Bulldawgs Prepared to Continue Winning Ways

The boys’ and girls’ cross-country, girls’ tennis and field hockey teams have all won multiple conference championships, sectional titles and state championships, and are poised to make some noise this year, as well.

The boys' and girls' cross-country teams are already off to a fast start this year. Both ran away with the coed title at the 16th Cherokee Challenge last week. The boys are winners of five straight Group 2 state titles, and the girls are the defending Group 2 sectional champion.

The girls’ tennis team jumped out to a 3-0 start and had Erica Pascocello and Amanda Lanciano finish second and third in the Camden County Tournament while the Bulldawgs doubles teams of Catherine Senopoulos and Victoria Martinez and Rebecca and Arpie Senopoulos finished first and second, respectively.

The field hockey team began the season with two wins including a 2-1 overtime win over Collingswood.

Here are the season’s outlook for each team:

Boys’ Cross-Country – Coach Nick Baker has his youngest team in quite a while. There is only one senior back on a team that is loaded with freshmen and sophomores. Junior Greg Halla, who finished 13, overall at the Cherokee Challenge with a time of 10:10.90 over the 3200 meter course, and senior Miles Devine, who was 20, with a time of 10:17.20, are the captains. Baker gives the two high marks as leaders and credited them with getting everyone organized for summer workouts. Alex Gigliotti also had a good race Saturday, finishing 24, four seconds behind Devine. He, along with Patrick Shea, John Greenberg and Rob Spaeth figure to comprise the top six runners in the early going.

Girls’ Cross-Country – Coach Mike Busarello said the Bulldawgs lost the equivalent of 21 varsity years due to graduation, but sophomore Shelby Cain, who was seventh last weekend in 11:45.80, and Meghan Malloy, who transferred from Cinaminson and finished ninth with a time of 11:51.70, lead a fine core of runners ready to extend that sectional title run. Sophie Martin, Molly Bollinger, Lauren DeCoursey and Taylor Fenton all ran well for Haddonfield and will be counted on this year.

Field Hockey –Hit hard by graduation, the defending sectional and conference champs have enough players with varsity experience to make another run at the titles. Leading the Bulldogs will be senior Megan Johnston, a talented two-way player who is one of the top returnees in South Jersey. Fellow senior Carolynn Clark will be counted on to supply the scoring punch along with senior Allie Nugent and juniors Cat Thomas and Maddie Betley.

Tennis – The Bulldawgs have won three straight state titles, every sectional crown since 2002 and 14 consecutive conference championships. They will be led by junior Taylor Ng, who has a career record of 79-9 and was the South Jersey Tennis Coaches Association Player of the Year. Catherine Senopoulos finished second in the state last year playing first doubles, her twin sister, Rebecca Senopoulos, and Victoria Martinez teamed up at No. 2 doubles last year. Pasrocello and Lanciano, both sophomores, and freshmen Arpie Senopoulos have already demonstrated they are ready to compete on the varsity courts.