The 2021-2022 school year produced an extraordinary amount of success on the playing field for Catholic high school athletes in South Jersey. Following two years of cancellations and shortened seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, boys and girls high school sports returned to full force, and as a result, produced numerous incredible moments. The Catholic Star Herald counts down the Top 10 athletic moments of the 2021-22 school year.
10. New playing surfaces for PVI, Camden Catholic
Fall 2021 featured a pair of ceremonies that welcomed new playing surfaces at Camden Catholic and Paul VI High Schools.
On Sept. 17, Camden Catholic in Cherry Hill renamed its new artificial turf “Dulczak Family Field,” (left), paying gratitude for a $300,000 donation from the Dulczak family. The new surface replaced the one installed in 2009 that was badly in need of repair. The new field, which included a new scoreboard, hosted games by the Irish’s football, field hockey, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls lacrosse. It will also get good use by gym classes, freshman orientation and other school activities.
At Paul VI, a new gymnasium floor was unveiled inside its campus in Haddonfield. The court was blessed Oct. 14, and the girls volleyball team secured the first victory on the new surface later that night.
The state-of-the-art floor has a subfloor that provides a cushion to help reduce injuries to student athletes. The floor is utilized by the Eagles’ boys and girls basketball teams, boys and girls volleyball teams, the wrestling team and other school activities.
9. A 6-pack of track and field state champions
Springtime provided lots of excitement on the track, especially at Absecon’s Holy Spirit High School. The Spartans won four outdoor Non-Public B state titles, including wins in the boys 4×100 and 4×400 relay events. Holy Spirit also had two individual state champions as Elijah Steward won the boys 400 meter dash in a time of 50.11, and Morgan Keil won the girls discus with a throw of 119-4.
Also taking the top spot on the podium as state champions during the Non-Public B event were a pair of javelin winners in Bishop Eustace’s Sophia Schoenborn, who won the girls event with a throw of 114-4, and Wildwood Catholic Academy’s James Kane (right), who tossed 147-1 in the boys event.
8. Coaching milestones
Two major milestones occurred in 2022, involving coaches from Gloucester Catholic and Paul VI High Schools.
On Jan. 22, Gloucester Catholic girls basketball coach Lisa Gedaka (above) passed longtime Camden Catholic Coach Chris Palladino at 661 career wins to reach second on the all-time South Jersey list, while becoming the first female to hit that mark in South Jersey.
Gedaka added 10 more wins after the milestone, as the Rams completed an 18-7 season and stands at 671 heading into next season. She now has former Wildwood High School coach Dave Troiano’s record of 682 in her sights.
At Paul VI, baseball coach Gary Sarno notched his 500th career victory April 23, becoming just the eighth South Jersey skipper to do so. Sarno took over the Paul VI program two years ago after previously coaching at Camden Catholic, Cherry Hill West and Hammonton, guiding Hammonton to the 2012 South Jersey, Group 3 title. Sarno now stands at 509 career victories after the Eagles pieced together a successful 15-7 season.
7. PVI’s Hannah Hidalgo hits another level
Hannah Hidalgo’s 2021-22 high school basketball season will join the record books as one of the best in South Jersey history.
Scoring 710 points during the season, the Paul VI junior easily eclipsed 1,000 career points and has her sights set on the rare prestigious 2,000-point club, needing 556 points next season to get there.
Hidalgo led the Eagles to a 24-4 record, which included a trip to the South Jersey Non-Public A championship game. She remarkably hit the 40-point mark four times during the season, including twice at showcases versus out-of-state powers. Hidalgo gained national recognition for her efforts as she was named to the USA Basketball U-17 national team and helped the Americans win the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary, from July 9 to 17, averaging 7.7 points and 2.9 assists per game.
6. Camden Catholic field hockey reaches state final
The Irish pieced together a 21-3 season, which included an Olympic Conference National Division title, a South Jersey Non-Public championship and a trip to the state championship game, where they fell to perennial power Oak Knoll, 4-1. The Irish even led in the final game, 1-0, thanks to a goal by Olivia Bent-Cole, who ended up with a team-best 46 goals while adding 17 assists.
