Blackbirds run away with NEC track honors

Hodnett Tabbed Coach of Year as LIU Heads to NCAA Regionals

May 27, 2014 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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After a banner season in the Northeast Conference, the men and women of the LIU-Brooklyn track and field teams will head to Jacksonville, Fla., this weekend to compete in the NCAA East Regional Championships.

The program’s leader, Simon Hodnett, and his assistants have already been named the NEC Men’s Indoor Track and Field Coach and Staff of the Year after guiding the Blackbirds to the team’s first conference title since 2010, scoring 125 points over two days during the league championships.

In all, 17 Blackbirds earned All-NEC honors outdoors, while 16 were tabbed for indoor awards.

Hodnett’s men’s team wasn’t alone on the championship podium after grabbing the indoor crown, the women won the outdoor title as well earlier this year, making the Blackbirds, by far, the most decorated team in the conference.

The Blackbirds won seven individual titles, as junior Brendon Rodney was named the Most Valuable Performer and freshman Adam Walker-Khan was named the Most Outstanding Rookie and Most Outstanding Field Performer.

Hodnett is no stranger to Coach of the Year honors in his 13th season at the Downtown Brooklyn school.

The Brooklyn resident was also named NEC Coach of the Year for women’s indoor track and field in 2011, and earned the honor for both men’s and women’s indoor track and field in 2010.

The men will compete in five events at the NCAA meet in Jacksonville, while Kyaira Wright-Harmon will represent the women in the high jump, in the hopes of advancing to the National Championships from June 11-14.

Wright-Harmon won the high jump at the NEC Championships earlier in May. The sophomore heads into regionals with a mark of 1.79 meters, and is seeded 19th out of 48 competitors. She will be the lone NEC athlete at the event.

On the men’s side, the Blackbirds have three individual competitors and two relays. Sophomore Mica-Jonathan Petit-Homme and Rodney return to the meet again after qualifying last season as well.

Rodney is seeded fourth in the 200-meter dash at with a time of 20.41. The native of Ontario broke the NEC record on his way to capturing the title in the event. Rodney is also ranked 12th overall in the entire nation with that time.

Petit-Homme qualified in the 400-meter hurdles after leading the NEC all season in the event. He heads into the NCAAs with a seed time of 51.53, putting him in the 19th position.

Junior Kemar Lewis is the third individual Blackbird competing this weekend. Lewis will represent both LIU and the NEC in the high jump with a seed mark of 2.10 meters.

The Blackbirds also will send two relay teams to Florida. In the 4×100, LIU is seeded 20th with a time of 40.24, while in the 4×400, LIU is 22nd at 3.08.71.

Twelve competitors from each individual event and 12 teams from each relay event advance from each preliminary championship competition site to the finals competition in Eugene, Oregon.

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Coaches and student-athletes from the St. Francis Brooklyn men’s and women’s basketball teams participated in Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 2 ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday afternoon.

The Terrier contingent held a variety of different drills and interacted with children from the Brooklyn Heights community. All of the children received their very own St. Francis Terriers regulation-sized basketball.

Pier 2 features five acres of active recreation, including three shuffleboard courts, two bocce courts, five full-size basketball courts, six handball courts, a workout area outfitted with equipment, children’s swings, park amenities like public restrooms and picnic tables and a roller rink.

The ceremony also marked the opening of Pier 4, which features a beach, boat-launch and bird habitat.

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The Brooklyn College Office of Recreation, Intramurals and Intercollegiate Athletics hosted the 20th Annual Student-Athlete Awards Ceremony celebrating the 2013-2014 athletics season earlier this month. The event was held in the Gold Room of the BC Student Center.

Alex Lang (Associate Athletic Director/Sports Information Director/Head Women’s Basketball Coach) served as the master of ceremonies for the event, which honored Brooklyn’s 195 student athletes and 14 teams.

Four major awards were handed out, including the Ed Madden Memorial Award and the Tracy Ohrman Memorial Award.

The Ed Madden Memorial Award is given to one male and one female student-athlete that demonstrate courage and leadership, while exemplifying the true spirit of sport.

The Tracy Ohrman Award is given to one male and one female student-athlete that exemplify personal strength and perseverance.

The Madden was given to Dmitry Prokofyev (Men’s Soccer) and Shani Abrahams (Women’s Soccer), while the Ohrman went to Stephanie Caravello (Women’s Swimming and Diving and Softball) and Taras Frankivskyy (Men’s Soccer).

Joan Wu (Senior Woman Administrator/Compliance/SAAC Coordinator) handed out the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Awards to Valentina Monroy (Women’s Swimming & Diving) and Ka Ho Yeung (Men’s Swimming & Diving).

There were a total of 79 CUNYAC Scholar Athletes (GPA of 3.2 and above) and 102 Brooklyn College Scholar Athletes (GPA of 3.0 and above) recognized on the day as well.

To conclude the festivities, each head coach presented their Most Outstanding Player Award, as well as the BC Bulldog Coaches’ Award. Those honors were handed out as follows:

Most Outstanding Player
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Cheerleading – Peter Porcelli
Women’s Soccer – Jasmine Fermin
Women’s Basketball – Nicole Francomano
Women’s Cross Country – Stefanie Steel
Women’s Tennis – Yuliya Orkis
Softball – Samantha Rodriguez
Women’s Swimming – Valentina Monroy
Women’s Volleyball – Jillian Escobar
Men’s Basketball – Jamel Gist
Men’s Cross Country – Justin Ginsberg
Men’s Soccer – Dmitry Prokofyev
Men’s Tennis – Charles Stevens
Men’s Volleyball – Timothy Hui
Men’s Swimming – Maksym Soloninko

BC Bulldog Coaches’ Award
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Cheerleading – Stephanie Marquez
Women’s Soccer – Sayla Flores
Women’s Basketball – Sarah Shanderson
Women’s Cross Country – Lygia Goulbourne
Women’s Tennis – Norma Lynn Chabbott
Softball – Stephanie Caravello
Women’s Swimming – Jenny Lee
Women’s Volleyball – Sasha Roopchand
Men’s Basketball – Nicholas Grasso
Men’s Cross Country – Jordan Johnson
Men’s Soccer – Peter Vavalle
Men’s Tennis – Robin Varughese
Men’s Volleyball – Lucas Moline
Men’s Swimming – Seth Weiss