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If Highland Park football fans were worried about the program’s newfound success fading away, the 2008 campaign quieted their concerns.  Another Gold Division championship coupled with a state tournament appearance was the formula for another successful season for Coach Rich McGlynn’s squad. Senior running back Bryant Fitzgerald went over the 2,000-yard plateau and HP will need to fill his cleats this fall as the Owls face the first year of a reorganized schedule involving Shore Conference opponents.  In the state playoffs, Highland Park lost as the No. 5 seed to No. 4 Middlesex, 16-14.

Since joining the Blue Division in 2006, boys’ soccer has been on the cusp of a state tournament bracket in each of the last three years, but has yet to break through into the postseason.  HP owned the Gold Division from 1999 to 2005, winning all seven division titles in that span and making the same number of state playoff appearances.  Led by senior Chris Marshall at goalie in his fourth season between the pipes as a starter, Coach Keith Roig’s Owls fell a couple of games short of the .500 record necessary for qualification. 

Chris Ruckdeschel’s girls’ soccer program has made tremendous strides over the past few seasons.  After ending a state playoff drought in 2007, HP made it back into the Central Jersey Group I bracket in 2008, this time as a No. 3 seed with a bye into the semifinals. A grueling 1-0 overtime defeat at the hands of  No. 2 Bears of David Brearley HS in Kenilworth ended a stellar season for the Owls at 13-8-1.  Junior Leah Salkin led the team with 14 goals, while senior goalie Abby Petkov won the team MVP award. 

Double-digit win totals and sectional final appearances are now the norm for Bob Kertes and his girls’ tennis team.  HP once again reached the 10-plus win marker and received a state playoff win over Dunellen, 4-1, before bowing out in the CJG1 final to tennis power Pt. Pleasant Beach, 3-2.  Highland Park ran through the Blue Division without any real opposition, posting 5-0 shutouts against Middlesex and Spotswood along the way.  HP sent multiple players into the round of 16 at the Greater Middlesex Conference tournament, and junior Alina Buevich set herself up to be a four-year starter at first singles next season.

The HPHS wrestling team used a wave of youth talent to complement a core of battle-tested veterans to constantly improve during the 2008-2009 season.  The season highlight came from senior Will Randall-Goodwin, who surpassed Jake Weissman’s (’05) school-record 68 career wins.  Randall-Goodwin also advanced to the NJSIAA Regionals at 171 pounds from District 19.  Coach Craig Girvan also put three other wrestlers into the district finals—senior Joe Lobel, junior D’Andre Bell and freshman Tyler Rios.  Bell scored the bronze at 135 pounds and Rios fell in the 189-pound semifinals.

It’s amazing what a few years can do.  The rejuvenating job within the girls’ basketball program by Coach Glen Kertes is nothing short of miraculous.  (Notice it doesn’t say “rebuilding,” because the groundwork has been more than put in place.) Just three years after an 0-20 season, the team is 49-28 since the end of March 2006, including a 15-10 campaign in 2008-09.  HP finished third in the Blue Division and lost in the quarterfinals of the state tournament to Florence, 48-41 (Florence went on the win the sectional).  The Owls fought off a 1-4 drought to start the year, in large part due to the play of sophomore point guard Jocelyn Summers—whose average game led the way with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3.5 steals per game.  Senior Alyssa Hudgins also contributed in the post, putting up multiple double-double performances.

The boys’ basketball team struggled to find its identity during the season, battling inconsistency most of the way.  Despite the trials and tribulations, the Owls managed to steal wins from JFK-Iselin and South River in Blue Division play, while knocking off Red Division foe Woodbridge in late January.  Coach Derek Nobles singled out the leadership and play of guard Justin Brown, who posted 24 points in the win over South River.  The Owls employed a 1-3 chaser defense during the season to utilize their speed on the wings.

Errors plagued the Highland Park baseball team for a second consecutive season, as the Owls were unable to establish a rhythm on the diamond.  Wins over Timothy Christian, Manville and Piscataway Vo-Tech saw HP hitting well, as seniors Chris Marshall and Ben Heisler joined junior Mike Ryan in the offense.  Coach Rich McGlynn admits his team is very young at all positions.  The squad will return to the Gold Division in 2011, after one more season in the challenging Blue. 

The HPHS softball team qualified for the state tournament in 2009, in another of the better single-season turnaround stories at Highland Park in recent years.  The Owls capitalized on a hot start and parlayed it into the No. 7 seed in CJG1.  HP lost the opening-round game to Henry Hudson, 10-0.  However, the stellar play of junior Samantha Mundy continued in ’09, indicating that Lori Szentgyorgyi’s squad could be strong again next year.

The youthful Highland Park boys’ tennis team fell short of Coach Tom Sclafani’s goal of a state playoff appearance, but the Owls battled back to get over .500 at 7-6 as of May 20 with a 5-0 shutout of Dunellen.  Junior Jun Shin posted another impressive performance at first singles with a 6-1, 6-1 victory as HP needed straight sets in all five victories and was only forced into one set tiebreak.  Only four teams qualified in the CJG1 sectional this season. 

The cross country and track and field programs often share a common goal—strive for excellence as a collective unit through individual triumphs while keeping student-athletes in the best shape possible for their other sports endeavors.  HP’s programs in both seasons (cross country in the fall; track and field in winter and spring) have improved with the advent of a layered coaching staff that involves specialization.  Seniors Alyssa Hudgins and Bryant Fitzgerald, as well as junior Nate Smith, had the bar set high with preseason expectations.  On the team side, girls’ track earned a 67-64 victory over Middlesex on May 12.

At the states, Hudgins won two gold medals: discus with a 103-5, and javelin with a personal-best 104-9; while Fitzgerald won in the 100 meter dash.  Both boys’ and girls’ teams finished ninth in the CJ Group 1 tournament.

The 2008- 09 athletics year at Highland Park High School had its expected ups and downs.  One can only expect improvement on all fronts in 2009- ‘10, as the rich tradition of Owls sports moves into the new decade.