This Week in Sports
By Michael P. Batten '10
On January 23, students, faculty, family, and friends packed the Xavier gymnasium for the annual Xavier-Regis basketball tripleheader, which offered exciting matchups and friendly Jesuit competition. The freshmen began the series with a 53-50 victory over Regis. Unfortunately, the JV and Varsity Knights were unable to capitalize on Xavier’s initial momentum, though not without admirable effort and determination. The JV team’s 50-47 loss was marked by an early Xavier deficit and an unrelenting, spirited comeback that kept fans on their toes. The varsity game was the most anticipated of the tripleheader. The 16th Street Knights matched up evenly against Regis in the first quarter, but the Raiders pulled away in the remaining three, winning 65-49. Shots were not falling in the way that Xavier players and spectators would have hoped, but the Knights left the court with their heads held high. With nine games left in the season, the team looks forward to the return of James Bartnett ’17, who showed little rust in his first game back.
On Sunday, January 25, the track and field team proved that it is the best team in the city with a first-place victory at the NYCHSAA and City Championships. Matt Baker ’16 and Brandon Efap ’15 commenced the meet by going 1-2 in the varsity triple jump. Charlie Lambert ’15 took first place in the varsity long jump, as did John Rice ’15 in the 1600-meter run, Francis Clarke ’15 in the 600-meter dash, and the 4x400 relay. A few Xavier runners also set school records, including Oliver Moe ’15 in the 300-meter dash and John Rice in the 1000-meter run. Congratulations to all!
A few varsity swimmers competed in the CHSAA Novice Championships on January 24. The team took fifth place overall, and Mark Cheng ’18 took fifth place in the 100-yard breaststroke. A majority of the competing swimmers were underclassmen, which leads head coach Mr. Dennis Murphy to believe that the future of the program is very optimistic.
Since losing the first three games of the regular season, varsity hockey has won eleven games in a row. Ever improving, the Hockey Knights are in tremendous shape for the upcoming playoffs. JV hockey is also skating particularly well; they have won four games in a row.
Recently, varsity hockey was featured by journalist Jim Mancari and The Tablet, the newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn, for its rivalry against Xaverian High School, also known as the X-Game. You can read about the rivalry here and view a short video about it here.
Friday, January 30
Alumni Basketball Homecoming
Freshman Basketball vs. Farrell (@ Xavier), 4:15 p.m.
JV Basketball vs. Farrell (@ Xavier), 5:45 p.m.
Varsity Basketball vs. Farrell (@ Xavier), 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 31
JV Hockey vs. St. David (@ Bayonne HS), 10 a.m.
Freshman Basketball vs. Nazareth (@ Xavier), 12 p.m.
Varsity Track-Armory Invitational Qualifiers (@ Armory), 12 p.m.
Varsity Basketball vs. Collegiate (@ Fieldston), 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 1
Freshman & Sophomore Track-CHSAA Freshman/Sophomore Championships (@ St. Anthony’s), 8 a.m.
Monday, February 2
Varsity Track-Varsity Classic (@ Armory), 4 p.m.
Varsity Basketball vs. St. Joe's by the Sea (@ Xavier), 4:30 p.m.
JV Basketball vs. St. Joe's by the Sea (@ Xavier), 6 p.m.
Tuesday, February 3
Varsity Basketball vs. St. Edmund's (@ Xavier), 4:30 p.m.
Freshman Basketball vs. St. Edmund's (@ St. Edmund’s), 4:30 p.m.
JV Basketball vs. St. Edmund's (@ Xavier), 6 p.m.
JV Hockey vs. St. Peter (@ Bayonne HS), 8 p.m.
Wednesday, February 4
Varsity Hockey vs St. Peter's (@ Bayonne HS), 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 5
Varsity Hockey vs. @ Birch Wathen Lenox (@ Lasker), 4:15 p.m.
Freshman Basketball vs. St. Joe's by the Sea (@ Xavier), 4:30 p.m.
Varsity Swimming-Diving Championships (@ Fordham University), 5 p.m.