Middletown North Lions Fall Just Short of Storybook Season
A North Jersey Section Group 4 state title looked to be in the cards for Bush’s team in 2016, as they entered the championship game with the record of 9-2, going up against Sayreville War Memorial High School.Middletown North quarterback Donald Glenn eludes the rush and throws the final touchdown pass of his high school career at Rutgers High Point Solutions Stadium. Photo courtesy of Rich ChrampanisAfter yet another touchdown pass between Glenn and wide receiver Brendan Kube – surely a sight that North fans across Middletown will miss – and a touchdown run by Connor Welsh, the Lions looked like they were going to cruise on to a state title.After some tough running by Sayreville and a Glenn pick-six in the third quarter, the game slipped away from Middletown North, who fell 41-14 at Rutgers University last Saturday morning.“I think we just kind of let that game get away from us a little bit,” Bush said. “We’ve been pretty good about taking care of the ball this year and we just had some crucial turnovers that sort of turned the tide. We got behind and played into the wind in the fourth quarter and then it was just a little difficult to try to come back from that; it just snowballed a little bit from there.”Despite the tough loss, there were many highs for the Lions to be proud of in 2016.Donald Glenn emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in Shore Conference history. The Wagner College-commit was masterful in his senior season, lighting up scoreboards across the Shore Conference to the tune of 23 touchdowns and only six interceptions. According to Bush, Glenn ended his Middletown North tenure as the high school career leader in passing yards in the Shore.Middletown North’s Connor Welsh shakes off a defender on the way to the Lions second touchdown in the North 2 Group 4 state championship game. Photo courtesy of Rich ChrampanisDefensive stalwarts like Dwight Wilkerson, Austin DeWise and Nick Kish helped anchor a defense that shut out top-tier offenses week in and week out. The Lions held Eddie Morales and the explosive Howell High School offense to a single touchdown in their Week 3 meeting, and stymied Ocean Township quarterback and University of Pittsburgh commit Kenny Pickett to only eight points in Week 8.Easily the most notable win in 2016, which featured both a great game from Glenn and the defense, was the 24-6 upset where Middletown North captured their first Turkey Day win over Middletown South since 2000. Glenn had a completion rate just a hair under 70% while throwing for 326 yards and 3 TD’s, and South only mustered up six points with a touchdown pass in garbage time.Bush could not say enough about this quarterback, who has been his man under center since taking over the Middletown North football program four years ago.“He’s done a great job for us,” Bush said. “Even when he was a freshman, he got thrown into the starting huddle with seniors and really handled that whole thing well. Each year he just got a little more mature and a little more confident, a little more understanding of what we’re trying to get done offensively.”With the foundation that Bush has laid in Middletown, there is room for the Lions to grow in future seasons, something the fourth-year coach looks to at the start of each new year.“I’ve always talked about trying to take it one step further than we did the year before, and we’ve kind of done that each year here,” Bush said. By Jay CookIt was so close to being a year for the history books for Middletown North football.In a season where the Lions again progressed leaps and bounds, yet just missed out on capturing a state title under the tutelage of head coach Steve Bush, there is much to be excited about for the future of football over on Tindall Road.“The kids have worked really hard, I think we kind of gained more and more confi- dence each year, and just got that understanding of what we’re tr ying to accomplish schematically. They did a good job and star ted to win some more games each year, and knowing what they were capable of doing,” Bush said in a conversation Monday.
