Ridgewood High School has excelled in many areas throughout its years, but one area that has constantly dominated is athletics. Our school offers a myriad of teams at various levels in order to cater to the large number of student athletes, but regardless of the season or sport, each team delivers success to the school. As a result, this victorious image has deemed the school as one that produces some of the state’s most tremendous athletes and produced an outstanding reputation for the town.
RHS has always strived to be a welcoming and kind school that treats competition as friends rather than rivals. “It feels like a family,” says Sophomore Emily Rau, “even though there is a lot of pressure we all deal with it together, so you never feel alone.” RHS’s great sportsmanship separates Ridgewood from the other schools but the competitiveness can be overwhelming.
The competition this year in the lacrosse community has been especially high for RHS compared to other sports and other towns. The girls section is currently #5 in the nation and that title is not held lightly. In addition,the team’s roster is full of talented athletes, many of whom have committed for the same sport, such as Notre Dame commit Jackie Wolak who has been a powerhouse for the school and helped Ridgewood ascend to the spot they have. The boys have have also proven to stand out amongst the crowd being placed at #4 in Nj.com’s “Top 20”.
Many teams in RHS have felt that the competition this year has been a lot higher than in previous years, but it has helped them focus on winning rather than bring them down. Such optimism can be seen through Ridgewood’s Track & Field program which showed they were no less than magnificent at Penn Relays. Each athlete showcased the school’s high level of talent among some of the nations best athletes. This expectation itself wields immense pressure, but the students did not fail to deliver.
Given that Ridgewood’s athletic program is one of the best, there will always be a sense of increased competition year to year. Regardless of the pressure, the athletes still treat each other as family which is what truly makes RHS a different and unique place compared to other schools in the county, state, and even country.
Emily Sue
staff writer
Graphic: Amelia Chen