DECEMBER 2016
Girls Basketball – Abby Ursino
Abby is a senior captain, averaging 4 points per game in December. Abby anchors a defense that is holding opponents under 40 points per game. She leads the Red Devils in rebounds, averaging 7.33 a game, including 12 against Montgomery and 11 against Mendham.
Boys Basketball – Aidan Murphy
As a captain on this years team and a two year starter, Aidan has continued to lead and produce as we navigate through this early season. He is highly competitive, tough and skilled. Aidan has been an absolute pleasure to coach for the past 3 years.
Swim Team Boys – Chris Au
Chris is a standout senior swimmer who excels in the freestyle, breaststroke and Individual Medley. He is essential to the success of the team and has already scored dozens of points in our two victories against Hillsborough and Mendham.
Swim Team Girls – Lucy Hess
As a freshman Lucy has already had a tremendous impact on the team. She has added a lot of depth to our relays, backstroke, and freestyle events. In our first victory against Mendham she had best times in her two individual events and contributed to second place finishes on two relays.
Ice Hockey – Ted Kapp
Ted has shown the team how to overcome personal adversity and has scored 4 goals and has 3 assists for 7 points which has been a major contribution to the varsity’s 7-2-1 record through December. Ted also really appreciates the support the Ridge High students have given him and the ice hockey team so far.
Winter Track & Field Boys – Tim Youtkus (12)
Tim started this winter season earning two school records. He jumped 19’3″ in long jump and 41’3″ in triple jump. Tim also placed 2nd in HJ at the Somerset County Championship.
Winter Track & Field Girls – Kaitlyn Van Baalen (11)
Kaitlyn won the Somerset County 800 Meter Run in addition to anchoring the winning 4 x 400 meter Relay.
Boys Fencing- Eric Liu
Eric is part of the starting varsity team as a freshman. He finished 1st in the squad county championships and took 4th in the individual event. Eric has gone undefeated in dual meets so far in the season.
Girls Fencing- Elizabeth Yugov
Liz has stepped up to fence varsity as just a freshman. She has had outstanding performances in dual meets so far, looks to have a promising 4 years.
OCTOBER 2016
Girls Cross Country – Caitlin Haggard (11)
Caitlin won the Somerset County Individual Championship leading Ridge to a team title. Her time at Pleasant Valley ranks 2nd on the Ridge All Time list. Caitlin was also our top runner at the Manhattan Invitation where Ridge placed 4th among teams from 7 states.
Boys Cross Country – Ryan Lindrud (10)
Ryan has improved significantly this season and has made himself a top member of the team. He was the first Ridge athlete to finish at the Somerset County Championship placing 7th overall. He ran 16:45 breaking his previous personal best by 45 seconds. He finished second for Ridge at the Conference Championship and at Shore Coaches Invitational early in the month.
Boys Soccer — Austen Lui
Center Back and Tri-Capt Austen has lead the boys soccer team to a 6-3 record in the month of October. His unselfish play, and tenacious overall defending, has helped the team improve defensively to a 1.3 goals against average. He credits his success to his close mentor, and sister Maddy, who plays on the girls team. He is also a skilled FIFA 17 enthusiast, and juggler, on the weekends.
Girls Soccer – Anna Hess
Anna is a senior captain who is one of the top goal scorer’s for this year’s team. Anna is tenacious as an attacker, looking to take her opponents on 1 v 1 and get crosses into the box. As a three year member of the varsity team, Anna continues to lead by example with heart and effort in every practice and game. Currently Anna has 6 goals and 1 assist for the 12-4-2 Ridge team which is ranked 10th in the State according to NJ.com.
Volleyball – Rachel Tam
Rachel is the Libero for the Girls Varsity Volleyball Team, it is her second season and second year as the starting Libero. Rachel is our top defensive player and best serve receiver. She accumulated 263 digs this season for a career total of 533 digs. She is also one of the top servers on the team with 28 aces.
Gymnastics – Dani Hyde
Dani has been an outstanding asset to the Ridge Gymnastics team for the past four years. As a senior she has been highly supportive and encouraging to her teammates. Her self-confidence, focus, and determination has not only led to her own success but has shown great leadership to the team. We will miss her next year but wish her the best of luck as she moves onto a new adventure in college.
