It’s still early in the fall season and two teams — one at North and one at South — have already claimed first place in competitive tournaments, while nearly a dozen teams in the WW-P district have yet to be defeated, including North’s football team, which has opened its season with a 2-0 performance.
The South tennis team took its second straight title at the Mercer County Tournament on September 23, with a final score of 22.5, over Princeton Day School and Princeton.
Heading into the second day of the tournament, South had established a pretty significant advantage, with a score of 15. All three of the team’s singles players and both of the team’s doubles teams defeated their opponents in the first and second rounds leading into the remainder of the competition.
In the semifinals on September 23, first singles player Ammu Mandalap fell to her opponent from Hun, but bounced back in the consolation round for a win. At second singles, June Lee defeated Melissa Traub of North for the win, but then fell in the finals.
But Lesley Norris, at third singles, as well as the two doubles teams of Sahana Jayaraman and Larissa Lee Lum and Amanda Stanton and Mallory Wang, each won titles to lead the team to the championship. Norris and the two doubles teams posted wins in the semifinals and final rounds.
For Norris, who has not lost a match since she was a freshman and more importantly has not lost a set since her sophomore year, this is her third straight title at the MCT.
Other teams have also recorded accomplishments this season. The boys’ cross country team took home first place at the Briarwood Invitational earlier this month, led, as expected, by the Rosa twins and Jon Squeri. Joe Rosa even broke his own record, which he set last year while taking first place at the event. Meanwhile, both girls’ cross country teams have remained undefeated, each with a win over Allentown, and North with a win over Ewing. South has a win over Nottingham.
And the North football team has already tied the number of wins it reached last year. Making a huge impact on the team’s success so far is senior Sean Reed, who rushed for 200 yards on 24 carries, with two touchdowns in the team’s win over Hopewell Valley, 29-7, on September 17. And in the team’s opening win, his teammates were the ones to really step up. Against Hightstown, Drew Kenavan caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Phelan. Later in the game, Phelan again connected to Kenavan for a 9-yard touchdown, and then for a 20-yard touchdown pass.
Against Hopewell Valley, Reed exploded with an 88-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, and followed it up with a 39-yard run on the team’s next drive to set up Len Bellezza for a 3-yard touchdown run. On the other side of the ball, Juwan Lee had two interceptions on defense, keeping Hopewell Valley at bay.
North will face a challenge at Princeton on Saturday, September 26 at 11 a.m. Princeton is also undefeated.
Meanwhile, South — which went undefeated in the regular season last year and landed in the semifinal round of the state tournament — was not as lucky, falling to Lawrence, 32-26, on September 12. However, the Pirates were able to rebound to overcome Hightstown, 29-8, on September 17, to reset the tone for the season.
In the fourth quarter, the Pirates seemed to regain some of the offensive power that the program has had over the past few years. In the fourth quarter, the team’s offensive effort brought in 23 of the 29 points they scored that game, reversing an otherwise uneventful first half of the game in which the Pirates could not advance from their own 29-yard line.
The Pirates are seeing contributions from various players, including Chris Jones, who ran for 44 yards and had two touchdowns against Hightstown, in addition to throwing a touchdown pass. Zach Donohue also threw a touchdown pass to Zach Krakower in that game.
The Pirates will face Trenton Central on Saturday, September 26 at home at 1 p.m.
North’s boys’ soccer team, which claimed the sectional title and made it to the state semifinals last year, seems to be on the path to continuing is successes as well, kicking off its season with a record of 4-0, including a defeat of crosstown rival South on September 21.
