The 2011 spring season has concluded for Glen Rock High School and it certainly was a memorable one. We saw teams make county and state tournament runs, win division titles and most important of all, play with the pride and sportsmanship that makes a true Glen Rock student athlete.
Softball
On Tuesday, the softball team ended their tremendous season with a hard fought 3-0 loss up at Pequannock. The Lady Panthers gave Pequannock, one of the top teams in the state, all they could handle.
Taylor Feuss played brilliantly and got stronger as the game went on — she forced ground balls and controlled the game from the pitcher’s circle.
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The Lady Panthers were plagued by errors in the first two innings that allowed the three Pequannock runs to score, but after that the team played stellar defense to keep it close.
Glen Rock was able to piece together some hits, but was unable to come up with a big one to knock in the runs. The team stranded two runners in scoring position in the second and also was unable to score after Alexa Aramburu and Haley Small started off the fourth inning with singles to put two on with no outs.
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Despite the tough loss, Coach Kelly Dowell was extremely proud of her team’s accomplishments.
“I’m extremely proud, that’s what we’ve been telling them is that they’ve been doing something so special and that we’re proud of them,” said Dowell. “A 3-0 game against this team is a great job, we put pressure on [Pequannock], we put balls in play and that’s something they’re not used to, so we as a coaching staff are so proud of the team.”
In what was a loaded North I Group II Bracket, Glen Rock got to the semi-final by playing what was arguably their best game of the season, besting Pompton Lakes 2-1 in 8 innings to avenge a loss earlier in the year.
Though the team will certainly miss their “Core-4” of pitcher Taylor Feuss, catcher Erica Pulford, first baseman Julia Machi and second baseman Erica Machi, they have a good group of underclassmen to build on for next year.
With a NJIC Colonial Division title in hand and a big run in states that they accomplished, it was a banner season for the Lady Panthers.
Baseball
The 2011 season came to a frustrating end for the Panthers with a 4-0 loss to Mahwah in the North I Group II quarterfinals, but to look at the season as a failure due to that loss would be shortsighted.
The team had a great year, rolling off big wins in league play and they even did something that hadn’t been done for years by winning a county game.
Making the semi-finals of the Bergen County tournament is not easy, but the Panthers defeated a potent St. Mary team to advance, before losing to Ramsey.
The team also picked up the NJIC Colonial Division title in its first year in the league, adding to the banner that sits in the gym.
Girls Lacrosse
All season long, the girls lacrosse team — a young team by many standards — continued to show that they were a team on the rise.
That all culminated in a hard fought state game at DePaul, where the Lady Panthers had an early lead and gave the Passaic County Champs all they could handle.
Earlier this season, the team needed a win over Dwight Englewood to secure a state playoff birth and they responded with a win — they got out to an early lead and cruised to a 20-7 victory to secure their spot.
Late in the season, the girls pulled out a spirited 20-19 victory in double overtime, rallying from five goals down.
Though the team loses sensational seniors Kelsey Yenco and Alivia Thoubboron, with a huge freshman class and a lot of talented sophomores and juniors who racked up substantial playing time, the team should be successful for the foreseeable future.
Boys Lacrosse
It was an up and down season for the guys lax team, but a strong one nonetheless.
The team started out 5-0 behind great defensive play, but as the season went on injuries hindered their progress.
Despite losing out to Sparta, denying them the outright Rizk division title, the team finished with only one loss in league play.
The team loses its share of seniors, but will have many talented players back next year as well, including the electric Tim Miller, the team’s top scorer.
Golf
Though the golf team was unable to win a league title, they still competed well and finished with a winning record.
Diamo Streaser was consistently the low scorer for Glen Rock as they competed with North Jersey’s best.
Tennis
The tennis team capped of their strong season by upsetting Newton in the state North I Group II tournament to advance to the semi-finals.
Though they eventually lost in that next round, it was a premiere season for the team.
Finishing second only to powerhouse Pascack Hills in league play, the team rattled off some quality wins and was lifted by the addition of Dean Sponholz midway through the season as a transfer who went on to play first singles.
With Sponholz and others returning next season, look for the team to be competitive once again.
That being said...
All in all, it was a tremendous season, as Glen Rock sent five teams to the state tournaments and three of them advanced past the first round.
We’ll be back in the fall with more sports coverage.
On tap for next week is a feature on some of the top athletes of the year.
