ATHLETE OF THE DAY: Troy Cevini

Troy Cervini

Today's Athlete of the Day is Troy Cevini, deemed "Most Improved" by The Daily Journal's sports desk.

The Vineland High School junior swims freestyle for the boy's team.

Cervini made his first trip to the Meet of Champions as an individual this season, qualifying in the 200 and 50 freestyles. His best times in those events, 1:48.86 and 22.31 respectively, were dramatic improvements from last season.

Read more about today's Athlete of the Day and past participants here.

ATHLETE OF THE DAY: John Hennelly

John Hennelly

John Hennelly is today's Athlete of the Day.

Hennelly is a freshman at Delsea Regional High School.

The 103-pounder wrestles for the Franklin-based school.

Hennelly decked Camden Catholic's Chad Walsh to secure seventh place at the state championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Sunday.

The freshman fell to the overall top seed and runner-up in the state, Tyler Fraley of Colts Neck, in the quarterfinals. But he wrestled back to the seventh-place bout by pinning Jan Rosenberg of Morris Knolls in 1:24.

Gold medalists to teach Millville wrestlers

Doug Blubaugh and Shelby Wilson, fifth and sixth from left, with the 1960 U.S. Olympic wrestling team. AP photo

 

Millville youth wrestlers are getting a chance to learn grappling from two of the nation's all-time greats.

Olympic gold medalists Doug Blubaugh and Shelby Wilson will be the headliners for a three-day wrestling camp in Holly City later this month.

Blubaugh, 76, and Wilson, 73, won their respective weight classes (160.5 and 147.5) in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and have been actively coaching the sport ever since.

"I try to teach (the kids) what they need to know," said Blubaugh, who was also a NCAA national champion in 1957 at Oklahoma State. "I can't teach them everything, it would be too much, but I teach them what they need to know."

-- By DAVE ZANGARO, Special for the Daily Journal

ATHLETE OF THE DAY: Connor Dean

Connor Dean

Connor Dean is The Daily Journal's Athlete of the Day.

Dean is a senior at St. Augustine Prep who plays forward on the school's basketball team.

Dean picked the perfect time to score a career-high in points, netting 18 in St. Augustine's 72-53 rout of Bishop Eustace in the Non-Public A South semifinals on Monday.

The senior also grabbed eight rebounds to go with two steals in helping the Prep reach Wednesday's sectional final.

ATHLETE OF THE DAY: Paul Gallagher

Paul Gallagher

Paul Gallagher is today's Athlete of the Day.

He is a senior at St. Augustine Prep on the swim team. He swims freestyle.

Gallagher swam to his first individual state title on Sunday, finishing first in the 100-yard freestyle in 46.68 seconds at the Boys' Individual Swimming Championships at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology Natatorium.

The senior collected plenty of hardware, placing second as part of the Hermits' 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays while touching fourth in 50-yard freestyle.

Read more about today's Athlete of the Day and past participants here.

VHS Booster Club Hall of Fame seeks nominations

The Hall of Fame Committee is accepting nominations for the 2010 induction to the Vineland High School Booster Club Hall of Fame.

Each year the committee inducts a male, a female and a posthumous athlete.

Please send any nominations to: All Sports Booster Club, c/o Athletic Director (VHS South), 2880 E. Chestnut Ave., Vineland, N.J., 08360.

The requirements for induction are as follows:

- Participated in athletics at the high school

- Graduated from Vineland High School at least 10 years ago

- Contributed to the community in some way.

Deadline for nominations are April 1.

Hall of Fame inductions will take place at our annual banquet on Monday, June 7, at the Savoy Inn in Vineland.

ATHLETE OF THE DAY: Jasmine Lewis

Jasmine Lewis.

Jasmine Lewis is The Daily Journal's Athlete of the Day.

Lewis is a senior at Vineland High School.

She plays guard for the girls' basketball team.

Dubbed the "Floater," she became the seventh girl in school history to reach the 1,000-career point mark Tuesday night and she accomplished the feat in a 67-32 rout over Cherry Hill West in the Group IV South first round.

Lewis hit the milestone bucket with a foul line jumper in the fourth quarter. She finished with 21 points, raising her career total to 1,002.

