Danny Breslauer

Stories from Danny Breslauer

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

There are times in high school sports when teams can lose touch with the balance of on and off-the-court elements. For Highland Park's fifth-year boys basketball head coach Derek Nobles, that's not the case.

"I feel that our best accomplishments last year were not in wins or losses, but in the maturing of our team and seeing younger guys taking leadership roles," Nobles said.

"I believe success has to come from the players learning responsibility and accountability for their actions and how to focus on making positive decisions on and off the court."

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

With the end of Thanksgiving weekend, the Highland Park girls and boys basketball programs return to the court for winter season. The squads bring stylistically different approaches, but share a common goal of showing effort and improving each day.

But don't tell sixth-year HPHS girls basketball coach Glen Kertes that 2011-12 should be considered a rebuilding year for his program.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011
When a high school’s two soccer programs combine for more than 20 wins in a season, it's a good year. But if each squad finishes .500 or better and advances to the sectional semifinals, that is a special accomplishment.

Highland Park High School posted that remarkable season this fall, and both coaches emphasized how the grassroots movement for soccer in the borough has strengthened.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

High school football season starts with grueling August practice sessions and packs eight ferocious tilts across the following two months. So, it’s especially cruel that Highland Park’s playoff goals were dashed in a last-ship tiebreaker that had been out of the Owls’ hands for a week.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

 

Nicole Chis learned how to play tennis when she was two years old during practice sessions with her father Marius. That training started at the borough’s Donaldson Park and eventually made its way to the courts on North Eighth Avenue.

“My dad’s been my coach my whole life,” Chis said of her father, who was born in Romania. “He would help me stand up, hold a racquet and ball and hit it. I ended up practicing every day, and having him there each time made it easy to develop.”

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Some believe that power comes from numbers. In the case of the Highland Park High School cross country team, improvement derives solely from an unquestioned work ethic and respect for instruction.

Under first-year head coach Tim Stark, a 2002 graduate of HPHS, the cross country team is attempting to make strides despite offseason changes.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

At the high school ranks, it is rare to find a team that plays soccer the way the sport is meant to be played at its highest level.

Free-flowing possession is what separates the elite teams from the good ones. This year’s Highland Park High School girls soccer squad has that rare element in its style.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

High expectations are the norm for Highland Park High School girls tennis. But with a first-year head coach and a new racket in the first singles slot, many could have chalked up 2011 as a rebuilding year.

Those people, along with the rest of the Greater Middlesex Conference community, are quite surprised right now.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

To the casual observer, it’s just the prize for a high school football rivalry. Some might see simply a half-shaven structure with a wood base and gold-plated siding. It’s even possible to feel that it isn’t aesthetically pleasing.

But to anyone from Highland Park or Metuchen who has been involved with the 75-year football rivalry between the two towns, the annual Goal Post Trophy is a work of art.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

State tournament losses sting for an entire offseason. Last November, the HPHS boys soccer team was ahead of South River four different times during the Central Jersey Group 1 quarterfinals match before falling in overtime, 5-4, to the eventual state Group 1 runner-up.

Despite the lingering memory, the Owls' 12th-year head coach Keith Roig is optimistic about what his team is capable of producing this fall.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

To the Central Jersey high school football historian, 'Highland Park' is synonymous with state championships. The past decade has been filled with high-quality play on the HPHS gridiron, but various roadblocks have prevented the Owls from bringing home the section’s top prize.

Coming off a 4-6 campaign in 2010, which featured a seventh consecutive state playoff berth and a tournament loss to eventual champion Shore Regional, sixth-year head coach Rich McGlynn has high hopes for his squad.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Not many math teachers can say they hadn’t met the principal and didn’t know anything about the district, heading into their first day on the job at a high school.

However, special circumstances put veteran Highland Park High School mentor Chris Ruckdeschel in that position on Jan. 2, 2001 and he instantly flourished.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Being aware of your health and fitness is a complex topic, and often one that encompasses many New Year’s resolutions. You might not expect to see it displayed by a group of 70 third through seventh graders, but that has been accomplished the efforts of Highland Park's Office of Recreation.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

 

The Highland Park football program knew that life after Nate Smith wasn’t going to be easy.

Luckily, Smith was replaced at running back by junior Quawi Bachelor, who broke the 1,000-yard plateau in the 2010 season, breaking the century mark in multiple games and guiding the Owls to another Central Jersey Group 1 tournament berth.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Tyler Rios had just moved to Highland Park from Newark in 2005. He was walking the halls of Bartle Elementary School when he came across flyers promoting recreation wrestling.

He thought it’d be a cool idea to get involved, but had no idea that the decision would lead to something much bigger than a hobby.

Saturday, May 14, 2011
When the heart of May arrives, most high schoolers are thinking about prom weekends, final exams, and sweet summer plans. But for the Highland Park High School softball and baseball teams, county and sectional tournaments will take precedence just a bit longer.

Each program has posted a solid season, after undergoing very different transitions before the 2011 campaign.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The April 21st quad-meet (read The Mirror's game-day report HERE - Ed.) puts a dubious local sports streak to rest: it had been nearly five years since Highland Park High School last hosted a Middlesex County track & field event.

“It’s exciting . . [In recent years] we’ve had a lot of great track athletes and teams but nobody knows about them because they didn't see them,” says HPHS girls track head coach Keith Roig about the renovations to formerly dilapidated Jay Dakelman Field.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

One of the main challenges for any high school tennis coach is finding the correct blend of players to create a formidable and stable lineup. Highland Park High School boys tennis first-year head coach Mike Kaufman has brought a different mindset to that task.

The 2000 HPHS graduate, former tennis player and current junior varsity soccer coach has started off on the right foot with the program.

Sunday, March 13, 2011
With the 2011 Highland Park High School softball season now underway, two words -- “excited” and “ready” -- seem to be the season's buzzwords so far. In conversations with eighth-year head coach Lori Szentgyorgyi, you’re bound to hear them a few times.

Coming off a 15-7 record and back-to-back appearances in the Central Jersey Group 1 tournament, the Owls return all but three players to create an upperclassmen-dominated lineup.

Monday, March 7, 2011

When you grow up within 15 miles of the training grounds of both Aston Villa and Birmingham City in the industrial midlands of England, you’re bound to develop a deep interest in soccer. That was the case for Highland Park resident and youth soccer coach Mark Draper.

“My uncle got me really into soccer during what we call infant school,” said the 49-year-old Draper, who proudly roots for Aston Villa. “At the time, I supported Birmingham City and my uncle was a Villa supporter and wanted to change that. So he took me to games and changed my alliance.”

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