Tricia's 1994 squad tied Ramapo 0-0 in the county final giving Ridgewood its second consecutive Bergen County title which was shared with Ramapo's Green Raiders as co champions and allowed Ridgewood to claim its only triple crown (league, county and state titles) in program history. DuFlon went on to play volleyball at the University of Delaware, where she received a varsity letter in both 1978 and 1979, when she was voted Most Valuable Player of the team both seasons. He scored 735 points over the 1948-49-50 seasons, was named All-County twice and selected on the All-State third team his senior season. Academically Leigh was excelling at a pace equal to what she was showing on the lacrosse field.She was a Deans list student many times while also being named several; times to the All ACC Academic ream. He lives in Kinnelon. Class of 1943 By sophomore year, I was splitting my time between kicking and swimming and only able to compete in a limited few meets. Also that season, Wendy was named to the Olympic Development Program's Region 1 team. His educated kicking toe accounted for many conversions, including the one which beat Pompton Lakes, 14-13, in a thriller of a ball game [witnessed by 4,200 people at the Pompton gridiron]." With Title IX regenerating opportunities for female athletes RHS formed a girls gymnastics program in 1976. Of historical interest are the chteaus of Versailles, Mantes-la-Jolie, Rambouillet, Fontainebleau, Vaux-le-Vicomte, and Champs.A large Disneyland theme park in Marne-la-Valle also is a significant tourist draw. A four year starter for the lacrosse team starting in the spring of 2000 Leigh's career seemed to parallel the growth of the women's lacrosse team at the school.As a freshman Leigh contributed 17 goals and 3 assists to a team that had an overall record of 7 wins and 6 losses. Most recently in 2016, he was inducted into the New Jersey Soccer Hall of Fame as well as the State's Golf Hall of Fame. For his career, Tim averaged 6.4 points and 1.8 rebounds a game. More importantly Coach Bruni was loved. After three years in the Marines, he went to North Carolina State and played three varsity seasons on the hardwood there. And thanks to Dave Marsh, he found one in Ridgewood, New Jersey. She was selected to play in the NJGSCA Senior Showcase and the only RHS soccer player named twice to the Star Ledger all state honors. Most proudly, Nick and Dottie Capasso also raise funds to provide financial scholarships to worthy Biddy alumni upon their graduation from RHS. Today Mark has entered the corporate world and wrestles with business decisions from his home base in London England. In the 1992-93 season, Sullivan was named the Most Valuable Swimmer for the Maroons, who compiled a 10-1 record and had a second-place finish at the league meet. He replied simply, yes. Boys' Tennis Coach for Ridgewood High School where his teams winning percentage over a 17 year span exceeded .880. Her pinnacle moment at Georgia was scoring in the SEC Championship steeplechase and standing on the podium with other great college runners. Ridgewood had no swimming team so she trained on her own before school at Graydon Pool (the Village erected turning boards to help her) and at the National Swimming Association facility in Manhattan after school. He also was a youth soccer coach to his three children, and follows the beautiful game regularly. He also coaches gymnastics at various schools and was able to coach his three children in the sport. Tricia Pappalardo is regarded by her Ridgewood High School Coach Jeff Yearing as one of the best all around soccer players ever to come through the Maroons program. Growing up in Milford, Conn., and graduating from Milford High School in 1969, Paul's life was immersed in athletic endeavors, even though formal high school varsity sports had not yet emerged for women through Title IX legislation from the United State Congress. A two-time All-NNJIL, All-County and All-State selection in softball, she pitched coach Debbie Paul's Maroons to a undefeated (29-0 state championship in 1983 and a school and state record of 43 straight victories. Nancy states that she felt her high school teams "were always a force to contend with and well coached" and her opportunity to "teach the game of basketball to her collegiate players, to give back as others had given to her and teach the meaning of teamwork first hand", as one of her greatest accomplishments and honors as a former athlete. At the completion of the 2017 season, Coach Yearing has been on the men's and women's varsity soccer field at Ridgewood High School for a total of 43 seasons (31 years as head girls varsity coach at RHS).In total he has coached in 891 varsity soccer matches as an asst. . Patty Capasso's versatility in all of gymnastics disciplines, and her particular excellence in the Uneven Bars, plus her contributions to the team's overall success for her four high school years, validate her nomination and selection in the Ridgewood High School Athletic Hall of Fame for the class of 2012. Never letting her personal ambitions over shadow the team, Rachel always showed complete humility when it came to her individual accolades. BOY'S CROSS COUNTRY 1969-1997, The same kind of fate awaited the team in the state semi final loss to Westfield on a goal scored with six seconds remaining in overtime. The 1986 squad boasted a career best 23-3 record for coach Batterson. After the first game of the 1983 season, a victory, the Ridgewood players filed back to the dugout and said only twenty eight more to go according to Kim Norris in her article about Ridgewood High School Girls Softball Team incredible 1983 softball season. The four companies in Tom's battalion were spread out over a large area of operations and were seeing significant enemy contact. In the Uneven Bars, she placed first in the Counties, first in the State Sectionals, and 6th in the NJ State Championship. Mary Ellen was outstanding in the relays, running everything from the 4 x 440 to 4 x 1-mile and throwing in the javelin relay. Her many accomplishments on the tennis courts for RHS and Muhlenberg College, and her continued passion for her chosen sport of tennis make her a very worthy inductee into the Ridgewood High School Athletic Hall Of Fame in the Class of 2014. O'Connell Skettini continued her superb softball pitching at Trenton State College with an overall record in college of 73-9 from 1985 to 1988. The Ridgewood High School Athletic Hall of Fame is proud to induct Chris Van Note, class of 1981, for his accomplishments in the sport of soccer. He won back-to-back Meet of Champions titles. 