By Max ChadwickSTAFF WRITER

St. Joe’s takes pride in cherish-ing the past and remembering all the great students and athletes of before while still embracing the future. Although the past is what largely makes up the tradition of the school, St. Joe’s does have a few intriguing projects in store. One of the leaders behind all of these projects is Principal Mr. John Anderson ‘70.

“I plan on continuing my career as principal and retiring here at St. Joseph’s,” he said. “Before I do though, we are working on bringing in new devices that students can use only if it will have a positive effect on their studies. We also installed brand new flat-screen televisions in all of the class-rooms, for a grand total of 52 new televisions.”

St. Joe’s has also acquired new

iPads for all faculty members.Another exciting project being

unveiled at St. Joe’s is a new multipurpose field for the cham-pionship caliber Falcon football, soccer, lacrosse and track teams.

“We hope to break ground in the spring. We are hoping that the project will take around four and a half months,” Mr. Ander-son said.

The new field could be ready as early as August, just in time for the fall sports season.

Al though S t . Joe ’s w i l l undergo some major changes in the near future, Mr. Anderson expects the morals and tradi-tions of the school to remain the same. With a student body that is evolving rapidly, Mr. Anderson is succeeding in keeping the school up with the changing times and standards. As the world continues to change, expect St. Joe’s to be doing so as well, because that’s The St. Joe’s Way.

By Kyle TerraccianoMANAGING EDITOR

On March 26, Falcons flocked to the Cor Jesu for the second annual SJHS St. Baldrick’s Day. Students didn’t just show support for the organization for child-hood cancer research by giving donations, but also by shaving their heads.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation has been supporting childhood cancer research for over a decade under the motto, “Conquer Childhood Cancers.” So far, the orga-nization has already made over $100 million dollars in research grants possible. St. Baldrick’s clearly does a great job with getting children the treatment they need, so it was only natural that the Falcons wanted to help.

In addition to shaving their heads, the students that participated also donned St. Baldrick’s t-shirts, buttons and wristbands. By wearing the logo, maybe other schools that see it will be inspired to hold St. Baldrick’s events of their own.

The event was not just for students; faculty members also went out of their way to show support, including Mr. Brian Jenkins ’98 and Br. Bill Cawley, S.C. Senior Andrew Meisenbacher, who spearheaded the event, said, “St. Baldrick’s was an awesome experience. It was challenging but very rewarding and I’m happy that I was able to support such a great cause.”

Meisenbacher had help from other students as well, including seniors Charlie Butrico, Michael Donato, Carter Coudriet and Vikas Munjal.

Among over 35 participants, the SJHS St. Bal-drick’s Day raised an incredible $9,038. Those participants can rest easy at night knowing that every penny of their donations will go toward helping a child in need.

By Kevin StephenASSOCIATE EDITOR

Once heralded as the epitome of our school’s social scene, highly publicized and heavily attended, the concept of the school dance has fallen from grace in recent years. Following a grimly attended trio of dances this past school year, students throughout the school expressed various sentiments, ranging from ambivalence to plain frustration.

Student leaders have cited numer-ous causes for the shortfall in dance attendance and popularity, including varsity football games, an insuffi-cient level of student-led publicity, and an overall dearth of enthusiasm about the event.

“It’s time to face the facts,” sopho-more Reginald Bonsol stated. “Our dances are going downhill.”

Plagued by an ever-declining student participation in dances and under pressure to find a solution, Stu-dent Council members collaborated and discussed the issue at length, finally deciding to reduce the number of dances for the upcoming school year from three to two. This decision, while controversial, has its benefits, according to sophomore officer Taras Holovko.

“Although removing one of the school dances may seem unneces-sarily preemptive now, this decision allows Student Council to concen-trate on making this the best and most popular event possible in the long term, by expanding the outreach to sister schools and encouraging student attendance,” said Holovko.

The move aims to concentrate out-of-school attendance at the first and last dances, potentially rebuilding the forgotten reputation of the events and boosting participation.

