The Weekly Update #4

The 2024-2025 season was hands down the best in CR basketball history. Although we have many talented individuals, what made this TEAM special was the way that we were able to stay together as one throughout both the great wins as well as the tough losses. There were countless memories that will be talked about for a very long time.

Each and every player exemplified the Golden Eagle Way - the expected characteristics necessary to succeed as students, athletes, and successful young men.

This season featured 24 wins (setting the All-Time win record at CR), an undefeated A-South Championship (10-0), an undefeated month of January (13-0), making the elite 8 in the Shore Conference Tournament for the third season in a row, and a trip to the South Jersey Group 4 State Tournament Semi-Finals for the second time in school history. As for rankings, we ended the season ranked #4 in the Shore and #1 in Ocean County.

Our 9th Annual Jimmy V Coaches vs Cancer Showcase was another resounding success as we were able to raise $25,003 to help fund research aimed at finding a cure for cancer. That bring’s our grand total to over $160,000! This year’s showcase was highlighted by a CR overwhelming defensive effort & win against Monroe, as well as some of the top Teams in New Jersey battling it out. The continued support of area basketball programs, sponsors, and the Central Regional community has been tremendous.

Individually, the Golden Eagles saw 4 players honored. Jaycen Santucci was named First Team All South Jersey Group 4, First Team All-Shore, First Team All-County, and A-South Player of the Year. Jayson King was named Third Team All Shore, First Team All-County & First Team All A-South, while both Royalty Riley and Derek Roth were named Second Team All A-South. We also had 2 players insert themselves into the all-time leaderboard; Jayson King 2nd individual game assists with 12, as well as first individual game in steals with 9 and Jaycen Santucci 2nd all-time in points 1675, second all-time rebounds with 708 and first all-time in steals with 230. Coach Clemente was named Ocean County Coach of the Year by the NJBCA and A-South Coach of the Year.

The 2024-2025 Girls Wrestling team had an amazing season, both individually and as a team. The team was ranked #10 in the state by NJ.com the week of February 13 by knocking off the #7 team in the state, Lakewood, 32-25. The team ended their season with a 12-1 record, with its only blemish against the #4 team in the state, Gloucester City. The team also took 3rd out of 50 teams at the Queen of the East tournament, took home the team championship at the Rumble in the Pines Tournament, and finished 4th in the team standings in the South Region.

Individually, the girls had their best season yet with several tournament championships. Jade Hahn and Liliana Alicea both won the Queen of the East Tournament and JayAnna Hahn taking 3rd. At the Rumble in the Pines Tournament, Jade Hahn and JayAnna Hahn took home the championship. Along with the champions, Liliana Alicea took second, Grace Ostapovich took 4th, and Lilliana Comstock and Layla Heinze took 6th. At the Shore Conference Championships, Liliana Alicea and Sophia VanSplinter took home the championships at 165 lbs and 138 lbs, respectively, while JayAnna Hahn and Amelia Iremonger took 4th at 132 lbs and 100 lbs, respectively.

To culminate the individual season, the girls needed to place 1st through 3rd in the South to qualify for the NJSIAA State Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. In the South Region, Jade Hahn won her 1st Region Title, defeating her opponent by tech fall, 16-1. Liliana Alicea and JayAnna Hahn took 3rd at their respective weights, 165 and 132, qualifying themselves for the tournament. Finally, in her first year of wrestling as well as being a competition cheerleader, Lilliana Comstock took 4th place in her weight class, a huge accomplishment for only wrestling for a couple of months!

Down in Atlantic City, against the best wrestlers in NJ, the girls wrestled amazingly. Jade Hahn dominated her way to the finals, taking 2nd place. Liliana Alicea lost in the quarterfinals but wrestled her way back to place 3rd in the state. Also, four girls were recognized for their great seasons this year. Jade Hahn (185 lbs) and Liliana Alicea (165 lbs) were named 1st Team All-Shore and JayAnna Hahn (132 lbs) and Sophia VanSplinter (138 lbs) were named 2nd Team All-Shore.

The Central Regional Wrestling team closed out the season with a 16 and 14 overall record and a 1 and 3 mark in E Division competition. The Golden Eagles battled through a tough schedule, highlighted by individual milestones and postseason success.

