HHS senior honored at county dinner
By: John Beisser
Fredy Irizarry has been one of the most talented cross country and track and field athletes at Hillsborough High School for the past four years. About the only thing Irizarry may be better at than long-distance running is schoolwork.
Last Thursday, Irizarry was in some exclusive company as he and classmate Meghan Morley were honored as Hillsborough High School’s 2006 Somerset County Scholar-Athletes. Each Somerset County high school was represented by a male and female scholar-athlete at the annual gala, which was held at the Doubletree Hotel in Somerset.
Irizarry will attend the University of Maryland on a full academic merit scholarship. He was accepted to nine universities, including M.I.T. and Princeton, but Maryland’s scholarship offer and opportunity to walk-on to the track and field program was an exciting combination he just could not refuse. Adding to the allure of Maryland is the fact that his teammate, Brian Dennis, is also attending Maryland, which is a member athletically in the competitive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In fact, Irizarry and Dennis have requested to be roommates.
"Maryland is a great school and I plan on majoring in mechanical engineering," he said. "Math and science are my favorite courses. As for track, if I am not able to earn a spot on the team, then I would like to run on a club team. Either way, I am planning on continuing to run in college."
In high school, Irizarry earned nine letters in cross country, winter track and spring track. He was co-MVP of the cross country team last fall and earned All-Skyland Conference, All-Somerset County and All-Area recognition for his running exploits.
Academically, Irizarry has been an honor student for four years and is a member of the National Honor Society, where he serves as a math tutor. He is also the president of the Spanish Honor Society and a recipient of the Edward J. Bloustein Scholar Award, named in honor of the former president of Rutgers University.
With nearly a month remaining in his high school athletic career, Irizarry is not quite ready to wax nostalgic on the many top moments he was a part of these last four years. He is proud of the personal best he ran last Thursday at the Skyland Conference Meet at Hillsborough High School. Just hours before attending the Scholar-Athlete dinner last Thursday, Irizarry ran a 4:27 mile.
When looking back on his scholastic running career, there is one moment, however, which quickly comes to his mind. This past fall, Irizarry and his teammates were competing at the Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park. About 50 meters into the race, a fellow competitor accidentally stepped on Irizarry’s foot, causing his running shoe to break loose. By the time Irizarry was able to out his shoe back on and get it tied, he found himself about 50 meters behind the pack.
Undaunted, he fought and scratched his way back into the fray and wound up among the top 40 finishers in the 180-person field. Before the mishap occurred, Irizarry had a top 10 or 15 finish on his mind and he felt the Raiders could finish in the top three. Thanks in large measure to Irizarry’s tenacity and grit, Hillsborough managed to finish in fourth place in the meet.
"I was feeling good that day," he recalled. "I thought I was headed for a top finish which would have really helped the team. When I was back there in last place having just tied my shoe, all I could think of was how hard we worked as a team and that I just had to get back into the race to help my teammates."
Overcoming obstacles is a trait all winners possess. Clearly Fredy Irizarry is cut from this cloth.

