points (100). The four-year standout also recorded 15 game-winning goals and tallied 275 shots, including 129 on target, during his time at LIU.

A native of Bolton, England, Jaaskelainen started in 62 of the 63 games he played for the Sharks and was a four-time All-NEC selection, a three-time All-Region honoree, and a two-time NEC Player of the Year.

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] ; X: @AndyFurmanFSR