Winter 2016-2017 Sports At John Witherspoon Middle School
Basketball Boys JW:
The JW Boys Basketball Team had a “rollercoaster season” of highs and lows. The team finished with a record of 6-11, but narrowly lost 5 games by 6 points or less, which could have easily been won to ultimately flip the boys’ record to 11-6. Among their 6 wins was a thrilling opening day win against Fisher (at Ewing) with a score of 64-58, and this game was won without the presence of two of the five JW starters. The boys also defeated an always tough Lawrence team (on the road) 46-41, but the highlight of the season came towards the end of the season. The boys had already played Timberlane Middle School (at JW) on 1/17/17 and lost by 23 points. But 9 short days later, they would travel to Pennington to play them again, and the JW Boys defeated Timberlane by 13 points. It was a tremendous win, where the team was clicking on all cylinders. Another game worth mentioning was the boys’ final game against Kreps Middle School. The JW Boys first played Kreps on 12/13/16 and were doubled, losing 28-56. Throughout the season, Coaches McGovern and Rothschild have been developing the boys’ skills and working towards improving the basketball IQ of each of our JW athletes. The JW Boys were trailing their last game of season vs. Kreps 8-25 entering the 2nd half, but the boys did NOT give up. They battled back, and took a late game lead with only one-minute left on the clock, but ultimately the Kreps team would win 33-31. However, the JW boys only allowed 8 points in the entire second half, which is an incredible feat. The boys have shown remarkable growth over the course of this season, and Coaches McGovern and Rothschild are extremely proud of the character that JW displayed in their final games. Offensively, the team was lead by 7th grade point-guard, Will Doran, who scored 125 points for the season. 8th grade shooting guard, Ryan Bowen, also scored 114 points, while 8th grade forward, Patrick McDonald added 105 points of his own. Patrick also provided the team with 105 rebounds, while 8th grade forward, Joe Nieman, contributed to 82 rebounds of his own. 8th grade forward, Wayne Bethea, was also a welcomed addition to the team, as he provided dozens of points and rebounds, and always worked hard to box-out and dive on the floor for loose balls. We wish all of our 8th grade student athletes success as they move onto athletic opportunities at PHS and beyond and look forward to our returning 6th and 7th grade athletes next season.
Basketball Girls JW:
The John Witherspoon Girls’ Basketball Team had a successful season under coaches Alicia Perrine and Justin Mathews. The team finished 9-8 with wins over Cranbury, Thomas Grover, New Egypt, East Amwell, Timberlane, PDS, Community, Pond Road, and the Wilberforce School. The team was led by eighth graders Evelyn Dugan, Michele Granozio, Shoshi Henderson, Brynne Hennessy, Bella Jaffe, Malka Beere, and Ashley Tumpowsky. The top scorer for the team was Moji Ayodele with 93 points on the season. Moji also led the team in rebounds (189) and was recognized with “Offensive MVP” and the “Champion” award for never missing a practice. Lauren Klein earned “Defensive MVP” honors for her ability to shut down the top scorer on any team. Finishing her third year with JW’s Basketball, Ashley Tumpowsky was recognized as “The Heart of the Team.” She is a positive leader both on and off the court. Other offensive leaders included Evelyn Dugan with 50 points, Laila Beere with 40 points, and Michele Granozio with 23 points. Hillary Allen provided a much needed spark in several games and was recognized with the player “Most Likely to Succeed” next year. Sarah Granozio earned 6th grade “Rookie of the Year” honors for her ability to shot and drive to the basket. The highlight of the season was the 31-28 win against Timberlane Middle School toward the end of the season. After an earlier loss to Timberlane by 20 points, the girls demonstrated their growth as a group and managed to hold off a late surge by one of our biggest rivals. We are very proud of the accomplishments of the girls and we look forward to more success next year. Good luck to our 8th graders as they prepare to enter PHS.
Swimming Coed JW:
Number of Candidates : 54
Number of Candidates Who qualified For The Team: 54
Team A Record: Wins 4 Losses 0
Please write below your opponents and scores of all games
JW VS WILBERFORCE ACADEMY 137-38 69 BEST TIMES
JW VS STUART COUNTRY DAY 113-57 50 BEST TIMES
JW VS EDGAR MIDDLE SCHOOL 114-56 56 BEST TIMES
JW VS ELIZABETH M S 127- 43 50 BEST TIMES
Comments: Any outstanding achievements by team/individual.
The following records were established:
Ellie Schinsky 100 free 58.24 Susannah Tudor 50 breast 36.46
Rebecca Della Rocca 50 fly 28.65 Rebecca DellaRocca 50 free 27.16
Ella Caddeau 50 back 30.67
The swim team has continued to be successful because of a number of factors. There is a strong parent involvement in our meets and after season party. Less meets means more time to develop the non club swimmer, which is supported by the number of personal best times that were achieved at each meet. Finally, a collaborative coaching staff that work with adaptive pe teacher, child study team and staff to have special needs students be contributing members of the swim team.
Winter Running Club JW:
Running Club participation increased 43% from last year to this year. With 91 participants in Running Club, our runners spent time training for the upcoming track season, cross-training for other sports, as well as came to run socially. Our runners spent time doing track workouts, as well as longer distance runs around town. Something special that Running Club did this year, was they spread awareness on a 5K that supported people with disabilities. Running Club joined together to get members in the JW community to run the Cupid’s Chase 5K on February 11th, 2017. Overall $800 was raised by JW students and families that went towards aiding people with disabilities. A member of the team, Lucy Kreipke, got a special award at the 5K for being the fastest female between the ages 1-19. Coach Lee also got first place for the fastest male between the ages 21-29.
Wrestling JW:
The John Witherspoon Wrestling A and B teams both finished the season with records of 0/8. On the surface this seems rather poor. However, one must consider that we have a small team and are often forced to give up forfeits, which hurts the overall team score. Individually, we had a 61% win rate and a 39% pin rate.