Daily Sports Digest: National Signing Day Hits New Rochelle

The Top Spot:

Sean Combs has gone by many names; Puff Daddy, Diddy and P. Diddy, to name a few. But now the hip hop mogul from Mount Vernon can call himself the proud father of a UCLA Bruin cornerback.

In a brief ceremony after school, several of Iona Prep’s top athletes signed their college letters of intent, but all of the attention was on Justin Combs. The defensive back signed on to play for UCLA and new head coach Jim Mora. The class Coach Mora brought in is already being considered one of the top recruiting classes of the season.

Across town, Anthony Caldararo, an All-State defensive end of the New Rochelle High School Huguenots signed his national letter of intent to play football at American International College in Springfield, MA. 

Yesterday’s Results:

Sport: Boys Basketball

Game: Iona Prep vs. Xavier High School

Score: Iona Prep Won 61-54

Highlights: Feliz Abongo led the Gaels with 22 points while Isiah Ice picked up 14 and Kevin Conroy tacked on 12.

Sport: Boys Skiing (Tuesday)

Game: North Rockland - Bronxville

Highlights: Bronxville’s Petey DeJoy finished in first with a best run of 26.41 and New Rochelle’s freshman Jonathan Yurdell in a close second with a 27.20.

Today’s Schedule:

In boys basketball, New Rochelle will head to White Plains at 4:15 p.m.

In girls basketball, New Rochelle will host White Plains at 4:15 p.m.

In boys swimming, White Plains heads to New Rochelle at 4:15 p.m.

Other News:

Sign Up for New Rochelle Little League:

New Rochelle residents can sign up for Little League for the 2012 season this weekend. Saturday, Feb. 4, marks the second of three registration dates for this year, with the third coming the following weekend.

All registrants must have a copy of their birth certificate and they will be held at the Little League House at Tocci Field from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Prices and additional information for all age groups can be found on the league’s Web site.

College Sports Notebook:

Spartans climb in rankings

In the recent NCAA Regional Poll The St. Thomas Aquinas College men’s track and field team climbed up two spots to No. 7 in the NCAA regional rankings.

The Spartans were also ranked 75th in the country in the latest power rankings by the NCAA.

The Lady Spartans are ranked 15th in the region.

Mike Abelard of Spring Valley is ranked 25th in the nation and fourth in the region in the 200-meter with a time of 22:14. The Ramapo High graduate is also ranked third in the East in the 60 with a time of 7.01. 

George Erazo of North Babylon holds 32nd place in the nation and fifth in the region in the 400 after clocking 49:05, while freshman Alex Andre of Garnerville broke into eighth place in the regional rankings in the 800 (1:56.86). 

The 4x400 relay team of Abelard, Erazo, Rich Ricca of Pearl River and Frankie Colon of Suffern is third in the region while the DMR (distance medley relay) team of Andre, Erazo, Garvenchy Nicolas of Brooklyn and Matt Buell of Staten Island is sixth.

Colon ranks fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 42-6. 

Keeley Bateman of Pearl River leads the women’s squad with a seventh-place ranking in the 800 with a time of 2:20.82. Bateman, Kaitlin Mancini of Long Island, Catherine Sandkuhl of North Babylon and Chelsea Klinger of Owego make up the DMR team that ranks sixth in the East Region.

A few members will be competing this weekend in the New Balance Collegiate Games at the Armory in upper Manhattan, while the balance of the team continues to prepare for next week’s CTC Championships in Middleton, CT.

Mercy, mercy, mercy

The men’s basketball team at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry is struggling at 2-17, but the show goes on—as well it should.

The Clippers will host NYIT (7-10) on Saturday (Feb. 4) at 5 p.m. as part of alumni day festivities.

Kortney Parker of Mount Vernon is a reserve forward at Mercy, with 10 steals and four blocked shots on the season, and a 5.2 points-per-game average.

Points at a premium

Twin brothers Justin and Drew Daniels of Suffern take the ice on Friday as Northeastern University and Massachusetts meet for the final time of the regular season at Matthews Arena in Boston, MA.

In the last three games, Northeastern has managed only two points off the Minutemen (0-1-2).

Northeastern (10-11-3) is looking to avoid not winning a game against UMass in a season since the 2006-07 docket.

Friday’s game is extremely critical for both squads. The Huskies and Minutemen (9-10-5) are tied for seventh place in Hockey East following last weekend’s action in which NU swept Vermont while the Minutemen were dealt a pair of losses by UMass Lowell.

Justin Daniels, a premier man on face-offs, has 13 points on six goals and seven assists, while Drew has chipped in three assists.

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