Read more about today's Athlete of the Day and past participants here.

ATHLETE OF THE DAY: Donte Johnson

Donte Johnson

Donte Johnson is The Daily Journal's Athlete of the Day.

He is a junior at Schalick High School who plays basketball. His position is guard.

Johnson gave Schalick the type of performance it needed to upset top-seeded Pitman in the opening round of the Group I South playoffs on Monday by scoring a season-high 20 points.

Unfortunately, it was not enough for the Cougars, which fell 84-57. The junior entered the contest averaging just nine points on the year.

Read more about today's Athlete of the Day and past participants here.

ATHLETE OF THE DAY: Billy Ward

Billy Ward

Billy Ward is The Daily Journal's Athlete of the Day.

Ward is a student at Buena Regional High School where the 103-pound freshman wrestles.

Ward became Buena's first region champion since 2004, taking the title at 103 pounds by pin over Washington Township's Ricky Carter in 3:06. Ward is also the first

Chief to win a region crown as a freshman since Bobby Hanson in 1992.

Read more about today's Athlete of the Day and past participants here.

Sacred Heart gets first playoff bid since 2005

The seniors on the Sacred Heart boys' basketball team will be making their first playoff appearance on Tuesday against Wildwood Catholic. Staff photo/Cody Glenn

By ANTHONY COPPOLA
The Daily Journal staff writer

The plan for the Sacred Heart High School boys' basketball team is to treat Tuesday like just another game. But for the Lions, and most especially their nine seniors, the contest will be far from ordinary.

No. 11 Sacred Heart (6-19) will see its first postseason action since the 2004-05 season when it travels to face sixth-seeded Wildwood Catholic (8-15) in the first round of the NJSIAA Non-Public B South tournament.

When the game tips off at 7 p.m., four years of waiting will be over for a veteran Lions squad with no playoff experience.

"It will be pretty awesome for us to play in a game that means so much," senior shooting guard Mark Ronchetti said. "Obviously, we've never had that opportunity so we want to make the best of it."

Read more

ATHLETE OF THE DAY: Roman Ammirato

Roman Ammirato is The Daily Journal's Athlete of the Day.

He is a junior at St. Augustine where he plays a wing on the ice hockey team.

Ammirato led the Hermits to a major 4-2 upset over Delbarton in the semifinals of the Gordon Cup on Wednesday.

The left winger scored all four goals against the Green Wave, which entered the contest riding a 42-game unbeaten streak. Ammirato scored once in the second period before adding three goals in the third.

Athlete of the Day: Shavonne Davis

Shavonne Davis

Shavonne Davis is The Daily Journal's Athlete of the Day.

Davis is a junior at Vineland High School and plays on the girls' basketball team as a center.

Davis grabbed 14 rebounds to go along with five points to spark Vineland's 57-30 win against visiting Absegami on

Wednesday. The Clan moved within a win of capturing a share of the Cape-Atlantic League American I title.

Read more about today's Athlete of the Day and past participants.

ATHLETE OF THE DAY: Dillan Berghof

Dillan Berghof

Dillan Berghof is The Daily Journal's Athlete of the Day.

He is a freshman 130-pound wrestler at Buena Regional High School.

Berghof advanced to the quarterfinals of the Region 8 wrestling tournament Tuesday by scoring a 2-1 decision over Clearview's Dan Cornew.

In perhaps one of the toughest matchups among local grapplers for the first night of the tournament, Berghof scored two third-period points and managed to fight off Cornew's late takedown attempts to seal the victory.

Berghof will wrestle in the quarterfinals Friday.

Athlete of the Day: Brett Pedersen

Brett Pedersen

Brett Pedersen is The Daily Journal's Athlete of the Day.

The St. Augustine Prep junior is on the swim team and specializes in the butterfly.

Pedersen qualified for the Meet of Champions in the 100-yard butterfly in the Hermits' 108-66 victory over Don Bosco in the Non-Public A semifinals on Tuesday.

Pedersen won the event in 54.67 seconds.

Read more about the Athlete of the Day and past participants here.

ATHLETE OF THE DAY: Rob Jillard