Athletes of the Month – 2017

DECEMBER 2017

 

Swimming Girls – Audrey Hsi

Audrey is a standout senior swimmer who excels in all strokes and events. She is incredibly versatile and can win any event in the lineup. She is essential to the success of the team and has already scored dozens of points in our first three meets. Audrey already holds multiple team records and has a chance to break many more this season.

Swimming Boys – ​AJ Capizzi

As a freshman AJ has already had a tremendous impact on the team. He has added a lot of depth to our relays, butterfly, and freestyle events. In the boy’s first victory against Watchung Hills AJ won the 100 fly, took second in the 200 IM and contributed to the winning 200 Medley Relay that qualified for Meet of Champions.

Fencing Boys – Sebastian Tirado

He went to the World Cup in Cuba in December and placed sixth, which elevated his ranking to #16 in the world!!​

I​ce Hockey – Spencer Charleson​

Spencer has contributed 9 goals and 5 assists for 14 points in the month of December. Also, his stellar defensive play has helped the varsity to it’s 7 – 2 – 2 record so far. Spencer really appreciates the voracious support that the student body has given the ice hockey team on Friday nights.

W​inter Track Girls​ – Jennifer Kozlowski (12)

During her first 3 meets of the season, Jen threw for three consecutive PR’s in Shot Put.  She is currently ranked as one of the top throwers in the County, Conference and State.

W​inter Track Boys – Brett Asay (12)

Brett has been an important member of the team both in his individual events and his relay performances.  He has started off this season very strong.  He has matched his indoor personal best in the 400 meter run multiple times already this season.  During the County Championship he helped the team win the 4×800 meter relay and come in 2nd in the 4×400.  Two days after the county meet he ran a indoor personal best in the 200.  His consistency and leadership has made a big impact on the team.  

G​irls Basketball – Samantha Weyrauch

Sammy is a senior captain leading the Girls Basketball Team to a 4-3 record to start the season.  She averaged 5 points per game in December and is second on the team in rebounds, averaging 5 rebounds per game.  Sammy is also second on the team in assists.  Sammy anchors a defense that is holding opponents to 33 points per game.

Boys Basketball – Jacob Herrera

Senior Forward, Jake has been extremely productive for the boys basketball team on both ends of the floor early in this season. He has slashed to the basket and hit huge 3’s in big spots. He has also defended the other teams best post player with ease. His efforts, focus, and leadership have not gone unnoticed.

Wrestling -​ Jake Hendershot 

​Jake has started the season with a record of 10-0 and has won both the Kearny and Mountain Lakes Invitational Tournaments at 220 lbs.

C​ompetitive Cheerleading – Grace Cheo-Isaac (12 )

​Grace has shown tremendous leadership and poise going about our first half of competition cheers season. Her abilities, especially in tumbling, has helped the cheer team achieve a number of awards. She continues to work hard on her goals for the team down at the National High School Cheerleading Championships down in Orlando, FL in February. 

 

 

OCTOBER 2017

Volleyball – Evelina Adamczyk

Evelina , a team captain leads the team in Kills with 102 and Blocks with 47. She is also among of the team leaders in Aces with 27.  Evelina has lead the team many times with her energy and competitiveness when the team needed points especially in the month of October.

Field Hockey – Jaclyn Narleski

Jaclyn started and played in every single game of the 2017 field hockey season.  She was a consistent impact player for us both on offense and defense as well as instrumental on both corner units.  Jaclyn finished the season as our third leading scorer with 8 goals and 1 assist.  She is only a sophomore but her leadership skills are beyond her years!  She epitomizes the pay-off of hard work and dedication.

Gymnastics – Maggie Cooney 

Maggie, a Varsity Athlete for the past four years she has been an outstanding asset to the Ridge Gymnastics team. 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.

Boys Soccer – Gabriel Jefferies

Our starting Center-Back that led our defense to secure a spot in the State Tournament and contributed with 2 game-winning goals.

