In our Upper School we offer 22 different opportunities for interscholastic athletics, a remarkable number considering we have roughly 260 students in grades 9-12. Of those 22 programs, 20 compete at the varsity level and are therefore eligible for post-season play. (Ice Hockey is currently a JV program and cheerleading is an athletic opportunity, but does not compete interscholastically.) Over the last two years every one of our varsity teams has qualified for the NJSIAA post season and four teams have been ranked in the “top-20” in New Jersey, a state with over 450 high schools. In 2008-09, five of our teams were crowned conference champions and two advanced to sectional championships. The varsity girls basketball team earned our first-ever Somerset Countychampionship in any sport and the boys and girls track teams set numerous school records in both the winter and spring.

 

On an individual level, our student-athletes’ accomplishments were just as impressive. 42 of our athletes were named First-Team All-Conference, 48 earned Prep B honors, 21 more were selected to All-Somerset Countyteams, and 31 of our finest were recognized as “All-Area” athletes by the Courier News, which covers over 50 schools in the area. Daisha Simmons ’10 and Doug Smith ’09 earned “Athlete-of-the-Year” accolades in their respective sports and Zack Bender ’10, Ben Weber ’11, Will Ullrich ’11, Sarah Quinn ’12, Shannon Murphy ’11, Katy Galli ’11, and Andre Rafizadeh ’09 each won individual Prep B or Non Public B Championships. In addition to Simmons and Smith, John Leighton ‘09, John Vnenchak ’09, Michael Jablonskyj ‘09, and Juan Dominguez ‘09 earned All-State recognition for their athletic accomplishments. 20 former GSB student-athletes are currently competing at the collegiate level.

 

Clearly it is an exciting time to be a student-athlete at Gill St. Bernard’s and we’re confident that the unprecedented successes of 2008-09 are signs of even better things to come.