By Michael Aaioni, Athletic Director
After a one year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, high school Spring sports saw a much anticipated return to competition. The boys tennis team was led by seniors Liam Grimes and Brett Bowers. While outnumbered in most matches, the Crusaders were still able to pull off two wins and fought most opponents to three set matches. Liam Grimes earned First Team Cape Atlantic League recognition for his efforts. Senior Michael Klein earned Most Improved player for his hard work and dedication.
New coach Rob Lamoreux took the helm this season and did an outstanding job leading the Golf team to one of its best seasons in recent history. The Crusaders posted all-time low scores on multiple occasions and were led by Kieron Kelly. Their 6 wins also are the highest total in a season over the last 5 years and they will look to improve even more next season. Senior Chris Cruz was also a top performer and earned the Coaches Award.
With a new Conference alignment in place, the rebuilding Lady Crusader Softball team had to see some heavy hitters in South Jersey. Despite the competition and very young roster, the Lady Crusaders were still able to manage 5 wins and multiple close defeats. Rebecca Cessna showed great improvement and control on the mound as the season wore on and will lead the way again next season with the likes of other gifted teammates like Joanna McShaffry, Cam Glowacka, the Vessels sisters, and more. Senior Caroline Deegler had a strong season at shortstop and her sister Grace will look to fill her shoes next season.
Lastly, our Track and Field team performed incredibly well for a small team. Coaches Mike Scythes and Linda McGovern continue to do a masterful job of training our student-athletes despite the obstacles that they were faced with this season. With each meet, times and scores improved for each of our student-athletes and several Crusaders posted multiple PR’s (personal records) as the season progressed. The girls were led by Seniors Alyia Gray-Rivera, Julia Sorensen, and Amanda Bogle, while the boys were led by sophomore Jimmy Kane. In the Non-Public B State Championship meet, our Crusaders performed exceptionally. Highlighting those performances was Gray-Rivera with a 7th place finish in the Triple Jump and 18th in the Long Jump. Jimmy Kane finished 8th in the Javelin, while Samantha Andress had two top ten finishes in the 800M dash (4th) and the 1600M dash (10th).
As it stands today, we hope for a “normal” return to Athletics this Fall. Our soccer, cross country, and girls tennis teams will open their respective pre-seasons in less than a month and we look forward to seeing The Academy compete!