Student Council officers are work-ing to find solutions to other atten-dance issues as well: “One of the major problems is that the dances conflict with sporting schedules, and we’re working to resolve that,” said Vice President Vikas Munjal.

An advisory committee was cre-ated within the Council to find a long-term solution to the problem of this year’s cancellation of the Freshman-Sophomore Semi-Formal. The event, which is en route for a massive overhaul for next year, is looking promising.

“We are confident that our pro-posed solution will result in tre-mendous growth in this event over the next couple years,” said repre-sentative Elrod Owusu-Asumeng. Updates are to follow.

Falcons Buzz Down for St. Baldrick’s Day

The FalconPAGE 4

SPRINGSPORTS

Vol. LVI, Number 5 The Student Newspaper of St. Joseph High School May 2014

PAGE 3

NFL FREE AGENCY

The Future of Our Dances:Is Less Really More?

Photos by Neel JhaSt. Joe’s faculty and students went under the razor for a good cause.

Mr. Anderson Leading St. Joe’s with Change

Photo by Normandy StudioMr. Anderson at the junior ring ceremony.

By Brandon GoldySPORTS EDITOR

On Monday, March 24, 2014 something that has never been done in the 50 plus years of edu-cating young men and playing basketball at St. Joe’s happened: the basketball team won the Tour-nament of Champions.

What will live in the minds of many, however, are the special things this team did both on and off the court.

This year’s Falcon basketball team won 30 games, and was ranked in the top 10 in the USA Today poll and number 1 in MSG Varsity Tri State Poll. They did not lose a game to a New Jersey team. The “Big 3,” Wade Baldwin, Karl Towns, and Marcus Townes, com-bined to score over 5,000 points in their careers. Towns was selected as New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year for the second consecu-tive year as well as a McDonald’s All-American.

Along with Townes, Baldwin, Raven Owen and Breein Tyree, the team put on a basketball talent show every game and even broke 100 points in a state tournament win over Notre Dame.

In addition to this, a third con-secutive Non Public A champi-onship was won over St. Peters Prep, along with a GMC champi-onship for a record five times in a row over rival East Brunswick.

Regarding off the court action, the team raised money for Parents Of Autistic Children (POAC), and worked with Steven Soro-kac, who is autistic. His mother

brought him to numerous basket-ball games and placed his wheel-chair right next to the court. One of the home games this year was devoted to Steven and POAC, where the team warmed up in POAC T-shirts, and took photos with Steven. All the admission fees for that day’s game were donated to POAC.

After the win in the Tourna-ment of Champions final, Jay Wil-liams (‘99), the school’s all-time leading scorer, tweeted “Have to give a shout out to my old HS: St Joseph HS in Metuchen on being TOC Champion. I am a proud alum.”

ST. JOE’S BASKETBALL

It’s Not All About Winning

Photo by Normandy StudioRaven Owen is one of many basketball stars on the team.

2 THE FALCON May 2014

By Tom MorrisonSTAFF WRITER

The Tonight Show. The place where America has spent its eve-nings since 1954, and the longest running talk show in TV history.

One past host of the show, Johnny Carson, was a legend. He entertained Americans for 30 straight years and paved the way for most of the late night television we watch today.

When Carson finished his tre-mendously successful run in 1992, Jay Leno, amidst much contro-versy, seized the 11:30 time slot as the new host. That year, David Letterman had supposedly been the rightful heir due to his previous

run at Late Night, but went to CBS when Leno beat him to the spot. More than 15 years later, more controversy arose when Conan

O’Brien took the reigns in 2009. However, he didn’t last for long, as his ratings fell to dangerously low levels, causing him to leave the network and give the spot back to Leno. O’Brien later went to TBS to begin his own show: Conan.

The Tonight Show has had some dicey transitions between hosts in the past, causing tensions to rise. The “late night wars” and the constant battles for ratings come from the fierce competition that exists between the shows because of their similar format and same broadcast time.