By Jenna O’Donnell |WEST LONG BRANCH – A group of Shore Regional students are making waves at their high school and they’ll soon be riding them, too, as part of the school’s newly formed surf team.Shore Regional High School’s new surf team was approved by the board of education in March and will be up and running this summer and fall, thanks in large part to the organizing and dedication of two student surfers.“I was so excited,” said freshman Casey Flaherty, of finding out the team was approved.Months before she started at Shore last year, Flaherty was already working with friends, teachers and parents to establish a surf team. She enlisted her friend, Jake Zimmerman, then a freshman, to help her find a coach and like-minded students to join the team.Finding interested surfers was easy in a school where most of the students have grown up in towns along or close to the ocean. Before it was made official, the team’s roster already included more than 20 students. The hard part was finding someone to coach them.Shore Surf Team’s Jake Zimmerman. Photo courtesy J. Zimmerman“That was one of our biggest problems because the board wasn’t going to approve it if we didn’t have a coach,” said Zimmerman, a sophomore who’s been surfing since fourth grade.“A lot of teachers were afraid it wouldn’t work out,” Flaherty said. “I don’t think they understood how committed we were to it.”In the end, all it took was asking the right person. Daniel Nicol, a math teacher and lifelong shore resident with coaching experience in other sports, signed on several months ago. Since then he has helped to organize some of the planning and fundraising that will be needed to get the team ready for the fall competition season.“Jake and Casey really spearheaded the whole thing,” Nicol said. “They did a lot of the legwork ahead of time even before they asked me if I wanted to coach. They’re really into it.”Other students have also greeted the surf team with enthusiasm, Nicol said. Upon hearing that he would be the coach, several approached him and asked to join.“I’m excited,” he said. “Especially with the competition part of it. They have something they’ve done all their life and now they can actually do it on a team basis, which is pretty cool.”Making surfing an official part of high school sounded good to many students, including Carter Riebe, an incoming freshman who is attending Shore Regional specifically for the new surf team. Though he was accepted to Christian Brothers Academy, Riebe said the decision to head to Shore was a no brainer for him.“Basically I surf winter, fall, summer and spring,” Riebe said. “I thought to myself it would be cool to have a surf team because I do it so much.”Riebe, who has been surfing on his own for five years, wants to compete with other high schools like Manasquan and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional to continue to hone his own skills. That competition will also help surfers make a favored hobby and pastime into something more official.“It’s going to be nice to be able to showcase your surfing for your school and be recognized for it,” Zimmerman said. “It’s another thing to represent your school in competition. A lot of colleges on the coast have teams or clubs, which is definitely something I’d be interested in.”The team is currently selling T-shirts with their logo to raise the approximately $345 per surfer needed to pay for equipment and lifeguards. Nicol said the team is currently working to find a town willing to permit the use of its beach to host competitions. Practice and conditioning is set to being this summer.Carter Riebe, another member of the Shore Surf Team.Photo courtesy C. Riebe.Both Flaherty and Zimmerman are excited to be part of a surfing team that, for them, was years in the making.“I think it will help everyone to get them all interested in surfing every day,” Flaherty said, adding she was also eager to have a team to surf with in the years ahead. “Being one of the only girls that surf around here, it’s harder finding people to surf with.”Zimmerman also looked forward to expanding his group of surfers – and hopes they can all learn from one another.“I’ve never really been part of a team as far as surfing goes,” Zimmerman said. “It’s cool to know that now I’ll have a family that I surf with from school. I’m really excited to be able to say that.”This article was first published in the June 1-June 8, 2017 print edition of The Two River Times.
