The Christ the King H.S., Middle Village, varsity girls’ basketball team won this year’s ‘AA’ Division State Federation title with an 81-76 victory on March 23 over Ossining H.S., N.Y.
The nationally ranked Lady Royals finished the season 26-4 and won their fourth ‘A’ championship, their first since 2010. A 16th Federation title adds to Christ the King’s tournament record.
Five Lady Royals finished the championship game in double figures: senior guard Cavina Rickards (19 pts.), senior center Klarke Sconiers (17 pts.), senior guard Khadija Demry (14 pts.), junior forward Natalija Marshall (14 pts.) and senior guard Kaelynn Sattersfield (13 pts.).
The boys’ varsity team from Christ the King advanced to the ‘AA’ State Federation championship game as well but fell short to Long Island Lutheran H.S., Brookville, N.Y., 51-31, on March 24.
The Catholic Youth Organization hosted its annual girls’ swimming Olympics March 23 at the Eisenhower Park Aquatic Center, East Meadow, L.I. The following swimmers turned in impressive performances:
- In the Junior 25-yd. Butterfly, Martyna Kaps from Good Shepherd, Marine Park, placed first with a time of 13.14 seconds, coming within .45 seconds of breaking the record of 12.69 seconds.
- With a time of 32.04 seconds in the Senior 50-yd. Breaststroke, Meeya Yan from St. Anselm/Our Lady of Angels, Bay Ridge, came within .30 seconds of breaking the record of 31.74 seconds.
- The team from Our Lady of Perpetual Help/St. Andrew the Apostle, Sunset Park/Bay Ridge, won the Junior 100-yd. Medley Relay at 57.72 seconds. Their time came within .63 seconds of breaking the record of 57.09 seconds.
Olympic swimmer Lia Neal will return to her home borough of Brooklyn for a swimming clinic hosted by the Swim Strong Foundation, a local nonprofit organization that teaches children and adults how to swim properly.
Neal, a product of St. Saviour parish, Park Slope, is the first woman of Black descent to swim an Olympic final for the U.S. She helped win a bronze medal for the team’s 4×100-yd. freestyle swim in 2012, and she also won a silver medal as part of the team in 2016.
The clinic will take place on Saturday, April 20 from 1-5 p.m. at Bushwick H.S. Neal will lead a freestyle swimming bootcamp for the first two hours, and there will be free swimming lessons for the community for the final two hours. Neal’s parents, Siu and Rome, will lead a discussion on raising an Olympian from 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Visit www.swimstrongfoundation.org to register.