No Break for Hilltopper Sports Over Holiday

Here are notes from competitions, Dec. 18 to Jan. 2

Boys Varsity Basketball: Boys Varsity basketball went 1-1 last week at the Holiday Hoopla. Won vs. Koinonia Academy and lost in the championship game to Watchung Hills.

Boys Freshman Basketball: The Freshmen Boys Basketball team is looking forward to playing three games this week. All games are at home against Governor Livingston (Tuesday), Hillside (Thursday) and St. Mary’s ( Friday). The boys are currently 0-2.

Boys Middle School Basketball: The boys middle school basketball played a tremendous team game in defeating Springfield, 67-36, to open 1-0. 13 players scored for Summit, as all 15 players saw major time.

Girls Varsity Basketball: The girls basketball team finished second in the 1st annual Hilltopper Holiday Hoopla last week. They are currently 2-2. The team plays on Thursday at Linden HS at 4:00PM.

Girls JV Basketball: The JV Girls' Basketball team had the holiday break off. However, prior to break, they lost to Roselle Catholic in a tough game. Their next game is Thursday at Linden. Their record is 1-1.

Girls Middle School Basketball: The middle school girls' basketball team opened its season with a really nice win over Springfield. The final score was 45-7. We look forward to getting back in the gym today and continuing to improve our team.

Boys Varsity Ice Hockey: The boys played Dayton in a league match-up on Tuesday skating away with an 11-1 victory. Max Graeb and David Bonomo split the game in goal. Mike Nyitray and Chris Zanelli each had three goals and Will Weber had four assists. Whit Cummings had his first varsity goal.

On Friday the team took on Chatham the defending Group B champions. Despite outshooting the Cougars 31-15 Summit could only tally on goal. The lone goal was scored by Mike Nyitray. Chatham tallied twice to ice the 2-1 win, Garrett McGowan was again solid in goal for Summit. Current record: 5-1-1

Girls V/JV Ice Hockey: The girls ice hockey team enters the new year with renewed optimism. Practices over the winter break were exciting and upbeat. The girls worked hard preparing for the upcoming week. Summit plays Rye Country Day School, a tough competitor on Thursday. On Friday, Summit will face-off against Pingry at Bridgewater Sports Arena.

Boys V/JV Swimming: The boys swam a season best power point total (3824 points) versus Seton Hall on Thursday, Dec. 22. The 3824 power points in the 3rd best total in the history of Summit High School Boys Swimming. The team enjoyed a 99-71 victory. The team showed their strength and depth earning first place in all eleven events. Congratulations. Swimmers of the Meet were Matthew Stern and Luca Guadagno.

Boys & Girls V/JV Winter Track: The Indoor Track and Field Team had a busy holiday break competing in 2 meets, the Holiday Invitational in Jersey City and the Polar Bear Invitational at Drew University. At the Holiday Invitational, Captain Daria Chadwick earned a bronze in the High Hurdles individually and then led off the 4x200 Varsity Relay of Lauren Ng, Mujai Austin and Aleixa Diaz to a bronze medal. Rebecca Cummings, Kirsty Gargiulo, Gillian Mclroy and Captain Isabella Yozzi teamed up to take the gold in the 4x800 Varsity Relay. The same girls came back at the end of the meet to take another medal in the 4x400 Varsity Relay.

On the novice side, both the boys and girls had an outstanding day. The team of Adrian Hache, Raphael Dungca, Patrick Dungca and Ryan Hughes placed in the 4x400 relay. Leland Jones, Patrick Murray, Doug Huneke and Mitchell Booth took the gold in the 4x800 Relay and later came back to take the bronze in the 4x400 relay. Daniel Young, Jay Winchell, Brendan Murrillo and Patrick Gilbert placed in the 4x200 while teammates David Connolly, Austin Fern, Adrian Hache and Ryan Hughes combined to take the bronze. The girls earned a bronze in the 4x200 relay with the team of Karina Veloso, Ryan Freeman, Victoria Novo and Eowyn Lashell.

At the Polar Bear Invitational, Captain Aleixa Diaz took the bronze in the High Hurdles to highlight a day that saw many of the sprinters/hurdlers/jumpers achieve season bests at this meet.

V/JV Wrestling: The wrestling team competed in the Rahway holiday tournament on Wednesday and left with one champion and two silver medalists. Nick Abbott at 126 lbs. won while AJ Iarussi and Elijah Akuduku took second at 195 and 120 lbs. The team also defeated Morris Catholic in a dual match on Friday 41 to 36. Colm Dougherty had the match winning pin to boost the Hilltoppers to a 3 and 2 record.

Middle School Wrestling: The Wrestling Team went 1-1 this week. The team defeated West Orange 39-19 on Monday and then lost to Morristown 60-16 on Wednesday. The teams overall record is 3-1.

— Cathy Fernandez, Summit Public Schools