Rice High School - Edmundian Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 116 text:

TWO JUNIOR MEMBERS of the Varsity squad, Rogelio Rodriguez and Pedro Danois, stretch their fingers over the ball before the Power game. Danois was a first-stringer this year. A terrific competitor, he should be one of the big names in the league next season. Tile Mount St. Michael game at the 69th Regiment Armory, which the Mount won, 64-40, brought the 57-58 season to a close. Although the Raiders dropped the maiority of their games C6 wins--T3 lossesD, they pulled some of the biggest upsets and near- upsets of the year by downing such power- houses as Manhattan Prep C71-69D and All Hallows Q91-90D and losing by narrow mar- gins to LaSalle C71-7Oj and Cardinal Hayes C59-575. Cther victories were scored over Dubois C5l-501 Cathedral C48-All D, St. Simon Stock C5l-391 and Xavier C7l-691 The small ten-member squad saw plenty of action all season long. The team had, in fact, what almost amounted to a ten-man first string. The three top players, pointwise and playwise, were John Robinson, Neil O'Neil and Joe Murphy. Their individual scoring records, as well as those of the others, are given elsewhere on these pages. Senior Joe Sullivan and classmates Tony Giangrasso saw action in every game and contributed many points and fancy plays. Juniors Pete Danois, Charlie Novak, Rogelio Rodriguez, Tony Bonilla, and Manny Torrado all had a good season and should be out- standing next year. Senior Owen Leonard's after-school iob forced him to drop basketball in mid-season. He was replaced by Joe Dechiaro who saw some action in the later games. ln their first year of play in the newly- organized CHSAA league, Rice did not antici- pate a winning season. The competition was simply too tough. They did succeed, through phenomenal upset victories, in becoming one of the most feared teams in the league. Much of the credit is due to the capable coaching and hard work of Mr. Sullivan whose fighting spirit made Rice the most hard fighting team in the league. Despite a losing season, Rice can be proud of the players themselves-the men who fought for the Green and Gold. AN AERIAL VIEW OF THE GAME-OPENING iump ball finds John Robinson tapping to Joe Murphy lNo. 36l. Rice upset the cadets from Xavier 71-69 in one of those last second thrillers that the Irish became famous for. Pete Danois is No. 32. Behind Xavier's No. 3 is Neil O'Neil and No. 28 is .lee Sullivan. The small ten-man squad saw plenty of liar ity lla ketlia RICE'S CAPABLE COACH, below, Mr. Arthur Sullivan, delivers some half- time pointers to his charges before they take the floor again against All Hallows. No. 27 is Tony Bonillap No. 29 is John Robinson. Inside them are Pete Danois and Owen Leonard. Mr. Sullivan has been the Rice coach for five years. A Doctor of Philosophy from Fordham Uni- versity, he teaches at St. .lohn's University. The upset victories his team scored this season have made him one of the most respected coaches in the league. action in all the games. Qi sf-

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FOUR MORE TRACK ENTHUSIASTS who have been team members since their first year. They are: Edwin Monteverde, a little Senior whose size enabled him to run midget and iunior-midget races for years, Winston Lewis, a Sophomorep Ken Morris, a Junior who really improved this year, and James Dobbs, another promising Junior. They formed a winning relay team. I V The X-Uountry Story Last September, prospects for a trophy-winning Cross-Country squad appeared better than they had in years. The season opened well and it wasn't long before Coach Mr. O'Keefte and moderators, Brothers Mcllmurray and Morkan began posting some promis- ing results on the school bulletin boards However, before the season had a chance to really get under- way, the squad --almost to a manfwas beaten by the now-famous Asiatic Flu. Virtually every runner, after weeks of careful conditioning, was struck by the virus. After a few days in bed and another week of rest, they were out of condition and the training had to begin again. Further, in a sport where one good runner can often make or break a season, Rise lost their best runner at mid-season when Charlie Garcia had to enter the hospital for a leg operation. The result was a comparatively poor season which did little but serve to condition the team for the Indoor season. I-lowevof, there were some bright points. Although the team did little in the Bronx-Manhattan-Westchester, the Fordham, St. Francis or N.Y.U. meets, they did take a Varsity and Freshman second place in the Man- hattan Championships and a Varsity second place along with a Freshman third place in the Irish Christian Brothers meet. Coaches and runners took the season in its stride. They faced the indoor season with more determina- tion than ever-a determination that paid off in tre- mendous results. A PICTURE THAT TELLS A STORY more important than a single race. Here--young Freshman Tom McNamara exhibits the kind of effort typical ot every trackman. Bob was running for all he was worth to regain a lost lead. Ricemen didn't win all the time, but they never gave up trying. W1

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THAT'S JOE MURPHY, above, sandwiched between two Power players-' all fighting for a rebound. Power, led by No. 25, a skyscraper too tall to stop, won this one 73-55. Murphy played his usual rough THIS ACTION CAME in the Power game also. Three Ricemen--Sullivan, Robinson and 0'Neil, above, go atler the elusive ball during some first half action. Rival coaches remarked that Rice had the most spirit of any team they had encountered. MORE FLOOR ACTION, below, this time against La Salle. Neil O'Neil and Pete Danois battle it out with two La Salle players in an action that resulted in a jump ball. La Salle took this one Sl-45. Later, playing one ot the best games of the season, Rice lost another closer one to La Salle, 7l-70. Irish pull some surprises JOE MURPHY lhalf-hiddenl and John Robinson tangle with St. Helena's for o rebound, at left. Moving in is Neil O'Neil l30l. The St. Helena team took this one 78-60, but talented John Robinson cost them 20 points in one of his best games. THE WHOLE TEAM gets into this scramble against St. Simon Stock. Below, Rodriquez and Danois are on the floor, Owen Leonard is bending over the pile while Tony Bonilla lrightl and Tony Giangrasso lleftl move in. Rice won 51-39.