XC Teams Test New York’s Best
On Sunday morning the cross country teams ran in their first NYSAIS Championships in the 35th annual gathering of New York’s top independent schools, held at the famed Van Cortlandt Park 5K course.
Riley Corcoran took 12th overall in a time of 17:32, the Bears’ fastest time at a State Championship since Jacob Brummeler ran 17:20 in the 2013 NYSPHSAA Championship. It was also the highest place for a Stony Brook boys’ runner at a State Championship since Billy Collins finished 11th at the 2007 NYSPHSAA Championship while leading the Brook to a 3rd place finish.
Zack Xu (40th/18:40), Josh Lin (101st/20:34.04), Clement Leung (103rd/20:34.93), and Forest Kaplan-Walbrecht (106th/20:36) rounded out the scoring for the Bears who took 12th out of 21 teams with 324 points, narrowly behind Dalton (320) and ahead of Rye Country Day (343), Horace Mann (344), Dwight (345), Masters (361), Calhoun (473), Grace Church (488), Loyola (503), Browning (516), and United Nations (546).
On the girls’ side, Sarah Wong capped a fantastic sophomore season with a 22:26 performance and a 32nd place finish, the girls’ highest State Championship individual finish since Margot Rashba took 15th at the 2013 NYSPHSAA Championship. She was followed by Judy Tao (96th/25:04), Maryana Lekanova (115th/25:40), Simona Smitaite (120th/25:59), and Evelyn Apazidis (115th/26:00).
The girls’ took 16th out of 21 teams with 424 points ahead of Hewitt (440), Dalton (447), Riverdale (483), Horace Mann (504), and Masters (580).
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XC Teams Run Away with PSAA Titles
Yesterday afternoon, the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams turned in a dominant performance in their first PSAA Championships held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
It was the first time the Bears ran a championship race at the famed Bronx loop since 1972, but Stony Brook’s history at Van Cortlandt is a rich one. Both Peter Randall ’65 and Laura Whitney ’82 each held the 2.5 mile course record at the park while the boys’ team won 21 Ivy League Championships on the course between 1949 and 1972. The current crop of Brookers added to that incredible history.
The girls’ team earned 12th team title and their first team title since winning both the League and County Championships in 2013. Sarah Wong won the girls’ first individual title since Margot Rashba won the County Championship in 2013. The sophomore covered the 2.5-mile course in 18:05, eleven seconds ahead of the runner-up from Kew-Forest. Judy Tao (5th/20:05), Simona Smitaite (6th/20:30), Maryana Lekanova (11th/21:32), and Diana Barbacena (12th/21:33) also scored as the Bears accumulated just 39 points to best Long Island Lutheran (90), Avenues (99), and Waldorf (193).
The boys nearly swept the field of seven other teams in winning the 65th championship in program history and first since 2013. Riley Corcoran paced the field in 14:09, over a minute faster than the runner-up, teammate Zack Xu, an 8th-grader, who came through in 15:24. Corcoran’s time was the fastest PSAA Championship time since 2013, despite running almost the entirety of the race alone. Clement Leung (5th/15:45), Forest Kaplan-Walbrecht (9th/16:11), and Frank Cheng (10th/16:27) also scored, giving the Brook five finishers in the top ten for a dominant performance. They accumulated a scant 27 points to best Waldorf (74), Avenues (98), Long Island Lutheran (100), Portledge (150), Solomon Schechter (166), Knox (205), and Lawrence Woodmere (212).
The memorable performance was capped when head coaches David Hickey and Alicia Brummeler were named the PSAA Coaches of the Year. It was a gratifying finish to a year that began with triple-digit temperatures on the first day of practice and above-average rainfall throughout the season. On many afternoons our runners were forced to run laps through the Swanson hallways, but their hard work and dedication despite the numerous setbacks paved the way for yesterday’s performance.
Next up for both squads is the NYSAIS State Championship set for Sunday morning at Van Cortlandt Park.
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Tennis Team Claims PSAA Tournament Title
The team after claiming their second title of the season
Yesterday afternoon the girls’ tennis team capped an undefeated league season by claiming the PSAA Tournament Championship with a 4-1 win over Portledge, to go along with their East Division regular season title.
