Daily Sports Digest: Rockland County Honors Senior Athletes of the Season

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Midterm Weeks Lightens High School Schedule

Midterms and regents exams continue this week, and while athletic programs across the state pause to allow the young student-athletes to focus on the academic side of high school we remind you that while competition will be scarce during the week the games will resume fully this weekend.

To all the athletes out there, study hard on your exams and best of luck.

Rockland County Sports Honors Senior Athletes of the Season

After each season, each of the 11 Rockland High Schools submit an outstanding Senior Male and Female athlete to a selection committee. The committee has the unenviable task of picking the best Male and best Female athlete of the 22 nominees every season.

At the end of the year all 66 nominees from the three seasons are guests at an Annual Awards Breakfast in Pearl River.

“This award is considered by many to be one of the most prestigious awards programs in Rockland County! It is a tremendous honor to be selected as their own school's Outstanding Senior Athlete in a season, let alone be selected as the over-all Rockland County Winner,” said the Selection Committee in the press release.

This year’s nominees for the Fall’s athlete of the season were:

SCHOOL:                              MALE:                                   FEMALE:                

ALBERTUS MAGNUS        JEREMY SOSA                     VICKY SLOWIK
                                     Football                                   Volleyball       

CLARKSTOWN NORTH     ZACHARY ROSE                 ALLISON AMATUZZO

                                     Cross Country                         Volleyball

CLARKSTOWN SOUTH     FRANK TUCEK                    KATIE BURRELL

                                     Football                                   Soccer

NANUET                          JAMES SHUPE                     SARAH SCHUCKER

                                     Football                                   Soccer
NORTH ROCKLAND          TOM GINTY                          ALEXIS HATCHER

                                     Football                                   Cross Country

NYACK                           RONALD LEWIS                 HELEN SHABINSKY

                                     Football                                   Field Hockey

PEARL RIVER                  KIERAN BRENNAN                       MOLLY SHINE
                                     Cross Country                         Cross Country

RAMAPO                         KEVIN JOCELYN                NICOLE CANADA

                                     Football                                   Soccer
SPRING VALLEY              ORPHEE JEAN-CHARLES     MYRTENDRA CICERON

                                     Soccer                                     Cheerleading
SUFFERN                        RICH IBSEN                         ELIZABETH FLAHERTY

                                     Volleyball                                Volleyball
TAPPAN ZEE                   NATHAN KOTCH                MEAGAN JASKOT

                                     Cross Country                         Cross Country

After carful deliberation the selection committee named Suffern’s Elizabeth Flaherty and Clarkstown South’s Frank Tucek the Rockland County Athletes of the Season for Fall 2011.

Elizabeth Flaherty was a second team all state volleyball player and the Journal News named her Rockland’s Player of the Year. She was a member of the NYSPHSAA Final Four All Tournament team and Conference Four’s player of the year.

Flaherty captained her team in her senior season to an historic 18-6 record that led Suffern to their first ever final four and led Section One in kills while being named first team All-Section, All-League and All-County.

Frank Tucek was a football player at Clarkstown South who was named to the All State first team for defense, Tucek was also the Journal News Player of the Year for Rockland County and the Section One Conference AA MVP.

Offensively, Tucek was named the Conference AA Back of the year and he was elected to the Section One Senior All-Star game.

Tucek was a captain for the team this year that went 7-2 and made it to the Section One Semi-Finals. In his senior season the two way starter was named first team All-Section, All-League and All-County.

Lady Jaspers stumble

The Manhattan College women’s basketball team (9-10, 3-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) suffered a 59-45 loss to Loyola (7-12, 3-5 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium in Riverdale.

Junior guard Maggie Blair of Briarcliff had two points, two rebounds and two assists in 10 minutes for Manhattan.

The Jaspers are back in action on Friday afternoon, when they visit Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT, for their second meeting of the season with Fairfield University (14-5, 7-1 MAAC).

The Lady Stags posted a 63-59 victory over Manhattan at Draddy Gymnasium on Jan. 7.  Friday’s game is the National MAAC Game of the Week and will be broadcast live at 4 p.m. on ESPN3, ESPN’s online video portal.

Freshman guard Felicia DaCruz of Chestnut Ridge has played in 17 games at Fairfield, averaging nine-plus minutes a game. The Albertus Magnus grad has eight assists, and a steal.

Hinds, Mountaineers at the Garden

Jabarie Hinds of Mount Vernon, a guard at West Virginia University, will be in action tonight at Madison Square Garden against St. John’s University (8-11). Game time is 7 p.m.

The former high school standout was just the third basketball player to win section 1’s Mr. Basketball as a junior. The other two are 2005 NBA Sixth Man of the year Ben Gordon and two time NBA All-Star Elton Brand.

Hinds has been getting significant playing time for the Mountaineers despite being a freshman, and leads the team in assists with 73.

West Virginia elevated its record to 15-5 with a 77-74 overtime victory against Cincinnati as Hinds scored 12 points to go along with four assists. Hinds also had three steals, raising his season total to 29, second-best on the team by just one to Gary Browne of Cupey, Puerto Rico.

In the Cincinnati game, sophomore Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains scored 12 points and had five rebounds for the vanquished Bearcats.

Golden Bears trapped

Senior guard Brian Jones of Austin, TX, sank a free throw with 1:02 left in overtime for his only point of the game as the University of New England men’s basketball team edged Western New England 70-69 at the Alumni Healthful Living Center in Springfield, MA.

This was only the second win in 15 outings for the Nor’easters who are now 2-6 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC). The Golden Bears drop to 5-10 overall and 2-7 in conference action.

Junior center Dennis Rinaldi of Harrison--who at 6-foot-4 is best suited to play forward, but uses muscle to compensate for a height disadvantage in the pivot--had 11 points and three rebounds in the loss.

The Golden Bears hope to rebound tonight when they host Gordon College (6-10) of Wenham, MA, at 7:30 p.m.

Full speed ahead for Setters

Senior Carol Johnson of New City scored 14 points as the Pace University women’s basketball team elevated its record to a sparkling 14-3 with a 62-57 victory over Franklin Pierce (11-6).

Johnson, a graduate of Cardinal Spellman HS, is averaging 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and three assists.

The Setters host Merrimack College (3-13) of North Andover, MA, today at 5:30 p.m. in the front end of a twin-bill with the men’s teams.