Girls Soccer – Katie Arrigan – Katie has worked tirelessly up front to help Ridge have a strong October by tallying 7 of her team high 9 goals in the month of October.  Katie’s dynamic runs, off-ball movement, combination play, and tenacity has helped Ridge to improve to the current record of 17-4-1 and continue on into state tournament play.

Boys Cross Country – Will Pinto  

In his first season on the team has made a huge impact.  He made the varsity team which is very rare as a freshman.  He set Ridge freshman course records at every venue we competed at this season which includes: Greystone, Holmdel, Pleasant Valley Park and Natirar.  He competed well and improved by almost 20 seconds every race this season.

Girls Cross Country – Mamon Stephen  (10)

Mamon has steadily moved up from the JV in to the Varsity line up.  In her first Varsity meet she broke 20:00 for the first time and finished 3rd on the Ridge team as they placed 2nd in the Skyland Conference.

Football – Andrew Lusardi

SR captain, leads team in receptions, played solid defense, and most importantly provided key leadership when the team needed it the most

Cheerleading – Cassie Raia

Cassie is the Ridge Cheer October athlete of the month. Cassie is a superb performer, has fantastic showmanship and skill, makes each and every skill look performance ready and brings the competitive level to game squad in every facet. Her peers respect her ability and she is undoubtedly one of the most impressive athletes in the program. She can be found on the top of most stunts, flipping, balancing on one leg, or leading the crowd in the middle of the fan section. Cassie’s flying ability is commendable, as well as her commitment to the cheer lifestyle since she is a dedicated tumbler, game squad cheerleader, competition cheerleader, and a youth coach.

 

​Girls Tennis – ​Co-Captain Camila Scharlach and Tira Alvarez

Camila and Tira paired up this season at Second Doubles for the Girls Varsity Tennis Team. Camila and Tira won the Somerset County Championship this season and were recently awarded All-Skylands Conference First Team honors. The second doubles team ended the season with an impressive record of 18-2 for the season.

SEPTEMBER 2017

Girls Varsity Volleyball – Rachel Tam – Libero

Rachel is the number one defensive player on a team that is undefeated in the month of September. She led the team with 106 digs and the best passing efficiency rate as well .  Rachel is also one of the top servers on the team. Rachel is a 3 year starter for the Varsity team.

Boys Soccer –  Jason Clingensmith

Goalkeeper Jason Clingensmith has had a very productive month, backstopping the Boys Soccer defense with 92 saves in Sept, putting him in the top 20 in the State. Jason has kept the team in games with 2 back-to-back shutouts, and a string of 1 on 1 reaction saves when called on.

Girls Soccer – Maddie Lui

Maddie is a versatile player who works tirelessly to defend in the outside back role, but who also may be moved more central or into midfield depending on need.  Maddie is consistent, has one of the highest work rates on the team in both practices and games, sets up a lot of offense with dangerous back post balls, and will overlap into the attack to generate transitional attack.  Maddie reads the game well, understands when to step into intercept the ball and apply pressure, and when to drop and provide cover.  While her name may not appear in box scores, she is a mainstay on the field for the girls soccer team which is currently ranked #6 in the state.

Field Hockey – Noor Kaur

Noor is a junior captain and currently leads the team in goals and assists. She has scored 7 goals and assisted 7 more as the field hockey team enters the county tournament playing their best field hockey thus far.  Noor is our leader on attack and is one of the top players in the county and conference.

Girls Tennis – Navya Yemula

Navya a 4 Year Varsity Starter on the Ridge Girls Tennis Team.  Navya has played 2nd or 3rd singles all 4 years at Ridge and is a 3 Time State Champion. Her record this year is an impressive 15-0 this season. Navya also won the Somerset County 3rd singles championship for the second year in a row.  Congrats Navya!

Girls Cross Country – Amanda Passman (11)

Amanda had very strong races in both the Randolph and Magee Invitationals.  Her consistency and determination has helped lead a young Varsity team to a Skyland Division Championship and a number one ranking in NJ.