More recently, Jimmy Fallon hosted Late Night on NBC for five years. He brought an exciting new twist to late night television by combining sketch comedy from his Saturday Night Live roots with musical parodies, thanks to the help of his house band The Roots. In February 2014, he brought The Tonight Show back to New York. Feeling the pressure of the new job, he said, “More people have walked on the moon than have hosted The Tonight Show.”

Although Fallon is young, many think that he is very talented and will successfully carry the legacy that Johnny Carson established back in the early days of late night TV. And judging by his enthusiastic and optimistic entrance on The Tonight Show, this transition will probably be a smooth one.

By Taras HolovkoASSOCIATE EDITOR

A 40 percent approval rating for Obama, public dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs, and unnecessarily early speculation from critics, have shifted the American political focus from today’s events to tomorrow’s campaign. Although the impending 2016 presidential election is still on the horizon and no one has declared his candidacy formally, several possible contenders from both major parties have emerged in the public limelight.

One such candidate on the Democrat side is current Vice President Joe Biden, who has not yet confirmed nor denied another White House run. However, according to recent “polls,” Biden falls short of the Democrat lead with his 13 percent sup-

port to former Senator Hillary Clinton’s 64 percent. Clinton, Secretary of State under Obama, has

also declined to affirm any rumor of a presidential campaign, asserting that she’s “obviously thinking about all kinds of decisions” and is “very much concerned about the direction of our country.” Other contingent Democrat players include New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.

On the other side of the table, New Jersey’s own governor, Republican Chris Christie, has hinted at a run at the Oval Office. Although Christie has renown for his ability to compromise and has earned support from some Jersey Democrats, the recent “Bridgegate” scandal has marred his presidential aspirations.

Another potential GOP candidate is Senator Ted

Cruz, a Tea Party leader from Texas who gained national notoriety in the fall for spearheading the effort that, according to some, triggered the government shutdown.

A long list of further Republicans follows behind, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

Regardless of the individual frontrunners, come the election, the next president will have to appeal to the American public on a wide range of bipar-tisan issues, including same-sex marriage, health care, gun control, immigration reform, and, of course, the economy.

Jimmy, Jimmy, and Dave

Published by the students of St. Joseph High School

145 Plainfield Ave., Metuchen, NJ 08840

732-549-7600 ext. 261 www.stjoes.org

Volume LVI, No. 5, April 2014

Editor-in-Chief: Carter Coudriet

Managing Editors: Stephan Kozub Kyle Terracciano

Sports Editor: Brandon Goldy

Associate Editors: Karanveer Johal Taras Holovko Kevin Stephen

Anthony Colucci

Photography Neel Jha

Peter Coronato

Staff Writers: Adekunle Balogun

Charlie ButricoGreg Burton

Max ChadwickCJ Connett

Carson Coudriet Sijo Devasia

Michael Drabich Liam Formisano

John Fresco Sean HollandGeorge IbunaTrevor JonesRohan Mishra

Brendan MoreauThomas Morrison

Dylan Oelkers Luke O’KeefeElrod OwusuLucas Pick

John Henry Riccardi Kyle StenbergMohit Varma

Faculty Moderator: Dr. Robert Longhi, ‘81

Principal: Mr. John Anderson, ‘70

President: Mr. Lawrence Walsh, ‘68

The Falcon welcomes articles from stu-dents, parents and faculty members for consideration for publication. All articles are subject to editing. The opinions expressed in The Falcon do not neces-sarily represent the opinions of faculty or administration. Opinions expressed in any column except those of the editors are not necessarily those of the editors.

Graphics and Printing by Media Trends, (732) 548-7088

By Stephan KozubMANAGING EDITOR

From March 3-7, just as St. Joe’s recovered from yet another winter storm, the school was assessed by five teachers from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, an organization based outside of Philadelphia that accredits Catho-lic, private, and public schools. The week-long process, which is conducted every seven years, evaluates all facets of a school, including conditions of facilities, effectiveness of student services, staffing, and long-range plan-ning. While the accreditation was renewed, not all of the feedback was necessarily positive.

