| NEWS |
  
|
| FEATURES |
| ENTERTAINMENT |
  
|
| COLUMNS |
     |
| CONTACT US |
|
| HOW TO SUBMIT |
|
|
| BACK ISSUES |
|
|
 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
|
PHS Swimmer Rossi, PHS Ice Hockey's Ryan Earn Nod as Town Topics' Top Winter Stars
By Bill Alden
Coming into the 400 freestyle relay finale of the Public B state championship meet last month, the Princeton High girls' swimming team knew that Scotch Plains-Fanwood had already clinched the team title.
But that mathematical reality didn't dampen the competitive fire of PHS junior superstar Nina Rossi as she hit the water for her anchor leg.
The powerful Rossi churned through the water to produce a blistering swim and deliver the relay win for the Little Tigers as the quartet produced its best time of the year.
Rossi's love of competition was a source of strength all winter for PHS. At the Mercer County Championships in early February, Rossi won the 200-meter individual medley and the 100 butterfly to help lead the Little Tigers to a second place finish in the team standings. Rossi's effort earned her the meet's Outstanding Female Swimmer award for the third straight year.
Rossi was at her best in the Public B tournament, winning every individual race and relay as the Little Tigers won their second straight Central Jersey sectional title and made it back to the state championship meet for the second straight season.
After the end of the team season, Rossi made a big splash at the NJSIAA individual championships as she won the 200-yard free and the 100 butterfly. She became the first PHS swimmer to take double gold at the state individual meet.
PHS head coach Greg Hand is not surprised by what Rossi has accomplished. "She wants to be the best that she can be," said Hand, whose girls' team finished with a 13-2 mark. "She wants to swim at the highest level. When she's in a race she has a refuse-to-lose attitude. We talk about people who try hard, who finish races hard, but she takes it to an extra dimension."
Rossi, for her part, is shooting for the ultimate level in the sport. "Ever since I started swimming, I've wanted to be at the top of the things," said Rossi after the MCT meet. "I want to get to the Olympics, I really do. It's a goal, it's high up there. It might take a while but I've always wanted to do it."
For the way in which she achieved her goals this winter, Rossi is the choice as the Town Topics' top female performer of the winter high school season.
Top Male Performer
With sophomore star forward John Ryan out of the lineup due to a nagging injury, the Princeton High boys' ice hockey team started its season with a disappointing loss to WW/P-S on December 1.
Ryan returned to the line-up a game later and the wins started piling up for PHS. Coming off a freshman season in which he had led the area in scoring with 51 points on 28 goals and 23 assists, Ryan was even better as a sophomore despite the fact that defenses were designed to stop him.
Led by the prolific Ryan, PHS reeled off a 10-game winning streak before losing to perennial nemesis Hopewell Valley in mid-January. The Little Tigers bought the third seed in the Mercer County Tournament and proceeded to put together one of the best weeks in program history in the final stages of the tourney.
In the quarterfinals, PHS topped WW/P-S 8-4 as Ryan scored four goals in the third period to key the win. In the semis, Ryan had a goal to help PHS to a sweet 5-2 win over second-seeded Hopewell Valley. In the championship game, PHS overcame an early 2-0 deficit against top-seeded Notre Dame to pull out a thrilling 3-2 overtime win as Ryan assisted on the winning goal.
Ryan and the Little Tigers kept their run going as they topped Morris Hills 6-5 in overtime in the opening round of the Public state tournament. PHS' magical season ended as it fell 5-0 to Chatham in the state tourney round of 16 to finish with a 19-5-1 record.
The productive Ryan ended up with 59 points on 35 goals and 24 assists. His skill helped his linemates have big seasons as Peter Teifer notched 46 points and Sam Finnell chipped in 43 points.
PHS head coach Paul Merrow credited Ryan with making everyone around him better. "John is very elusive," said Merrow. "He's not the speediest guy but he has the stickhandling skills. He's able to get out of tight places and find open people."
From his vantage point, Ryan felt a responsibility to be more of a leader. "As a freshman, you almost feel like you're playing with house money," added Ryan. "As a sophomore, particularly since we don't have that many seniors, you take on more of a leadership role. You feel that you have to do more stuff."
For all the good stuff Ryan did to help PHS enjoy one of the best seasons in program history, he earns the nod as Town Topics' top male performer of the winter season.
Top Newcomers
Coming into the winter, Hun School girls' basketball coach Bill Holup was expecting big things from freshman forward Emily Gratch.
"Emily is going to help us a lot," said Holup last November as he looked ahead to his team's season-opener. "She loves to play defense and that makes for more competitive practices. She really brings the defensive intensity."
