West Milford. Highlanders Athletes of the Week - September highlights

West Milford High School is proud to recognize “Athletes of the Week.”

These students have maintained their high standards for academics, and have also worked hard and excelled in their selected sport/activity. They strive to improve upon their own personal best performances, to help their teams and teammates achieve more in their games/meets and competitions, and are feeding Highlanders hometown pride all over West Milford Township!

Athletes of the Week Sept. 6-11:

Football

SEAMUS McGUINNESS had 8 rushes for 63 yards, 5 catches for 131 yards, and 2 touchdowns for the Highlanders Varsity Football Team’s home opener vs. Demarest on Friday, Sept 10.

On defense, McGuinness had 8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 1 interception. McGuinness played a vital role in the Team’s first win of the season.

Field Hockey

ABBY WEISS led the Girls Varsity Team defensively in the game vs. Lakeland on Friday 9/10, and had a goal line save. On Saturday 9/11 vs Hackensack, Weiss stepped up and prevented the Hackensack Team from entering the circle. As a result, the Highlanders FH Team won in a 10-0 shut out.

Other Highlanders accomplishments & event highlights for the week of 9/6/21 - 9/11/21:

•Highlander Band, Colorguard & WM Cheer Squad: First public performances of the year were given at the 9/10 WM Home Varsity Football Game

•Cross Country - The WMHS XC Girl’s Varsity Team finished in the Top 3 Overall at the “Darlington Season Opener Invitational” on Sept 11th.

Athletes to watch

○XC Girl’s Team-

● Lauren Frey finished in the Top 15 in the Varsity Race

● Madison Friedeman finished 4th in the JV Race

○XC Boy’s Team-

● Colin Menier finished in 11th place for the Boy’s Varsity Team Race

•Field Hockey: The WM Team had a close game in their 0-2 loss @Lakeland on 9/10, but the defense held the opposition to only 2 goals.

Athletes to watch:

● Abby Weiss led the WM Girls Varsity defense in playing strong with a goal line save.

● Goalie Samantha Krautheim had 7 saves for her team in the game.

○9/11 WMFH Varsity Team wins vs Hackensack with a 10-0 shutout. The team had a couple of unexpected goals from Defensive Players Abigail Weiss and Erin Harvey (1 goal each).

Athletes to watch

● Sofia Marotta (3 goals)

● Kayla Healy (1 goal, 3 assists)

● Destiny Looker (1 goal, 2 assists)

● Avery Vacca (1 goal,1 assist)

● Meagan VanKirk and Kallie Moore (1 goal each)

● Hayley Allwood (1 assist)

● Abby Weiss on defense prevented opposing Team Hackensack from entering the circle, resulting in a shutout win for the Highlanders. Weiss also scored a defensive goal for the Highlanders. Her performance this week earned her the “Athlete of the Week” title for the first week of the school year.

•Football: On 9/10, the West Milford Varsity Football Team won their home non-conference game against NV-Demarest (Demarest, NJ) by a score of 22-21.

Athletes to watch:

● Seamus McGuinness played an outstanding game on both Offense and Defense, earning him the title of “Athlete of the Week” for the first week of school.

•Soccer: The JV Girls Soccer Team vs Fair Lawn game on 9/10 ended in a 2-2 tie.

Athletes of the Week for Sept. 13-18:

Cross Country:

☆Sophomore LAUREN FREY placed 1st overall in the “Run the Highlands Invitational” Girls Varsity Race in West Milford on Sept 18th.

WMHS: “She beat out every runner from 10 other schools! WOW!!”

Five to seven runners per school typically compete at the Varsity Level for most XC competitions.

Soccer:

☆Senior Captain CHRIS ALBAR played great defense for the Boy’s Varsity Soccer Team in their 4-2 win vs. Passaic Valley on Monday. Albar had 2 assists in the victory.

WMHS: “He is the heart of the soccer team and his stellar performance led to the teams first victory of the season.”