One of the biggest criticisms that the school received was what the evaluation team felt was “a lack of strategic long-term plan-ning,” according to Mr. Lechner, who served as the internal coordi-

nator during the Middle States vis-it. Mr. Lechner added, “They felt we needed more formal written plans and procedures in place, and they expressed caution not to rest on our laurels, which they equated to our lack of planning and poli-cies in certain areas. Basically, we shouldn’t get complacent.” These “plans and procedures” that the school lacks include long-term marketing, facility improvement, growth for the future, and campus beautification.

Mr. Anderson, however, stat-ed, “The things they said that we need to work on are things we’ve already identified and are currently addressing. Their feedback just confirmed that these are areas that we need to work on.” Middle States will issue the final report in six weeks, after which Mr. Ander-son plans to work toward fully addressing the deficiencies.

Additionally, to improve certain facets of the school during the

academic year, the faculty “set up goals and objectives” according to Mr. Cunningham, who served as the assistant internal coordinator during the evaluation.

On a positive note, the evalu-ators “were very impressed with our students above all else” said Mr. Lechner. “They highlighted our diversity and variety in cur-riculum, our educational approach, our freelance style, and our teach-ers’ efforts.” Mr. Anderson added that the Chairman of the Middle States group said “they were very impressed with our student body.”

While the description of the accreditation process on St. Joe’s website noted that “the intent throughout the process is more than to focus on shortcomings; the chief goal is to seek remedies for inadequacies and to identify and nurture good practices,” Middle States emphasized the fact that there are still some areas that need to be developed.

Mixed Middle States Marks: Strong Academics, Weak Planning

2016 Presidential Predictions Still Wide Open

Google imagesKimmel, Fallon and Letterman: the current kings of late night.

By Greg BurtonSTAFF WRITER

In February, Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych fled the capital, Kiev, and was then impeached by the nation’s parliament. This event, a result of months of protests, has had unforeseen consequences on Ukraine, and have affected the entire world.

After Yanukovych’s impeach-ment, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the parliament had acted against the Ukrainian Constitution and called the events in Kiev a “coup d’état.” Pro-Rus-sian military units, which many suspected were Russian Army troops without the standard uni-form, began to take control of locations in the Crimean Penin-sula. On February 27, gunmen occupied the Building of the

Supreme Council of Crimea; the Supreme Council removed the Prime Minister of Crimea, Anatolii Mohyliov,and replaced him with Sergey Aksyonov. The council then voted to allow a ref-erendum deciding whether to sever political ties with Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.

Ballot returns on the referendum seem to indicate that 96 percent of the residents of the Crimea support joining Russia. This vote, how-ever, has been put into question by numerous factors. Many Crimean groups such as the Tatars boycotted the vote. Prior to the day of the vote, allegations arose that ballots had been found pre-prepared in favor of joining Russia. The United States and the European Union refuse to recognize the validity of the referendum and have threat-ened repercussions, starting with

economic sanctions. Since then, Russia has “reclaimed” the region, and the militaries of Ukraine and Russia have mobilized.

But why Crimea? To start, Crimea is strategically important – it has ports on multiple bodies of water, including the Black Sea, which are critical in Eastern Euro-pean trade. Furthermore, the region is, according to the Associated Press, the “heartland of Ukraine’s economically vital heavy industry and mining,” and a major source of crude oil for Eastern Europe.

The conflict in Ukraine is ongoing – new developments are reported every day. If things continue on the most likely path, outside nations may become more seriously involved. The situation is delicate, and the coming days could determine the future of a nation.

Crisis in Ukraine

By Mohit VarmaSTAFF WRITER

Future Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson made his return to the NBA earlier this month after announcing his retirement in 2011. Jackson will be the president of basketball opera-tions for the New York Knicks. As a coach, Jackson won 11 NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls.

“The idea of developing a culture is a overwrought word in the NBA right now, but that’s what brought me here,” Jackson told ESPN. “Players need to know they are supported by the team and coach-ing staff.”

