Honoring Good Sportsmanship On The Jersey Shore
In the spring of 1993 athletic directors from the high schools in Ocean County decided to start a program aimed at promoting good sportsmanship.
The idea was to salute a male and female from each of the schools who best personified the ideals of fair play, citizenship, ethics and respect and bring them together in early June for an awards breakfast. One of the AD’s called me and asked if I would serve as Master of Ceremonies and liking the concept I said yes. I’ve said yes each year since, although I did miss one for a family function.
Yesterday 34 soon-to-be graduates were honored at the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center in Toms River, chosen as representatives of their schools and athletic departments. With their families and even coaches on hand the 21st class of “good sports” is an impressive group.
The honored student-athletes are:
Barnegat- Bethany Cunningham & Trevor Odgers
Brick Memorial- Marie Erin Moore & Anthony Miller
Brick Township- Jillian Olsen & Derek Bibza
Central Regional- Brittni-Nicole Calleo & Rachid Zidani
Jackson Liberty- Amy Hickman & Christopher Cruz
Jackson Memorial- Sydney Lavan & Eddie Guippone
Lacey- Alyssa Smialowicz & Brock Torre
Lakewood- Jennel Boston & Alex Martinez
Manchester- Kimberly Schwartz & John Morton, III
Monsignor Donovan- Francesca Gervato & Christopher Scerbo
Pinelands- Alicia Herbert & Dominic Hernandez
Point Beach- Casey Jackson & Andre Cochran
Point Boro- Jessica Macchi & Ryan Thrunk
Southern Regional- Kathryn Loftus & Rob Dengel
Toms River East- Marisa Beckett & Kyle Smyth
Toms River North- Danae O’Halloran & Chris Gulla
Toms River South- Noelle Shirey & Kevin Corrigan
Also honored at the breakfast was Lakewood’s John Craddox as the Ocean County Athletic Director of the Year while athletic department secretaries Margaret Redden of Brick Township and Sara Petraccoro of Brick Memorial received the Ocean County Service Persons of the Year award.
In addition Southern Regional and Monsignor Donovan earned 2013 school sportsmanship awards for their respective divisions within the Shore Conference.