Thursday,
June 18, 2009
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KEVIN HERGET |
Male Athlete of the Year:
Kevin Herget, Park Ridge Baseball
After winning the North 1, Group 1 title in 2008 and with six
starters returning, the Park Ridge baseball team had plenty of
pieces in place to make a run at a legendary season this spring.
The Owls needed just two things in particular to solidify both
their batting order and the starting rotation. Fortunately for
longtime head coach Pete Crandall, he found them both in one player.
Kevin
Herget set the tone at the top of the lineup and also took the
ball on the mound in big games as the team’s ace. With the
Kean-bound right-hander leading the way, there was little anyone
could do to slow down the soaring Owls.
Even with
a stacked lineup, Herget led Park Ridge in every major category.
He batted .401 with eight homers, 33 RBI’s, and 40 runs
scored. On the mound, he was equally as impressive. He finished
the season 9-2 with a 2.08 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 69 innings,
with his best performance coming in this biggest game of his life.
In the Group
1 state final against David Brearley Regional, he threw a two-hitter,
struck out nine, and retired the final eight batters he faced
in a 4-2 victory.
Runner-Up:
Kevin Steimle, Mahwah Track
Steimle was an up-and-coming javelin thrower going into his senior
season, already having committed to throw for Division 1 Lehigh
University in college. Even with lofty expectations, Steimle exceeded
the pressure he put on himself with an incredible senior season.
Steimle won
the Bergen Meet of Champions in record-setting fashion by cracking
the 200-foot barrier. He followed that by in the Group 2 state
meet by uncorking a state-record 209’5” throw. Steimle
did not throw as well through the rain at the state Meet of Champions,
but his 194’7” throw was enough to cap an unbeaten
season and put his stamp on the best individual season ever by
a New Jersey javelin thrower.
Honorable
Mention:
Kevin Ferguson, St. Joe’s (Montvale) Baseball
Pat Kiernan, Ridgewood Lacrosse
Travis DellaVolpe, Wayne Hills Baseball
Luke Edelman, Saddle River Day Golf
Max Hourigan, Pascack Valley Baseball
Zander Walters, Bergen Catholic Lacrosse
Glenn Flora, Lyndhurst Baseball
Jose Matta, Union City Volleyball
Dan Shutov, Dwight-Englewood Tennis
Nick Hrehovcik, Passaic Valley Volleyball
Rich Anastasi, St. Joe’s Baseball
Jonathan Carcione, Ramapo Tennis
Niko Spezial, Don Bosco Baseball
Michal Kucza, Bayonne Volleyball
Anthony Gomez, Don Bosco Baseball
Nicoy Hines, Passaic County Tech Track
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CHRISTINA MIQUEL |
Female
Athlete of the Season:
Christina Miquel, IHA Softball
Miquel burst onto the scene as a freshman and quickly
was mentioned among Bergen County’s elite players. But for
all of her individual accolades, Miquel entered her junior season
at Immaculate Heart Academy without any county or state titles
to show for it.
That all changed
and Miquel had as big a hand in the team’s success as anyone.
She got a long-awaited county title with one swing of the bat.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Bergen County
final, Miquel took the first pitch she saw and drove it over the
left-field fence for a three-run walkoff homer to beat Pascack
Valley, 3-2.
Then in the
Non-Public A state final against Bishop Ahr, she pitched out of
a bases-loaded, no-out jam and struckout the final two batters
of the game with the tying run on third to lift IHA to their first
state title since 2002.
Miquel finished
the season with an 18-1 record, an 0.37 ERA, two no-hitters and
a perfect game.
Runner-Up:
Amber Allen, Passaic County Tech Track
Allen appeared all but unbeatable in the 400-meter hurdles until
she fell to Ugonna Ndu of Union in the Group 4 state meet. For
once, she was perceived as somewhat of an underdog. Turned out,
it only drove her that much harder to prove in the state Meet
of Champions that her loss in the Group 4 meet was more of an
aberration than anything else.
The junior
not only beat Ndu in the final, she did it by nearly a full second.
Allen’s time of 58.44 was nearly six-tenths of a second
better than the meet record and the best time in the nation this
season. She will return next year with the chance to go down as
one of the best to ever run around a track in New Jersey history.
