5 Brooklyn PSAL schools qualify for Millrose Games

The stakes were high – 17 boys’ teams and 12 girls’ teams hit the track for the Public Schools Athletic League 4x400m relay at the Millrose Trials last week at the Nike Armory Track and Field Center.

The stakes — to secure one of the top six spots and punch a ticket to the 118th Millrose Games, set for Jan. 31 at the Armory.

The Millrose Games, a legendary track and field event, began in 1908 when employees at Wanamaker’s department store formed the Millrose Track Club. By 1914, the meet had grown so popular it moved to Madison Square Garden. Today, it remains one of the most prestigious indoor meets in the world.

The PSAL Boys’ 4x400m Relay – Millrose Qualifiers are:

Susan Wagner: 3:24.09
Harry S. Truman: 3:26.32
Medgar Evers College Prep: 3:28.39
Brooklyn Technical: 3:28.69
Benjamin Banneker Academy: 3:30.57
Bronx HS of Science: 3:36.19

The PSAL Girls’ 4×400, Relay – Millrose Qualifiers

Benjamin Banneker Academy: 3:57.84
Medgar Evers College Prep: 4:05.25
DeWitt Clinton High School: 4:07.79
Susan Wagner: 4:09.16
Midwood: 4:11.79
Pathways College Prep: 4:14.78

Zariah Hargrove, Medgar Evers College Prep, qualified in the girls’ 55m (7.27). Frank J. Macchiarola Educational Complex was a qualifier in the boys’ 4x200m (1:37.05); along with Boys and Girls High School (1:42.11).

The Frank J,. Macchiarola Educational Complex girls qualified in the 4x200m (1:48.40); they were joined by Medgar Evers College Prep (1:52.65), followed by Abraham Lincoln (1:52.79) and Boys and Girls (1:56.21).
Midwood High School’s Cherry Amancio qualified in the girls’ weight throw (45-03.75) along with teammate Alexa Barker (27-06.75).

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Medgar Evers College Prep could not break out of their rough patch on Jan. 9, as the team dropped their fifth straight. They came up short against the Grand Street Campus Wolves, falling 80-60. Kameron Tucker scored 17 in the loss; Jeran Dryden had nine points and six rebounds.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Grand Street and leaves them with a 3-6 record. Medgar Evers Prep is now 6-7.

The Engineers of Brooklyn Tech dropped their third straight – a 78-77 heartbreaker to Robeson Business Tech’s Eagles, Saturday. Tavious Scott scored 37 in a losing effort; teammate Siam Nguyen added 15. Brooklyn Tech now sits at 4-10; as for Robeson Business Tech, their win bumped their record to 8-6. Scott previously scored 33 in last Wednesday’s loss to Achievement First, 69-57. Teammate Nguyen added 15 points.

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Tilden dropped their third straight to Frank J. Macchiarola’s Sharks, 69-51 on Jan. 7. The Blue Devils are now 2-6, as for Frank J. Macchiarola, they pushed their record to 5-2.

Lafayette was the 65-56 winner over Madison when they last played one another back in November; but their luck changed this time around. This time, the Patriots fell 48-32. Having lost for the first time this season, Lafayette fell to 5-1; as for Madison, the victory got them even at 4-4.

Boys and Girls picked up their 16th straight defeat dating back to last season as they fell to the Wagner Falcons, 76-61 on Jan. 8. The Kangaroos fell to 0-6; Wagner pushed their record to 5-4.

Canarsie secured a 71-65 win over Brooklyn Collegiate last week. It was the Chiefs’ ninth straight win at home, dating back to last season. The win pushed Canarsie’s record to 10-4; as for Brooklyn Collegiate, they moved to 6-5 with that defeat, which also ended their three-game winning streak.

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The annual holiday tradition — the 55th Monsignor King Memorial Basketball Tournament — at St. Thomas Aquinas, Flatlands (Dec. 27-30) featured St. Edmund Prep, Sheepshead Bay, Cristo Rey, St. John’s Prep, Holy Trinity, Kennedy Catholic, Hackley School, Bedford Academy and St. Rose of Belmar, New Jersey.

Holy Trinity topped Brooklyn’s St. Edmund’s Eagles for the title. The tournament, formed in 1962, is named after former St. Thomas Aquinas pastor Monsignor Jeremiah King, who in 1954 created a fundraising campaign to create parish buildings – one is the basketball gymnasium.

