Manville High celebrates fall season

Six teams hand out awards, recognition

By: Mary Ellen Zangara
   The Manville High fall athletic teams recently held their awards banquet at the VFW hall. The event was sponsored by the Manville Athletic Booster Club.
   Manville High athletic director Pat LaMastro began the evening by praising all the fall athletes.
   "I would like to congratulate our student athletes, you did a fine job this year," LaMastro said. "Our sportsmanship was outstanding and I am very proud of that and proud of the teams. Our football team made the playoffs this year; I was very pleased to see that happen. We are in a new conference this year and I think you made our mark known."
   Here is a sport-by-sport look at Manville’s fall athletic banquet letter and award winners:
Football team
made history
   
Jayvee football coach Pat Gorbatuk started by commenting briefly about his young team.
   "We started off pretty young with mostly freshmen and they were playing a jayvee schedule against mostly sophomores and juniors. They continued to play hard and they improved a lot. So we are looking forward to seeing some pretty good things in the future," Gorbatuk said.
   MHS third-year head coach Brett Stibitz said a few words about the impressive growth of his program.
   "First and foremost, having a successful team affects a lot of people. My goals last year were to lay the foundation for Manville football. Once you lay a foundation, it’s like building a house. Last year my coaches and me dug dirt, we got a great foundation but we just couldn’t put in the cement. This year I think was the year that we truly laid a foundation for Manville football.
   "These men in front of you did exactly what we asked them to do day in and day out. That’s very special in coaching," Stibitz continued. "To get a group of about 30 individuals to achieve one goal, at this day and age put their heart and dedication, desire, effort, attitude, athletics, scholastics, it is a very amazing part of the talent. Overall we had a very successful and enjoyable season. Everybody said this was the first team in history to make the state playoffs. This is the first team to truly lead Manville football to the next level."
   Participation awards were presented to Scott Alpizar, Tyler Britt, Nick Chaballa, Kevin Kugelman, Brendan Nurnberger, John Ohrin, David Olmstead, Ankur Patel, Jake Piscadlo, Christopher Schaefer, John Tarby and Mark Walyga. Varsity letters were awarded to Ryan Jankowski, William Mazzucca, and Kevin Sellar. Players who received a second year pin included Joseph Burnett, Matt Golen, Jamie Levine, and Brian Rock. Jack Calvo, Patrick Horner, Mike Knitowski, Anthony Palovick, Dennis Petrone, Kyle Sopko all received third-year pins. Seniors Mark Manderski, Tommy Rock, Leo Rodriguez and Robert Wood received four-year pins.
   The special awards were presented to Tommy Rock for the Most Valuable Player, to Sopko for the Most Improved Player, and Rodriguez received both the Coaches Award and the Scholar Athlete.
Cheerleaders
celebrate season
   
Manville High School’s cheerleaders were honored with the rest of the fall athletes at the annual fall sports awards dinner recently. The girls cheered at all the home and away football games.
   "Our cheerleading squad had a successful season and our girls played a big part in raising the school spirit," coach Rachel Lopa said. "Girls, you should be proud of what you accomplished as a team this season and individuals."
   Brittany Hando and Stephanie Nerger both received a participation certificate for cheering. Courtney Daruk and Megan Janes received their letters and Kimberly Jones received a first-year pin. Second-year pins were awarded to Kathleen McCarthy, Melissa Roskowski and Ashley Shields. Denna Markey was the only one to receive a three-year pin.
   The girls also received a few special awards. Shields received the Most Valuable Player, McCarthy the Most Improved Player, Markey got the Coaches Award and Roskowski was the Scholar Athlete.
Boys battled tough
soccer schedule
   
Varsity boys’ soccer coach Mike Shambach spoke about his team.
   "We played a tough schedule," Shambach said. "The guys never gave up and that basically is what it’s all about. They love the game of soccer. At times, I was pretty tough on them but they responded by playing harder. They never questioned my authority, they were really good.
   "For the seniors, I want to say it’s all about you guys. You set the tone, the younger players looked up to you. The younger guys are very into this and I think in the next couple of year, we should have some very good teams."
   Participation awards were presented to Javier Algria, Xavier Bolanos, Frank Calderon, Shawn Kaminski, Gasper Pont, Christopher Sinchi, Brian Valverde, Eduard Yakobchuk and Andy Zagaja. Players who earned a letter included Lukasz Bogdanowicz, Douglas Bradley, Milton Chinchilla, Nicholas DeSantis, Pawel Maziarz, Bryan Munoz, Daniel Pierrot, Edyn Pineda, Andrew Saultz and Matthew Zangara.
   A first-year pin was presented to senior Roland Yakobchuk. while second-year pins went to David Brozyna, Chris Kocur, Ronny Lobo, Alexander Maillard, Marvin Sosa, and Anthony Valverde. Both Drew Evanylo and Jim Lozada received a three-year pin.
   For the special awards given, Sosa received the Most Valuable Player, Zangara the Most Improved Player, Yakobchuk received the Coaches Award and Bogdanowicz was the Scholar Athlete for the boys’ team.
Girls played best
soccer at end
   
