High School Athletic Teams Honored at Awards Ceremony

The New Providence High School had an outstanding fall athletic season and the Fall Sports Awards, a long standing tradition, on Monday night celebrated each team's season successes.

With Girls Tennis, Volleyball, Girls Cross-Country, Girls Soccer, and Football winning their conferences, and both Girls Soccer and Football winning their State sectionals, the New Providence Pioneers have a lot to be proud of.

Before the coaches of each fall sports team got up to talk about their seasons, the new Athletic Director, Rob Harmer congratulated all of the sports teams that won their conferences and commended the Girls Soccer team and the Boys Football Team on a job well done with the State sectional Titles.

"We are fortunate enough to have these coaches," Harmer said to the audience of parents and athletes.

Football

Bottone has won eight state championships as a coach for the New Providence Pioneers, and this last state championship allows him to go out with a bang.

The team ended their season with an 11-1 record, only losing to Summit. This past Saturday,

Coach Bottone reflected on the season at the awards ceremony last night.

"The team expected to win from the first meeting. They wanted to play at Giants Stadium. Not too many Monday nights did we leave [the high school] before 10:30 p.m. We wouldn't let our players go out there unprepared."

This dedication from Coach Bottone, the other football coaches, and the players definitely paid off. Senior Eddie Prufer received the Most Improved Player (MIP) on offense, and senior Joe Randazzo received the MIP on defense. Senior Vinny Fuschetto won Most Valuable Player (MVP) on offense, and senior Zach Troutman won MVP on defense.

Seniors Juan Cadavid and Steven Sharpe made a video honoring Coach Bottone over the years, which included photographs from his earlier seasons as a coach up to photographs and videos from this past season.

Girls Soccer

Head Coach Scott Murphy spoke about how many people thought the team wouldn't do better than a .500 record at the beginning of this season and how many referred to it as "a build-up season."

The team lost ten seniors last season, seven of which were starters, but the team didn't let this bring them down;

Murphy said at the end of each season, he and assistant coach Melissa Halpern let the players vote on who they think should receive MVP and MIP. This season, he reported that seven girls were nominated for MIP, but ultimately sophomore Jenna Madden received MIP. One play that made her stand out from the other six girls was her goal from forty feet.

Senior Gina Caprara scored eleven goals and had eleven assists, which helped her receive MVP this season.

Girls Tennis

Head Coach David Goldstein congratulated all of the teams on a great season, and said the championships have led to, "increased pride in the school and in the town."

The Girls Tennis team ended their season with a 12-6 record, losing to Governor Livingston and Summit. The second doubles team, Merry Richter and Sam Midwinter, only lost two matches and ended with a record of 16-2. Junior Merry Richter, who is a reporter for New Providence Patch, won MIP, while Freshman Sam Midwinter won MVP. The team won their conference title.

Cross Country

Head Coach Kevin Kelly commended Girls Soccer and Boys Football on a job well done, and he congratulated the Girls Cross Country team with their 9-0 record.

The Boys Cross Country finished their season with a 5-4 record, but perhaps would have done better if junior Everett Price hadn't been out for almost half of the season due to shin splints.

The Girls Cross Country MVP was senior Caitlin Toner, and there were two MIPS, juniors Paige Peterson and Courtney Connolly.

The MVP for the Boys Cross Country team was junior Everett Price, and the MIP was senior Dan Roberson.

Girls Volleyball

Volleyball had a wonderful season as well with Head Coach Marla Malinauskas. They ended their season as conference champions and beat Cranford, a long time rival.

The team's number one passer, senior Allie Bradley, received MIP, and seniors Shannon Birkner and Caroline Teel received MVP.

Boys Soccer

Head CoachTed Niedzielski congratulated the other sports teams, and led his team to a 15-6-1 record. Unfortunately, they finished second in their conference.

Senior Bobby Libera received MVP, and senior Steve Zimmerman won MIP.