The Kings Point men's basketball team continued their torrid run through the Skyline Conference this past week, improving to 5-0. Overall the Mariners are 10-2 heading into a crucial week with three Skyline games.

Senior captain Kevin Bernick (Toms River, NJ) and sophomore Mark Medvetz (Medford, NJ) notched 18 points apiece to pace the men's basketball team in a non-conference win on Jan. 8. The Blue and Gray played CCNY to an 86-63 final score on the road. Kings Point had five players in double-digit scoring. Bernick and Medvetz with 18 points each, senior captain Nate Barton (Hummelstown, PA) with 14 points, sophomore Gabe Whitney (Nashua, NH) with 12 points, and freshman Joe Hart (Frackville, PA) with 10 points. Medvetz and junior Seth Cobb (Powder Springs, GA) each had a team-high six caroms. Barton tallied six assists.

The Mariners opened up a 40-25 lead in the first 20 minutes and entered the intermission with a 15-point edge. In the first stanza, the Mariners shot 50.0 percent from the field. The Blue and Gray continued to lead and outscored the Beavers of CCNY by a 46-38 margin in the second half en route to the 86-63 victory.

On Saturday, Jan. 12, Kings Point had a dominating performance on the hardwood at SUNY Old Westbury and posted a 91-64 win in men's basketball. The Mariners led the entire game, ahead by 11 at the intermission, and tied an academy record after going to the line 64 times in the 40-minute game. Last season in their run in the NCAAs, Kings Point also went to the line 64 times against Cabrini to establish a new plateau. Kings Point again had five players in double-digit scoring. Barton, Bernick, and Whitney scored 13 points apiece. Junior Jason Bernick (Toms River, NJ) and Medvetz each added 10 points to the totals.

The Mariners' women's basketball team now owns a 2-10 overall record and an 0-2 Skyline Conference ledger in just their second season of varsity competition. The Blue and Gray are in the midst of a four-game home stand and dropped two games last week in Liebertz Gymnasium to Western Connecticut State University (73-45) on Thursday and Mt. St. Mary on Saturday (79-50).

On Thursday, Jan. 10, the Mariners were defeated by the Colonials of Western Connecticut State University by a 73-45 final score. Western Connecticut outrebounded the Mariners by a stunning 49-24 margin en route to the win. The Colonials jumped out to a 42-20 halftime lead after knocking down 41.7 percent of their shots from the field in the first stanza. Kings Point's leading scorer was sophomore Rebecca Segert (Merritt Island, FL). Segert, who is averaging 23.4 points per game, was held to 14 points. Segert was also the top rebounder with five off of the glass. Rookies Aubrey Murdock (Lady Lake, FL) and Renee Sherman (Merritt Island, FL) added 11 and eight points, respectively.

Saturday saw the same outcome for Kings Point as the three-time defending Skyline Champions, Mt. St. Mary, came to town. The Knights, who are 9-3 overall and 3-0 in the Conference, posted a 79-50 win over the Mariners. Mt. St. Mary held the Blue and Gray to just 17 points as they opened up a 20-point halftime lead (37-17) on their way to the 79-50 win. The Knights took 32 more shots than the Mariners during the game and led the rebounding war, 69-35. The Mariners played much better in the second stanza as they doubled their first-half output and shot 41.7 percent from the floor (10-24), however, the outcome of the game was not in question by then. Kings Point was led by the sophomore duo of Rebecca Segert and Alexandra Landreth. Segert scored a game-high 24 points while Landreth turned in an 11 point-10 rebound performance. Rookie center Kim Ianelli (Richmond, VT) had six points and five rebounds in the loss.

Kings Point's men's and women's swimming and diving teams returned to competition for the first time since December as they hosted the perennial powerhouse Profs of Rowan University on Jan. 12. The men lost by a 128-101 final score while the women fell, 116-81. The Blue and Gray men stand at 3-2 while the women are 2-3 on the year. Rowan's menís team is a perfect 4-0 while the Prof's women are 3-1.

