STAC on the Run, and a Valley Cottage Record

The 'College Sports Notebook' is published each Friday. Please send items of interest—including local athletes competing at out-of-town colleges—to marcmaturo@aol.com.

--

Spring Valley’s Mike Abelard, who was a state champion sprinter at Ramapo High School, leads the track and field team at St. Thomas Aquinas College back into action today (Feb. 4) and tomorrow at the New Balance Games at the Armory in Washington Heights.

Abelard, a standout sophomore, is coming off an outstanding effort at the Terrier Classic, hosted by Boston University last week.

Abelard won his heat, and finished sixth overall in a field of 120 competitors, clocking an NCAA Division II-qualifying mark of 21:85.

The nationals are scheduled March 14 at Albuquerque, NM. Last year, Suffern’s Chris Munoz represented the Spartans in the 400-meter dash.

Abelard, although still getting treatment for an injured quadriceps that forced him out of two earlier-season meets, is apparently at full strength, and looking to lower his time even further.

“I think I can do a lot better—this weekend is a good test; I’ll try to go under 21.7 or 21.6,” Abelard said. “I want to guarantee a spot at Nationals, I want to make sure I’m in the top. For right now, I want to go 21.6, but at nationals I want to go as quick as possible. I want to make the podium (top 6) and make all-American. It’s reasonable, I’m determined.”

Abelard also leads off the Spartans’ 4x400-meter relay team that shattered a long-standing school record with 3:21.07 at the Terrier Classic. The quartet wants to lower this time even further, perhaps setting a record that will last as long, or longer, as the previous standard.

“That’s the idea,” Abelard noted. “We want to go even lower, and that’s reasonable, too.”

Abelard, who often anchored the relay team in high school, depending on the opposition, settled into the lead-off spot during the last outdoor season, and has come to enjoy the role.

“I’m experienced in running it; I want to give our team a good place, in first, and let everyone else finish the job,” Abelard said. “I’m running pretty fast, and am much stronger than last year.”

Completing the record-setting relay team are North Babylon’s George Orazo, a freshman, followed by Frankie Colon of Pascack Valley, and Clarkstown South grad Vinny Modafferi, who handles the anchor leg.

The Spartans had several other strong performances in Boston, including freshman star Keeley Bateman’s 800-meter dash. The Pearl River graduate ran a lifetime best by two seconds—a phenomenal margin at that distance—with a clocking of 2:22.37.

Colon of Suffern, a freshman, also ran a lifetime best in the 800 with a time of 2:00.95. In only his second race at that distance, Colon shattered his previous best by three seconds, another phenomenal margin.

“I think he found his race in the 800. He used to be a shorter sprinter, but he’s clearly stronger in the mid-distance events. We have plenty of time to work with him,” said Coach Lou Maturo.

Bateman also shows great potential.

“She’s getting stronger in every way,” Maturo noted.

“It’s going pretty good,” Bateman said. “I really like STAC, the training is really good for me.”

Bateman said she benefits more from the individualized attention she is getting in college, rather than the broad-based workouts in high school.

“The team is a lot smaller, you get a lot of individual workouts depending on your event,” Bateman said. “It’s better for me, we have our specialized schedule.”

The former Pirates standout feels the 800 is her best distance, and is pointing to go under 2:20.

“I like the middle distance—the 800 and 1,000. I’m best at that, I like the distance,” she said.

Bateman is hopeful of hitting her goals by the end of the season.

 “I can do it indoors, but I’d like to do the same thing for spring, even before the spring,” Bateman concluded.

Pioneers on the prowl

The SUNY Maritime men’s hockey team, coached by Matt Garofalow, is battling for first place in the Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference with Wagner and Fordham, both of which have at least one game in hand on the Pioneers.

Competing on a non-varsity scale in Division III of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, the Pioneers boast a 11-3 conference record, with a game scheduled tomorrow night at Stevens Institute of Technology in Great Neck.

Coach Garofalow, who helped institute the hockey program three years ago, is high on sophomore defenseman James McManus of Pearl River.

“Jimmy started last year as a freshman. It was our first freshman class and right away, he was in the top two, three defensemen,” Garofalow said. “He’s also important on the power play—he has a big shot; that really helps.”

The coach noted that he brought in a big recruiting class this year.

“Jimmy stayed right up there and he’s still on the power play,” Garofalow said. “In fact, he’s tops for defensemen on our team with nine points in 18 games.”

McManus and the Pioneers will be at the Palisades Ice Center in West Nyack on Friday, Feb. 11, taking on St. Thomas Aquinas College at 7:15 p.m.

Chargers turnaround continues

At one point this season the men’s basketball team at Dominican College faced the daunting task of overcoming a 0-7 start. Now the Chargers are rolling along and in a fierce battle with Bloomfield and C.W. Post for the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference crown with an 8-2 mark.