“What’s extraordinary about it is that it’s ordinary,” said Donald Parker, CEO of Carrier Clinic and president of Care Transformation for Behavioral Health for HMH. “It’s in a neighborhood, it’s in a community, it’s across the street from the hospital. It’s got a parking lot. It’s not someplace that you can’t see. It’s not hiding away in the back of the emergency room.” NEPTUNE CITY – Whether you have the flu or feelings of depression or anxiety, a new urgent care center with behavioral health services can help. The center’s opening is a collaborative effort between Hackensack Meridian Health, with corporate offices in Edison, and Carrier Clinic, based in Belle Mead, meant to bring integrated health care to the community. Their three main goals are to get rid of the stigma surrounding behavioral health issues, provide people experiencing mental health issues with the latest treatments through new technologies, and rapidly expand access to care. Parker said they expect this to be the first behavioral health urgent care center integrated with a medical urgent care center in the country. It will give patients the ability to walk in and receive help immediately. Previously, people seeking immediate help with nonemergent issues might have had to go to the emergency room, which he described as “expensive” and “crowded.” “We saw the rates of depression across the United States and in New Jersey significantly rise. We saw suicide rates continually going up. Just last year alone in New Jersey, over 3,000 of our citizens passed away due to opioid overdoses,” said Garrett. Parker said he thinks the future of behavioral health is “all about being commonplace, being ordinary, being in the places that we need it.” The center is located on Route 33 in Neptune City. After looking at statistics years ago, Garrett said the board of Hackensack Meridian Health knew it had to do something to combat the problems facing the health care system at large. He said studies show that 1 in 5 Americans have some type of mental illness. The pursuit to open such a center started seven years ago when Parker wrote a grant for a center for Medicare and Medicaid services that was ultimately denied. “I’ve been pounding on it,” he said. Bob Garrett, Hackensack Meridian Health CEO, said patients with mental illnesses or addictions had to navigate busy emergency departments at hospitals, competing with patients who are having strokes, heart attacks or have been involved in motor vehicle accidents. “Many of those patients don’t need emergent care, but they need urgent care. They need quality urgent care. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do here,” said Garrett. The center has a physician on site at all times, access to specialists, a lab with X-ray and EKG machines, as well as follow-up communication with primary care providers. It is not a clinic nor does it replace a patient’s psychiatrist, therapist or psychologist. Patients with more serious symptoms such as thoughts of suicide should go to a Behavioral Health Clinic, professional or local emergency room equipped to handle that higher level of care, according to the center. Noting a lack of addiction treatment centers in New Jersey, Garrett said one is now underway in northern New Jersey that will open later this year into next year. It will include 80 in-patient beds and out-patient services and programs. “Too many people in New Jersey, particularly our young people, are still traveling out of state for addiction treatment services. They’re going to states like Florida and Arizona and California,” he said. At a ribbon cutting Friday, the people behind Hackensack Meridian Urgent Care with Behavioral Health, located across from Jersey Shore University Medical Center, said this could be the first center of its kind in the country. “What I love about what Bob and Don and all of you have done here is you’re setting an example of what the future should look like,” Kennedy said. “We want chronic disease management of these illnesses. We want them integrated into the rest of physical health care.” An estimated 140 attendees visited Neptune City’s urgent care center for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 20. Speakers included Garrett; Parker; former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy; deputy commissioner of Integrated Health for New Jersey Deborah Hartel; and Neptune Mayor Carol Rizzo. In a passionate delivery, Kennedy said the nation’s response to the opioid epidemic and suicide crisis is “pitiful.” Backers and supporters of the new Hackensack Meridian Urgent Care with Behavioral Health center gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 20 in Neptune City.Photo by Allison Perrine Freeholder Gerry P. Scharfenberger said the center fills “a huge niche” and also gets patients out of the emergency room. “I think it’s great. It’s really something I’d like to see expanded.”
The “Belles” are entering the tournament ranked sixth overall, and are looking forward to playing some of the pacific coast teams who bring both experience and an element of the unknown along with them.The Kootenay team, with players on the roster from Nelson, Trail, Rossland and Salmo, is rebuilding with the loss of five players since Nationals, and this tournament will be an opportunity to gain experience and hone their skills in a short amount of time before the Western Canadian Divisional Tournament early this July in Fernie.The Kannibelles would like to send out huge thank-yous to Nelson Ford for generously donating their lot for the car wash, to those who came and had their cars washed, and to the folks who just waved back and showed their support of the team.Roller Derby is amazing and so is our community, thank you everyone! We appreciate your support. For more information on West Kootenay Roller Derby including scores and schedules, go to:www.kootenayrollerderby.comwww.facebook.com/wkrollerderby The Kootenay Kannibelles — complete with six-foot-tall gecko and a fuzzy pink monster dancing and cheering at the four-way stop leading into Nelson — were out in full force Saturday raising money to defer cost for a 20-team tournament Women’s Roller Derby Tournament this weekend in Spokane.The West Kootenay Roller Derby’s All-stars staged a car wash Saturday at the Nelson Ford Location to earn much-needed funding to go towards international roller derby domination.
