Athletes of the Month – 2018

DECEMBER 2018

Wrestling – Jake Hendershot and Devon Capato

Jake and Devon have both started out strong this year by winning both the Kearney and Mountain Lakes Tournaments.

Girls Basketball – Taylor Smith

Taylor is a junior and one of the many reasons that the Ridge Girls Basketball Team has begun the season 5 – 1.  Taylor is leading the team in scoring (12 ppg), rebounding (6.2 rpg) and steals (2.7 spg).  She is also second on the team in assists, averaging 2.7 per game.  She was voted as tournament MVP for the Len Sepanak Holiday tournament, where she scored 10 points to help lead Ridge to a 47-37 win over Hunterdon Central in the finals.

Boys Basketball – Nathan Herrera

Nate has been our leader on and off the floor this season. Through his words and actions he’s been a steady force for our team. He plays both ends of the floor and has been a pleasure to coach.

Ice Hockey –  Marcus Fabiunke 

Marcus has been outstanding. He has not allowed a goal in 5 of Ridge’s 12 games. His Goal Against Average is 1.67 and his save percentage is .928. This recognition is well deserved.

Fencing Boys – Clark Kokenge

Clark placed 1st overall in men’s epee in the Somerset County Championship, Saturday December 15th, and helped the epee squad to 1st overall

Fencing Girls – Liz Chan

Liz placed 3rd overall in ladies epee in the Somerset County Championship, Saturday December 15th, and helped the epee squad to 2nd overall.
 

Swimming Boys – Daniel Xia

Daniel is a standout freshman swimmer that excels in sprint freestyle and butterfly. He has already made a huge impact on the team and has added depth to our 200 and 400 freestyle relays while achieving personal best times in multiple events this season.

Swimming Girls – Tracy Lu

Tracy is a versatile freshman swimmer that has earned more individual points this season than any other underclassmen. She excels in freestyle and will give our relays a great shot at qualifying for Meet of Champions this season.

Cheerleading – Jackie Beran

A junior on the Varsity team this year, Jackie is a leader by example, exhibiting excellent stunting technique as a flyer, and executing all skills with poise and enthusiasm as she prepares two routines for the competition season. She stepped up in her tumbling skills this season, performing her new round-off back-handspring full-twist tumbling pass in our traditional competition routine. Jackie’s strength and determination make her a vital member of our team.

Winter Track & Field – Girls – Morgan Lyons (10)

Morgan helped anchor both the Sprint Medley and 4×400 Relay teams to wins at the Somerset County Relays to lead the girls to a tie for the overall Championship.

Winter Track & Field – Boys – Sam Lewis

Sam had a great start to the winter track season.  Sam matched his personal best time in the 800 during his first race.  At the County Relay Championship, he helped his team win two events which secured the win for the team.  In his last race of the month, he improved his mile time by 12 seconds and is currently leading the team in that event.

MAY 2018

Softball –  Allegra Decandia

She finished up season with 18 RBI and a batting average of .360 on the season. Throwing out 26 of 28 potential baserunners, defensively she has been a key component to our success this season !

 

Baseball – Brandon Hylton

Hylton has been a formidable presence in the middle of our lineup all year.  In addition to playing an outstanding first base, he has also done it with the bat and on the base paths.

 

Volleyball – Simon Moeller

Simon led the boys volleyball team to an appearance in their second sectional final in two years.  Simon has amassed 504 assists as the teams setter this season.

 

Girls Golf – Anina Ku

Anina wins the Individual Skyland Conference Title by shooting a 4 under 68.

 

Boys Golf – James Pruskowski

James has been a strong team leader throughout the season.  His hard work and dedication have paid dividends in May.  James shot his personal best 18-hole score of 74 against Montgomery, a very solid 78 in the Skyland Conference tournament, and a season low 35 against Phillipsburg in the final match of the season!

 

Boys Lacrosse – Bryce Kirkwood

Senior Attack.  Bryce ended his senior season with 25 goals and 25 assists.  Bryce was the only two year captain for Ridge Lacrosse.  He will continue playing lacrosse at Providence.

 

Girls Lacrosse – Emma Wightman

Through her steady play between the restraining lines and stingy defense Emma helped the Girls Lacrosse team greatly in May.  She followed that up with a hat trick against #1 Ridgewood in a last second defeat on May 24th.

 

Track & Field Girls – Joy Osborne

Joy helped her team to a 2nd place finish in the State Section by placing first in High Jump and 4th in Triple Jump.  In Triple Jump she had 4 PR’s in 6 jumps.

