Perfect Score: Former RHS Gymnastics Coach Wins Award

Former Ridgewood gymnastics coach Trisha Piotrowski was honored for her many contributions to the sport by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) at an awards dinner on December 6.

Piotrowski was presented the Gymnastics Award by the NJSIAA at its 34th annual awards dinner, held at The Pines Manor in Edison. Thirty-nine other athletes, coaches and athletic directors were also honored at the event, as well as five inductees to the Hall of Fame.

NJSIAA Executive Director Steven J. Timko said of the honorees, "They have committed themselves to providing the young people of our state with outstanding athletic opportunities, and have worked to instill their teams the qualities of fairness and sportsmanship that will serve them later in life."

Piotrowski, also named Coach of the Decade by The Record this past June, coached the Maroons from 2003-2006, leading the team to four consecutive state sectional and league titles. Piotrowski was also a star gymnast herself at her time as a gymnast at Ridgewood High School. She graduated in 1996.

Piotrowski retired in 2006 to raise a family with her husband, Albert. However, she still remains active with gymnastics and is the North Jersey Gymnastics League liaison, and also coordinates schedules and meet assignments for judges. The gymnastics dynamo also serves as the meet director for the Bergen County Championships and both divisions of the NJML league.

In her last season, 2006, she coached The Record's Gymnast of the Decade, Chelsea Steinberg, now competing at the University of New Hampshire. Steinberg was the most decorated gymnast in North Jersey during her time at RHS.

The current coach of the Ridgewood Gymnastics program is Karen Seavers, who as a student won four outright all-around all-league titles in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The girls placed third in state sections in 2010.