It may still be early in the season, but the Selkirk College Men’s Hockey program enters weekend action facing a something of a must-win situation when they host Simon Fraser University in a 2013 B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League championships rematch at the Castlegar Recreation Complex on Saturday. The game, which is presented by Mallards Source for Sports, is set for a 7:30 p.m. faceoff and can be streamed live on Fast Hockey for fans that can’t make it out to the rink. Simon Fraser is the BCIHL’s only remaining unbeaten team with a 5-0 record, including a 5-3 victory over Selkirk on October 26th in Burnaby. Meanwhile, the Saints are holding down first place with seven wins and two losses, but have played four more games than SFU. “One of our goals heading into the regular season was a first place finish, and picking up a third loss at this point in the year would make that a real uphill climb,” says Saints head coach Jeff Dubois.”SFU has a highly skilled team and we can’t count on them dropping points to other teams, so it’s important that we step up and get the job done on Saturday. It’s a challenge for our group and one I think we’re ready for.” Selkirk is coming off a trio of wins over Trinity Western University, including 6-1 and 8-2 victories on the road last weekend in Langley. “We’ve made some very good strides since our last game against SFU, particularly with our backcheck and in the defensive zone,” says Dubois.”The last time we played them, we gave up a handful of goals that just boiled down to poor defensive execution. You’re not going to beat a team of that quality if you don’t make them work for their offence.” October’s loss to the Clan was the first in seven games for Selkirk, having beat SFU in all four of their regular season encounters last season and twice more during a BCIHL Finals sweep in Nelson.The Saints haven’t lost to SFU on home ice since January 2012. Simon Fraser is led offensively by the duo of Jono Ceci and Nick Sandor, who have combined to score 26 points in just five regular season games. Sandor, a former Trail Smoke Eaters winger who spent two seasons playing NCAA Division 1 hockey, leads all Clan goal scorers with nine. The Saints, meanwhile, currently have six skaters amongst the top 11 in BCIHL scoring. Team captain Logan Proulx and assistant captain Connor McLaughlin are out front with 16 points each, while Cody Fidgett sits one point back and Darnell Dyck (13 points), Jackson Garrett (12) and Thomas Hardy (12) are close behind. McLaughlin and Fidgett are tied for the BCIHL goals lead with 11 each. “We’ve been getting offensive contributions from all four forward lines and a number of defenceman the past three weeks, and we’re going to remain successful if we can keep rolling with that kind of balance,” says Dubois.”Logan, Connor and Cody have been outstanding all season and Jackson and Thomas really started heating up against TWU.” Tickets for Saturday’s game will be available at the door for $8 (Adults) and $5 (Selkirk students & staff, seniors, children 6 & older) at the door on game night.
Rayce Miller, Austin Lindsay and Darnel St. Pierre into an empty net also scored for the Leafs, which held period leads of 1-0 and 2-1.Ross Armour on the power play scored the only goal for the Hawks.The Leafs game star Joey Karrer, getting his first start between the pipes for Nelson, stopped 36 of 37 shots to record the win in goal.Karrer came to the Leafs last week from the Campbell River Storm of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.Nelson concludes a grueling five-game string of road games with a 2-3 record after losing a dispute with disciplinary committee.The Leafs return home for a pair of games, Wednesday against Grand Forks and a return engagement with the Nitehawks Saturday.Puck drop in both games is 7 p.m.ICE CHIPS: Both Darnel St. Pierre and Robson Cramer each finished the game with two points. . . . Sunday’s loss was the second consecutive setback at home for the defending KIJHL Champion Nitehawks. . . . Nelson plays seven of its 11 games in November on the road. . . .Leafs lost two points in the standings, and had coach Dave McLellan suspended for one game, after playing an ineligible player in a November 2 game in Creston. Nelson originally won the game 5-2 but Creston protested the ineligible and were awarded the points in decision when Phil Iddon of disciplinary committee ruled in the favour of the Thunder Cats. KIJHL president Bill Ohlhausen said this is the second time a team has been penalized for this infraction. Kelowna lost points against Osoyoos for using an unregistered player on the Hockey Canada registry. It didn’t take the Nelson Leafs long to regain top spot in the Neil Murdoch Division.In just over 18 hours, the Green and White went from third to first in the division after posting a 4-1 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League road victory over the Beaver Valley Nitehawks Sunday afternoon in Fruitvale.Nelson, improving to 14-5-2-1-1, now leads the Murdoch division by one point over Castlegar and two ahead of the Hawks.A power play goal in the second period by defenceman, and Nelson’s leading scorer, Robson Cramer with 59 seconds remaining in the frame stood up as the winner as the Leafs rebounded from a 6-4 loss Saturday in Castlegar.
