BOE acknowledges sports achievements of students, coaches
Several sports accomplishments of students and coaches at Hills were recognized by the BOE on Monday night.
At their regular meeting on Monday night, the Pascack Valley Regional High School District Board of Education acknowledged the accomplishments of the district’s hockey team, Pascack Hills wrestling team, and boys track and field team.
First, the boys track and field team at Hills was recognized for being selected as the Boys Small School Team of the Year, Group 1 & 2 Team of the Year, and Bergen County Indoor Relay Champions.
“They’re a great group of kids…I’m very proud of them,” said head coach Ross Koehler.
The following are members of the team that were recognized:
- Eli Behar
- Angelo Celli
- Jack Harrington
- Shane Jensen
- Zachary Ligasin
- Matthew Lokshin
- Benjamin Mandler
- Bradley Merson
- Peter Priestner
- Jagit Ramakrishnan
- Matthew Schwartz
- Akul Sethi
- Timothy Sneath
- Max Zhu
- Max Zuckerman
Koehler was also recognized for being selected as the Big North Boys Indoor Track Coach of the Year.

After, the BOE acknowledged the wrestling team at Hills for winning the Group D County Wrestling Championship.
“I’m super proud of these individuals. This is the third year winning championships…I love coaching them,” said head coach David Bucco.
The following are members of the team that were recognized:
- Kylir Alexander
- Ryan Baudisch
- Patrick Cahill
- Alejandro Camarena
- Gary Cooper
- Matthew Daniels
- Omar Daraghmeh
- Joseph DelGrande
- Matthew DiBella
- Tyler Duffy
- Michael Frangos
- Christian Funke
- Alexander Leon
- Hunter Morton
- Sharbel Nicolas
- Athan Stamis
- Max Unger
- Aidan Varkey

Within the team, Bucco was also acknowledged for being chosen as the Big North Wrestling Coach of the Year, and Camarena, a Hills junior, was acknowledged for becoming a District I wrestling champion.

Additionally, Hills sophomore Joseph Giordano was chosen as The Record’s athlete of the week for baseball after pitching a no-hitter and striking out 16 in a game against Ramapo High School. The BOE acknowledged this at the meeting, too.

One final acknowledgement went to the district hockey team for becoming the Big North Star Silver Cup Champions.
“This was our first lead cup in 18 years…congratulations to the kids…[it was a] great all-around year,” commented head coach Sean Cosgrove.
The following are members of the team that were recognized:
- Zachary Groves
- Christian Grubic
- Patrick Haworth
- Ryan Hayes
- Yulianna Krol
- Camilo Ramirez
- Tyler Rothstein
- Erik Wrynn
Some of the members of the district hockey team.
Later in the meeting, the BOE unanimously voted to adopt the budget for the 2022-23 school year. With a total of $54,643,367, secretary Yas Usami stated that the budget would cover “curricular proposals, staffing, and capital improvements.”

Hills junior Olivia Ge is looking forward to being a part of the Trailblazer for another year. She joined the publication her freshman year as a staff member and has written for In-Depth, School News, and Sports. This year, Ge is excited to be a Sports Editor and Assistant School News Editor for the publication, covering events and BOE meetings.
Fun fact: Out of the different food categories, Ge's favorite is fruit, with the exception of bananas and pineapples.

Briana Keenan is a senior at Hills. She joined the Trailblazer her freshman year as a staff writer and edited for the In-Depth and School News sections her sophomore and junior years, respectively. This year, Keenan is looking forward to being the publication's Editor-in-Chief and continuing to write, edit, and manage stories for the Hills community.
Fun fact: Over the summer, Keenan went to the School of the New York Times for two weeks.

Hills junior Kaitlyn Verde is eager to be a part of the Trailblazer for another year. She joined the publication her freshman year as a staff writer and edited for the Arts & Entertainment section her sophomore year. This year, Verde is looking forward to being the School News Editor alongside assistant editor Olivia Ge and to continue covering breaking news stories among the Hills community.
Fun fact: Verde owns over 800 books and enjoys being a library volunteer in her free time.