Even though Jackson has 11 championships as a head coach, he has no front-office experience what-soever and has a huge task ahead of him: lead the New York Knicks to their first NBA championship since 1973. Ever since Phil Jackson joined the Knicks, they have been playing better. For a team that was to be out

of the playoffs race, the Knicks went on an 8 game winning streak and were the hottest team in the Eastern Conference since Jackson signed.

Jackson is accustomed to win-ning; he’s done it his entire career and understands winning on a cer-tain level that most others don’t. He cares about how much a player can contribute to his plan and how much they contribute to the benefit of the entire team.

Jackson will also have to face a major decision in the upcoming offseason, which will involve All-Star Carmelo Anthony. Jackson will have a few months in New York to figure out if Anthony can fit into his system. If Anthony is not on board, then he will not be a Knick in 2014-15.

“As long as it’s gonna put me in a position to win, I’m willing to do whatever,” Anthony told ESPN. “I’m not sold or stuck on my play.”

That’s a very good sign for Knicks fans hoping to see Anthony in a Knicks uniform next season.

Phil Jackson Returns to NBAGoogle images

An NBA player goes up for the dunk.

May 2014 THE FALCON 3

By Brendan MoreauSTAFF WRITER

Tom Summers is currently a sophomore at St. Joe’s. If you know Tom well then you probably know that he is a big time skier outside of school, but if you don’t know him too well you most likely had no clue!

During the winter Tom skis four times a week, on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. His main and best event is the slalom. Tom has been in the junior winter Olym-pics before. He said, “The Junior Olympics are always fun but it is very serious and nerve wracking to have all the eyes on you.”

But believe it or not making the junior Olympics isn’t even Tom’s biggest skiing accomplishment. Tom said “my biggest accomplish-ment so far is by far making it to Canada past the junior Olympics.”

Tom also said the first time he

started to ski at such a high level was when he was nine or ten years old.

When Summers was asked if he would continue to ski at such a high level in the future, he replied, “If I am able to ski for a Division I ski college, then I definitely will.”

Tom also said that his favorite place to ski is out west – Snowbird Mountain and Park City Mountain, which are both in Utah.

So hopefully in the near future Tom will become recognized inside of school for his incredible out of school accomplishments.

By Dylan OelkersSTAFF WRITER

The Robotics Team has been off to a good start this season, winning a district competition at Clifton, NJ. The team competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition, or FRC, which is run by the international organization known as FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Sci-ence and Technology).

The team builds a robot each year and competes against other high school teams, trying to earn the most points. To earn points, the robot must accomplish a spe-cific task, which changes each year. Teams who earn the most points move on to the next round, and then an elimination round.

This year the team had to build a robot to be able to shoot a ball into a goal, similar to a soccer game. The team was fortunate enough to have its own workspace this year, using the Woodburn computer room by Mr. Ernst’s classroom.

“We’re improving each year,” said senior club member Ryan Hol-lender. “We’ve just got to keep up the good work.”

The team’s next big competition will be the Regional Champion-

ships. The team wants to compete in the St. Louis World Championship this year. Many of the Robotics Team members are seniors who hope to make their final year with the club their best.

The team has also been busy with some off-season events, particularly service-oriented ones. The team hosted a bike drive on behalf of the New Brunswick Bike Exchange in October. The exchange is a vol-

unteer organization that collects used bikes, repairs them, and sells them at a reduced price in order to promote an active, healthy lifestyle. The team collected bikes and spare parts in front of the school for three hours.

The Falcon Robotics team hopes to further its successes this year by doing their best both during competitions and in helping the community.

By Carson CoudrietSTAFF WRITER

Did you think the NFL sea-son was over after the Seattle Seahawks destroyed the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl? Well, think again.

The NFL Free Agency period is now in full swing, and several big names have already signed with new teams. Safety Jairus Byrd, who was arguably the best player on the market, signed a 6-year, $56 million deal with the New Orleans Saints. Byrd’s sign-ing should definitely help Rob Ryan’s defense.