1991 Basketball Please contact HOF Committee Co-ChairJeff Yearing to submit your nomination as a Word Doc. Shannon McGarrigle (Class of 1994) made her mark in Ridgewood High Schoolathletics in basketball. At the end of his career, Mark held the school records for most wins in a season (34) and a career (108), most pins (70) in a career and best winning percentage for a season (94%) and a career (87%). He was a three-time Y national champion in both the 500 and 1,650 freestyle. 1975 Track and Field Although the Maroons could not crack the end zone against Pompton Lakes, The Ridgewood Herald noted in its Dec. 1 edition, "Monro was by far the outstanding player on the field, banging out one hard earned gain after another and picking up as much as 5 yards at times, after he had apparently been stopped, with his terrific leg drive." In ten seasons with the boy's varsity, the team enjoyed a 124-34-15 record with four league titles, two Bergen County Tournament Championships and one New Jersey State sectional championship. In her senior year, Patti was named First Team All League, First Team All Bergen County and Second Team All State. Nominations are being accepted for the class of 2024.If you are interested in nominating a candidate for consideration, student- athletes must have been graduated 5 years from RHS and have made a significant impact in their years of competition at RHS and beyond, if relevant. Not only did her father coach her in the mechanics and tactics of the game, he always continued to motivate her. Members of the Ridgewood High School Hall of Fame are those that have made a lasting impact on the school's sports program as either student players, coaches, or supporters. Today the girls gymnastics program still exists at RHS, but only a handful of schools continue to support the sport at the interscholastic level. His records, accomplishments and his legacy have stood the test of time. Ridgewood Community High School | 7500 West Montrose Avenue, Norridge IL, 60706 | Phone (708) 456-4242 | Fax (708) 456-0342 (708) 456-4242. This experience led her to try out for the high school cross-country team as a GW 9th grader. Starting as a correspondent for The Record in high school, he later did newspaper work in a four-year stint in the Air Force on Guam and Columbus, Ohio, and received a BA in English from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he worked four years full-time for the Muncie Star, a morning daily, and left as the assistant sports editor, returning to New Jersey. O'Connor then moved on to coaching men's soccer in college, serving as an assistant coach at the University of Delaware for three years. In addition, for two summers, he was an assistant coach for Yearing's Jersey United girls soccer team that traveled annually to Europe to play in several countries. I want to hold onto my friend for as long as I live." After recuperating, Tom was reassigned to the recruiting Command at Presido,San Francisco where he remained until the end of his military career in 1970. Mary Ellen attended Texas A& M for one year with full track scholarship. Tom's second half of his one year tour was to be spent as a battery commander, but he didn't get a chance to fulfill that part of his duty assignment. He switched to soccer when he couldn't play football in the fall of 1941. It wasn't until the end of junior year that I had recovered enough and scored a personal best time in the 1,000 freestyle. On the defensive side of the ball, he roamed the secondary where he was the teams third leading tackler and punted compiling a 33 yards per kick average. Because of the uniqueness of his accomplishments in three sports and the demands for training and organization that that kind of involvement in sport demands, today's athletes and students can look to John's example of a life well lived through dedication to an ideal of excellence in multiple facets of his life. When asked who her first choice would be for a women's lacrosse player to be inducted in to the Ridgewood Athletic Hall would be, current Ridgewood High School coach Karla Mixon immediately answered "Leigh Jester". Their accomplishment was a stepping-stone for the time that led to more interscholastic sports teams for girls in the 1920s. She was feted as Bergen County Coach of the Year multiple times, and for the success of her 2011 team, she was honored by the New Jersey Star Ledger as the New Jersey Girls Lacrosse Coach of the Year. He took over the girls basketball team in 1976 in the middle of the season; the team went on to lose every single game. dash (48.1) Henderson finished 2nd in the New England Championships and 3rd in the prestigious Heptagonal Championships in the 440 yd. At the helm of the program from 2001 to 2018, an eighteen-season run, Karla lifted the program to a nationally ranked elite status, with perennial national rankings in the top 20. He signed a professional baseball contract with the Phillies organization. Tim