Before they got there, Camden Catholic ran nearly perfect through the South Jersey bracket, outscoring its opponents 20-0, including a 3-0 win in the South Jersey Non-Public final. It was the sixth field hockey South Jersey championship in school history.
The Irish are 52-8-1 over the past three seasons and will have one more crack at a state title with the dynamic duo of Bent-Cole and teammate Ava Moore this fall.
5. Bishop Eustace Cinderella run through SJ Coaches Tournament
When the Bishop Eustace Preparatory School’s girls soccer team was awarded the 13th seed in a 16-team bracket for the South Jersey Coaches Association Tournament, the Crusaders put on their work boots.
Pennsauken’s Bishop Eustace shocked the South Jersey sports scene by winning three straight upsets on the road against some of the best teams in the area in Cherokee, Shawnee and Eastern to punch a ticket for the championship game. Although the Crusaders lost a heartbreaker in the final, Bishop Eustace had Ocean City on the ropes until the final five minutes of the game in a 3-2 loss.
The Crusaders showed a bright future as they were led by sophomore Allie Serlenga’s 20 goals and freshman Mia Abbey’s eight as Eustace compiled a 14-5-3 record and was a South Jersey Non-Public B finalist.
4. Holy Spirit lacrosse has record-breaking season
Sixteen wins, three playoff victories and an appearance in the state championship game. All these things were new occurrences for the Holy Spirit High School girls lacrosse team. Spring 2022 will be one to remember for the Spartans, who were led into new territory by a class of 16 seniors. Second-year head coach Kylie Primeau deserves a good chunk of the credit, as the Spartans rolled to a 16-6 record and made the finals in both the Cape Atlantic and the State Non-Public B Tournaments. Holy Spirit had three 50-goal scorers in Maddie Abbott (67), Maggie Cella (58) and Hanna Watson (56). The shining moment came May 31 when the Spartans upset Saddle River Day, 14-8, in the state semifinal to reach the state championship game for the first time in school history.
3. Cosgrove goes undefeated
Camden Catholic’s Martin Cosgrove had a score to settle after he missed a chance at defending his wrestling state title in his junior year due to a hand injury. Cosgrove, who had won a 195-pound state crown as a sophomore in 2020, took aim at the 215-pound bracket during his senior year and didn’t disappoint despite tearing his meniscus ligament in his knee just prior to the season. The University of Pennsylvania commit ran undefeated through 24 matches this year, including a thrilling 6-5 win over P.J. Casale of Passaic Valley in the state championship bout to secure his second individual state title. Cosgrove was the only wrestler from South Jersey to win a state title in 2022, and he became just the third athlete in Camden Catholic’s storied wrestling program to win multiple state titles.
2. Saint Augustine lacrosse
It was a long time coming for the Saint Augustine Preparatory School boys lacrosse program.
The Hermits, a perennial power in the sport, reached the state championship game in back-to-back years in 2010 and 2011 only to be sent home disappointed. On June 1, the Hermits finally got over the hump, defeating Delbarton, 6-5, in the Non-Public A State Championship game at Hopewell Valley High School. Sophomore Noah Plenn’s goal with just under four minutes left snapped a 5-5 tie, and the Hermits held on for their first state title in school history. It capped off a season in which the Richland school went 16-2 on their banner year.
- PVI girls win volleyball state crown
The Paul VI girls volleyball team not only won its first state title in school history, but it defeated a 13-time defending champ to do it.
After losing the first set of a best-of-three match, the Eagles rallied to beat Immaculate Heart, 25-18, 25-23 in the final two sets to win the Non-Public A State Championship in thrilling fashion. Immaculate Heart had won every Non-Public A championship since 2007, including one over Paul VI in 2014.
After winning the first volleyball state crown in school history, the Eagles continued their season by defeating Non-Public B champ Newark Academy and Group 3 champ North Hunterdon before finally bowing out in the Tournament of Champions final against a Williamstown team that finished 37-0. The Eagles finished their season with a 28-3 record.
Paul VI’s state title represented just the ninth time a school from South Jersey has won a state championship in the North Jersey-dominated sport of volleyball.
In addition to courtesy photos, photography by correspondents Mark Zimmaro and Rich O’Donnell contributed to this report.
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