Sadhana Sridhar capped an undefeated League MVP season at first singles with an 8-1 win, while Marta Bennett (8-3), and Nicolette Carlo (8-5) completed the singles sweep. Seniors Ali Birgeles and Tina Luo won their first doubles match, 8-6.
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On This Day In History | 1944
The ’44 Blue and White
On this day 74 years ago, the football team beat St. Paul’s, 33-7, to take a 9-7 series lead in what at the time was the school’s oldest rivalry. Here is the recap from The New York Times:
Garden City, L.I.–Tallying in every period except the last, the Stony Brook School eleven swept to a 33-7 triumph over St. Paul’s School today. A 51-yard run by Donald Drake for a touchdown in the second period was a feature of the game which saw Don Walker, Donn Gaebelein, Charley Medd and Dave Swanson also across the line for the winners.
The ’44 squad finished 5-2 for the team’s best record since 1937.
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Bears Upset LuHi for Program’s 1st Crown
It was an afternoon 46 years in the making.
Since the inception of the boys’ soccer program in 1972, no team had won a postseason tournament in program history. That changed this afternoon when the 3rd-ranked Bears upset defending champion #2 Long Island Lutheran in a thriller at Cantiague Park.
The Bears tied the Crusaders 1-1 in the first regular season match-up and lost 3-2 in the rematch at LuHi. The third clash had all the makings for a classic and both teams delivered a physical and exhilarating match in front of over 150 Stony Brook fans that made the trek to Hicksville.
The opening 35 minutes were evenly matched as both squads sought to establish their own style of play: LuHi sending balls into space for their big, speedy forward, and the Bears using precision passing and off-ball movement to build up the wings. The Crusaders ended the stalemate, breaking through with a fast break goal with just 4:41 left in the half, a lead they would carry into the break.
All season long the Bears had been a second half team, scoring 45 second half goals compared to 27 first half goals, including two second halves in which they notched an incredible six. They lived up to their reputation today as they tucked away two for the deciding margin.
The Bears’ urgency was palpable in the opening moments of the final forty and less than two minutes in they equalized when Jai Narain swooped in on a misplayed ball by LuHi’s physical keeper to knot the score. From there each side had several tantalizing opportunities to take the lead, but both defenses remained stout. Midway through the half, Mo Romeus was taken down for a foul inside the box, earning a penalty kick attempt with 18:22 left on the clock. The sophomore forward strode up to the ball and drilled one of the biggest goals in Stony Brook history to give the Brook a 2-1 edge.
Romeus’ championship moment was not forged on a chilly afternoon in October, but in the sweltering heat of a Long Island summer. All summer long, in the shadow of an empty Buyers’ Park, Romeus and Narain took hundreds of penalty kicks, preparing for a moment just like that. The hard work paid off.
Romeus’ strike gave the Bears’ their first lead in three match-ups vs. the Crusaders this season and the defense ensured it held up. Carl Dohna, Jake Aretz, Aidan Mega, Brandon Gicquel, and Caleb Spreckels were an indispensable core in the backfield, chasing down fleet forwards, winning balls all over the field, and continually sending passes up to the playmakers. Lael Kutame, who made six saves in the win, was at his finest, aggressively leaving his line to beat forwards to balls on the lightning fast turf. LuHi would have several more meaningful chances, but Dohna, Spreckels, and Gicquel each erased one to keep the Bears in front.
As the minutes lurched forward, the Bears, instead of hanging on for the win, continued to force the action, nearly driving an early nail in the coffin with under ten minutes left when a sensational Romeus cross and Ian Blunt header ricocheted off the face of LuHi’s keeper. Over the final stretch, the Bear defense remained an impenetrable wall. As the final seconds bled away, the Blue Fan Group poured over the fence and onto the turf to celebrate the new kings of the PSAA and a fresh piece of Blue and White history.
With the victory the Bears improve to 13-3-1 to break the program record for wins in a season, set by the 1994 squad. The Bears now move on to the NYSAIS State Tournament and will find out their seed and opponent tomorrow afternoon.
