Sports Briefs

WOMEN’S SWIMMING: Magliola’s record-setting meet Kristen Magliola, a sophomore from Shoreham, combined with freshman Melissa Erickson to score 63 individual points and each was part of SUNY/Oneonta’s record-setting 800-yard freestyle relay in the recent SUNYAC Championships. The two joined with freshmen Kelsey Ward and Lindsey Molfino to swim of time of 8 minutes 17.75 seconds, which bested the old record of 8:20.10. Magliola’s best finish was in the 400 individual medley where she came in fourth, swimming a time of 4:44.16. Her next best finish was sixth in the 200 backstroke (2:13.35). She broke her own school record of 2:12.38 in finishing ninth in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:12.14.

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD: Budd qualifies for championships Alexandra Budd, a Riverhead High School graduate and freshman high jumper at Cortland State University, recently qualified for the State University of New York Athletic Conference Championships at Hobart College on Saturday as well as the ECAC Division III Championships at the Armory in New York City on March 4 and 5. Budd’s qualifying high jump was 5 feet 3 inches.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE: Vlahakis to coach new St. Joseph’s team Bob Vlahakis, the former Shoreham-Wading River High School coach, has been hired as the head coach of St. Joseph’s College’s newest athletic program, women’s lacrosse. According to Donald Lizak, the athletic director of the Patchogue-based college, the hope is for the women’s lacrosse program to begin playing a varsity schedule in the spring of 2012.

Vlahakis joins St. Joseph’s with an impressive résumé. At Shoreham-Wading River High School, Vlahakis guided the girls lacrosse team to four New York State championships (2007-10), five Long Island championships (2006-10), seven Suffolk County championships (2004-10) and six Suffolk County and New York State team sportsmanship awards. Additionally, Vlahakis has been honored with three Long Island Coach of the Year and seven consecutive Suffolk Class C Coach of the Year awards.

“St. Joseph’s College is extremely fortunate and very pleased to have someone with the talents and expertise of Bob Vlahakis, join our staff,” Lizak said. “He is a proven winner in every respect, and we are excited about what he brings to our program.”

The addition of women’s lacrosse as an NCAA Division III sport will increase the St. Joseph’s athletic program’s total to 19 teams and one support squad. The newborn club will take the field at St. Joseph’s new outdoor athletic complex, which is slated to be completed by this fall.

St. Joseph’s College has captured the Skyline Conference Presidents Cup each of the past three academic years as the top-rated athletic program in the conference.

Vlahakis, a Shoreham resident, was an English and social studies teacher at Shoreham-Wading River Middle School for 30 years. During his high school coaching tenure, the lacrosse team won New York State scholar-athlete team awards each year from 2004 to 2010.

“I am very excited with the challenge of starting a brand new NCAA Division III lacrosse program at St. Joseph’s College, a very special school with a wonderful and positive student body and an amazingly supportive staff whose primary goal is the happiness and well-being of those students,” the new coach said. “Everywhere I walk on campus, people are excited about the prospect of lacrosse coming onto the campus, and I take that as a huge responsibility to the St. Joseph’s community.”

Vlahakis also coached the boys and girls soccer programs at Shoreham-Wading River High School, garnering four Long Island championships, five county championships and nine coach of the year awards. Overall, his coaching record in 26 combined seasons in the three sports is 343-133-19 (.721).

Vlahakis is no stranger to the collegiate scene as he led the club team at Colorado State University to a 23-1 record and a U.S. Lacrosse Women’s Division Intercollegiate Associates (WDIA) national championship in 2008.

Off the field, Vlahakis holds the position of senior editor for the Inside Lacrosse newspaper and Face-Off Lacrosse Yearbook — a publication he founded in 1994.