The home-state New York Jets have also made several transac-tions this offseason, signing the best quarterback on the market, Michael Vick to a one-year deal.

The Jets have also saved a lot of cap room by releasing Santonio Holmes, Mark Sanchez, and most surprisingly, Antonio Cromartie. Rex Ryan and GM John Idzik used all that cap room to make arguably the biggest move in free agency.

“Eric Decker to the Jets,” said

senior and Sports Debate Club president Anthony Patikowski when posed with the question of the most influential acquisition made thus far.

However, due to the number of top players signing with new teams this offseason, the question provides a lot of possible answers.

When asked the same question, senior Andrew Meisenbacher responded with “[Demarcus] Ware and [Aqib] Talib to Den-ver. An already awesome offense now has an improved defense, so the Broncos are an overall more balanced team.” However, sopho-more Adrian Javier sees it differ-ently. “Without a doubt Darrelle Revis going to the Patriots. They just replaced Talib with possibly the best cornerback in the game.”

The truth is it is impossible to sum up the entire NFL Free Agency in just one article. Moves such as Steve Smith signing with Baltimore or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie joining the New York Giants are also huge acquisitions, and there are several more sign-ings just as big.

Fortunately, the madness does not end here. With the NFL draft looming, teams look to add com-pletely new NFL players to their rosters to bring their franchises in new directions. Despite all the recent and future transac tions this offseason, we can still guarantee another awesome NFL season next year.

Robotics Team Working Hard, On and Off Season

By Adekunle BalogunSTAFF WRITER

Excellence is a habit, not a goal here at Saint Joseph High School and as this expression creates our school identity, we as Falcons find it fundamental and essential that this habit is cultivated from a young age.

On March 15, 2014, Saint Joseph High School hosted the annual Mid-dle School Science Bowl, which celebrated its sixth year of inspiring greatness in youth. Fourteen public and catholic schools, combining into 175 students between grades six and eight participated in this event. The day came together to become a great learning experi-ence for both science bowlers and parents.

The event itself, orchestrated mainly by two of our science teach-ers, Ms. JeanneMarie McNamara and Sr. Clare Tully, SSJ, was divid-ed into a sequence of events. The day opened with the science bowlers taking a written test in the morning which would be used to select the top three individuals and top four schools.

After the students finished test-ing, they were given a tour of our science wing where members of our very own Science National Honor Society held demonstrations of how science helps us interpret the world around us.

Volunteer Ethan Donnelly noted, “I felt like the Science National Honor Society members created a

warm environment for the science bowlers and explained the science behind simple things in life.”

When Evan Senkewicz, another SNHS member was asked about the event, he said that “the labs were a lot of fun and everyone did a good job pulling everything together.”

Finally, the event ended with the top four schools going head to head in buzzer competition, vying to take home a plaque. The first and second place teams from the test competed for first and the third and fourth place teams competed for third.

Bridgewater/Raritan Middle School took first place, Highland Park Middle School, second, and Warren Township Middle School, third.

Among the Science Bowl’s indi-vidual winners were Peter Tilton of Highland Park who came in third, Kassia Antin of Edgar Middle School with second and Jerry Kong of Bridgewater/Raritan Middle School winning first place. Each individual winner received a plaque and a monetary award.

After such a successful event, students and volunteers celebrated, many of the former walking away with plaques. It was a learning experience for each and every one of the 175 middle school students in attendance. In holding the Sixth Annual Middle School Science Bowl, Saint Joseph High School has broken boundaries and contin-ued to be a stage for inspiring youth and creating a passion for learning.

Reaction to Science Bowl: Explosive!

NFL Free Agency in Full Swing

Google imagesFree Agency has shuffled many players this offseason.

Google imagesJunior Olympian Tom Summers looks to take skiing to the next level.

Photo courtesy of Robotics TeamThe Robotics Team tries to return to St. Louis for the World Champi-onships.

Congratulations to next year’s editorial staff!