Honorable
Mention:
Myasia Jacobs, Paramus Catholic Track
Erica Colon, High Tech Softball
Shannon Sullivan, IHA Track
Christie Fredricks, Holy Angels Lacrosse
Stephanie Pasquale, Pompton Lakes Softball
Katie Enright, Indian Hills Softball
Crystal Lee, Mahwah Golf
Erin Trippi, Paramus Catholic Softball
Teresa Kircher, Ridgewood Softball
Emily Urciuoli, Clifton Track
Samantha Cermack, Ridgewood Lacrosse
Amanda Alvarez, Fort Lee Softball
Brittany Palish, Pascack Hills Softball
Casey Bakker, Ridgewood Lacrosse
Esther Park, Northern Valley/Demarest Golf
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PARK RIDGE CELEBRATES |
Boys’
Team of the Season:
Park Ridge Baseball
The Owls had an established head coach in Pete Crandall, along
with standout players like Kevin Herget, Matt Moreno, Matt Misley,
and Kevin Hwang returning from a Park Ridge team that was the
defending North 1, Group 1 champion. This year’s seniors
wanted a dream season and achieved more than they even thought
was possible.
They set a
school record for wins (26) and advanced to the Bergen County
quarterfinal round. But it was a pair of long-standing droughts
that were erased that set this team apart from the rest. Park
Ridge won its first BCSL-Olympic title since 1998 and its first
Group 1 state title since 1977 to finish out the season in style
with a 26-6 record.
Runner-Up:
St. Joseph’s (Montvale) Baseball
Coming into the season it was Don Bosco Prep earning the headlines
and rightfully so after a 2008 season in which the Ironmen finished
as the No. 1 team in the country. After losing their ace Artie
Lewicki in April for the rest of the season, many thought St.
Joe’s would play second fiddle to their archrival one again.
But after an early-season loss to Bosco, the Green Knights went
on a tear.
They won 23
straight games, most of which in convincing fashion, en route
to earning a rematch with Bosco in the Non-Public A North section
semifinals. Ken Post drove in the game-winner in extra innings
to snap Don Bosco’s 55-game winning streak against New Jersey
opponents as St. Joe’s won, 7-6.
Rob Frank
and Rich Anastasi then pitched back-to-back shutouts in the Bergen
County semifinals and finals, respectively, to give St. Joe’s
their first county crown since 2005.
Honorable
Mention:
St. Peter’s Prep Volleyball
County Prep Baseball
Pascack Hills Tennis
Bayonne Volleyball
Ramapo Tennis
Ridgewood Tennis
Ramsey Baseball
Bergen Catholic Golf
Northern Valley/Old Tappan Baseball
Fair Lawn Volleyball
Northern Highlands Golf
Dwight-Englewood Tennis
Memorial (W.N.Y.) Baseball
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IHA AND ONE OF ITS TROPHIES |
Girls’
Team of the Season:
IHA Softball
If a team is going to win league, county, and state titles,
everything needs to fall into place at the right time. No team
exemplified that more than the Immaculate Heart Academy softball
team.
From a clutch
pitch or homerun from the aforementioned Miquel, to a game-winning
hit by Juliette D’Ambrosio, to a great defensive plays from
Taylor Cosentino, Kelsey Trujillo, and Alexis Durando, to a hook
slide by Carly Piccinich, someone always stepped up and made the
big play to keep the Blue Eagles’ championship dreams alive.
IHA’s
tournament runs finished with one heart-pounding win after another
for head coach Anthony Larezza. Miquel’s walkoff homer brought
IHA a county title. They followed with one-run wins over DePaul
and Mount St. Dominic, and finished off the season with an amazing
5-4, 11-inning win over Bishop Ahr in the Non-Public A state championship
game.
It was the
first time since 1996 that IHA won the triple crown of league,
county, and state titles; and they finished as the New Jersey’s
top-ranked team.
Runner-Up:
Ridgewood Lacrosse
Ridgewood has by far been the most successful girls’ lacrosse
program in North Jersey over the past decade under head coach
Karla Mixon. As good as they have been, the Maroons were never
more successful than they were this season.
Led by second-team
all-state selections Samantha Cermack and Casey Bakker, Ridgewood
used its precision on offense to set the tone of every game, while
Sarah Daly and goalie Shannon Higgins anchored the defense.
Higgins made
18 saves against Ridge as Ridgewood held on for a 9-8 victory
in the North 1, Group 3 final, the Maroons’ first section
title since 2003. They finished the season with a 19-3 record.
Two of those losses, including one in the Group 3 final, were
to nationally-ranked and eventual Tournament of Champions titlist
Moorestown.
Honorable
Mention:
Saddle Brook Softball
High Tech Softball
Ridgewood Softball
IHA Lacrosse
Northern Valley/Old Tappan Softball
Indian Hills Softball
Ramapo Softball
Park Ridge Softball
Paramus Catholic Softball
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