The women were led by sophomore Laura Jenkins (North Brunswick, NJ), who had an outstanding day with three event wins, doing her best to add points for the Blue and Gray. Jenkins had a lifetime-best in the 1000 Free and established a new academy record in a time of 11:29.64. She then swam a season-best time of 2:22.88 in the 200 Individual Medley, and a lifetime-best time winning the 500 Free (5:38.84). Senior captain Michelle Gates also had a win on the women's side. She touched the wall in 2:07.95 in the 200 Free and followed up that race with a season-best time of 2:39.45 in the 200 Breast, good enough for second place. Rookie diver Michelle O'Nan (Lakewood, CA) won the one-meter event with a score of 164.9. Freshman Krista Smith (Kings Park, NY) and sophomore Audrey Meyers (Great Neck, NY) each finished the freestyle sprints with their top times so far this campaign. Meyers finished in third in the 50 Free in her top time of 26.27 while Smith placed third in the 100 Free in 1:06.48.

On the men's side, Rowan steadily built up a lead from the first race and won 10 of 13 events outright. The Mariners had a number of good swims, including three firsts, despite the 128-101 loss. Senior Joe Schacherer (Oceano, CA) won the 200 Free in a time of 1:50.40, which tied his season-best in that event. Sophomore Jared Swan (Yorba Linda, CA) was first in the 50 Free (22.50) while classmate Joe Quirk (Cooper City, FL) won the 200 Back (2:05.22). Rookie distance swimmer Brett Collins (Portland, OR) placed second in the 1000 Free with a season-best swim of over 16 seconds as he touched the wall in 10:27.59. Also turning in season-bests were: freshman Ed Hertz (Medina, OH) in the 200 Free, sophomore Chris Juckiewicz (Glen Cove, NY) and freshman Sam Higginbottom (Monassas, VA) in the 50 Free, junior Scott Payne (Virginia Beach, VA) in the 200 Fly, and freshman Brendan Parrish (Venice, FL) in the 500 Free.

The track and field team travelled to Yale University to compete on Friday, Jan. 11 and Saturday, Jan. 12. The teams at the meet were mostly NCAA Division I institutions including Yale, Boston College, UConn, Marist, and Stony Brook, but the Blue and Gray held their own with a number of very strong performances.

Freshman Andrew Ghiglia (Arroyo Grande, CA) placed fifth in the 55-meter dash finals in a time of 6.66 seconds. He advanced to the finals after winning his first heat in a time of 6.71. He then raced in the semis and placed third in his fastest time of the day (6.60 seconds) before racing in the championship heat. Sophomore Todd Hoyt (Bend, OR) also earned a fifth-place finish. He ran the 400 meters in a time of 52.14. He was cut-off on the second turn in the race but was able to round the bend and turn on the burners to win his section going away. Twins William and Walter Hall (Pearl River, NY) continued their great rookie campaign by running times of 52.78 and 53.02 in 400 meters. The times were fast enough for them to finish ninth and tenth, respectively. Distance runner Drew Williams (Lancaster, OH), a freshman, won his section of the mile by over six seconds. He was 14th overall. Williams later ran the fastest leg of the 4x800 relay. Sophomore Patrick Myers (Albuquerque, NM) won the third section of the 800 meters, running away from the field after the first 200 meters.

In the field events, freshman Greg Elliott (Cape Coral, FL) was fifth in the high jump with a clearance of 6' 3.25", he just missed clearing 6' 5" but clipped the bar on his second attempt at that height. In the pentathlon, held on Friday night, sophomore Kevin Pusateri (Beacon Falls, CT) placed 10th overall with 1,587 points. His terrific performances in the 1,000 meters and the shot put boosted him into the top ten.

Both the 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams ran into some snafus on the track. In the 4x800 sophomore Alex Sichel (Westport, CT) was running in third place in the Championship heat when a racer behind him stepped on his heel and knocked his shoe off. Sichel, never one to give up, continued the last 700 meters without his shoe. His perseverance allowed the Mariners to finish the relay and the team placed seventh overall. The 4x400 team followed the 4x800 event with Walter Hall leading off. As Walter Hall tried to take the lead 250 meters into the race, he and another racer clipped each other. As Hall went down, the baton was knocked onto the infield. The team fell from first place to last place in the process and was unable to fully recover. The remaining racers came on strong for the Blue and Gray, and the Mariners finished fifth in the section, failing to advance.

The grapplers had a very busy week. In a thrilling match on Jan. 8, the Blue and Gray defeated the US Coast Guard Academy Bears by a 20-18 final score in Liebertz Gymnasium, handing Coast Guard their first loss of the year before a packed house. Then on Saturday, Jan. 12, Kings Point travelled to Muhlenberg for a tri-match with the Mules and Baptist Bible College. The Mariners soundly defeated Baptist Bible by a 39-8 final score but then fell to Muhlenberg by a slim 23-18 margin. Overall, Kings Point is now 5-3 in dual-meet competition.