The girls’ soccer team was honored along with the rest of the MHS fall athletes at the annual sports dinner recently sponsored by the MHS Booster Club. Their parents and friends joined them at the dinner.
   Head coach Erin Delaney spoke about her girls’ team, which won four of its last five games.
   "As a coach, I can’t be more proud of the 20 student-athletes that participated in our girls’ soccer program," Delaney said. "Entering a new conference we took on a very competitive schedules that tested and pushed us throughout the season. The beginning of the season was very tough and we struggled to earn our first win, which didn’t come until the fourth game of the season.
   Despite discouraging loses the team pulled together and displayed grit and determination, the wins started coming our way, finishing 7-12 against one of the toughest schedules the Lady Mustangs have faced. I believe the girls proudly represented Manville athletics with great sportsmanship, spirit, grit and class," she said.
   Delaney continued by saying, "I would like to personally thank all the girls for all the hard work, spirit and commitment to the program. Many underclassmen contributed significantly to this year’s successes and I’m excited about the potential for success of next year’s program. I will truly miss the seniors who were the leaders throughout the season. Along with all the hard work, I hope you remember our hard fought victories, camaraderie and all the other good times."
   The participation awards were then presented to Jessenia Aguilar, Juliana Andrade, Kelly Duffy, Sylwia Kolodziej, Erin Lipot, Dana Mortensen and Sylwia Pupek. Letters were awarded to Sharon Blanco, Amy Evanylo, Angelika Lazur and Heather Zagaja. Players that received their two-year pins were Samantha Aichele, Rebecca Burke, Marta Fabiyan, Monika Ozieblo and Lyutsiya Yakobchuk. Michelina Aichele, Gabriela Firak, and Rhianna Lebedz all received a third-year pin. Senior and four-year participant Marzena Brozyna received a watch.
   Special awards went to Brozyna for the Most Valuable Player, Fabiyan for the Most Improved Player, Michelina Aichele received the Coaches Award and Zagaja was the Scholar Athlete for the team.
Two cross country
teams receive awards
   
The MHS boys and girls from the cross country program joined the rest of the fall 2006 athletes at the fall sports awards dinner. The athletes were honored for another season and for making history with the first girls’ cross country team for MHS.
   "One of the things that I am very happy about this year is the number of athletes," third-year head coach Jim O’Connor said. "We almost doubled the numbers that we have had in the past, and we were able to produce two full teams for the first time.
   "We had a successful season. We had a number of new runners that came out. We are in a new conference and it is much more competitive. There are a number of teams in the Skyland Conference that are ranked in the state, but we had a successful season. As the season went on, all of our runners improved," O’Connor said.
   The participation awards were then presented to Jose Avila, William Demeter, Nick Pillsbury and Emils Stopin, while Andrew Franko earned a letter. First-years pins were presented to Jason Pfoutz, Ron Skirkanish and Adam Wolcott. Senior David Le earned a second-year pin and third-year pins were presented to Erik Lubas and Sasa Todorovic.
   For the special awards, Todorovic received the Most Valuable Player, Wolcott the Most Improved Player, Franko received the Coaches Award and Pfoutz was the Scholar Athlete.
   Coach O’Connor had some special words for the girls’ cross country team.
   "When I first came here, I talked to Mr. LaMastro about cross country and I told him one of my goals was to get a girls’ team. It took longer than I thought.
   "It takes discipline, it takes dedication, effort and long-range goals. It takes all those things in an athlete. I think that all these young ladies have these things. What you are seeing here is just the beginning."
   First-year letters were earned by Jennifer Gomez, Dominika Lastovickova, Arielle Mizov, and Alissa Teodorczy. Amanda Bron, Katelyn Harodetsky and Casey Shields all received second-year pins.
   The special awards were awarded to Shields for the Most Valuable Player, Lastovickova for the Most Improved Player and Scholar Athlete, and Gomez received the Coaches Award.