Tag: Ridgewood Sports

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Ridgewood Little League Baseball: Fourth straight district title for 12U group

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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DARIENZO FAMIL
The Ridgewood 12U Little League baseball team won its district championship with a 2-1 victory over Waldwick. FRONT ROW, from left: Collin Feeney, Donn Patrick Joseph, Ryan Cummings and Ather Williams. MIDDLE ROW, from left: Matthew Byrne, Reed Darienzo, Ed Chanod, Bryan Chan, Joseph Pagano, Donovan Joseph and Chris Fyock. BACK ROW, from left: Coach Andy Meyer, George Hadfield, Jack Meyer, coach Guy Darienzo and coach Mike Feeney.

 

JULY 17, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY RON FOX
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Coaches only can hope to get their messages across as well as Guy Darienzo did in 2012. The Ridgewood Little League coach stressed team play, players pulling for each other and staying fiercely determined not to give up under any circumstances.

His Ridgewood Raiders squad won their district championship that first year and have won each of the age-group titles every year since as they’ve moved up, extending that streak this week with a 2-1 win over Waldwick for the District 4 12U title.

“As far as I know, winning four straight district championships is unprecedented in New Jersey,” Darienzo said as his team prepared for Saturday’s opening of sectional play in Kittatinny, where Ridgewood will play against Somerset Hills at 3:30 p.m.

Perhaps an even more spectacular streak is the team’s overall play. The Raiders have never lost a district game in those four magical years. Basically 90 percent of the players on the roster have played together while moving up through the various age groups to dominate and collect four district banners.

“The kids bought into what we were preaching [in 2012] and it’s great to hear them cheering for each other, each at-bat,” said Darienzo, formerly a standout athlete at Bergen Catholic.

Two well-balanced squads faced off for the title this time around. Waldwick, making its debut in the tournament, fought through the losers’ bracket to earn the berth against defending champion Ridgewood, and a pitchers’ duel broke out.

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/fourth-straight-district-title-for-12u-group-1.1376003

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Ridgewood Cross-Country relying on new coaches to succeed legends

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PHOTO COURTESY OF JACOB BROW

Ridgewood athletes Sophie Montgomery, Saskia Keppler and Libby DeVita benefited this spring from the tutelage of jumps coach Steve Opremcak, who has been chosen to lead the girls cross-country team this upcoming season.

JULY 10, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2015, 12:31 AM

BY MATTHEW BIRCHENOUGH
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The fate of the Ridgewood High School boys and girls cross-country programs is now in the hands of two men in vastly different stages of their coaching careers but who envision their teams following a similar upward path.

For new girls coach Steve Opremcak, the position is the continuation of an already distinguished cross-country head coaching career. In Patrick Ryan, the newly appointed boys coach, Ridgewood is confident it has found a promising up-and-comer in the coaching ranks.

The appointments, approved by the district Board of Education late last month, signal the start to a new era for the tradition-rich boys and girls cross-country teams that achieved tremendous success under long-time coaches Jacob Brown and Mike Glynn.

“It’s a little intimidating, but I feel very honored,” said Opremcak, who was one of Brown’s assistants for the past six seasons during the cross-country and spring track seasons and served as the head coach at Indian Hills from 1998 to 2007.

The intimidation to which Opremcak referred is due not only to Brown’s role as the founder of the girls cross-country and track programs at Ridgewood but also his teams’ unparalleled success in the sport.

Since their inaugural season in 1974, Brown’s cross-country squads amassed a 243-15 record in dual meets, which included a 22-year undefeated stretch from 1984 through 2005. RHS also claimed 35 league championships, 29 county group titles, 28 Bergen Meet of Champions (BMOC) crowns, 22 state-sectional triumphs and two State Meet of Champions (SMOC) victories under Brown’s leadership.

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/boys-cross-country/new-rhs-coaches-ready-for-challenge-1.1371789

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RHS Boys Track & Field underclassmen show they belong at Nationals

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PHOTO COURTESY OF JACOB BROWN
Ridgewood’s Kobi Grant, left, takes a handoff from Matt Tai in the sprint medley relay at last weekend’s New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

JUNE 26, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW BIRCHENOUGH
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEW

In the final meet of the 2015 season, the Ridgewood High School boys track team’s contingent of young talent traveled to the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., not to show what they could provide the squad in 2016, but to prove that they were ready for the big time right now.