The meet began at 174 pounds with Coast Guard's Brendan Harris posting an 8-4 decision over Kings Point junior Trevor Battles (South Bend, IN) to take a 3-0 lead for the Bears. In the next bout, sophomore Chris Springer (Garden Valley, CA) tied the score up for the Mariners with a 5-1 decision at 184 pounds. The Mariners then took the lead as sophomore Ed DiPierro (Yardville, NJ) wrestled to a 13-6 major decision at 197 pounds. The Bears' Gavin Garcia cut the deficit to a point for Coast Guard (7-6) as he won the heavyweight bout over the Blue and Gray's freshman Steve Scrobe (Monroe, NY) by a 5-3 margin.

The meet then moved into the lighter weights. Coast Guard regained the team lead with the 125-pound bout, senior captain Dave Coburn (Beloit, WI) fell by an 8-3 score. Sophomore Erick Amiscosa (Toms River, NJ) pinned the Bears' Greg Vera in 2:28 to give Kings Point back the lead at 13-9. At 141 pounds, Coast Guard posted an 11-8 decision over the Mariners' sophomore Casey Dexter (Riverside, CA), cutting the Kings Point team lead to one point again (13-12). The Mariners Danny James (Fort Lauderdale, FL), a junior, and PJ Silva (Weymouth, MA), also a junior, secured the Blue and Gray win with decisions in the next two matches. James won 10-2 at 149 pounds and Silvaís victory was by an 11-4 margin at 157 pounds. The final match of the day saw Scott Koser of Coast Guard pin senior Alan Thornhill (Parker, CO) in 18 seconds to trim the margin of victory to 20-18, however it wasn't enough as the Mariners prevailed. Overall it was a thrilling and exciting match. Coast Guard brought four busses of Cadets to route on the Bears and the bulk of the regiment from Kings Point was also in attendance as Liebertz Gymnasium was filled to the rafters.

Kings Point then took to the road for the tri-match at Muhlenberg. The Mariners first took on Baptist Bible College and won 39-8. There were five forfeit wins for KP and only five bouts were actually wrestled. The meet began at 133 pounds with freshman Gerry Fortuna (Pen Yan, NY) falling by major decision (16-4) to put Baptist Bible ahead. After three weight-class forfeits, Kings Point led 18-4 heading into the next four matches. At 165 pounds Baptist Bibleís Dan Davis posted a major decision (16-4) over the Marinersí freshman James Gardner (Lindenhurst, NY). At 174 pounds, junior Paul Sparks (Advance, NC) won a 16-10 decision and then Chris Springer followed that up with a 9-5 decision at 184 pounds. Ed DiPierro won the final match, 5-2, at 197 pounds.

Against Muhlenberg, things were a little more even and competitive. The Mules jumped out to a 13-0 lead after winning the first three matches. Erick Amiscosa fell in overtime (13-9) in the first match (133 pounds). Casey Dexter lost a major decision (11-0) at 141 and then Danny James was pinned in the 149-pound weight class at 1:07. Trailing 13-0, Head coach Tim Alger turned to junior 157-pounder PJ Silva to provide a spark for Kings Point. Silva answered with four points, winning a 14-5 major decision, and making the team score 13-4 in favor of the Mules. Muhlenberg responded with a victory by fall (1:31) over rookie James Gardner at 165 pounds to put the lead back at 19-4. Trevor Battles took to the mat at 174 pounds in the next bout and won a technical fall at 5:30 to add five points for the Blue and Gray (19-9). Springer and DiPierro followed suit. Both won decisions at 184 and 197 pounds. Springer's victory was 8-1 while DiPierro posted an exciting 2-1 final in an all-out battle on the mat. The score was 19-15, with the Mules ahead, heading into the last two matches. At Heavyweight, Muhlenberg's Tyler Cathey posted a 13-1 major decision over Steve Scrobe for his 28th consecutive dual-meet win and to clinch the Muhlenberg victory. Senior captain Dave Coburn was able to win a 9-6 decision in the final match at 125 pounds but it was not enough to pull out the win, and Kings Point fell, 23-18.

Chris Springer (184) and Ed DiPierro (197) were the only two Mariners to post a 3-0 record this week. They all won their bouts against Coast Guard, Baptist Bible, and Muhlenberg.