BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer
Gaurav Singh NORTH BRUNSWICK — Two high school students earned the respect and admiration of the township this month.
The Township Council named residents Gaurav Singh, 15, and Erin Folger, 17, North Brunswick’s Scholar Athletes of the Month for September during its Nov. 1 meeting.
Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack presented Singh and Folger with township proclamations and said, “It’s always nice to honor our youth who continue to do so many positive things in America today.”
Singh, a North Brunswick Township High School (NBTHS) sophomore, said it was a great honor for the township to recognize him with the award.
Erin Folger “I’m very proud to get recognition for striving to do my best in school and sports,” Singh said.
The tennis player, who has played first singles on the high school varsity tennis team since freshman year, has played the game since age 4.
“Tennis is a fun sport with a lot of opportunity to enhance your coordination and character,” Singh said.
Because the township didn’t have a tennis team prior to his high school year, Singh learned the sport playing at the East Brunswick Racquet Club on Route 18, where he still competes in tennis tournaments throughout the year.
“My coach at the club is Vinny Granito, a graduate of North Brunswick High School, who has his name in the school’s Hall of Fame,” Singh said. “It is my goal to beat his tennis record prior to graduating.”
Along with naming Granito as an inspiration to his game, Singh also accredited his coaches Marius Stan and Dan Dumpel, of the East Brunswick Racquet Club, and Cindi Totten, his high school coach.
“They have all helped me to learn, build strength and agility and get better,” Singh said.
The Greater Middlesex County Tennis All Star has already fulfilled his dream of getting to the U.S. Open. Two years in a row, the U.S. Tennis Association chose him out of about 500 applicants to perform the duties of a ball boy at the courts in Flushing Meadows, Queens.
“I was so excited to be a ball boy and to meet my idols, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer,” Singh said. “It was nice to see that those I admire have great personalities on and off the court.”
Along with acknowledging the support of his parents, Preeti and Ravi, in all he does, Singh also thanked his favorite high school teachers Thomas Strause, Michael Kneller and Monique Ligouri for their constant encouragement.
Singh’s favorite school subject has remained history since he started learning about World War II, but the high honor roll student looks forward to a career in aeronautical engineering.
He plans to follow in his father’s footsteps by attending The University of Michigan. Although his dad found a career in marine engineering, Singh intends to one day work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Currently Singh takes honors history, chemistry and English and also participates in the Latin National Honor Society.
Also a high honor roll student, Singh’s schoolmate Folger finds science the most interesting subject. In the fall, she will attend Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., where she plans to study for a career in biology.
“I’m proud to be recognized as a scholar athlete because sports and school are my whole life,” Folger said. “My dad has always kept sports an important part of our family and I’ve been involved with them in the township since age 6.”
The NBTHS varsity soccer and track captain also plays varsity basketball.
“Soccer is my passion because I love the speed of the game and the fact that you have to work with your team to accomplish everything,” Folger said.
Having played soccer since the age of 10, Folger has played as a midfielder on the township recreational, Central New Jersey Express (CNJ) and the high school teams
“CNJ is an elite league that you have to try out for that competes against other teams in the tri-state area,” Folger said. “I didn’t try out for CNJ this year in order to focus more on track in the spring.”
Folger’s soccer team won the county’s All White Division title in 2002 and this year, in track, she won the All County and All Area title, and finished eighth in the state in the javelin event.
“I am proud of my accomplishments because I worked hard all season,” Folger said.
Throwing the javelin was not a sport Folger ever expected to try, let alone excel in, she said.
“I tried it because a friend of mine convinced me, and it turned out that I was very good at it,” Folger said.
The furthest length Folger has ever thrown the 7-foot spear measured 125 feet and 2 inches, she said.
Folger credited her soccer coaches Ray Bearden and Mike Romeo, and her basketball coach Joann Puleio with teaching her all she knows about athleticism and sportsmanship.
“Talent just doesn’t come naturally,” Folger said. “They work hard at what they do to make us the best athletes we can be.”
The NBTHS senior called the Scholar Athlete Award an important program for the township to have.
“The award makes students proud of their accomplishments and lets other kids strive to do well in school and sports,” Folger said. “Younger kids should know that if you don’t do well in school, you won’t be able to play sports.”