Boys Cross Country – James Glockenmeier

James has started off this season very strong.  His first race of the season he set a personal best by over a minute.  James has improved to be consistently at the top of the varsity line up.  In his second race of season James broke 17 min for the second time and placed into the top 10.  James will be an essential part of the varsity line up as we approach the championship season.

Cheerleading – Katelyn Mackey

Katelyn is a true leader by example on the Varsity Cheer team. Having made Varsity since her sophomore year, her fan favorite standing tucks and her all star level flying ability makes her a strong asset to the team. Katelyn’s love and pride for team is contagious and her morale holds others to that same standard.  At games, you can find Katelyn’s stunts directly in front of the fan section as she is a seasoned crowd leader and a true performer on the track or in any routine.

Football – RJ Milligan

RJcontributed outstanding achievements with leading our team in rushing yards, TDs, and has been a terrific captain for us.

Gymnastics – Rachel Walker

Rachel has put in hard work and dedication to the team for the past four years and shows great leadership and responsibility on and off the team. Rachel is also a project adventure leader where she continues to guide underclassmen to be their best. Rachel has competed vault, bars beam and floor and has showed tremendous growth not only as a gymnast but as an amazing person.

FEBRUARY 2017

Wrestling – Nolan Bianchi, Jake Stein and Jake Hendershot –

Nolan, Jake and Jake placed in the top three at the District 15 Tournament to advance to the State Regions.  Jake Stein (138) and Jake Hendershot (220) both took 3rd Place, while Nolan Bianchi captured the 182 lb title.

Girls Basketball – Sam Weyrauch

Sam finished her junior year playing her best basketball of the season.  She averaged 7.4 points per game during the month of February.  She scored 14 points vs. Metuchen and 11 points vs. North Plainfield.  She is second on the team in rebound and second on the team in assists over the past eight games.  She is a major reason why the Red Devils finished the season strong, winning five of their final eight games.

Boys Basketball – Jeremy McCavera

Jeremy has been a huge part of the boys basketball team’s second half turn around. His unselfishness and shooting touch have been second to none. Jeremy’s game has really grown and developed throughout the season.

Swimming – Boys – Brendan Lu

Brendan is a tremendous asset to the Ridge Swim Team and is a big reason why Ridge qualified for Meet of Champions in the 200 medley, 200 free, and 400 free relays. He scores in every event he swims and excels in the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

Swimming Girls – Paige Johnson

Although injured early in the season, Paige has had a tremendous February. Her sprint freestyle and breaststroke has propelled Ridge to Meet of Champion qualifying times in the 200 medley, 200 free, and 400 free relay. She also helped the team earn two team records in the medley and free relay.

Winter Track & Field – Boys – Brett Asay, Patrick Bayeux, Tommy Martinson, Ryan Orr

This team medaled 5th in the Meet of Champions in the 4×800 meter relay.  These boys ran aggressively throughout the race improving our position with each leg.  They beat their ranking and teams that they weren’t supposed to beat.  They all returned two days later at the Eastern States Championship and helped us achieve school records in the 4×800 and 4×400 meter relays.

Winter Track & Field – Girls – Meghan Convery

Meghan helped the team win a State Sectional Championship with an indoor PR and 3rd place finish in the 400 meter run.  Three weeks later she also led off the 4×800 Relay with a 2:17.5 PR to help the team win the Meet of Champions.

Ski Team – Girls – Caroline Mohan

Led her team to a Giant Slalom state championship at state event.  Was named 1st team all-state.

Ski Team – Boys – Collin Bell

Solid consistent finishes, led boys’ team to conference championship and was named 3rd team all-state.

Competitive Cheerleading – Alex Lis

She showed expert leadership this month as she lead her team to UCA High School Nationals finals for the first time in school history. Her hard work and dedication paid off this season as she was a four-year letter winner for the competitive cheerleading team. Alex’s continuous passion for her sport has made her one of the best that has been in the program.