 

Track & Field Boys – Curtis Lyons

Curtis won the Somerset County Championship in the 400 hurdles.  He has run the fastest time in the 400 hurdles for a Ridge athlete in the last 10 years.  In addition he ran a personal best in the 400 meter dash and help the team win the East Coast Relays in the Distance Medley Relays.  Also Curtis improved his 400 hurdle time in the State Sectional and placed 3rd qualifying him for the Group Championship.

 

Tennis – Roshun Navin

Roshun is a 3 year Varsity starter and has lead the Varsity Team playing 1st Singles compiling an impressive record of 11-5 in a tough Skylands Conference. Roshun was selected to compete in this year’s NJSIAA Boys Singles State Championship in June.

 

APRIL 2018

Volleyball – Austin Zhao

Co-captain Austin Zhao led the boys volleyball team to a 6 – 6 record in the month of April.  Austin amassed 116 kills and 16 aces.

Boys Lacrosse – Michael Harris

Goalie – Michael is in his fourth year starting as the Ridge HS Boys Lacrosse goalie.  Through the month of April Michael saved the ball 99 times and allowed only 56 goals.  His save percentage is 64%.  Michael will be playing lacrosse next year at Providence College.

Girls Lacrosse – Mena Loescher

Mena earned her 300th point in the month of April. She is an offensive threat at all times, and can also find the assist when necessary. She is always looking to make her teammates better.

Softball – Kristin Miscia

Miscia is about to embark on a milestone in career in reaching her 100th hit, sitting at 98 right now. She has been leading her team from the batters box and center field this season and will Continue to do so throughout the season!

Baseball – James Crowley

Been he leader of a great pitching staff that has led us to a 11-3 record.  He is 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA and 30 Strikeouts in 26 Innings

Tennis –  Ryhan Moghe

is a four year Varsity Starter and was seeded 2nd in this year’s Somerset County championship.  Ryhan will be attending Rutgers University in the fall.

Track & Field Boys – Rourke Edwards

Rourke is one of the most improved athletes on the team.  He has scored in all dual meets this season in which we have gone 4-2.  He has also helped our JV 4×400 win every meet they were entered in.  He is one of the hardest working athletes on the team and is a role model for other athletes.

Track & Field Girls – Tatum Peskin

Tatum has worked herself in to becoming one of the top Distance runners on the team form 800-3200 meters.  Her strong work ethic, commitment and positive attitude helped the girls team to several Relay victories this past month including the Somerset County title.

Golf Boys – Jeffrey Li

He leads the team with the low average.  He won the Somerset County Championship shooting a 70 and came in 2nd at the Skyland Conference Championship with a 75.

Golf Girls –
Stephanie Zhang
Laura Taylor
Rachel McCormick
Anina Ku

This quartet won the Somerset County Team Championship by playing their best golf as of yet. Anina Ku also took home the Individual Title by shooting a record 62….29 on the front 9 with 4 eagles overall.

FEBRUARY 2018

 

Wrestling – Jake Stein

Jake was 2nd in District 15 and 5th in Region 4. Jake finished the season with a record of 33-8.

Girls Basketball – Kristin Miscia

Kristin is a senior captain leading the Girls Basketball Team to an overall record of 16-12 this season.  Kristin does a little bit of everything for the Ridge Basketball team, averaging 4 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist per game in the month of February.  Kristin is the leader of the teams defense.

Boys Basketball – Jeremy McCavera

Jeremy was our captain, leading scorer, and started every game for the boys basketball team. He can shoot the 3, get to the rim, and had a few impressive defensive games. Jeremy was a pleasure to coach.

Swimming Girls – Grace Sedlazek

Grace has grown stronger throughout the season and is an integral part of our team. She consistently scores points in the sprint freestyle and excels in the 100 backstroke. Grace leads off our 200 Medley relay and helped the team qualify for Meet of Champions for the sixth consecutive year. She was also our swimmer of the meet in our state quarterfinal win over an undefeated Columbia.

Swimming Boys – Ethan Chiu

Ethan is a tremendous sophomore swimmer that is a dominant distance swimmer. Ethan scores points in all freestyle events and placed in the top 8 at Countys and Conferences in the 500 free. He has also contributed to the team in the backstroke and 400 free relay events.

Fencing Girls – Elizaveta Yugov

Elizaveta made All-State 3rd team in foil.

Fencing Boys – Andrew McGowan

Andrew McGowan (12th grade) – went 19-0 at Squad states, placed 11th in the State individual championships and made 3rd team all-state

Ice Hockey – Alex Konovalov

In February Alex had 8 goals & 14 assists for 22 points. He had 4 goals & 5 assists in the Skyland Cup Playoffs and 2 goals in the Cup Final which Ridge won 3 to 0 to capture the Skylands Cup. Alex also had 1 goal & 5 assists for 6 points in 2 State Tournament games. Finally, Alex equaled the All-Time Ridge High scoring record of 144 points in only 3 seasons at Ridge. He tied the record held by Keith Macey (’08) who did it in 4 seasons.

