Booster Club Honors Student-Athletes

Each year, the Cranford Booster Club hosts an awards banquet to honor the seniors for their hard work and dedication as Cranford High School student-athletes.

Held at the Westwood in Garwood Tuesday night, a packed house of students, parents, friends and administrators enjoyed the festivities, as each coach talked about their individual teams and introduced the seniors in attendance while sharing highlights of their careers.

"It's a nice thing, a nice feeling for the seniors to be recognized for what their accomplishments were over the four years they were here," said Booster Club President Ed Bagniewski. "It's nice to see the parents see them be recognized. The Booster Club is always happy to give out the scholarships, which is a nice culmination of the event."

The club presented five $750.00 scholarships. This years' recipients were Joe Brady (wrestling), Kelly Hardman (softball), Nate Varilli (baseball), Megan Bartsch (volleyball), and Robert Ghiretti (soccer, baseball). Each student in attendance was also given a plaque with a recap of the sports they participated in. Senior members of the marching band and the cheerleading squad were also honored.

There are 127 senior student-athletes in the 2010 graduating class participating in 27 sports, boasting an average GPA of 3.2.

All told, the senior class has earned 39 championships, including 24 conference crowns, 11 county titles, four sectionals and one state championship. They are a group that has made the entire Cranford community stand up and take notice.

"This was a great night for us to recognize the seniors for their four years of hard work and dedication," said Athletic Director Marc Taglieri. "We are certainly appreciative of how they represented us and have made us all very proud."

Among other highlights that night, track star Kelly Burke and wrestling standout Julian Campo were announced as Cranford's Union County Scholar Athlete winners, while Taylor D'Antico was chosen as the NJSIAA Scholar Athlete representative from Cranford.

The George C. Slocum Hockey award was given to senior Patrick Hartnett.

"It's been a long time tradition of the Booster Club, we've been doing it year after year," said Bagniewski. "We don't want to stop it. We feel that the children deserve it and the night goes really well for everyone."

"The booster club is an extremely important extension of the athletic program that allows us to accomplish things that the school budget will not permit," said Taglieri. "Thank you to Mr. Bagniewski and all the parents on the board and the many community members that support the booster club on a yearly basis."