Maverik Lacrosse Founder Gagliardi Inducted Into LI Lacrosse Hall of Fame

Maverik Lacrosse has announced that its founder and president John Gagliardi from Manhasset was inducted into the Long Island Metropolitan Lacrosse Hall of Fame last weekend in a formal induction ceremony held at the Huntington Hilton Hotel in Melville. The 2011 Hall of Fame inductees also included Greg Gattrano, Scott Craig, Tom Martello, Jim McIntee, Richie Meade, Blake Miller, Tracy Weiner Provenz, Sabrina Gallagher Roszko and Artie Seekamp.

“What an honor! Growing up in Manhasset, lacrosse has had a huge impact on my life since it was first introduced to me,” said Gagliardi. “My first game was in fifth grade playing on a Manhasset PAL team, I used to work on my skills down at the Village Green in Manhasset and I even played my last game professionally for the Long Island Lizards out at Hofstra, which is full circle in some ways for me. The one constant throughout my career has been Long Island lacrosse and all of the great coaches who inspired me both on and off the field. That’s why my goal will always be to help develop and grow the game of lacrosse nationally through my company Maverik Lacrosse and make it possible for kids everywhere to enjoy the same experiences I had playing lacrosse on Long Island.”

MHS Wrestling: A Step Forward

The biggest highlight of the season for the Manhasset wrestling team was their win against Bethpage; Bethpage is one of the top teams in the conference. Overall this season was a much more impressive, and very successful compared to last year’s team. As the season progressed the team began to get closer together and more confident, team record was 3 wins and 3 losses and last year was 1 win and 5 losses. Coach Sair says, “That he hopes that next season will be an even better one and they will keep progressing.”

Mike Fera, the team’s captain, directed the team throughout the year. Fera had an outstanding year placing, first in four individual tournaments that he entered. Overall he ranked fourth in the county, as well as one of the most prestigious players throughout Long Island. Within a few weeks there will be a tournament where players compete to be “all-county.” Mike Fera has a great chance to be one of those few selected people to be all-county. Fera is a monster on the mat and wouldn’t let up under any circumstances. Fera shows how a flashy, sharp player competes, while indicating how he diminishes his mistakes. Furthermore he is only a junior, which means he going to come back next year to lead the team to an exuberant place.

St. Mary’s CYO Basketball News: February 15, 2012

St. Mary’s boys fifth-grade team (Doyle) closed out their regular season with two impressive wins last weekend. On Saturday, St. Mary’s once again proved that a good defense beats a good offense by knocking St. Frances out of first place with a 22-14 victory. St. Mary’s guards (Jack Hannan, Peter Doyle, CJ Miller, Thomas Broderick and Kevin Doyle) badgered the St. Frances guards mercilessly throughout the game, never letting their opponents get into an offensive set. Charlie Young and Edward Arnold led the scoring with 8 points each. Edward also had 10 rebounds, and Derek Mulholland pulled down 7 boards. On Sunday, the boys defeated St. Anne’s 28-6. This time the intense defensive pressure was led by St. Mary’s front-liners (Victor D’Angelo, Drew Miller and Mike Stratford) who held their opponents to 2 points in the first half. With 12 points, Charlie Young led a balanced offensive attack. Jack Hannan, Matthew Pegno, Derek Mulholland, Greg Menke and Owen Connor also scored for St. Mary’s. Greg Menke was the leading rebounder with 9 boards. Kevin Doyle (the master of the old-school, classical bounce pass) had numerous assists, including two that would have made ESPN’s Top 10 if ESPN covered CYO basketball.

MHS Boys Swim Team Are 2012 Conference 2 Champions

On Tuesday, Jan. 31, The MHS Boys Swim Team traveled to Hewlett to face the #1 preseason conference opponent Hewlett Turtles (5-2). The previous Friday, Jan. 27, the boys easily defeated Massapequa to improve to 6-0 and guarantee at least a tie for the conference crown. The Indians arrived at Hewlett with something to prove. The last time they were undefeated and won a conference crown was 2005. The last time they won at Hewlett was over 20 years ago.

On this day, Manhasset would not be denied. A determined group of seniors implored the team to maintain its intensity and swim with a sense of urgency. The team got out to an early lead. Once again, the Manhasset divers Peter, Chris and Ryan provided a tremendous lift by finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd to open up a double-digit lead. Manhasset officially clinched the conference title by taking 1st and 2nd in the 400 Free Relay to win the meet 61-40 and finished the season undefeated at 7-0. Congratulations to the boys!

MHS Senior Diver Excels at Eastern States

On Saturday, Jan. 21, Manhasset diver Peter Magliulo competed in his first Eastern States High School Invitational. Peter has arguably been Nassau County’s top diver over the past three years. As a sophomore, he earned top spot in Nassau and competed in the NYS championship. As a junior, Peter finished second and just missed a return trip to States.