Ski Team Girls/Boys- Clare Mohan – Warren Halbing

Consistent strong finishes helped to lead teams to a conference title for the boys and the podium for girls in states.

Winter Track & Field Girls –  Girls 4x 800 Meter Relay

Meghan Convery (12) , Olivia Cicchetti (10), Morgan Lyons (9) and Kaitlyn Van Baalen (12)

The girls ran their best races at the right time of the season and captured both NJSIAA Meet of Champion titles in addition to the New Balance Indoor Nationals title for the 2nd consecutive year.  All four girls ran their fastest times of the year over this two week stretch.

Winter Track & Field Boys – Amil Khattar

Amil has done a great job this season both on and off the track.  Amil is one of the team captains and sets an example for all other athletes on the team.  During February, Amil helped our team qualify for the NJ Group meet, Meet of Champions and Nationals.  He was the most consistent leg of all relay teams.  Amil anchored the 4×800 at the Meet of Champions which helped the team medal and place 5th in the state.  In addition he led off the 4×400 in which the team placed 13th.

Competitive Cheerleading – Cassie Raia

Cassie lead her team to a finals finish down at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship. She brought great poise and leadership throughout the 2018 season which lead to our great accomplishments. Her positive attitude spread throughout the team to make the team more cohesive. She will be graduating in June and will be dearly missed by the comp cheer team.

JANUARY 2018

 

Ski Team Girls/Boys – Matt Minsch and Caroline Mohan

Both have had top times in all league races leading teams to strong starts.

Fencing Boys – James Liao

James had an excellent performance and leadership at Cetrulo.

​Fencing Girls – Diya Kulkarni 

Diya had an excellent performance at districts.

​Swimming Girls – Katie Kisker

Katie excels at the sprint freestyle and helped the team qualify for the 200 free relay at Meet of Champions. Every meet she gets faster and will be competing in both the 50 free and 100 free at County Championships. Despite shoulder injuries over the years she always fights through the pain and contributes to the team and scores points in every single meet.

Swimming Boys – Dylan Wachenfeld

Dylan has improved every year he has been on the team and in his senior year he is dominating. He recently broke the team record in the 100 backstroke and has his eyes set on a county title. In addition, he is a huge part of why the men’s team has qualified for Meet of Champions in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. Dylan is a versatile athlete that excels in distance freestyle and backstroke. He will be swimming at Johns Hopkins next year. ​

Girls Basketball – Sophie Beneventine

Sophie is a sophomore leading the Girls Basketball Team to a 11-8 record this season and a major contributor to the current four game winning streak.  She averaged 9 points per game in January and is third on the team in rebounds, averaging 4.4 rebounds per game.  Sophie also leads the team in assists, averaging just under 3 a game.  Sophie is a the catalyst to an offense averaging 40 points per game.

Boys Basketball – Chris Feringa

Senior Forward – Chris has had a tremendous January for the boys basketball team. His outside shooting and dribble drives to the rim have helped the team win big games throughout the month. We look forward to his leadership as the regular season winds down and county and state tournaments start up

​Ice Hockey – Wes Hobson

Senior Assistant Captain  ​-​ Wes’s outstanding defensive play was responsible for the ice hockey teams’ 5 – 1 – 3 record and 1st place in the Skyland Conference during the Month of January. Wes also had 4 assists in those 8 games​.

Wrestling – ​ Jesse Calabrese 

As a Senior Captain, Jesse has reached a 20 wins in a season in only his 4th year of wrestling. Jesse’s work ethic and leadership are daily reminders to the team that success comes from setbacks, hard work, and perseverance. 

W​inter Track Girls –  Morgan Lyons (9)

Morgan helped the varsity team win their 3rd consecutive Skyland title by placing 2nd in the 400 meter run, 3rd in the 800 meter run and anchoring a 2nd place 4×400 meter relay.  She is currently running some of the top few times in the state for a freshmen in both the 400 and 800 meter events.  ​

W​inter Track Boys –  Alex Petric (10)

Alex has stood out this season for consistency in pole vault.  He has jumped 11’6 or higher at every meet and placed in the top group of jumpers in Group IV.  He reached his personal best of 12’6 at the Skyland Conference Championship placing 4th.  ​

Competitive Cheerleading – Lauren Grimaldi

Lauren has been a great leader for the team especially in times of adversity. She has put in the extra work to improve her jumps to help put her teams score over the edge. Her and her stunt group has been putting in tremendous amounts of hours to make them one of the best stunt groups on the team.

 

* Descriptions provided by team coaches