Hawks, Crusaders Run Away with League Titles

The River Dell girls and boys and Bergen Catholic indoor track teams all claimed Big North division titles this week as the Hawks and Crusaders swept past the competition.

River Dell had the added bonus of being the only school to bring home both titles and take down rival Ramsey. The boys ran past the Rams 102-80 while the girls won 91-69 for the Patriot title.

The Hawks watched as Zach Hubner (55M, 400M), Christian DeSanctis (55HH, Long Jump, Triple Jump), Tim Olson (1600M, 3200M), Conor Davidson (55M), Ryan Oellermann (55HH), Austin Berringer (Shot Put), Brandon Jurasin (High Jump), Mike Boucher (Long Jump), Calvin Hartman and Mike Kost (Pole Vault) and the 4x400 relay (Alejanrdo Capote, DeSanctis, Oellermann, Hubner) claim top positions over the Rams.

Likewise, the Lady Hawks were lead by repeat title winners, Emily Croonquist (1600M, 3200M), Marina Reilly (55M, Triple Jump), Noreen Bryne (Long Jump, Triple Jump), Laura Oh and Emily Egarzarian (Shot Put), Payton Wagmeister (High Jump), Bridget Brindley (Pole Vault), the 4x400 relay (Bryne, Paige Fernandez, Sam Schleiger, Melissa Gibbons), and the 4x800 relay (Maddie Bonavita, Kristen Choo, Jackie Dobak, Nicole Weisenfeld).

Bergen Catholic claimed its first indoor championship since 1996 as the Crusaders upset rival Don Bosco 108-93. Kyle Ellerson (55M, 400M) and Kyle Queiro (High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump) were the linchpins to spur BC ahead. Dan Lynch (55HH, 800M), Matt Morano (800M), Mike Whalen (3200M), Jack Lippin (Shot Put), Anayo Iloabanafor (Long Jump), Ted D'Amico and Mike Moore (Pole Vault), as well as the 4x400 and 4x800 relays came out strong to bring home the title.

Indoor Track

River Edge’s Colleen Buckley helped lead IHA to the United Division indoor track title by anchoring the Blue Eagles’s 4-x-800 relay team to a first place finish in 4:19. Buckley also claimed the 800M title in 2:27.6 and third in the 1,600 by running a 5:26.4. 

Swimming

Facing a tough Division 1 field, the Bergen Catholic Crusaders outswam their rivals to bring home a County title and nine first place finishes out of 11 events. Bergen hit the pool a few days later and took down St. Peter's Prep, 99-71. In both meets, the Crusaders were led off by the 200 Medley Relay squad of Josh Sembrano, John Om, Sebastian Lopez and Liam Kelly who claimed the relay title during Counties in 1:40.78 and then bested their own time against St. Peter's finishing in 1:39.96.

The River Dell Lady Hawks' rivalry with Pascack Valley in the pool came to a head during the County tournament as the Lady Indians edged ahead by 22 points to claim the Division 4 title. Emily Reynolds placed second (200 IM) and third (100 breast stroke); Maddy Toohey was first in the 50 free and second in the 100 free; Gabrielle Denicola swept the 500 free and placed third in the 100 fly. The 400 free relay team of Reynolds, Denicola, Toohey and Sophie Scholes claimed first place.

The Hawks swimmers struggled in Division 4 and placed seventh overall with Peter Mari (100 Breast stroke), the lone athlete placing in the top three. Mari finished his heat in 1:10.41.

River Dell returned to the regular season with a girls win over Tenafly (99-71) as Toohey (50 Free), the 200 Free Relay (Denicola, Lienne Barrise, Emma Scholes, Toohey) and Delaney DeTitta (100 back) claimed the top spots. The boys fell to the Tigers, 119-51, as Liam Oberlander claimed the lone first place spots in the 50 Free and 100 Fly.

Wrestling

Bergen Catholic added another four wins to their record when they defeated Wayne Valley (58-12), Brick Memorial (38-29), Toms River South (41-16) and Jefferson (61-3). The team was bolstered by multiple wins courtesy of Troy Schaffsma, Danny DeLorenzi, Gianni Hallak, Kevin Mulligan, Johnny Sebastian, Christian Jenco, Nick Suriano and Tyler Casamenti, Carmine Goldsack, Matt Rose, and JP Ascolese. 

River Dell took down five opponents this week starting with Fort Lee (60-24) as nine wrestlers recorded a victory by pin. The Hawks neutralized Cresskill (60-12), Emerson/Park Ridge (43-23), Bogota/Weehawken (49-29) and Ramsey (41-25) by dominating all weight classes.

Basketball

Bergen Catholic dropped to heartbreaking losses this week to Old Tappan, 77-68 and DePaul, 67-54, around their sweep over Nothern Highlands, 75-64. Gilberto Cue has been on fire as he has banked 57 points in three games.

The Lady Hawks 11-game winning streak was lost as rival Mahwah spurred ahead of River Dell late in the game to take the Patriot Division match-up 44-35. Previously the Lady Hawks trounced rival Ramsey 46-25.

River Dell boys dropped three in a row this week starting with a 65-38 decision to Ridgewood after trailing heavily by halftime.  The Hawks were competative in their losses to Ramsey (49-40) and Mahwah (55-51) but were unable to pull away from their rivals.

Bowling

BOWLING

River Dell Girls finished 14th overall in the County Bowling tournament with 1,645 points. Both the boys and girls fell to Mahwah during the week.

Bergen Catholic swept past arch rival Don Bosco in a 7-0 shutout.

Ice Hockey

Bergen Catholic may have picked up the final seed in the County Tournament, but the Crusaders used the bottom position to tally four goals in seven shots in their opening 5-4 victory over Indian Hills. The Braves clawed their way back into the game and forced overtime where BC's Tucker James sent the winning puck through a screen for the win.

Previously the Crusaders scored a season high five goals in their Gordon Conference victory over Seton Hall Prep, 5-1 as Joseph Brown, Brian Ayers, Sasha Miniouchine, Lucas Milbank, and Kyle Marano each earned a tally. The Crusaders also tumbled to Gloucester Catholic 7-3 this week.

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