Other Highlanders accomplishments & event highlights for the week of 9/13/21 - 9/18/21:

Highlander Band: On Saturday 9/18, the Pipes & Drums of the West Milford Highlander Band escorted the W. Haverstraw Fire Dept. in the Rockland County Fire Department Parade in West Nyack, NY. The Highlanders won the award for “Best Marching Band” in the Parade!

Cross Country: The WMHS XC Teams hosted the “Run the Highlands Invitational” on September 18th, with amazing results from both teams: The Girl’s XC Varsity Team took 3rd place overall.

Athletes to watch

● Lauren Frey finished 1st Place in the Girl’s Varsity Race

● Emily Coppola finished in the Top 20 for Girl’s Varsity

● Adison Arciniega and Ashley Czeczuga both earned Top 25 finishes in the Girl’s Varsity Race

○The Boy’s XC Varsity Team took 4th place overall.

● Colin Menier finished in the Top 10 for Boy’s Varsity

● Francesco Petrosillo and JD Jones both achieved Top 25 finishes for Boy’s Varsity

○The Boy’s XC JV Team took 4th place overall.

● Massimo Baliestrieri took 2nd place in the Boy’s JV Race

● Tyler Meier finished in the Top 15 for Boy’s JV

○Girl’s XC JV Team:

● Krista Keller finished in the Top 10 for the JV Girl’s Race, with a new best Personal Record.

Field Hockey

○9/13 WM Varsity Field Hockey wins 5-0 shutout @ Old Tappan.

● Meagan Van Kirk scored a hat trick (3G, 1A)

● Sofia Marotta (2G, 2A)

● Amelia Pilatowski and Kayla Healey (1A each)

● Goalie Samantha Krautheim had 4 saves

In the 9/14 “National FH Day” Varsity game vs. Passaic Valley, the WMFH Team earned their 3rd win of the season with a 4-0 shutout.

● Sofia Marotta (2G)

● Kallie Moore and Meagan VanKirk (1G each)

● Goalie Samantha Krautheim and the WMFH defense earned their 3rd shutout of the season.

○9/18 WM Goalie Samantha Krautheim had 15 saves in the 2-0 loss @ Pompton Lakes.

Football: WMHS JV Football is victorious over Northern Valley Demarest 18-0.

Gymnastics: The WMHS Gymnastics Team competed in their first Home Meet of the season on 9/14 vs. Randolph.

● Jasmine Nguyen placed 3rd on Vault and Beam

● Joelle Geisel placed 3rd on Floor

● Ellie Vreeland: 1st place win on Floor with an amazing score of 9.4

● Senior Katelyn Lynch earned a 1st place win on Vault; and 3rd place All- Around

Soccer: WMHS Boy’s Varsity Soccer Team won their 9/13 game vs. Passaic Valley.

On 9/15, the Girl’s Varsity Soccer Team won 6-2 vs Passaic Valley.

● Cassidy Clinton - 4 goals scored

● Maddie Klein - 1 goal scored

● Kailey Maskerines - 1 goal scored

Volleyball: WMHS Girls Volleyball Varsity and JV Teams both win against Eastside on 9/13.

○On 9/16 Varsity and JV Girls’ Teams both beat Vernon in two sets in great team wins.

● Skylar Ribitzki led the Varsity team with seven kills

● Amelia Liebau had six kills and two aces

● Emma Garcia controlled the defense with nine digs

Athletes of the Week for Sept. 20-25:

Cross Country

Sophomore COLIN MENIER placed 8th overall in the Boy’s Varsity Race at the “Garret Invitational” on Sept 25th.

WMHS: “His running helped the team earn a 2nd place finish at the meet.”

Volleyball

Junior ANNA DELCOLLIANO earned her 100th career assist this week. DelColliano now has 123 assists total.

WMHS: “She also earned her career high 16 assists in two different games this week, the first was in a 2-0 victory over Lakeland on Wednesday and the other was on Friday in our 2-1 win against Mahwah. Way to go!!”

Other Highlanders accomplishments for the week of 9/20/21 - 9/25/21:

Cross Country: The WM XC Varsity Boys Team took 2nd place at the “Garret Invitational” Race on Sept 25th.