In the early going, Holup used Gratch as his sixth man, believing that that her energy brought an instant spark to the team off the bench. It didn't take long for Holup to realize that he needed Gratch's intensity and skill from the opening tipoff and she moved into the starting lineup by January.
The 5'11 Gratch played like a veteran, emerging as the team's No. 2 scorer with an average of 11.0 points a game. Her defensive intensity never waned as she helped Hun post a 22-3 record and make it to the Prep A state title game. While Hun fell to powerful Peddie in the championship game, Gratch was a revelation as she poured in a team-high 17 points in a losing cause.
Gratch's stellar debut makes her the choice as the Town Topics' top female newcomer of the winter season.
Beset by losses to graduation, transfer, and injury, the Princeton Day School boys' ice hockey team knew it faced an uphill battle in its quest for an eighth consecutive state Prep title.
While PDS head coach Chris Barcless had the singular talents and leadership of senior forward Will Denise at his disposal, he was desperately searching for someone else to share the scoring load.
Freshman Eric Czapka answered the challenge as he proved to be a key option up front for the Panthers from the first week of the season throughout the winter. The consistent Czapka ended the winter with 24 points on 14 goals and 10 assists. While PDS' title streak was snapped by Morristown-Beard, Czapka was a key factor in helping the Panthers produce a 16-7-1 final record.
"Eric has been a wonderful addition," said Barcless. "He's played with me on my Mercer Chiefs squad the last three years and he knows what to expect from me and I know what to expect from him."
For meeting those expectations, Czapka earns the nod as the Town Topics' top male newcomer of the winter season.
Top Coaches
Hun School girls' basketball coach Bill Holup knew his club was loaded with talent as it headed into this winter.
The Raiders boasted a core of stellar seniors in Shantee Darrian, Jill Fonseca, and Nadine Maeser together with a talented junior in Mary Stinson and a precocious freshman in Emily Gratch.
With able players on the bench behind that quintet who had previously seen a lot of playing time, the affable Holup feared that he might not be able to get all of that talent to mesh.
Displaying an unusually fierce commitment to defense, however, the Raiders wasted little time demonstrating that they were going to be a force to be reckoned with all winter long.
Hun jumped out of the gate with an 11-game winning streak, taking the Stuart Tip-Off tournament, Rutgers Prep Invitational, and the Eastern States Christmas Invitational Tournament in the process.
After coming up just short in a battle with perennial power Peddie in mid-January, the Raiders reeled off another 11-game winning streak.
While Hun ultimately fell to nationally-ranked Peddie in the finals of the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) tourney and the state Prep A tournament, the Falcons were the only team that beat the Raiders.
In reflecting on the team's 22-3 season, co-captain Fonseca was surprised by how well things came together.
"From the beginning of the season, I knew we would be good but I never expected this much out of the team," asserted Fonseca.
"It's definitely been my favorite team ever. Winning makes you get along better and the team chemistry we have is amazing. We're really close."
For creating that kind of chemistry, Holup is the choice as the Town Topics' top coach among girls' teams this winter.
Paul Merrow was confident that his Princeton High boys' ice hockey team had plenty of firepower but he wasn't sure whether it had the competitive fire to battle the toughest teams on its schedule.
Even after the Little Tigers got off to a 10-1 start, Merrow reserved judgment on whether his sophomore-laden squad was ready to play with the "big boys," as he put it.
Merrow got his answer in the affirmative as PHS took some major scalps. Over the last half of the season, PHS topped such formidable foes as Hun, Bridgewater-Raritan, and Manasquan.
PHS, though, saved its best play for tournament time. In the Mercer County Tournament, PHS toppled rival WW/ P-S and longtime nemesis Hopewell Valley to make it to the title game against once-beaten Notre Dame.
In the championship game, the underdog Little Tigers, the tournament's third seed, recovered from an early 2-0 deficit to stun the top-seeded Irish 3-2 in an overtime thriller.
Riding that momentum, PHS produced a rally a week later to overcome higher-seeded Morris Hills 6-5 in overtime in the opening round of the Public state tournament.
While PHS ran out of miracles as it fell to powerful Chatham 5-0 in the round of 16, that didn't put a damper on the 19-5-1 season produced by the Little Tigers.
By the end, Merrow was a believer in his charges. "It was a great season, record-wise and improvement wise," asserted Merrow, who completed his ninth season guiding the Little Tigers. "We went from a freshman-laden team that struggled to a sophomore team that was really strong."
For molding his young team into a power, Merrow earns the nod as the Town Topics' top coach this winter among boys' teams.
