Central Regional Grad Named Ocean County's Top Scholar

BERKELEY, NJ — Having the highest grade point average at Central Regional High School, being the class valedictorian and a star athlete wasn't enough for Brayden Cimorelli. The Island Heights resident also has the highest GPA out of all of Ocean County's 21 high schools.

Cimorelli, the son of Wayne and Iryna Cimorelli, is this year's recipient of the Ocean County Mayors’ Association William T. Hornidge Memorial Scholarship. A recent graduate, the young man heads to the University of Notre Dame this fall as a premed major.

“Just the fact that someone from a small town like Island Heights can have the highest grade point average in the county meant a lot to me,” Cimorelli said in a news release. “When they called my name for that (Hornidge Scholarship) I was really surprised.”

Cimorelli was a standout in the classroom and on the field. He was a member of the Math National Honor Society, the National History Honor Society, the Science Honors Society, the Language Arts Honors Society and the Spanish Honors Society.

In sports, Cimorelli was a starting outfielder for the Golden Eagles baseball team and played club baseball for the New Jersey Marlins. His love of sports carried into the community, serving as a volunteer basketball coach at Island Heights Grade School and a volunteer coach and clinician for the Toms River Basketball Association.

The William T. Hornidge Scholarship is awarded to the student with the highest academic record in Ocean County. The finalists for the Hornidge Scholarship include the Mayors’ Scholarship recipients, who are the graduating senior class members from each four-year accredited high school in Ocean County with the highest grade point average. Mayors’ Scholarship recipients receive a $1,000 scholarship, and the Hornidge Scholarship recipient receives an additional $1,000 scholarship.

Cimorelli and other Mayors’ Scholarship recipients from the county were recognized at the Ocean County Superintendents' Roundtable Student Recognition Breakfast on May 21.

"We are incredibly proud of what Brayden accomplished as a student at Central Regional,” said Central Regional High School Principal Angello Mazzuca. “To have the highest GPA in the county is an amazing achievement and we look forward to following Brayden’s progress at Notre Dame and beyond.”