Winter sports teams at WHHS whose athletic program ranked fourth in the State of New Jersey and third in the country report mixed results as the season heads into its second half with fencing and bowling serving as stand-outs this year.

The girls’ basketball team is having a bit of a challenging season. The girls’ varsity team currently has a record of  3-7 while girls’ junior varsity is 2-4. They have an upcoming tough stretch, with a PCTI home game coming up on Thursday, January 23, and following back to back league games.

“Varsity is young with a majority of juniors and sophomores,” says Coach Lucas Dimitoulis. “We only have three seniors… They compete for their best every game, but we’re still trying to figure how to wrap it up in our favor and win. Junior Varsity is the same case,” he adds. 

The fencing team led by Coach Christina Caamano is doing quite well this season. Both boys and girls teams have a winning streak without any losses. Next month the team will have their District 1 tournament on February 1st. This tournament will determine if the team makes states or not.

The Wayne Hills boys basketball team is having a rough start to the season as they now sit at 5-6.  The Patriots are currently on a two-game losing streak with two rough losses at the hands of Fair Lawn and Wayne Valley.  The team is led by seniors Brett Wood and Carter Lewis as well as John Conturso, who just got back from injury. Junior Phil Park has played well and sophomores James Adamo, Chester Macarenas, Andre Macarenas, Wayne Franklin, and Ali Mansroglu have all stepped up big time. 

The bowling team is on fire with a girls record of 10-0 and a boys record 8-0. Girls bowling won their 1st team championship since 2013 as well as boys winning their 1st team championship since 2012.

The winter track the team has been able to place in some events throughout their past meets. Girls won first place in a league championship relay. Some highlights include senior Amanda Adamo who placed second in high hurdles, and senior Mike Lehman who also placed second in shot put.

Coach Jaris Rousseau took second in their League Championship 4×800 relay. Adamo took sixth place in high hurdles out of 23 girls, and Lehman also placed sixth in shot put out of 21 contestants throwing 44 feet.

The swim team season is coming to an end with successful performances from both genders. The girls’ team coached by Micheal Shale has a 3-6 record and the boys swim team coached by Gregg Rehberger and Jacqueline Bayliss have a record of 4-5. Aaron Khodarkovsky, a senior on the boys’ team, placed first in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle races. Khodorkovsky also broke his own school record in the 500 free a time of 4:53. 

The boys’ team recently competed in and won the first meet of their state tournament bracket against Roxbury on February 4th. With excellent performances from all athletes and a close final score of 79-71, the boys will be competing against Northern Highlands this Friday in the state quarterfinals.

“Even though we haven’t had the best season, we all still have accomplished many things throughout it. Everyone on the swim team always practices hard and puts in the best effort,” said senior swimmer Ilona Margolin.