● Colin Menier placed 8th overall for the Boy’s Varsity Race, helping the WM Boy’s Team reach 2nd Place; and earned him the “Athlete of the Week” title this week.

● Francesco Petrosillo and JD Jones also medaled in the event

The WM Girl’s XC Varsity Team took 3rd place at the Garret Invitational Race on Sept 25th.

● Lauren Frey finished 6th in the Girl’s Varsity Race

● Emily Coppola and Ashley Czeczuga also medaled in the event

Field Hockey: WMHS Varsity FH Team won 4-0 vs Parsippany on 9/20, with single goals by Kallie Moore, Kayla Healy, Meagan Vankirk, and Jakke Galella. Sofia Marotta had 2 Assists in the game.

○WMFH won 6-0 @ Dwight-Englewood on 9/21.

● Meagan Vankirk (2G, 3A)

● Avery Vacca (1G, 2A)

● Kayla Healy (1G, 1A)

● Kallie Moore and Sofia Marotta each scored 1 Goal for the team.

9/24 WM Varsity FH Team wins 2-0 vs. Butler for the team’s third shutout of the week! Meagan Vankirk Scored 2 Goals with assists from Kallie Moore and Avery Vacca. Midfielders and defense earned the shutout.

Gymnastics: WM wins the TRI-MEET Competition at home on Monday 9/20 vs. Ramapo and Tenafly.

○Meet 1- WM vs. Ramapo:

● Junior Joelle Geisel and Sophomore Tiffany Santa Lucia tie for 2nd on Floor

● Junior Ellie Vreeland takes 1st place on Floor

● Senior Katelyn Lynch takes 3rd on Vault and Bars, 1st on Beam, and 2nd All Around!

○Meet 2- WM vs. Tenafly:

● Tiffany Santa Lucia wins 3rd on Bars and Beam, ties for 2nd on Floor with Joelle Geisel, and wins 2nd All Around

● Ellie Vreeland takes the ‘hat trick’ with her 3rd consecutive 1st place win on Floor

● Katelyn Lynch places 2nd on Vault and Bars, 1st on Beam, and 1st place All-Around

Volleyball: The WM Girl’s Varsity Volleyball Team won in a 2-0 victory over Lakeland on Wednesday 9/22

● Anna DelColliano broke personal records with 3 kills, 10 digs, 16 assists*, and 2 aces for the game. (*career high)

○On Friday 9/24 WM won against Mahwah with a final score of 2-1.

● Anna DelColliano dominated again with 3 kills, 9 digs, 16 assists*, and 5 aces. (*career high tie)

DelColliano reached her 100th career assist this week, and now has over 123 assists total! Her exceptional performance earned her the “Athlete of the Week” title.

Junior Highlanders

The West Milford Junior Highlanders Track Club (JHTC) started their season with a Cross Country race in Holmdel, NJ on Sept 12th. These young future Highlanders performed Amazingly!

Race Results

○8U Division Boy’s 2K:

● Cameron Leslie - 1st place

● Joey Zirpolo - 2nd place

● Conor West - 9th place

● Mason Travan - 10th place

○8U Division Girl’s 2K:

● Chloe Barkley - 1st place

● Leah Barkley - 2nd place

○9-12 Division Boy’s 3K:

● Bryce Leslie - 5th place

● Ryan Escolano - 8th place

● Jonathan Andrade - 9th place

○9-12 Division Girl’s 3K:

● Elizabeth Clifton - 1st place

● Brynn Melillo - 5th place

● Kayla Clegg - 6th place

● Gaby Carbone -7th place

● Sydney West - 8th place

○13-14 Division Boy’s 4K:

● Ty Lewis - 5th place

● Brody Scully - 6th place

● Robert Clifton - 7th place

● Matteo Balestrieri - 8th place

● Glenn Dowson - 9th place

○13-14 Division Girl’s 4K:

● Amanda Harvey - 5th place

● Brenna Traverso - 7th place

Keep up the good work, Junior Highlanders! With your dedication, and your individual and team achievements, you are already helping to raise hometown pride and excitement for the future of Sports Teams in West Milford!