At the District 26 Tournament, Central secured a fourth place team finish, crowned its first district champion since 2022, and advanced five wrestlers to Region 7, the program’s best showing since 2020. Joseph Dunne at 165 pounds led the way, claiming the district title, while Christian Ardiles at 150 pounds and Nicolas Straniero at 157 pounds finished as runners up. Mason Lugo at 113 pounds and Luke Condello at 120 pounds placed third, with Lugo becoming Central’s first three time district medalist since 2011.

At Region 7, Dunne continued his postseason run, placing fourth at 165 pounds and earning a trip to the NJSIAA State Championships, making him Central’s first state qualifier since Cosmo Zaccaro in 2023.

In team competition, the Golden Eagles reached the South Jersey Group 4 State Sectional Tournament, where they faced top seeded Williamstown in the quarterfinals.

The season was marked by steady improvement, individual achievements, and a strong foundation for the future. With a talented returning group and postseason experience under their belt, Central is eager to build on this success next year.

After a slow start to 2024, the Girls Basketball team finished strong, winning seven of their last 14 games. Those wins included a double overtime victory at Keansburg in the first round of Shore Conference Coaches' Cup and a 34-33 win over Donovan Catholic on senior night. Individually, Junior captain Emma Christensen was named to the All-Ocean County team by the NJBCA, as well as to first team All-A South by the SGBCA. Joining her on the All-Division team was senior captain Vita Kelyman who was named to second team All-A South. The coaches would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Central Regional community for their support during the season, as well as special acknowledgements to Seniors Ava Schmidhauser, Addison Nolan, Alexandria Veltri, Morgan Schinder, and Vita Kelyman for their four years of hard work and dedication on and off the court.

The Boys Swim Team was 6-3 overall and the Girls Swim Team finished with a 5-3 overall record.

Both Drew Westhoven and Ella Westhoven qualified for the N.J.S.I.A.A Meet of Champions to conclude the year.

At the Ocean County Swim meet, the boys placed 2nd overall. Drew Westhoven was named "Swimmer of the Meet". He was the only swimmer in the County to be County Champion in all 4 of his events- the 200 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 Free Relay, & 400 Free Relay. Chase Corbett was the County Champion in the 500 Freestyle and Aidan Wenzel, Kaden Stout, Chase Corbett, and Drew Westhoven were the County Champions in both the 200 Freestyle Relay and 400 Freestyle Relay

The Girls team placed 3rd overall in the County. Ella Westhoven was the County Champion in the 100 Freestyle while Graceanna Rizzo, Danica Barron, Amelia Wenzel, and Ella Westhoven placed 2nd in the 400 Freestyle Relay.

At the Shore Conference Swimming Championship, the boys team was led by Drew Westhoven and finished in 4th place at the meet. Drew placed 2nd in both the 100 freestyle and the 500 freestyle. He along with Aidan Wenzel, Chase Corbett & Kaden Stout finished 2nd in the 200 medley relay and 3rd in the 400 freestyle relay. Aidan Wenzel also finished in 5th place in the 100 backstroke and 7th place in the 200 IM.

The Girls team placed 9th at the Shore Conference Swim meet. Ella Westhoven placed 3rd in the 100 freestyle and 6th in the 100 breaststroke. Graceanna Rizzo placed 6th in the 200 free. The relay team of Graceanna Rizzo, Ella Westhoven, Danica Barron, and Amelia Wenzel placed 6th in the 400 freestyle relay and the team of Graceanna Rizzo, Ella Westhoven, Danica Barron, and Carly O’Brien placed 7th in the 200 freestyle relay

The CRHS Girls Bowling team wrapped up a great season, finishing #19 in NJ Top 20, #5 in Shore Conference, #3 in A-South! This season marks the most wins dating as far back as the 2011 season. The team finished 4th in South Jersey Group-3, and reached the NJSIAA semifinals. The girls participated in ten team statewide tournaments and finished in the top 6 in all, and as top 3 in three of those events. On an Individual basis, our girls had many notable achievements. Junior Captain Morgan Hawks was honored with 3rd Team All-State (Group 3) and 2nd Team All-Shore, and attained the highest game by any girl in the entire state (with a 290). Morgan also placed in many of the previously stated tournaments. Sophomore Rachel Crick earned 2nd Team All-State (Group 3) and 2nd Team All-Shore, where she also performed exceptionally well throughout the season and in tournaments. The remainder of the Girls Bowling team (including Kayla Garces, Emma Poggioli and Ashleigh Reilly each attained personal best marks throughout the season. It was a season to remember and the girls and our CRHS community should be proud! The future is bright and we can not wait to get back on the lanes next season. Go Golden Eagles!!

