The fall sports season for football, soccer, tennis, volleyball, cheer, and cross country ended with mixed results. The boys soccer team and football team battled through the season as they were placed in the group 2 division, and girls soccer faced the challenge of moving up into a higher conference. Girls tennis won the Central Jersey Group 1 championship, and girls volleyball made it into the NJSIAA Tournament final, both huge accomplishments. Both girls and boys cross country made it into the state finals.

At the sports awards night recently, one or two players from each team were recognized as Most Valuable Player and Most Improved Player during the high school’s seasonal sports awards. 

Senior co-captain Carleigh Robertson, who has been playing on the team since her freshman year, was named MVP for girls soccer.

She explained  the challenges the team had to face as they moved up a conference: “Obviously moving up a conference was a challenge for us, but I feel like we did the best we could in terms of adapting and making the most of our season.” 

Despite all that, Robertson said there were many memorable moments this year as well: “My favorite game this year would probably have to be our away game win at Roselle Park. Although it was a pretty routine game for us this season, the last time I had played there was in one of our early state rounds my freshman year. Being back on that field and knowing that my time playing as a Pioneer was coming to an end was a really emotional experience for me. It allowed me to reflect on all of the years and how grateful I was for this team.”

The MIP of the girls soccer team was Ava Scarazzini. She has been on varsity since her sophomore year, and spent the season having to adapt to different positions on the field: “I’d say the season was a challenging but very rewarding one. We moved up a conference and played some of the best teams in Union County, and even in the State. I believe this adversity made us stronger as we learned to work together during each game. While we were disappointed with our record and seed in the state tournament, we knew it was not a reflection of our resilience and strength. In the end, upsetting the four seed was a great victory.”

The boys cross country team had a great season and were led by captain Hayden Singer who has been on cross country since his freshman year. Hayden won the award of MVP. 

He was very happy with how the season went and he shared some big accomplishments: “I feel that my season went very well. I greatly reduced my 5k time at all of the courses we ran throughout the season last year. I could easily tell my fitness improved tremendously from the beginning of the season compared to the championship races. I am happy with my accomplishments of placing second at groups and qualifying for the meet of champions as that was my goal the entire season. Looking back on my high school career, I couldn’t have asked for a better final high school season.”

The varsity cheer team cheered at every single football game whether it was home or away.  Ugne Naujokaite won MVP.   and talked to me about the team’s accomplishments and what the team has taught her during her time on the team: “I think our season was great. We all got a lot of new skills and definitely improved as a team. I feel like we all got closer which definitely benefited the outcome. Our best accomplishments this year are definitely stunts. We started off the season with very simple stunts and by the end of the year we’ve all accomplished way harder ones. We also definitely improved overall with cheers, jumps. Being on the NPHS team has taught me leadership and communication for sure. I made more connections and I feel like that allowed me to become not only a better athlete but also a person.”

The varsity boys soccer team battled through a tough season of group two opponents.

Michael Henry, a sophomore on the team, won MIP. His described his favorite parts of the season: “Winning against GL. It was a close game that showed the true talent of our team. I had a lot of fun playing alongside my teammates. We bonded on and off the field and it was a great group of guys.” 

The varsity girls tennis team won the Central Jersey Group 1 championship, and had a great season.

Their MVP was Emi Goswami, who said: “The season was more than spectacular. I would say this was by far, the best season I have had and collectively as a team throughout my four years as a member of the team. Placing 3rd in the county this year with my doubles partner (June Blougouras) was something I always wanted but could have never imagined happening and to win our sectionals and state championships for the first time in several years was truly something.”

She feels the season has taught her “to really play each match to my full potential and soak in the last months I had as a member of the team. I have also learned to not dwell on any loss of a match but to move on and just focus on the next match ahead of me. My biggest personal accomplishment was placing 3rd in Union County and my significant improvement in my forehand.”