Competitive Cheerleading – Zoe Ficken

Her attitude and effort shined this month as she helped lead her team to finals in the Small Varsity division at UCA High School Nationals. She has remained extremely focused all season to achieve her goals and the team’s goal. The love she has for cheerleading shined, not only every day at practice, but at every performance and competition.

Fencing – Felix Yin

The captain finished his senior year with a district team title, as well as an individual title.  Looks to finish out his last season at the individual state championships.

Fencing – Girls – Nastassja Kuznetsova

Had a strong season as only sophomore.  Helped the team and squad to district titles, and qualified for the individual state championships.

Ice Hockey – Senior Captain John Vilade

When Ridge was down 2-0 vs. River Dell in the ice hockey state quarterfinal, John scored the next two goals for Ridge for the tie and Ridge went on to win 3-2, advancing to the state semi-final.  When Randolph scored in the semifinal to make the score 3-1 and get themselves back into the game, Vilade scored the next goal to clinch the Ridge win and advance to the state final.  Vilade scored the winning goal in the state final where Ridge won 2 to 1 and became Public A State Champions!

JANUARY 2017

Boys Basketball – Alex Alano

Senior – Alex is a two-year varsity starter on the boy’s basketball team as well as team captain. His leadership and tenacious attitude on both ends of the floor have helped the team win 8 games in their last 12. Alex has been a huge part of our program’s success over the last 4 years and we will miss him dearly. We wish him well at the University of Miami.

Girls Basketball – Sophie Beneventine

Sophie has started every game as a freshman and in the month of January is averaging 9.7 ppg.  She scored 17 points vs. Watchung Hills and 16 points vs. North Hunterdon.  She has led the team in assists and is second on the team in rebounding throughout the month.

Boys Fencing – Andy McGowan

The junior has had an outstanding season, he played a big part in the team winning district championships.  He also helped the sabre squad to a 2nd place finish and came in 5th individually.

Girls Fencing – Diya Kulkarni

Has had a major impact as only a freshman.  Diya contributed to the girl’s district championship, as well as helping the epee squad to a first place finish at districts.

Ice Hockey – Bret Carey

Bret has stood up to the top wingers of the Ridge High opponents and his steady defense and timely scoring has led Ridge to a 6 & 3 record during the month of January.

Ski Team – Collin Bell & Clare Mohan

Solid performances have led to the teams success,  both boys and girls have locked up an invitation to state tournament.

Swimming – Boys – Raveesh Koul

Raveesh has continued to dominate the butterfly events at Ridge dual meets this year and has qualified to compete at Meet of Champions in the individual 100 fly and the 200 Medley Relay. Raveesh was a large part of our team victory over Hillsborough, our first victory over Hillsborough in at least ten years.

Swimming – Girls – Megan Chiu

Megan is one of our captains and has had an unbelievable January and has been a tremendous asset to the team. Megan recently broke the 100 butterfly team record with a blazing 57.80 and contributed to the record breaking 200 medley relay and 400 free relay. Megan propelled the team to a third place and second place finish in those two relays at Skyland Conference Championships.

Winter Track & Field – Boys – Will Phinney

Will was the Conference Champion in the 800 meter dash.  In the conference meet, he also placed 3rd in the 1600 and helped our team score in the 4×400 meter relay.  He ran a personal best in the 600 meter dash placing him within the top 5 of the country.  Will has been the highest scoring member of the boy’s track team this season.  Will is the captain of the team and has shown true dedication and leadership throughout the season.

Winter Track & Field – Girls – Jessica Creedon (12)

In the month of January Jess lead the team to s Skyland Conference Championship while winning the 55-meter Hurdles and High Jump events.   Her jump of 5’6″ is a new school record

Wrestling – Nolan Bianchi

As team captain and the only senior on the team, Nolan has compiled a record of 24-1, and earned the 182 lb title at the Somerset County Wrestling Invitational.

* Descriptions provided by team coaches