Bishop Kearney High School Salutes Student Athletes

Rachel Silberstein -
The Special Award winners are pictured [L-R] with athletic director, Joseph Tiernan: Jacqueline Gallagher, Therese Gallagher, Gabrielle Monferrato and Samantha Southard. (Courtesy of Bishop Kearney High School)

That night, everyone was a winner.

Bishop Kearney High School held a very special sports awards dinner earlier this month, honoring its winning teams and players — including many student athletes from Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge.

Parents, coaches, and members of Kearney’s administration gathered at Rex Manor, a Dyker Heights catering hall, to congratulate all those who had taken part in the year’s activities.

Bishop Kearney High School is a private Catholic secondary school for girls, located at 2202 60th Street in Bensonhurst.

At the dinner, Kearney’s track team was honored for an outstanding season, during which the cross country team won the Brooklyn/Queens Championship.

Student Lisa Fajardo won the CHSAA Cross Country Championship and was named Brooklyn/Queens Champion and the Mayor’s Cup Champion. Tessy Gallagher, Jackie Gallagher, Lisa Fajardo and Colleen Gallagher were selected to the CHSAA All-Star team and qualified to compete in the New York State Federation championship. During the indoor track season, Lisa Fajardo was the Brooklyn/Queens Champion and the City Champion in the 1500 meter. Jackie Gallagher won the Brooklyn/Queens Championship in the 1000 meter and Tessy Gallagher was the Brooklyn/Queens Champion in the 3000 meter.

Outdoor track results were also impressive. In the 1500 meter field, Lisa Fajardo won Brooklyn/Queens Championship, City Championship, qualified to compete in the state championship and set a new school record.

The swim team tied for first place in the GCHSAA B Division during the Dual Meet Season and took first place in the 200 and 500 freestyle at the B Division Championship Meet. The JV volleyball team finished first in the Brooklyn/Queens GCHSAA regular season play. Jen Kaye was named to the 2015 Mayor’s Cup Basketball Team; Kailey O’Grady and Jen Kaye made The Tablet All-Star- Basketball Team and Emily Bosiacki made The Tablet All-Star Basketball 2nd Team. (The Tablet is the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.)

Each Kearney coach presented the Most Valuable Player award to a member of the team who had made an important contribution to their sport during the year.

The winners included: JV basketball – Marie Holstrom; varsity basketball – Kailey O’Grady; boosters – DinaGrace Gipli; JV cheerleaders – Paulina Pazcowski; varsity cheerleaders – Stephanie Anderson; tennis – Brianna Floreal; cross country, indoor and outdoor track – Lisa Fajardo; soccer – Jenny Fahy; JV softball – Nicole Pazarecki; varsity softball – Jennifer Bove; swimming – Tarah Drennan; JV volleyball – Gabriella Rafaniello and varsity volleyball – Nicole Pazarecki.

Special awards, named for people who had made a significant contribution to the Kearney community over the years, were presented to outstanding athletes. The Sister Geraldine Woods Award was given to Jacqueline Gallagher and the Erin Quinlan Memorial Award was presented to Gabrielle Monferrato. Samantha Southard received The Theresa Whitty — Kearney’s #1 Fan Award — and Therese Gallagher received The Deborah Lovett Award.

Each year, the National College Athletic Association recognizes Kearney student athletes who earn an average of 95 percent or more, while participating in sports and making significant contributions to their school and community.

This year, the honorees were Valentina Acevado, JessicaMina Diaz, Lisa Fajardo, Colleen Gallagher, Jacqueline Gallagher, Therese Gallagher, Brianna Gelsomini, Marie Holstrom, Nicole Pazarecki, Bridget Pynn, Jessica Southard and Joanna Sullivan were honored.

Congratulations to the students athletes and the rest of the Kearney community!