is also the school record holder for most points in a game, 43. At the New Jersey State level, Karlas teams amassed 6 Group 4 Championship titles and two Tournament of Champions banners consecutively in 2010 and 2011. The first female to score 1,000 points in basketball at RHS, O'Connell was also a sparkplug of the Maroons' unbeaten (29-0) state champion softball team in 1983. Playing right halfback, he led the Maroons in yardage gained and touchdowns for two seasons. Using the videos of the game, he would change his formations to match the talents of his team. A three-time varsity letter winner in both indoor and outdoor track, he also found time to earn two varsity letters in soccer before giving up the sport to focus on jumping. Their crowning achievement, however, was the 4 x 1-mile relay, as Ridgewood set a national record in that event that lasted for 17 years. Initially joining the boys team, Julia said playing competitive golf against the boys was a great experience that sharpened her competitive drive and proved to her how strong her game had become and how strong it could be. dash. Class of 1965 In both the 1941 and 1942 seasons, he was named first team All-League and first team All-County. With an incredible story of perseverance and determination, Dr.John Cerf sets an example of self determination through hard work in and out of the athletic arena. ! Sullivan was ranked among the top five college recruits in the nation and was invited to attend the USA Swimming National Team Eagle Camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. On October 5, 1995, she had four assists against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and that still stands as the single-game assist record at Virginia. While at RHS from 1971 through 1974, Nancy participated in five different sports recognized at the varsity level. Eunae recalls it was such an exciting time for us, especially as Julia (Rappa), our other teammates and I started to look forward to team practices, matches and tournaments. She goes on to say she will always remember the special bond we had as teammates. Bond they did and brought RHS girls golf right to the top of the list of girls golf programs in the state. A trip to the Penn Relays when he was a freshman and where he ran on the 4x100 meter relay team further convinced him that this was his sport. Julia Rappa , welcome to the Ridgewood High School Athletic Hall Of Fame. Not knowing if his son was going to get back on track or not, their worries were curtailed when John met Ridgewood Hall of Fame Gymnastics Coach Tony Napier. John earned two varsity letters in football as a quarterback and running back. He went on to play four varsity seasons of football at Springfield College where he was team captain and an All-East selection. In 1978, she took a leave of absence from the Ridgewood school district to earn a master's degree in biomechanics from Purdue University. Chris registered the winning goal in the County final versus Ramapo. Along with Coyle, Brown was a pioneer in establishing and running meets, such as the Ridgewood Invitational, the first cross-country invitational open to girls in New Jersey which lasted from 1973 to 2011 and the Ridgewood Relays (now called the Pawlowski Relays) still a staple of the spring schedule. By the end of her career she had been recognized with almost too many accolades to list. She and her friend, Jean Leach, quickly established themselves as the best distance runners at Ridgewood. "He has to watch his marks, or he becomes ineligible. Like the 2013 football team who lost their North 1 state championship bid to Montclair early in December 2013 by the score of 33-0, so did the amazing team of 1913 one hundred years earlier, succumbing by the same score of 33-0! Aimee was also an outstanding basketball player. Adept at both finishing and feeding his teammates his ice presence and vision were incredible. "I knew nothing about Ridgewood and didn't even know where it was,'' Brown remembered nearly 45 years later. It was a first for any Maroon sprinter to that point in RHS track and Field history. Her brother Eric also was a Ridgewood High track athlete. Class of 1996 His senior year, Kauke ran a 1:57.42 to claim the 800 indoor track state crown and, come spring, topped that with a 1:50.19 to run away with the State Meet of Champions 800-meter title. When Joe Pedone finished his high school basketball career in 1992 his coach, Jim Stoker, was quoted at the year end team banquet as saying, if there is ever a Ridgewood High School Hall of Fame, Joe Pedone will be in it. It has taken some time for that statement to come true but with his inclusion in the Class of 2022, Joe Pedone is now a member for the Ridgewood High School Athletic Hall of Fame. An outstanding athlete, Roger played both varsity football and baseball for the Red and Black. In this same event (Uneven Bars) she went on to win another silver in the State Sectionals, and again placed 6th place overall in the State Championships. As a well rounded athlete and fierce competitor, the gridiron wasn't the only playing field where Tom excelled. Carin was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer in 1984. "So many memories," Roger Sweeney said mentally recapping his 17- year career (1959 to 1975) as a winning football coach, the hand-picked successor to the late legendary Frank Mozeleski. He hurled four shutouts his senior year versusLyndhurst, St. Cecelia of Englewood, Hackensack and Bogota, tossing 34 straight scoreless innings. He coached the 2001 Freshman Football Team to the first ever undefeated season in program history which was an indication of things to come as that group went on to win back to back Group IV State Sectional Championships in Giants Stadium during their varsity years.