“Before the meet started, we challenged them that this meet wasn’t about getting ready for next year,” RHS head coach Josh Saladino said in a phone interview Monday night. “This meet was about rising to the expectation and the pressure of performing at a national-level championship this year.”

Saladino and the Maroons returned north happy with the work done by the six underclassmen that earned their way to Nationals, held on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.

The quartet of freshman Matt Tai, sophomores Kobi Grant and Kyle Mack and junior Michael Thurston finished 21st in the sprint medley relay and 10th in the Swedish relay.

Tai also competed in the freshman 100-meter dash, and Thurston took 11th in the Emerging Elite Division 800 race.

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/boys-track/maroon-boys-finish-year-on-a-positive-note-1.1363732

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RHS Softball happy with 2015 season

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JUNE 19, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY GREG TARTAGLIA
SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

RIDGEWOOD — Winning its first state-sectional title in six years was a highlight for Ridgewood High School this softball season, but it was far from the only one.

Many others were recounted during the Maroons’ season-ending celebration dinner at the RHS Campus Center last Friday. The varsity squad finished 25-5, recording its highest win total in coach Patti Auger’s nine seasons, and knocked off reigning champ Morris Knolls in the North 1, Group 4 final.

“I hope all of you, especially our seniors, will look back upon this season and recognize what you’ve achieved,” Auger said in her address to the team. “And when you stop by Gym 1 next year and look up at the softball [banner], and you see ‘2015 sectional’ displayed on it, I hope it stirs up memories of just what an amazing season you had.”

After an eight-inning, 2-1 loss to eventual Bergen County champ Northern Highlands on April 8, Ridgewood won 10 in a row, including one against the two-time State Group 3 titlist.

“By far, the highlight was a 4-2 victory over Indian Hills [on April 14], which ended their 42-game winning streak,” Auger said, triggering a round of cheers and applause from players, coaches and families present. “That truly opened the eyes of many softball followers in Bergen County.”

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/girls-softball/maroons-happy-with-2015-season-1.1358837

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R.H.S. Girls Lacrosse: Imperfect ending can’t dim Ridgewood’s dominance

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JUNE 12, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW BIRCHENOUGH
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

RIDGEWOOD — The number of inexperienced players that took the field at the start of the lacrosse season for the Ridgewood High School girls team provided an easy target for outside observers to express concern about the squad’s chances.

Head coach Karla Mixon knew it wouldn’t be a problem.

“I knew that this team was a special team,” Mixon said at the program’s season-ending banquet, held Wednesday at The Woman’s Club of Ridgewood. “I was able to see that talent in the tryouts… I wasn’t too worried about that.”

The young Maroons proved their coach right, opening the year with 23 straight wins before falling to Summit, 6-5, in the semifinals of the State Tournament of Champions last week.

The loss came with controversy after officials disallowed a potential go-ahead goal late in the game by Ridgewood after ruling it was scored with an illegal stick. Summit’s Julia Persche scored the game-winner with seconds remaining, but video of the goal showed that a Summit teammate took Persche’s stick and appeared to adjust it during the celebration before handing it back to Persche.

Ridgewood called for a stick check, but officials deemed it legal and the goal counted.

The setback was a tough way for the Maroons to end their season, but it could not erase the history that the team had made.

The 23-1 record tied the 2011 squad for the best mark in program history, and the team once again claimed the Stars and Stripes Division title.

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/girls-lacrosse/imperfect-end-can-t-dim-rhs-dominance-1.1354635

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Ridgewood civility panel addresses sports teams

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JUNE 9, 2015    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015, 12:13 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Civility talks in Ridgewood have made their way to the athletic fields, as a group of residents and officials discussed how the village can be better represented by teams that play in town.

The discussion on June 1 was led by the Rev. Jan Phillips and focused on both the behavior of players, coaches and parents as well as the treatment of athletes during practices and games. Ridgewood has both town recreational programs and travel club teams that participate in various levels of competition utilizing village fields.

One portion of the evening explored the way children learn sportsmanship from the adults in charge. In light of the occasional story that surfaces in New Jersey and elsewhere about the subpar behavior of coaches and parents, it was argued that an alteration in attitude has to start with children when they are young since the adults could not change themselves.

