Winter sports season highlights are in!
Indoor Track
The indoor track team traveled to many historic and world renowned facilities such as the Armory in Manhattan and Ocean Breeze in Staten Island. Both the men and women had a number of strong performances and received notable achievements this season. Senior Anneke Kuperus competed at the Meet of Champions and received honorable mention all league and first team all county in the high jump. Senior Juliana Hopeck (55m hurdles) and senior Sebastiano Secades (triple jump) received second team all county. Sophomore Alex Culp, sophomore Caleb Kuperus, and sophomore Valerie Portuphy, received honorable mention all county and senior Peter Visser received honorable mention all league. A number of athletes made the list of all-time best performances in EC history. Juliana and junior Tim LaBianca clocked the second-fastest times ever in the 55m hurdles. Caleb and Alex both cracked the top three list in the 600m and 1000m runs. Anneke is now the third best high jumper in EC history and junior Sharyn Thomas is the forth best ever in shot put. Additionally, the team saw a lot of growth with the additions of many standout freshmen who will look to carry the team in the years moving forward. Many of the underclassmen took medals in various meets in the Freshman and Novice divisions. The future of winter track looks bright.
Girls V Basketball
With a stated goal of bringing glory to God through teamwork, hustle and effort on defense, the Lady Eagles did just that, exceeding expectations en route to a 14-8 final record. Season highlights included the offensive outburst against Leonia that featured nine different scorers, an exciting win over American Division champion Saddle Brook on community night, and in the final week of the season, holding state sectional finalist Park Ridge to fewer points than anyone in the conference. Senior captains Katherine Marshall and Jaclyn Steenstra provided strength and leadership for a playing rotation that featured mostly underclassmen, including the team leaders in scoring (sophomore Skyy Marcano), rebounds (sophomore Kirsten Braunius), and steals and assists (freshman Caroline Pringle). This young and athletic group is eager to improve their offensive skills to compliment their stellar defense and take their game to the next level for seasons to come.
Boys V Basketball
The boys varsity basketball team battled its way to their best season in nearly twenty years, finishing with a record of 14-10. Junior captain Lucas Genuario led the way with 20 points per game and 9 rebounds. Senior captain Jean Italien anchored the offense and defense, playing multiple positions on the court while also averaging 17.5 points and 7 rebounds. Junior Carter Fowlkes changed the outcome of more than one game with lockdown defense and timely scoring. The team celebrated several significant moments during the season, including defending home court at every community night, finishing second in our league, and ending the regular season on a six-game winning streak. EC received four all-league honors (First Team: Jean, Lucas; Second Team: Carter; Honorable Mention: senior David Kim) and three all-county honors (Second Team: Jean; Honorable Mention: Lucas, Carter). Most importantly, however, was what senior Captain David told the underclassmen at the end of the season: “This is more than a team, it’s a family.” The program continues to develop and we are looking to continue competing at a high level for years to come.
Boys JV Basketball
First year coach David Riley described his team as “young and eager to learn with some promising talent.” Through a season of ups and downs, the boys supported one another and played as a team, finishing with a record of 9-11. Highlights included an exciting 2-point win vs Pompton Lakes (who had previously defeated us by 25), three wins vs rival HCA, and every time freshman Andrew Mwirigi threw down a dunk. The 6 ‘4 freshman averaged 11 pts, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. Contributions from others included tenacious defense from sophomore Giovanni Indomenico, three point shots from sophomore Jonmarcus Rodriguez, sophomore Caleb Chae’s lightning speed leading the offense, sophomore David Turner and sophomore Keith Osae-Twum stepping up in the sixthman position, freshman Andy Genuario making the sacrifice and taking charges, more defensive contributions off the bench from freshman Jayden Medina and sophomore Kevin Osae-Twum, freshman Carter Groen’s contagious enthusiasm and freshman Sammuel Audige’s smooth moves to the basket. The Eagles faithful can plan on seeing several of these guys making varsity contributions next season.
Boys Bowling
The 2022-23 boys bowling season was another season of historic firsts. The team was led every step of the way by senior co-captains Sebastiano Secades and Camden Vogel, who both earned first team all league and all county honors. After winning a division title for the first time a year ago, the team repeated as NJIC Colonial Division Champions by a narrow margin over our deeply respected rival Glen Rock. The boys finished second in the Passaic County Tournament and The NJIC Championship Tournaments. Both those tournaments featured elite performances by Sebastiano, who had the second highest series at the PCCA Tournament and the highest series at the NJIC Tournament. The captains were supported all season long by a first team all league caliber performance from junior Hanyang Wang and a second team performance from junior Josh Heerema.
The 22-23 season’s highlights included making it to the very end of the state bowling calendar by finishing second in the North 1 Group 1 Tournament for the first time in program history and qualifying for The NJSIAA State Championship Tournament. Junior David Zhang had a stellar performance, which enabled us to qualify and compete well against section champion Wallkill Valley. David, who spent the majority of the season as a JV bowler, bowled two games of 200+. Camden and Hanyang finished in the top 25 out of 250 bowlers to qualify for the individual state championship tournament, another program first. The boys got off to a great start at state, but ended up finishing 5th in Group 1.
Camden and Sebastiano have provided superior leadership for the team and the coaches look forward to seeing what some of the younger bowlers along with our returners can accomplish next season.
Girls Bowling
The girls entered their second season ever as an exclusively girls program. The team hit the lanes running this year and finished with a 5-5 record and a first appearance in the North 1 Group 1 State Sectional Tournament. Team highlights included victories over IHA and Fair Lawn and a 1,738 pin performance against Dumont (144.8 pins per bowler/game). The team was led by senior Ella de Waal Malefyt, a first team all county selection. Other strong individual performances include a strong senior season from senior Hannah Wang and a late surge by junior Ashley Luo. The coaches thank Ella, Hannah and fellow senior Carina Jiang for setting EC girls bowling on a strong trajectory and are excited to see what the future holds for the girls.
Winter 2022-2023 League and County Honors
Indoor Track:
- All League Selections
- Honorable Mention: Peter Visser (pole vault), Anneke Kuperus (high jump)
- All County Selections
- First Team: Anneke Kuperus (high jump)
- Second Team: Juliana Hopeck (55 HH), Sebastiano Secades (triple jump)
- Honorable Mention: Alex Culp, Caleb Kuperus, Valerie Portuphy
Girls Basketball:
- All League Selections
- First Team: Caroline Pringle
- Second Team: Kirsten Braunius, Skyy Marcano, Katherine Marshall
- Honorable Mention: Mackenzie Wynbeek
- All County Selections
- Honorable Mention: Caroline Pringle, Kirsten Braunius
Boys Basketball:
- All League Selections
- First Team: Lucas Genuario, Jean Italien
- Second Team: Carter Fowlkes
- Honorable Mention: David Kim
- All County Selections
- Second Team: Jean Italien
- Honorable Mention: Lucas Genuario, Carter Fowlkes
Boys Bowling:
- All League Selections
- First Team: Camden Vogel, Sebastiano Secades, Hanyang Wang
- Second Team: Josh Heerema
- Honorable Mention: David Zhang
- All County Selections
- First Team: Camden Vogel, Sebastiano Secades
- Second Team: Hanyang Wang
- Honorable Mention: Josh Heerema
Girls Bowling:
- All County Selections
- First Team: Ella De Waal Malefyt
- Honorable Mention: Ashley Luo, Hannah Wang