Sports News

 Swimming
The St. John's University men's and women's swimming teams defeated local rival Iona in a dual meet held November 17 at Alumni Hall. The men's team topped the Gaels 114-84, while the women's team won by a score of 115-78. The men improve to 2-1 on the season, while the women reach the .500 mark at 2-2.

Men's
On the men's side, junior Pawel Sokolowski won the 50 and 100 free with a BIG EAST "A" cut time of 21.24 and a BIG EAST B cut time of 52.15. Sophomore Danilo Krvavac placed first in the 100 back with a BIG EAST B cut time of 53.78. Also recording first place finishes were senior Michael Szapiel in the 100 free (47.81), junior Marcin Filopowicz in the 200 free (1:46.52) and 500 free (5:03.79), and sophomore Yurly Bugayeu in the 200 IM (2:01.89) and 100 breast (BIG EAST "B" cut time of 59.52).

Women's
On the women's side, senior Elizabeth Malinowski was the story of the meet setting a new SJU record in the 1000 free with a time of 10:23.54, over seven seconds faster than the previous mark she set in 2002. Sophomore Gosia Rodzik placed first in the 100 back with a BIG EAST "B" cut time of 59.82, while freshman Anette Melissa Hoye finished first in the 100 breast with a BIG EAST "A" cut time of 1:07.55. Also posting top finishes for the Red Storm were Adi Segal in the 200 IM (2:16.32), sophomore Christine Myers in the 100 fly (59.90) and graduate student Laura Nuudi in the 500 free (5:19.40).

Women's Volleyball
The St. John's volleyball team closed out their 2003 season with a 3-1 (30-21, 27-30, 30-28, 30-25) victory at Georgetown November 16. With the win the Red Storm posted their 26th victory, setting a new all-time record for wins in a single season. St. John's finishes 2003 with a 26-9 overall record and a 7-5 mark in the BIG EAST, while the Hoyas fall to 9-19 overall and 4-10 in the conference.

The Red Storm were led by freshman Puna Richardson who recorded 17 kills with only one error on 25 attempts for a .640 hitting percentage. Sophomore Jackie Ahlers posted a double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs, while senior Rosalyn Dang added 11 kills and five block assists, and junior Yana Ruban chipped in 10 kills and a team-high six total blocks. Freshman Erin Poglits dished out 52 assists, while adding seven digs and four kills. In her final game as a member of the Red Storm, senior Robyn Kurasaki led the defense with 15 digs.

Men's Basketball
St. John's men's basketball team opened the season against #23 Marquette and held last year's NCAA Final Four participant to 29.6% shooting but couldn't muster any offense of their own (31.4% on 16 of 51 from the field) in a 52-45 setback to open the 2003-04 campaign on November 13. The early start was part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Marquette point guard Travis Diener led all scorers with 18 points and hit nine of 10 free throws for the Golden Eagles (1-0). St. John's (0-1) got 10 points and six rebounds from senior Kyle Cuffe, 11 points and four rebounds from forward Grady Reynolds and freshman Lamont Hamilton came off the bench to net eight points and pull down six rebounds in defeat.