But the Rev. Thomas Johnson suggested that those adults must model those proper behaviors, because that is where the players pick up their cues.

“I’d rather make the effort to change,” Johnson said. “I can’t expect my children to change when I am stubborn about changing my lifestyle, my behavior. So where is the model for change? You’re asking our kids to do something and they learn from us.”

Parks and Recreation Department Director Tim Cronin noted that many organizations have a code of ethics for all involved with teams – players, coaches and parents – and leagues have strict rules about behavior, such as a policy to stop a game until an unruly spectator has left the premises.

Resident Paul Vagianos suggested that the coaches of each team gather all players and parents for a meeting before the first practice of the season in order to get all involved on the same page.

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/panel-addresses-sports-1.1352021

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Why do some people call it soccer?

SoccerBall theridgewoodblog.net

Why do some people call it soccer?
June 6,2015

Known to most of the rest of the world as football, or “fútbol,” the beautiful game is almost exclusively referred to as soccer in the United States, but many Americans may be surprised to learn that our outlier moniker actually originated across the pond.

Games played by kicking, hitting, throwing or carrying a ball have been around for thousands of years, but in the mid-to-late-19th century many sports—such as baseball, soccer, and American football—codified their rulebooks into the forms we recognize today. Modern soccer was born in 1863, when representatives from several English schools and clubs got together to standardize a single set of rules for their matches. They dubbed their new organization the Football Association, and their version of the game became known as “Association Football.” The word association was used to distinguish their specific sport from other popular games of the day such as “rugby football.”

The word soccer comes from a slang abbreviation of the word association, which British players of the day adapted as “assoc,” “assoccer” and eventually soccer or soccer football. (The habit of adding –er to nicknames in British vernacular is frequently attributed to Oxford students of that period, and can be found in other sporting slang such as “rugger” for rugby.)

https://www.history.com/news/ask-history/why-do-some-people-call-it-soccer?cmpid=Social_FBPAGE_HISTORY_20150607_189480786&linkId=14759488

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Heartbreak for R.H.S. girls lacrosse

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JUNE 4, 2015    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2015, 1:20 AM
BY JJ CONRAD
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

WEST LONG BRANCH — Standing on the sideline just beside the Ridgewood bench, Hannah Cermack and Katie Bourque stood together in an emotional, tear-filled embrace.

No words at the time, however, could ease the pain they felt following the Maroons’ 6-5 loss to Summit on Wednesday in the girls lacrosse Tournament of Champions semifinals at Monmouth University.

There have been tough, season-ending losses deep in state tournaments before. What made matters worse this time around was not the loss itself, but the fashion in which it came.

The potentially perfect season for top-seeded Ridgewood (23-1) ended in an all-too imperfect way. That end included losing a second-half lead, a star player for the final 10:54, watching a late goal taken off the scoreboard in a tie game and witnessing Summit score the game-winner with 3.4 seconds remaining.

“It is a little harder to take the way this went,” coach Karla Mixon said after her team’s first appearance in the TOC since 2012. “It is what it is, though. We can’t change anything now.”

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/girls-lacrosse/ridgewood-falls-in-heartbreaker-1.1348943

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Ridgewood Schools Concussion Awareness , RHS Athletics Night and BOE Meeting

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RHS Athletics Holds Night for Parents of Incoming Freshmen Athletes

Parents and guardians of incoming freshmen athletes are invited to a meeting on Thursday, June 4. RHS Director of Athletics Keith Cook will give a brief overview of high school athletics and all fall coaches will be on hand to answer any questions. The meeting will take place from 7-8 p.m. in Gym I at RHS. For more information, please contact Keith Cook (201-670-2800, ext. 20510 or kcook@ridgewood.k12.nj.us).

Concussion Awareness Program is June 1

Parents and guardians are invited to a special program on the topic of concussions in youth sports. RHS Head Athletic Trainer Nick Nicholaides and Gerard Gioia, Division Chief of Neuropsychology and Director of the Safe Concussion Outcome, Recovery & Education Program at Children’s National Health System, will be presenting information at Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium on Monday, June 1 at 7 p.m.Click here for more information.

RIDGEWOOD BOE  MEETS ON JUNE 1, 2015

The  Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, June 1, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.