Notes:
- Jai Narain was named the Championship MVP
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Kutame Leads Stony Brook to PSAA Boys Soccer Crown
This afternoon the boys’ soccer team earned the first tournament title in program history with a 2-1 upset victory over Long Island Lutheran. Here is the recap of the game from Desiree Mathurin of Newsday.
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The final minutes dragged on in the boys soccer matchup between Stony Brook and Long Island Lutheran.
Stony Brook was up but Lutheran was ready to strike at any minute. With 10 seconds left, the countdown started on the sidelines.
After time ran out, the Stony Brook squad became the new PSAA boys soccer champions defeating Long Island Lutheran, 2-1, Friday afternoon at Cantiague Park.
The win, like the final minutes of the game, was a long time coming for the Bears.
“I waited a long time for this win,” goalie Lael Kutame said.
Jai Narain added, “Getting here is something we haven’t accomplished in our four years. We always came up short…It’s been a long time since we got a win in the playoffs. We put in a lot of work this season and the win makes it all worth it.”
Kutame and Narain joined the team together in the eighth grade and according to Narain, “worked their butts off to make it on the varsity squad.”
They did the same to secure the win.
Lutheran scored first. Andre Curbelo received the ball and went 1-on-1 with Kutame, a move he saw throughout the match. This time it worked, giving Lutheran a 1-0 lead with 4:41 remaining in the first half.
The Bears came back stronger in the second.
Narain tied the score with 38:10 on the clock. There was a fumble near the net, the ball was dropped and Narain pounced.
“Every game you get that one chance on a bad break,” Narain said. “I saw the ball and didn’t think about anything except putting the ball in the net.”
Mo Romeus scored the go-ahead goal on a penalty kick with 18:22 on the clock.
“Over the summer all we practiced was penalty kicks,” Romeus said. “I wasn’t ready when I went up there but I knew my team believed in me.”
Kutame totaled six saves. He wasn’t afraid to get out of the box and assist the defense, stopping the breakaways. “It took a lot of hardwork figuring out how far I can go out,” Kutame said.
Narain gave Kutame more credit, “There’s no goalie who puts in more work than Lael. He’s there late early all the time.”
The win ends a 20-year drought for the Bears (13-3-2) in boys soccer. Narain and Kutame are graduating but Romeus will be left to continue the winning tradition.
“There’s been a lot of ups and down with this team,” Romeus said. “But pulling through with this team is special for me. I’ll keep doing my best for them.”
Narain shook Romeus’ head and added, “He’ll be back for us!”
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Narain Sets Goals Record as Bears Romp in Quarters
The Bears after yesterday’s win
On Monday afternoon the 3rd-seeded boys’ soccer team dismantled #2 Heschel School, 7-0, at Randall’s Island Park in Manhattan.
It was a historic day for the Bears as they won their first playoff game since Oct. 25, 2003 (a 1-0 win over Pierson), ending a string of nine consecutive postseason losses, including first round losses the last three years. Jai Narain also broke the 24-year old goals in a season record, scoring his 22nd to top Robbie Marvin’s mark of 21 from 1994. It was a gratifying accomplishment for the senior who was within arm’s reach of the mark a season ago with 19 tallies.
Owen Sobel got the scoring started minutes into the match, volleying home a cross from Mo Romeus. Sobel then staked the Brook to a 2-0 lead after heading in a cross from Ryan Eikenes. Narain added goals three and four in quick succession to build a 4-0 lead for the Brook that they would carry into the half. On his first he finished a gorgeous 40-yard free kick from Tiger Winston, then blasted home a pass from Romeus who made a great individual effort up the right wing.
The Bears put the game away with three more scores in the second half, the first of which coming off the foot of Ian Blunt who put in Narain’s brilliant ricochet off the right post. Romeus added a score on a shot inside the 18-yard box thanks to an assist from Blunt, then Narain wrote his name into the history books with a clever volley over the keeper before finding the net.
With the win the boys advanced to the PSAA semifinals, but were given a bye to Friday’s championship game when #1-seeded Our Savior forfeited. They will meet #2 Long Island Lutheran in the program’s first championship game since the 2006 Suffolk County Class C final. Kick off is set for 3:00pm at Cantiague Park in Hicksville.
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