Field Hockey – Cami Hughes
Cami is one of the most versatile players on the field hockey team. She started the season as a defender, and seemlesly moved to center mid- one of the toughest positions on the field. She also took over a key role on offensive corners and was a big reason for our scoring success in the latter half of the season. She finished the season as our leading scorer and her leadership and passion for the game is second to none!
Football -Dan Skea – Captain
Dan leads team in receptions and rushing yards, scored 3 defensive touchdowns in October.
Tennis – Co-Captains Annie Giberna and Amanda Vinges
Amanda and Annie playing together at 1st Doubles lead the Girls Varsity Tennis Team to its first ever Group IV Championship in school history defeating both Princeton and Bergen Tech in the Group 4 Championship. The Girls Tennis Team (ranked #5 in NJ) advanced to the Semi-finals but were eliminated by Millburn, the eventual TOC Champion. The Girls Tennis Team also won the Somerset County Tournament, the Skylands Conference, and the North II Group IV State Sectional Title.
SEPTEMBER 2016
Boys Soccer – Senior Tri-Capt. Noah Jefferies
Noah has opened his 2016 goal scoring account with 11 goals in Sept. His ability to be a universal player has been nothing short of brilliant this year, and he is looking to improve on his 13 goals as a Junior. He is able to score with both feet, his head, from close in, and from long range. His favorite professional player is Chelsea’s Diego Costa, and strives to emulate him in every way. He credits his brother Gabe’s influence in backyard individual duals, as one of the secrets to his success.
Girls Soccer – Ally Friedman
Ally has helped to anchor the Ridge Girls Soccer defense this year, denying top goal scorers opportunities and helping to only allow 7 goals in the month of September. In addition to Ally’s defensive skills, she has made runs forward to help Ridge’s attack, scoring the game winner at Hunterdon Central in the last 2 minutes. Ally is a versatile player with a natural fluidity on the field. She reads the game exceptionally well and has the technical ability to be incredibly difficult to mark when she transitions to the attack.
Volleyball – Lorin Dazzo
This year as team captain of Girls Volleyball, Lorin has amassed 65 Kills, 8 Service Aces and over 18 blocked shots. Lorin is a three year varsity starter and over her career has 233 kills, 57 Aces, and over 90 blocks.
Gymnastics – Grace Stewart
As a Varsity Athlete for the past four years Grace has shown true dedication and leadership to her team and teammates. She is driven and willing to do what is asked of her and completes any task she is given with a smile. She puts her teammates first and is a huge asset to our team. As a senior we will miss her but we wish her the best of luck as she moves onto college.
Cheerleading – Cassondra Raia
Cassie is a versatile junior on the Varsity team. In the past two years she has developed her skills as a flyer, and brings the competitive level to the game squad. Cassie’s hard work ethic shows: her motions are tight, she is a talented gymnast, she makes every effort to save the stunt, and has excellent showmanship. Cassie is a competition cheerleader and also a student coach, who volunteers over 100 hours a season to the Ridge youth team. She is working through a recent elbow surgery, but remains a dedicated member of the cheer team, without missing a weight room session, practice or game despite her surgical setback.
Football – Mark O’Brien
Captain, two-way starter, great leader, tremendous work ethic.
Tennis – Chrissie Giberna and Navya Yemula
Chrissie and Navyya are both undefeated with records of 16-0. They led the Varsity Girls Tennis Team to its first ever Team County Championship as well as winning the 2nd and 3rd Singles County Title. Chrissie and Navya have helped the team to be seeded #1 in the State Sectional Team Championship for North 2 Group IV. Good Luck Girls.
Field Hockey – Hannah Ingal
Junior Hannah is a first year varsity starter who has made an immediate impact. The sure stick sweeper is averaging one goal-line save a game (a rarity in field hockey!). She has been a huge factor in Ridge Field Hockey’s success this fall, allowing less than 2 goals per game against some of the top teams in the state.
Girls Cross Country – Amanda Passman
Amanda continues to work very hard and move her way in to the top 5 on Varsity this season. Her early season races contributed to significant team performances in both the Shore Coaches and Eastern States Championships.
Boys Cross Country – Thomas Miscia
Miscia in his first cross country season has made a huge impact on the team. He is consistently in the top 3 runners on the team. At the Randolph Invitational, he finished in the top 20 and at the Skyland Conference batch meet finished in the top 10. His competitive nature and work ethic has made the cross country team better.
* Descriptions provided by team coaches