The public is invited to attend the meeting at the Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3. The meeting will be aired live on FiOS channel 33 and Optimum channel 77. Or it may be viewed live via the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the “Link in Live” tab.

Click here to view the agenda for the June 1, 2015 Regular Public Meeting.

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Ridgewood One of Eight School Districts in NJ Ranked in the top 70 nationally in School Athletics

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By Matthew Stanmyre | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on May 26, 2015 11:20 AM

School districts from Summit, West Essex Regional and Southern Regional — districts with well-established reputations for athletic excellence at the high school level — have been ranked the best in New Jersey and among the most highly rated in the nation, according to a study based on athletic statistics and hundreds of thousands of surveys.

Summit also checked in at No. 3 overall nationally, with West Essex (No. 21) and Southern Regional (No. 28) cracking the top 30 in America.

The study rated school district athletics as a whole, considering parent and student opinions, number of interscholastic sports offered, percentages of girls and boys participating in sports and the average athletic expense per student, among other factors.

A school district rated high by the study generally indicates sports and fitness plays a significant role in the student life; students actively participate in intervarsity sports; and the administration is invested in the athletic program.

The study ranked 4,951 districts after fielding more than 750,000 opinions from nearly 230,000 students and parents.

Also, some school districts such as Wayne — ranked No. 16 in New Jersey — include more than one high school.

Eight schools from New Jersey landed in the top 70 nationally: Summit, West Essex, Southern, River Dell, Ridgewood, Pascack Valley, New Providence andRandolph.

https://highschoolsports.nj.com/news/article/-6893356241003402755/is-your-childs-school-district-in-the-top-10-in-nj-for-sports-check-the-rankings/

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Ridgewood puts clamps on Wolfpack in boys lacrosse final

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file photo

By KELLY FENTON Sports editor

WASHINGTON TWP. – For all but about three minutes during the North 2, Group 3 boys lacrosse championship at Ridgewood on Saturday evening, West Morris Central played respectable, sometimes outstanding, defense.

But playing without one of its top scorers against the seventh-ranked team that came in allowing just six goals a game, the Wolfpack needed to be nearly perfect. And allowing a goal with six seconds left in the first period and three goals over a one-minute span in the final two minutes of the second period turned out to be the tremors that triggered the avalanche in Ridgewood’s 9-0 victory.

“They kind of had a couple of flurries there,” said West Morris head coach Rob Goodwin, whose team concluded a 12-11 season after winning six of its final eight games. “We aren’t very big and I think we were a little tentative at times against their bigger players.”

Cooper Telesco was a case in point. The 6-0, 190-pound attack pretty much willed his way through two Wolfpack defenders to score three-and-a-half minutes into the game, then added a deflating goal in much the same manner with only six seconds left in the first to make it 2-0.

Still, the Wolfpack were right in it after Joe Reilly made three tough saves in a row over a one-minute span midway through the second period. West Morris trailed only 2-0 with two minutes left in the half and an underdog hanging tough can put pressure on a favorite.

But the Maroons broke through with 1:41 left, then scored 10 seconds later after winning the ensuing faceoff. They added one more goal with 36 seconds left and whatever hopes West Morris might have carried into intermission were seriously dampened after falling behind 5-0.

Making that score all the more ominous was the fact that the Wolfpack managed to get off only a couple of shots on goal the entire half. Twice, Cooper Sloan made a nifty move around the right post and tried to quickly scoop an underhand by Ridgewood goalie Chris Cerrina.

https://www.newjerseyhills.com/observer-tribune/sports/ridgewood-puts-clamps-on-wolfpack-in-boys-lacrosse-final/article_670a9469-65e5-5f4e-8698-4cad60b5f63f.html

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Running: Ridgewood Run notes

Ridgewood_run_theridgewoodblog

MAY 26, 2015    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2015, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD

Bank on Brown

For the 40th consecutive year — the entire life of the event — Jacob Brown lent a supporting hand at the Ridgewood Run.

This time it was giving out water and juice to runners not far from the finish line Monday.

He was overseeing quite a few members of his Ridgewood High School girls track team that also were volunteering their services on the refreshment line for the thirsty competitors.

In past years, Brown has done any number of jobs at the race, including patrolling the grounds, picking up trash, using his ever-present camera for photography work — basically whatever assignment that needed to be handled, he did it enthusiastically.