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Long Island University’s senior, 6-3 forward, Kadidia Toure, is the first student-athlete to receive Division I Co-Player of the Week honors by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association, since Valerie Nainima, who received the same award, Feb. 25, 2008. Toure shared the honor with guard/forward Perri Page of Columbia University. She averaged 25.5 points, 12 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game in LIU’s wins over Mercyhurst University and Saint Francis University (Pa.) last week.

In 15 games, LIU is 9-6, 4-0 in the Northeast Conference. Toure leads the NEC in points per game (19.7), rebounds per game (10.6), field-goal percentage (47.6%), and blocks per game (1.4).

The LIU men’s team leads the NEC (4-0) and sports a 10-7 record thanks to their 67-63 win over Saint Francis University, Saturday in Loretto, Pennsylvania. Graduate student Jamal Fuller led all scorers with a season-high 23 points. The Sharks hit the road Saturday (Jan. 17th) to take on FDU at 7 p.m.

Noah Serdachny scored the game-winning goal with 2:45 remaining and LIU’s men’s hockey team (8-12-1) topped Stonehill College, 3-2 Sunday afternoon at Bridgewater Ice Arena. The Sharks return to action Friday, Jan. 23rd at the University of Alaska Anchorage at 11 p.m.

Grace Babington scored twice and the LIU women’s ice hockey team (9-12-1, 7-8-1 (New England Women’s Hockey Alliance) downed Saint Michael’s College, 4-0 Sunday afternoon at Northwell Health Ice Center. The Sharks host Assumption University 3 p.m. Friday (Jan. 16th).

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Brooklyn College junior guard, Brianna Jackson (South Shore High School), earned Honorable Mention for her efforts on the court last week in a pair of Brooklyn conference victories. It is Jackson’s third consecutive weekly honor this season.

She averaged 16 points per game, and 7.5 assists per game. In the win over Baruch — she had a game-high 16 points; and a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Medgar Evers. Brooklyn moves to 11-3 and 4-0 in the City University of New York Athletic Conference.

Abdoulaye Gueye earned Honorable Mention for a pair of men’s victories for Brooklyn College last week. Gueye had a career week – he averaged 18.5 points per game. He scored a career-high 19 points in the Bulldogs’ overtime win over Baruch – their first since 2020. He closed his week with 18 points in Brooklyn’s 76-74 win over Medgar Evers on Jan. 9.

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Lauren Caiaccia is the new women’s volleyball coach at Brooklyn College. She had a successful tenure at Hunter College, where she led the volleyball program to four straight conference titles (1999-2002). She was named City University of New York Coach of the Year following her 2001 conference title run. She also guided the Hunter men’s volleyball team, to a City University of New York Athletic Conference championship in 1999 and 2003 – and was named Coach of the Year following both seasons.

She was a member of the women’s volleyball, women’s basketball, and track and field teams as a student at Binghamton University.

She took over the Brooklyn program as the Bulldogs were on a four-match skid. She was victorious in her first match as BC defeated The City College of New York Oct. 14. She led Brooklyn to their first CUNYAC Championship match since 2022, following a quarterfinal win over Lehman and a semifinal victory at Baruch. Brooklyn finished the final 13 matches with a winning record under her leadership.

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Maven Cummings responded with 33 points in his first start for the St. Joseph’s University (Brooklyn) basketball Bears Saturday — but they fell 85-72 to St. Joseph’s (Long Island) at The Hill. Cummings led the Bears with 23 points in their 88-78 loss at SUNY Old Westbury, Jan. 7.

The Lady Bears of St. Joseph’s University topped the University of Mount Saint Vincent, 54-49 in a Skyline Conference contest in Riverdale, Friday afternoon. Mercedes Perez led all scorers with 36 points.

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A second-half surge from Marywood University resulted in a 58-46 defeat for the Pratt Institute women’s basketball team, 58-46 Saturday in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Pratt (1-9, 0-2 Atlantic East Conference) was led by sophomore Anabela Jakelic (Zagreb, Croatia) and fifth-year guard Kylie Grant (Dallas, Texas ) each with 16 points.

The Pratt men’s team erased an 18-point deficit to briefly take the lead in the second-half, but fell short in an 84-80 loss to Marywood University in Scranton, Pa., Saturday. First-year forward Kurt Thomas (Dallas, Texas) led the Cannoneers (8-5, 0-2 AEC) with a game-and career-high 24 points.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] X: @AndyFurmanFSR