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June 25, 2010

Wrapping up the best of the First Decade at The Current schools

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist


For parts of the last 10 months The Current has been reviewing the First Decade, the sports seasons beginning in January of 2000 and continuing through December of 2009 at the Cape-Atlantic League schools we cover - Absegami, Atlantic City, Egg Harbor Township, Holy Spirit, Mainland, Oakcrest and Pleasantville. In all, varsity all star teams from 18 CAL championship sports were selected.

To review, here are the athletes selected best in their sport for the First Decade:

Boys Cross Country - Greg Hughes, Mainland
Girls Cross Country - Andrea Campbell, Mainland
Field Hockey - Erika Wachter, Egg Harbor Township
Football-Offense - Brent Caprio, Mainland
Football-Defense - Marcus Witherspoon, Holy Spirit
Boys Soccer - Bill Sweetra, Absegami
Girls Soccer - Erin Hardiman, Absegami
Girls Tennis - Megan Doran, Holy Spirit
Boys Basketball - Tory Cavalieri, Atlantic City
Girls Basketball - Tara Booker, Absegami
Boys Swimming - Jon Stinson, Holy Spirit
Girls Swimming - Joanna Thomas, Mainland
Wrestling - Ryan Goodman, Absegami
Baseball - Charlie Law, Mainland
Golf - Matt Uretsky, Mainland
Softball - Kelsey Shreaves, Holy Spirit
Boys Tennis - Vinay Bhamidipati, Egg Harbor Township
Boys Track - Tejay Johnson, Egg Harbor Township
Girls Track - Shameka Marshall, Oakcrest

There are still a few more selections to announce. So lets wrap it up.

BOYS SPORT COACH OF THE DECADE: Atlantic City boys basketball coach Gene Allen took the Vikings to their highest level in history during the First Decade. He brought the school its first state title and three South Jersey championships. To put that in perspective, prior to Allen, ACHS had won three South Jersey titles in the previous 30 years. His teams also dominated the American Conference to the point that it was big news the few times they didn't win.
GIRLS SPORT COACH OF THE DECADE: Holy Spirit girls tennis coach Diane Kresz had quite a decade. In her 10 years the Spartans won five South Jersey titles, seven conference championships and nine division crowns. She was named South Jersey Coach of the Year one of those seasons and produced one of the CAL's most consistent winning teams.
MALE ATHLETE OF THE DECADE: Absegami's Ryan Goodman was first team, All-South Jersey three times in wrestling for the Braves, won three district and three region titles and was state champion twice. His career record was 145-9, best in state history when he graduated, and he was chosen the No. 1 wrestler in the nation at 189 pounds. In addition, he was named to the First Decade all stars as a quarterback in football.
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE DECADE: There were quite a few athletes during the First Decade who achieved success in more than one sport. But the athlete who competed at the highest level with the highest rate of success was Absegami basketball player Tara Booker. She started on four straight South Jersey championship teams, something rarely done by a boys or girls basketball player. A great scorer, including remarkable accuracy from three-point range, she was also deadly from the foul line. Booker was first team all-state, three-time All-South Jersey and South Jersey Player of the Year. And, quite frankly, she was probably the greatest girls basketball player in CAL history.
SPORTSPERSON OF THE DECADE: Absegami's Greg Goodwin had historic success with the girls basketball program, including back-to-back state titles. He retired with a powerful record. But the school needed him to help out with the boys basketball program so he stepped out of retirement and did a good job making the Braves a factor in the highly-competitive American Conference. And he also coached the boys tennis team. He showed impressive dedication to sports at Absegami and in the CAL.

There you have it, a trip back over the past 10 years remembering the top area performers. It was a great decade for sports fans. And the Second Decade of the 21st Century is already off to a good start with impressive championships by Atlantic City girls basketball, EHT boys track, Absegami wrestling and Mainland golf. It will be interesting to see how the loss of coaches like Goodwin, Gene Barber, Bob Weiss and Larry DiGiovanni - plus the addition of Cedar Creek High School - will impact sports programs.

Lets hope we're all still around in 2019 to try to put it all into perspective.




Read more of Tom Williams' columns