However, due to road construction on Highway 6, the route has been modified.The new route means the ride begins in Nelson travels to Salmo before returning back to Rotary Lakeside Park for the traditional Save-On-Foods Celebration Dinner.Sunday, riders leave Lakeside Park, head over the Big Orange Bridge on Highway 3A for Proctor and back to Nelson.When the Pill Pedalers take to the road next week, they’ll have a special person in mind.“Andrew’s father, Eugene, recently passed away after a 30-year fight against MS, so it is a cause that is close to our hearts,” von Diebitsch explains.“As healthcare providers, we also want to ride to support our clients and others in our community struggling with MS.”“The fight is always easier when you know you have people on your side,” she said.Multiple sclerosis (MS), also known as disseminated sclerosis or encephalomyelitis disseminata, is an inflammatory disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged.This damage disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to communicate, resulting in a wide range of signs and symptoms, including physical, mental and sometimes psychiatric problems.Proceeds from MS Bike fund vital MS research and programs and services that enable those affected by MS.To participate, all you need is a bike and a passion to end MS. “This tour is run by the West Kootenay Chapter of the MS Society and the money raised supports the programs and services offered in West Kootenay and Boundary areas to people living with MS and their caregivers,” said Leona Dimock, West Kootenay Glacier Challenge Bike Tour Coordinator.von Diebitsch said the Pill Pedlars consist of co-worker, family and friends, some who have never ridden road bikes before.“We are fortunate enough to be able to (ride),” von Diebitsch said.“We are a team, at work, at home and in the fight to END MS!”For more information on the MS Bike Tour — West Kootenay Glacier Challenge go to http://mssoc.convio.net/site/TR?fr_id=3881&pg=entry or contact Leona Dimock at 1-866-352-3997 or emailleona.dimock@mssociety.ca There are individuals participating in the West Kootenay Glacier Challenge ride to conquer MS (Multiple sclerosis) and there are teams.The latter generally pools friends, co-workers and family together for encouragement during the long 154-kilometer journey, but also to raise funds necessary to allow research to find that elusive cure.The Pill Pedalers is one such team, that also garners Mallard’s Source for sports Team of the Week status.Most of the Pill Pedalers have never ridden road bikes before.So overcoming the enormous distance, no matter if the trek is split up over two days is a daunting task to say the least.However, the Pill Pedalers are all in for the August 22-23 test if it means one person may benefit from the funds raised.“We thought it would be a fun opportunity to raise awareness of MS, while taking on a great physical challenge as a team,” said team spokesperson Ayla von DiebitschThe team of Teressa Hodsall, von Diebitsch, Bill McDonnell, Jennifer McDonnell, Andrew Hoffert and the youngest team member, Lucas McDonnell-Hoffert, von Diebitsch said, was inspired by Dr. Jim Noiles, a local physician in Nelson.Noiles is one of the major fundraisers for the West Kootenay Glacier Challenge.“Every year he does an amazing job at fundraising and since we are beside him in the clinic, he easily inspires those around him,” von Diebitsch said.The West Kootenay Glacier Challenge usually takes participants from New Denver to Nelson and Nelson to New Denver via Kaslo.
