As part of its annual winter tradition, Msgr. McClancy H.S., East Elmhurst, hosted the 36th Brother Arnold Memorial Basketball Tournament Dec. 2-3.
For the first time in those 36 years, the pre-season tournament welcomed girls’ high school teams.
McClancy reached the finals in both the boys and girls brackets, but ultimately fell to tournament champions LaSalle Academy, Manhattan, and Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead, L.I., respectively.
The tournament honors the memory of Brother Arnold Bakutis, S.C., a former athletic director and physical education chairman as well as a teacher at McClancy who was instrumental in the development of the school’s athletics program.
Sadly, Brother Arnold died of a heart attack while jogging on McClancy’s track on May 22, 1980, at the age of 55. To honor him, former McClancy boys’ head basketball coach Don Kent started the tournament.
Four student-athletes from The Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates, signed National Letters of Intent to continue their sports careers in college. Congratulations to seniors Jordan Nixon (basketball, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind.), Val Valcourt (basketball, Hofstra University, Hempstead, L.I.), Kania Pollock (basketball, Manhattan College) and Joanna McNulty (swimming, Boston University).
Tom Giovatto, head coach of the St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, men’s soccer team, was named the Eastern Colleges Athletic Conference Division I Coach of the Year. He guided the team to a berth in this year’s NCAA Tournament after winning the Northeast Conference championship.
Giovatto has spent 11 years as the Terriers head coach and has compiled a 106-66-30 overall record. His teams have won the conference championship in four of the past five seasons.