By Dylan Butler
After leading St. Peter’s to its most successful season ever, Queens native Cesar Markovic has left the Jersey City school to become the new head coach of the Stony Brook men’s soccer team, the school announced Monday.
The Howard Beach resident and former St. John’s Prep coach spent four years at St. Peter’s and was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year this past season and led the Peacocks to the MAAC conference title and into the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
“We are thrilled to have Cesar join the Stony Brook team,” Stony Brook Athletic Director Jim Fiore said. “Hiring such a quality person fortifies the lofty expectations for our men’s soccer program, and we know that he is the perfect person to lead us up to the top of the America East and beyond.”
The move is a step up for Markovic, both in terms of quality of competition in the America East conference and facilities.
“My goal is to put Stony Brook on the soccer map and to compete on a national level as soon as possible,” said Markovic, who has built up St Peter’s almost exclusively with local talent. “Our team will play an entertaining style of soccer that we hope will receive tremendous support from the local community.”
It’s been a trend all season long. First Wendell Gibson has a good game, then it’s Kenny Adeleke’s turn.
Maybe neither got the memo or got confused as to which one of the forwards on the Hofstra men’s basketball team was supposed to be the star.
Instead both Queens natives shared the spotlight Saturday in a 98-71 win over William and Mary at the Hofstra Arena.
Gibson and Adeleke each scored 20 points for the Pride in the Colonial Athletic Association league game.
Gibson, a former Molloy standout from Far Rockaway, shot 10-14 from the floor, raising his shooting percentage to .613 on the season, up from .411 last year.
It was also the 12th time in 18 games that he has shot 60 percent or better from the floor, including the last three games in a row, a stretch during which he is shooting 19-of-26.
Adeleke, a Rochdale Village native out of Robeson High, fell one rebound short of a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds.
Christ the King grad Mike Radziejewski also played well in his most extended action of the season (28 minutes) and chipped in with six points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
The junior forward from Jackson Heights also helped hold William and Mary leading scorer Adam Hess to 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting from the field, including 1-for-6 from three-point range.
Former Francis Lewis standout Damien Herard scored a career-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting off the bench to lead St. Francis College in an 82-70 win at Wagner College Saturday.
Cardozo grad Brian Woodward had 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting and grabbed six rebounds for the University of Rhode Island in a 75-54 win at Fordham Saturday.
Former teammate Royal Ivey had eight points, including a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left in overtime to help lift No. 16 Texas' 62-61 win at No. 13 Texas Tech Monday. In a 72-67 loss to Oklahoma State Saturday, the senior guard from Hollis scored a team-high 14 points.
Christ the King grad Jave Meade had 14 points and seven assists and became the Patriot League’s all-time assist leader, and former Molloy standout Kevin Hamilton added eight points and six rebounds for Holy Cross in a 62-59 loss to American Sunday. Meade, a Queensbridge native, now has 538 career assists, passing Brian Walker of Navy on the league’s all-time list.
In an emotional final home meet, the St. John’s men’s and women’s swimming teams both improved to 4-0 after beating Stony Brook at Alumni Hall Saturday.
As part of the athletic department’s strategic reformulation, it was announced last December that the swimming program would be eliminated after 39 years.
Although the teams will continue to compete through February, it was their final time in the pool at Alumni Hall.
“It’s a year where everyone is a senior and it’s everyone’s last year, no matter what,” said coach John Skudin.
Beth Malinowski led the women, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:40.39), the 200 free (2:16.59) and the 500 free (5:12.04).
Laura Nuudi won the 200 backstroke in 2:07.20 and was a member of the first-place 400 medley relay team that included Anette Melissa Hoye, Gosia Rodzik and Caitlin Ranney, who also won the 50 free in 24.69.
Christine Myers finished first in the 400 individual medley in 4:24.50 in the Red Storm’s 126-66 win over Stony Brook.
Pawel Sokolowski paced the men, winning the 50 free (20.74) and the 100 free (44.67), while Michal Szapiel and Yuriy Bugayev also won two events apiece for the Red Storm, which won 111-88.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