Launched in Canada in 2010, the Drive 4UR Community program is a Ford’s pillar test drive fundraising program.The program is a fun and exciting way to engage schools and local community causes and support their fundraising efforts.Ford Dealerships partner with a local school or community organization to conduct a test drive event together. For every valid test drive completed at the event, Ford of Canada donates $20 to the cause – up to a maximum of $6,000.Nelson Minor Hockey was the recipient of a donation of $2600 to help the program through the upcoming season.On hand for the presentation were Ike Braga and Gerry Cesa of Nelson Ford andLisa Upper, Brad Ouchi, Derrick Bruce and Kim Osika from Nelson Minor Hockey. Gerry Cesa, Ike Braga and the friendly staff at Nelson Ford were all too quick to help out Nelson Minor Hockey with the recent Drive 4UR Community fundraiser.
–30– ARCADIA, CA, APRIL 30, 2015–Looking every bit the odds-on favorite from start to finish, Sunday Rules remained unbeaten by rolling to a 2 1/2-length victory in Thursday’s $81,900 feature race at Santa Anita Park under jockey Tyler Baze for trainer Phil D’Amato.A 4-year-old California-bred daughter of the late Tribal Rule, Sunday Rules never left the issue in doubt in the 6 ½ furlong race. She broke on top from her No. 3 post position in a field of five, held a daylight lead throughout, and was never seriously threatened in posting her fourth consecutive victory by a combined margin of 24 1/4 lengths.It was the first race for Sunday Rules since last June 26, a span of more than nine months.“The next step for her will be a Cal-bred stakes at the end of the month (the $150,000 Spring Fever Stakes at six furlongs on May 23),” D’Amato said. “Then after that, maybe we can think about some graded stakes along the line.“She’s been training like a more mature filly, a little classier than she was as a younger filly, so I thought I would see a more composed performance today, and I saw that.”Sunday Rules, owned and bred by Nick Alexander, paid $2.80, $2.40 and $2.10 across the board and covered the distance on a fast track in 1:15.24 under 119 pounds. Her fractional times were 21.80, 44.25 and 1:08.53.Wasted At Midnight, off at 8-1, was second throughout under Flavien Prat, paying $4 and $2.40, while 5-2 second choice Scherzinger, Rafael Bejarano up, was a distant third, 6 ¾ lengths behind Wasted At Midnight. Scherzinger, winner of the Grade II Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita in January of last year, returned $2.10 to show.Heat Du Jour and Lotta Attitude completed the order of finish. Sunday Rules earned $49,140, increasing her career bankroll to $224,880.
ARCADIA, Calif. (June 20, 2015)–From the commencement of its Winter Meet on Dec. 26 through today, Santa Anita Park has now eclipsed the $1 billion mark in pari-mutuel handle, as the track continues to provide players across the country with large guaranteed pools and dependable levels of liquidity–making Santa Anita a consistent “best bet” with horseplayers nationwide.“Everyone knows what you get when you spend a day at Santa Anita,” said veteran horseplayer and longtime editor/publisher of The Horseplayer Magazine, Tom Quigley. “It’s the most beautiful track in the world, with the mountains, architecture and multimillion dollar improvements, which all serve to enhance what serious horseplayers have come to know, especially in recent years, and that is that Santa Anita consistently offers players the biggest and best wagering pools in the country.”With the nation’s highest rated jockey colony and many of America’s top trainers represented on a daily basis, Santa Anita racing consistently provides players with the highest average pari-mutuel handle per horse in the country.Santa Anita currently leads the nation with a $500,000 guaranteed Late Pick Four pool and a $150,000 guaranteed Pick Six pool each weekend.First post time at Santa Anita over closing weekend, June 27 & 28, will be at 1 p.m. For tickets, reservations or more information, fans are encouraged to visit santaanita.com. –30–