The Boys Bowling team concluded the season with a run in the South Jersey Group 3 Semi-finals. On that run, the team bowled their best game with a 1060 total pinfall in their quarterfinal matchup. During the regular season, the team finished with an overall record of 8 and 13. The team had some highlight performances at some in season tournaments. They finished 1st at the Varsity Bakers Tournament, 2nd at the Bayshore Classic Tournament, 3rd place at the Rule the River Classic, and 4th place out of 20 in the Game of Throws Invitational. Additionally, Captain Josh Sommers made it in the top 100 in the Conference which qualified him for the Individual Shore Conference Tournament.

The Boys and Girls Winter Track teams wrapped up their season with a host of standout performances. The Girls team was led by Alana Napolitano, who placed 2nd in Ocean County for shot put and turned in consistent, strong performances all year. Alana made it all the way to Meet of Champions, where she finished 13th in NJ in shot. Senior Samantha Boyle turned in an outstanding season in both high jump and hurdles, medaling at Ocean County Championships, Shore Conference, and the South Jersey Group III meet. Freshman Katie Ytreboe turned in historic performances in the distance events, setting the school record in the 1000m in a time of 3:25 and qualifying for Nike Indoor Nationals in the 1 mile with a time of 5:31. Breyanna Sullivan was dominant in the sprint and jump events all season, setting multiple school records from the 300m dash to the 4x200m relay.

Nnaemeka Amaechina also qualified for the Meet of Champions this season, jumping 23’1.75” in long jump and 45’10” in triple jump. Nnaemeka finished 8th in long jump at the Meet of Champions and qualified for both jumping events at New Balance Nationals in Boston. Nnaemeka finished in the top 30 in both events against elite competition while representing Central Regional on the national stage. Dominic Prasad had an incredible sophomore season, qualifying for Nike Indoor Nationals in NYC in high jump with a new personal best of 6’2”. Aiden Roder earned a pair of medals at Ocean County Championships and Shore Conference in pole vault, with a new personal best jump of 11-6. Fran Adamo matched his teammate with an 11-6 jump in pole vault at Counties, earning a medal as well. Jordan Benzon finished 5th in Ocean County in the 800m in a time of 2:05.

The Ice Hockey Team concluded its season with Senior Captain Patty “Snipes” Florek being selected to play in the Shore Conference Senior All-Star game on March 30th. Junior Noel Acevedo received honorable mention for the Shore Conference South Division All Stars. The team will look to the future with its breakout freshman of Chris Lash, Velia Jensen, and Nico Robertazzi, as they each had strong varsity seasons. Chris Lash was the team’s leading scorer. Some season highlights from the season were Senior Halie Babich scoring her first career goal in her very last game, and Sophomore Tucker Powderly recorded his first HS hat-trick.

The cheerleading season was an incredible journey filled with hard work, dedication, and triumphs. From the first practice in July to the final competition in March, the team pushed themselves to new heights, consistently improving stunts, tumbling, and our routine. Despite facing challenges along the way, including tough rival teams, unexpected setbacks, and injuries, our team remained focused and determined. Their perseverance paid off with strong performances at each competition, earning well-deserved placements and an award for having the best overall pyramid. This season wasn’t just about how many trophies and medals they earned, it was about the bond formed as a team and the pride in giving their best every time they stepped foot on the mat. One of our favorite memories this season is traveling to Cheersport in Atlanta, Georgia, and competing at one of the most elite competitions in the world. They competed against teams from all over and walked away proudly after placing third. The growth they’ve shown as athletes and individuals is something they’ll carry with them into future seasons!