Dominican lifted its overall mark to 12-8, defeating visiting University of the Sciences, 69-56, for their sixth straight victory.

Sophomore guard Leon Porter of Laurel, MD, sparked the Chargers with 17 points, six assists, and five rebounds.

Senior 6-foot-10 center Almin Hodzic of Budd Lake, NJ, scored 12 points, pulled down nine rebounds and had a game-high four blocks.

A men’s and women’s doubleheader at Felician College was postponed to Monday. The women (6-11, 4-6) play at 6 p.m., with the men’s game set for 8 p.m.

McNair making his mark, again

SUNY Purchase senior guard Michael McNair of Valley Cottage is on the cusp of reaching 1,000 points as a collegian, after scoring 1,000 as a schoolboy at Nyack High.

McNair poured in 24 points on Jan. 31 to help Purchase College defeat The Sage Colleges, 87-78, at the Neff Center in Troy, drawing to within 28 points of the mark.

The Panthers, riding high at 14-4 overall with a 11-3 mark in the Skyline Conference, were playing at St. Joseph’s on Long Island Thursday night.

McNair most likely will surpass 1,000 come Tuesday night when the Panthers travel to Riverdale to challenge the College of Mount Saint Vincent at 7 p.m.

“We’d like for him to get 38 tonight,” assistant coach Chad Charney said Thursday evening on the bus ride to St. Joe’s. “But he’s averaging about 15 points, and will probably get it (1,000) on Tuesday.”

Stay tuned.

Huskies making hay on ice

The Northeastern University hockey team, which got off to a rough start at 3-9-4, has changed direction in the new year. The Huskies have the third-best winning percentage in Hockey East in the second half of the season, with a 5-1-2 mark.

Northeastern hopes to continue the trend at home tonight (Feb. 4) at Matthews Arena against Merrimack. Former Suffern High School and U.S. Hockey League standout Justin Daniels has a goal and three assists against the Warriors, while twin brother Drew Daniels has one goal in the series.

Mortarboard musings

• The men’s basketball team at Nyack College hosts Chestnut Hill College tomorrow (Feb. 5) at 3 p.m. at Bowman Gymnasium. The Warriors (2-15) are looking for their first win in CACC competition. Nyack did all it could to snap the string before bowing in double overtime to visiting Felician, 87-78. Senior forward James Oyamo of Nairobi, Kenya, led Nyack with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
• The men’s and women’s bowling teams at Westchester Community College return to the lanes tomorrow in the Mardi Bob Tournament at Mardi Bob Bowl in Poughkeepsie. The first kegler rolls for the record at 9:30 a.m.
• The women’s basketball team at the College of Mount Saint Vincent lost a hard-fought 55-53 decision at City College of New York. Brittany Griffin of Suffern and Albertus Magnus was limited to three points and two blocked shots. Freshman Amy Delva of Nanuet played 13 minutes. The Dolphins (6-13) meet Purchase College on Tuesday.
• West Nyack’s Andrew Shepard, a Clarkstown South grad, and Mike Shea of Congers, who was graduated from Clarkstown North, are expected to be in action tomorrow as the College of Mount Saint Vincent men’s swim team competes in the Skyline Conference championships at Purchase College. The Dolphins fell to 2-2 with a narrow 46-45 loss to SUNY Old Westbury.
• The Valiants of Manhattanville College pulled off an impressive 70-49 victory over King’s (PA) College on Alumni Day, before a packed house at Kennedy Gym. The visiting Lady Monarchs were leading the Freedom Conference, but proved no match in this game. Sophomore Taylor Wilson of Pearl River scored 12 points in the win, while North Rockland grad Jennifer McSharer had six points and an assist.
• Rockland Community College women’s basketball guard Katie Daly, a North Rockland alum, is averaging 14 points a game (fourth in Region XV), while guard Samantha Sydnor, also of North Rockland, ranks sixth with four assists per game.
• Jessica Biggs of Nanuet and Paramus Catholic is proving to be an all-around threat at Westchester Community College. The sophomore guard is leading Region XV with an average of seven assists per game, ranks third in free-throw percentage (.610) and is seventh in both scoring average (13 points) and rebounding average (10).
• Jordan Baum of Suffern, a former player with the New Jersey Rockets club team, is trying to work her way into the regular lineup on the women’s hockey team at Cortland State. A sophomore forward, Baum is going through an educational process, noted Coach Earl Utter. “It’s one of those things where there are other players in front of her. She’s got to learn, that’s all,” Utter said.
• Mike Bongiorno of New City, who ran track and played football at Clarkstown South, is a sophomore sprinter on the Fordham University track and field team. The Rams, coached by Tom Dewey, will compete today and tomorrow in the New Balance Games at the Armory in Washington Heights.