For its 18th consecutive year, Haddonfield Memorial High School has been awarded the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) ShopRite Cup for the 2021-’22 season.
The award recognizes the borough school dIstrict as having the best Group 2 athletic program in the state. The high school is one of six ShopRite Cup winners, four chosen from public schools and two from private schools.
During the year, schools win points for having athletes who win group championships at the state and sectional levels. Schools get 10 points for being state champions, eight for second place, and five or six for competing in the sectional championships but losing in the state semifinals.
High-school Athletic Director Lefteris Banos noted that the high school had 118 points, not including bonus points received if no athletes are ejected or disqualified during the year.
In the fall: (40 pts)
- Girls Soccer and Girls Tennis were sectional champions.
- Boys Cross Country Team and Girls Cross Country Team were state championships.
In the winter: (44 points)
- Boys Winter Track took third place.
- Girls Winter Track took second place, and were state champions in the winter track relays.
- Boys and Girls Swimming teams won state championships (20).
In the spring: (34 points)
- Girls Lacrosse and Boys Lacrosse were state finalists.
- Boys Tennis were placed second in the state championships.
- Boys track took second place at the state championships.
- Girls Lacrosse beat Mountain Lakes, winning their state championships.
“I’m very proud of the sportsmanship that our student athletes displayed, in and out of representing our school, our town and our community,” said Banos.
Other student commendations went to junior Ryan Cataldo, and seniors Julian Durkin, Sofia Johnson and Lola Cooke, recipients of the College Board National Hispanic Recognition Program. Ian Talty was recognized as a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Celia Wojcik was named the top oboe player in the state; she will play in the All-State Orchestra and NJPAC concerts on Nov. 11 and Nov. 20.
Thea Spellmeyer was recognized for her work in the Governor’s School of Engineering and Technology, where she evaluated the relationships between socioeconomics and athletic performance and risk of injury, based on data from the NFL’s youth fitness camps. She presented her work at MIT’s Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Undergraduate Research Technology Conference earlier this month.
In other news:
- The board introduced an amendment to the Bias Crimes and Bias-Related Acts Policy that requires the district to notify borough police and the bias investigation officer for the county prosecutor’s office when a bias crime or bias-related act takes place.
- The board approved a new sixth grade world language exploratory curriculum for students learning French, German and Spanish to decide which language they would like to continue taking in seventh and eighth grade.
The next board of ed meeting will be on Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Haddonfield Memorial High School library.
