Fontbonne athletes honored at awards dinner

June 2, 2014 Jim Dolan
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With the end of the 2014 school year approaching, Fontbonne honored its student athletes at its annual sports night dinner this past May 21 at St. Patrick’s auditorium. Athletic Director Donna Schirippa hosted the awards night that recognized the efforts of 190 students on eight varsity and five junior varsity teams.

Eight-year Athletic Director Schirippa stressed the importance of high school sports, especially in a girls’ high school. “High school sports allows girls to make the most of their ability, helps them to focus and to learn time management,” stated Schirippa whose daughter Ashley was a standout softball player for Fontbonne who went on to pitch for Ramapo College and Mount St. Mary’s College,

This year’s lineup of teams included 13 teams that included on the varsity level, basketball, cheerleading, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball; and on the junior varsity level, basketball, cheerleading, soccer, softball and volleyball. Of the 190 students playing for Fontbonne, 55 girls played two different sports over the past academic year.

Turning in noteworthy performances again were both cheerleading teams. After winning first place for 12 consecutive seasons in the Brooklyn-Queens Division, the Varsity Cheerleading squad finished second this year, while its Junior Varsity counterpart finished in first place, a spot that it has held in eight of the past 10 years.

As for volleyball, this year’s varsity team played outstandingly but lost in the finals to powerhouse St. Francis Prep. However, the junior varsity team maintained its dominance at its level, beating the same St. Francis Prep to win in the Brooklyn-Queens finals for the second year in a row.

Also making it to the finals this year was Coach Anthony Bartholomeo’s depleted Junior Varsity basketball squad. After losing players to the Varsity, this sleeper team had a strong second half run only to lose to rival Bishop Kearney for the championship.

Looking forward to capturing another consecutive championship for his Varsity Softball team, Coach Frank Marinello expressed his disappointment on not being able to repeat this year, but still managed to conclude with a heartfelt expression of appreciation.

Ending the evening’s ceremony Marinello stated, “I want to thank all the parents for entrusting your daughters to us. We worked them hard and as you can see they gave us their best.”

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