The 69-year-old Brown, who is retiring after 44 seasons as the legendary coach of the Maroons’ track and field squad (and as a health education teacher) was there at the beginning in 1976 when race founder Fred d’Elia turned to him for advice.

“Basically it was all about the logistics of how to put something like this together starting from scratch; I was sort of like an aide-de-camp for Fred,” said Brown.

“He was able to get all the politicians and police and other departments to close the streets off, but he also needed a plan to actually formulate on how and where everything would take place.

“We were very surprised that first year because we thought that less than a hundred people would show up and we got eight or nine times that many entrants.”

https://www.northjersey.com/towns/running-ridgewood-run-notes-1.1342249

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Ridgewood Schools Presents a Concussion Awareness Program on June 1

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May 19,2015

Ridgewood NJ, Parents and guardians are invited to a special program on the topic of concussions in youth sports. RHS Head Athletic Trainer Nick Nicholedes and Gerard Gioia, Division Chief of Neuropsychology and Director of the Safe Concussion Outcome, Recovery & Education Program at Children’s National Health System, will be presenting information at Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium on Monday, June 1 at 7 p.m.Click here for more information.
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Ridgewood girls lacrosse adds another Bergen title to its legacy

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MAY 10, 2015    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015, 1:07 AM
BY JJ CONRAD
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

MAHWAH — The soon-to-be Ridgewood graduates, like Jordan Ford and Reid Simoncini, stood and posed for pictures with the trophy, just as the previous 10 senior classes had done before them.

The Maroons’ girls lacrosse team had just carried on an unprecedented dynasty, as Ridgewood captured its 11th straight Bergen County title with a near-flawless 16-2 win over previously unbeaten Northern Highlands (19-1) on Saturday.

Essentially everyone involved said the winning never gets old. But the experiences, they say, always differ.

Each one is special. Each one has different players in different roles.

One thing that remains constant, however, is the annual pressure to live up to the Ridgewood legacy.

“Not on your watch!” one parent shouted proudly during the seniors’ trophy photo shoot, declaring the Maroons’ run of county dominance was not going to end with the Class of 2015.

“The pressure that’s on us to keep this going makes it that much more exciting,” said Ford, the James Madison-bound middie who struck for a game-high five goals and one assist as Ridgewood (16-0) stormed out to an 11-2 halftime lead.

“I think in my mind all the time that there’s no possibility we’re going to lose. It’s a tradition we love and a tradition we want to hold on to. Losing is not an option. That’s our motto. Losing is not acceptable here.”

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/h-s-girls-lacrosse-ridgewood-adds-another-bergen-title-to-its-legacy-1.1330552

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Ridgewood native writes with Bengie Molina

Molina

MAY 8, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY BETSY MURPHY
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Joan Ryan, who claims an ideal childhood in Ridgewood, will tell you she gives her father credit for her passion for baseball and sports. Her dad, Bob Ryan, coached Little League the years the family lived here.

Joan spent her impressionable years, from four to thirteen years old, with jaunts to the Duck Pond, summer and winter (“we would ice skate there”), or “going across the creek behind our house to skate in the parking lot.” She remembers having Mod parties with friends, Maureen Quinn and Diane Whitehead, wearing white mini-skirts and dancing; the basketball hoop on the garage; catching fireflies; the bus to Somerville. She remembers going to Lyon’s for candy, or milk for mom, and the trips to Tice’s Farm at Halloween. “It really was a perfect place to grow up!”

She adds, “There were no opportunities like that in Florida.”

Joan was the third of six children and her mother, tired of the cold, moved the family to Florida in 1972. “I didn’t like it at all,” says Joan.

https://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/books/hometown-girl-writes-with-bengie-molina-1.1329328

 

Former MLB Catcher Bengie Molina will appear at Bookends Saturday, May 9th @1:00pm

Molina is a former MLB Catcher for Anaheim Angels, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the San Francisco Giants,

Bengie Molina, will sign his new book:

MOLINA: The Story of the Father Who Raised an Unlikely Baseball Dynasty
Bengie will Sign ONE piece of Memorabilia with purchase of book!

Books available May 9th

Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.

Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.
First In Line Certificate use is the the discretion of Bookends. Blackout dates may apply.
Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.
Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.

While we try to ensure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed.  We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.

Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ   07450   201-445-0726