On The Bay: February 1, 2012

Port Rowing Team Wins the Dorman Cup at the First Annual Gold Coast Classic

Monika Dorman, a resident of Sands Point, and an avid rower, had a dream for many years of starting a rowing club for the children of Port Washington. In 2010, Monika, along with Mitch Tamkin, a former high school, college and U.S. Junior Team rower, Bo Hansen, a former Danish National Lightweight rower and Steve Panzik, a former high school, collegiate and U.S. Junior Team member, and community advocates, formed Friends of Port Rowing. In April 2011, under the leadership of Steve Panzik, executive director and head coach, 94 novice rowers in seven (donated) boats took to the water from the Village Club of Sands Point. Within a year – they are celebrating their first year anniversary right about now – this group bought boats, hired coaches, and launched what was to become an incredibly successful rowing club.

In just one year they have become the largest rowing club on Long Island, with over 150 new and experienced rowers enrolled in the “sold out” Winter Training Program. Since that first day in April, 2001, the team won five races at their first regatta, the Big Duck Regatta, a gold medal for boys four at the Long Island Championship, and a huge win for the girls four at the New York State Championship. And that was just the spring season. In the fall, the team won two races at the Head of the Passaic, coming in second in the team points race and winning 13 medals (five Gold, four Silver and four Bronze) at the Snowflake Regatta in Riverhead. The varsity boats also competed at the Head of the Charles in Boston and Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia. For those who are unfamiliar with rowing, these last two regattas are major competition.

On The Bay: January 25, 2012

The Annual Frostbite New Year’s Regatta is always the highlight of the holiday season. Not only is the on-the-water competition really good, but the festivities connected with the event are great fun. Last week, this column highlighted one of the “awards” given to the Race Committee for their superior demonstration on how to try to burn down Kraus’ Kastle. What readers need to know is that they really didn’t want to burn down the float, but because they grill yummy lunch each Sunday out on the bay (in freezing temperatures, mind you) they may have gotten just a tad bit lax in watching the burgers. Oh, well, these awards are all in good fun, like the Mooseheads that are given out at the end of each season. Come to think of it, both events are aimed at Race Committees…. Maybe we need to have a seasonal roast of the racers and their teams… I am sure we could come up with some really “dopey” things that go on in a race… you know, those things that are never mentioned at the bar after racing.

St. Mary’s CYO Update: January 25, 2012

St. Mary’s fifth-grade team 7 fought weather and two tough opponents this past weekend and defeated both. Saturday saw snow and St. Philip Neri of Northport in their sights and both were melted. In a hard-fought physical game, St. Mary’s won 29-25 behind Joseph Mulholland (6), Patrick Reilly (6) and Nick Quinn (5). Huge efforts turned in by Steven Vlahakis, John Whelan, Alex Racanelli and Louis Perfetto (2). On Sunday the 7-0 team thawed out St. Anne’s of Garden City 31–27. Behind the scoring of Timmy Kiggins (7), Patrick Reilly (7) and Patrick Weber (4) and going 7-11 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, it was an outstanding team effort on offense and defense. Sparked by Louis Perfetto (3), Steven Salerno, Michael Farrell, Jackson Cherry and Alex Racanelli, the real Gael Force this weekend was their defense bringing them to an 8-0 mark.

MHS Girls Varsity Volleyball Collects Accolades at Dinner

On Dec. 12 the Nassau County Girl’s Volleyball Awards Dinner was held and four Manhasset Varsity players were recognized. Olena Cardali, Cassie DeMatteis and Megan Herschlein received All Conference awards. Additionally, Megan received the Manhasset Scholar Athlete award for the third year in a row and Nicole Capolarello received an All County award for the second year in a row. The night was a truly special event when the Manhasset Varsity team was honored by the coaches in their conference with the Conference A1 Team Sportsmanship Award!

Coach Shean was also proud to announce that the New York State Athletic Association is also recognizing Manhasset Girls Varsity Volleyball as a Scholar Athlete Team. This year 12 out of 14 girls on the team qualified for this honor scoring high on their first quarter report card—the most the team has had qualify! This illustrates how hard the team worked throughout the season exemplifying excellence in the classroom and on the court with sportsmanship. The hard work of the team was recognized and they should all be proud of these honors.

Manhasset Varsity Field Hockey Scores Big at Awards Dinner

Congratulations to the 2011 Varsity Field Hockey team and to Coach Steve Sproul for a terrific winning season. On Wednesday, Dec. 7, the Manhasset High School Girls Varsity team brought home a multitude of awards to make Manhasset proud. Senior Olivia Parisi and junior Maddy Molinari were voted All-State and All-County.

The team had a remarkable season under the guidance of head coach Steve Sproul (2010 Nassau County Field Hockey Coach of the Year). The team earned the following impressive awards: