EC Athletics Highlights Spring ’21

Golf

Despite 7 of the 9 team members having not picked up a golf club until the 2020 quarantine (or even more recently), coach Seth Stadtlander’s team finished in second place in the league for the second consecutive season led by Josh Hubbard (12) and Evan Hopeck (11) (the only two returners to the team!)

Josh led the team with his leadership on the course and at the range helping new golfers develop their mechanics while teaching them to have short memories after difficult days. Notable individual achievements came in tournament play where Evan Hopeck shot 1 over par in the county tournament (5th overall) and scored an eagle (-2 on a single hole) in the NJIC tournament.

Tennis

Returning head coach Adam Culp’s boys tennis program emerged from the 2020 hiatus with renewed enthusiasm and a promising outlook. The team was anchored by senior captain, Daniel Buckles, who contributed both as a standout player and an assistant instructor. Daniel earned respect from the entire league as he battled some of the states top players at the first singles position. The highlight of the season came at the county tournament when Danny toppled the number one seeded player from Wayne Hills, en route to the first county singles title in school history. He was recognized by the league and the county with 1st Team honors. He was accompanied by a roster of first time varsity players. Luke Antoci held down the second singles position with a year of competitive play and outstanding sportsmanship. Jonathan Dykman proved a quick study on the hardcourt by working his way into the third singles spot. First-year players, Rand Fang, Garren Sly, Bobby Wu, and David Zhang achieved remarkable improvement, and gained valuable experience while competing in the majority of the doubles matches.

Boys Lacrosse

With a limited roster littered with 1st year players new to the game and a lot of Covid induced quarantining that saw the whole team practice together only twice before opening day, coach Cory Hoffman had his work cut out for him. The team quickly bought into the culture he established with a surprisingly competitive start and even better second half to the season. Their close matches and final record of 6-8 earned plenty of new found respect in the league and county. Team accomplishments included most wins, more goals than goals scored in previous program history, and having a positive goals/goals against ratio. Additionally, attacker Michael Cook (11) became our first ever all league selection! The leadership and excellent play of seniors Stephen Frank, Max Miller and Ryan Westra will certainly be missed next year but off season work and the hope of some new faces next year keep both coach and team optimistic for more good things ahead.

Baseball

In an historic first year as a co-op program with HCA, the baseball team quickly established a competitive reputation with some quality wins over Midland Park, Saddle Brook and Park Ridge. Other highlights included a huge county tournament win over Passaic Valley (a school 4 times our combined size) and earning a 6 seed in the state tournament en route to a 10-8 season. Coach Max Harvell hopes to build off of the team’s success next year although HCA seniors Chris Eelmann, Andrew Egedy and Michael Lamitola will be missed. EC juniors Jake Faasse, Jack Veenema and Cam Melone return to lead a solid nucleus for another exciting season.

Softball

In addition to dealing with Covid protocol, playing in a new division and dealing with several unforeseen circumstances, it was also an historic first year as a co-op with HCA for our softball program. Led by first year head coach Lauren Merkley the girls bonded well with each other and quickly became like family while putting together a competitive season and a 8-11-1 final record. 

Highlights included an extra inning game with Wayne Valley in the county tournament and a 12 inning tie with Manchester in which junior pitcher Lizzie Lopez set a new school record for strikeouts with 22 en route to also becoming the first to have over 200 in a season! The year ended with an exciting home game in the state tournament when the girls sent the tying run to the plate in their final at bat before bowing 2-0 to Montclair Kimberly Academy. 

Track

Head coach Joel Apol returned to lead almost 50 athletes to another successful campaign that saw solid team performances for both the girls (5-3 in the league) and boys (4-4). Outstanding individual performances were turned in by many team members both experienced and new including junior Anneke Kuperus winning the high jump at the league championships and senior Matias Cortes winning the pole vault in the league, county and state group championships!! Our teams also represented well at the county Freshman and Sophomore meets where both the boys and girls took 3rd place competing against some of the largest schools in the state! Indelible memories include freezing in the rain at the county meet in Clifton and hitting the beach after the state meet in Neptune!