Owls wrap up spring seasons on a high note

Spring sports at HPHS combined for 31 victories, three state tournament appearances and multiple individual awards.

Claiming the team honor of fewest losses while holding a winning record is boys tennis. At 12-3, the squad qualified for the Central Jersey Group I tournament as the No. 2 seed, before bowing out in the quarterfinals to South River, 3-2.

In his first year coaching the program since the 1980s, Bob Kertes picked up right where he left off—picking up wins left and right while placing individuals in the postseason. HP’s only other two losses were regular season defeats against Metuchen.

“They just weren’t used to being there before,” Kertes said of the South River playoffs match. “We had beaten them twice in the regular season but the emotion and energy just wasn’t there on that particular day.”

Owls tennis received a big boost at Greater Middlesex County Tournament time, when third singles All-Blue Division junior Asa Zuberman-Leibman advanced to the semifinals against Group IV opponents.

“It was a springboard of confidence,” Kertes said. “Asa carried us all season and just kept getting better and better.”

Junior Sam Finegold and senior Sri Babu Prabu anchored the first and second singles slots respectively, while junior Jon Shin and senior Jun Shin created a solid combo at first doubles. Jun was slowed by tennis elbow in the early season, before regainied full strength late in the spring. However, it was the youthful second doubles pairing that drew immense praise from its head coach. Freshman Steve Zang and sophomore Yang Xie excelled, falling short of an unblemished season by just a few points in their final match. They were recognized with All-Conference and Blue Division honors.

 

While Kertes is unsure of his status as coach for next year, he was very impressed with the “sharpened level of play” across the county and has high hopes for the Owls.

 

“There’s a large group of talented young players ready to get their chance here,” Kertes said. “Even better days are ahead with this returning nucleus.”

Diamond Struggles

Rich McGlynn always finds a way to stay positive in the face of adversity—and he needed this quality during one of his toughest coaching challenges to date this spring.

The HPHS baseball program, which returns to the small-school Gold Division in 2011, took its lumps in a final year in the stacked Blue division, ekeing out a 2-17 finish. The team’s duo of victories both came against soon-to-be Gold foe Cardinal McCarrick by scores of 14-10 and 12-11 (in the season finale).

“The division move will certainly even the playing field for us,” McGlynn said. “Most of our guys continually worked hard everyday and legitimately wanted to improve . . . I’m proud of them for fighting through frustration.”

McGlynn saved a special acknowledgement for his lone senior, first baseman/pitcher Mike Ryan, who led the team in batting average at .372. Ryan also drove in the game-winning run in the final contest of the year.

“About midseason, he finally started playing baseball for fun again and was happy-go-lucky with his teammates. It’s hard to have to go through a stretch like that and stay positive, but he did and was able to get that career-capping memory that everyone lives for.”

The Owls return over 16 players in 2011, seven of which will have at least a year of starting experience under the belt—and were commended for a good work ethic by their skipper. Sophomore first baseman Jason Potts ended the season hitting over .330.

HP will play in the GMC Summer League this June and July, picking up an extra 14 to 16 games of experience.

Success on the Track

A May issue of the Mirror featured the HPHS Track & Field’s midseason successes, but the past few weeks have brought even more accolades.

While the boys side finished 0-4 in dual meets and the girls posted a 2-2 record with a win over South River, postseason tournaments are where the individual side of the program is put on display. The girls 4 X 100 relay team’s 53.5-second mark was fifth in the county relays—thrusting sophomores SaNia Holloway and Mande Younge, freshman Dierra Doyle, and senior Raessa Belnavis into the spotlight.

“I think it was exciting to see our name up there placing,” said veteran girls track coach Keith Roig. “A lot of them are newcomers to track and so that emotion can definitely lead to an increased interest in participation.”

On the boys side, senior captain Mike McClain was applauded for his performances in high jump, triple jump, long jump and sprinting events, while junior Zach Chen was considered a “committed and loyal” distance runner for the Owls.

“Mike is quick but has good vertical jumping ability too,” Roig said. “Plus triple jump requires a lot of coordination and rhythm. Zach kept posting good times and always showed up ready to work.” While a Senior Trip conflict skewed HP’s lineup at the states, a subsequent dual meet saw HP’s 4 X 400 lineup run a 4:23, the school’s best time in 10 years.

The story of the season has to be freshman starter Dierra Doyle, who placed second in the 200-meter (26.4 seconds), fourth in shot-put and second in triple jump at the Central Jersey Group 1 level.

“Dierra is the real deal,” Roig said. “She’s the most multi-talented athlete in our section already, is a super-hard worker, and has an unbelievable amount of potential.”

A Softball Streak

Finally, the biggest validation of the early 2010 campaigns came in the form of the HPHS softball team. After ending a long state tournament drought in 2009, the Owls showed that it wasn’t even close to a fluke by completing the season with a 15-7 record.

Sporting a still relatively young squad with only three seniors, Gold Division coach of the year Lori Szentgyorgyi and company put together the best HP softball season in the last 10 years. In addition to reaching the quarterfinals of its section by mercy-ruling Perth Amboy Vo-Tech, the Owls also scored a GMCT win by defeating New Brunswick 6-5 on a walk-off home run by junior first baseman Jasmin Robertson (her second of the game and 7th of the season).

“Jasmin started out as our No. 4 hitter and moved up to the three spot,” Szentgyorgyi said. “Her on-base percentage was through the roof and she didn’t strike out in the regular season.”

One-run losses in the following rounds of each tournament to Keansburg (1-0) and Metuchen (6-5) would end Highland Park’s title hopes. But the program’s quick rise to relevancy has helped the team’s competitive drive and sent seniors Samantha Mundy, Sasha Lugo and Julie Romero out on a high note.

“From day one, they seemed to be on the same page,” Szentgyorgyi said. “The chemistry never diminished and they had a motto to keep the season going.”

Junior Ilyssa Schwartz shined on the mound, picking up the GMCT victory by striking out eight and allowing only four hits.

“Ilyssa has shown to be level-headed in pressure situations,” Szentgyorgyi said. “You can’t teach that focus to a pitcher and it just has to be there for someone to succeed.”

Mundy (as a utility player) was joined by Schwartz, Robertson and junior catcher Dahlia Moyal on the All-Gold Division team.