Editor-in-Chief: Steve KozubManaging Editors: Taras Holovko, Kevin StephenOnline Editor: Anthony ColucciSchool News Editor: Carson CoudrietClubs & Activities Editor: Michael DrabichUS & World News Editor: Adekunle BalogunOpinion Editor: Sean HollandSports Editor: Brandon GoldyAssistant Online Editor: Brendan Moreau

Tom Summers: Unknown Skiing Prodigy

By Sean HollandSTAFF WRITER

Following the success of the 2013 season, the tennis team looks to aim even higher this year. Under the instruction of Coach Bob Bynum, the team reached great success in the White Division with a highly skilled lineup aided in large part by an undefeated second doubles squad and a strong first doubles team pitching in match after match.

Despite the loss of the very tal-ented seniors who helped to seal the deal in many of last season’s matches, the team looks to move forward this year under the leader-ship of Coach Bynum and team captain Karanveer Johal.

Coming into last season, the team had one thing really going for them: the element of surprise.

After suffering a dismal 2012 season, prior t o C o a c h B y n u m ’ s arrival, many o p p o n e n t s did not take the team seri-ously, and as a result, were not expecting t h e o p p o -s i t ion that they faced last year with both skilled

players and strong leadership, two important qualities in a mental and physical sport like tennis. Now, while the element of surprise may no longer be an option, the momen-tum from last season is, as the team looks to make a statement early in the season.

“I see our team achieving more than we’ve ever reached before,” Johal said, “and expect us to far surpass our previous year’s record.”

With the charismatic leadership of Coach Bynum and the skilled roster of players, that is well within the team’s grasp. While it’s hard to say for sure, it appears that things are looking up this season, and after such a successful go of it last year, it appears that things are only getting better for St. Joe’s tennis.

Tennis Team Hopes for Another Successful Season

Photos by Normandy StudioSeniors Yuan (top) and Quinton (below) help Tennis continue to grow.

4 THE FALCON May 2014

By Michael Drabich STAFF WRITER

The SJHS golf team has quite a history with four county champion-ships, five division champions, and only four losses over the past five years. This year’s golf team has a lot to live up to. From last year, seven seniors graduated leaving a core of younger members to carry the torch of St. Joe’s golf tradition.

The top two returning members for this year’s team are senior Teji Gill and junior Gabe Rivera. The goals for this year’s team have not changed from prior years, and the golfers are expected to be at their best throughout the upcoming spring season.

Mr. Ryan Lechner, golf coach, advised his team to approach one match at time, to overcome obstacles. Opposition to the team includes rivals such as East Bruns-wick, Old Bridge, and Monroe, all formidable competition for the Falcons.

“We are a young team with a high ceiling.” replied Mr. Lechner upon being asked about how his team would handle the season. “Embrace the underdog role,” he continued, “and use it to your best advantage!”

These words of wisdom to the team underscore their position for this year. There is plenty of poten-tial to be harnessed and cultivated into a new team. Golf requires both physical and mental stamina.

The team this year plans to learn from the golfers that came before them, and use their own abilities to create positive growth.

Volleyball Strives to Exceed Expectations

By Trevor JonesSTAFF WRITER

As the St. Joe’s spring athletic season rolls on, the Volleyball team aims for another great season. On the court, the Falcons are known to be a fierce competitor in the GMC’s and the state. Last year’s season started off perfectly by winning 9 straight games, earning the 2013 Falcons a #1 ranking in the state according to the Star Ledger’s poll.

The 2014 team is finding a way to start this year off the same way. Junior and returning varsity player Justin Dai commented on the tran-sition from last year to this year by saying, “We have a relatively young team this year, our focus has been on finding new players to step up into the starting roles. I feel that our success this year will come from our commitment to the program and our excellent teamwork.”

The Falcons only have one return-ing varsity starter in Thomas Burrell, with the other five starters beginning their campaigns on April 1st against Old Bridge. Fellow returning varsity player Corey Ditmars had his own thoughts on the upcoming season, “Last year was a great year for us, we ended the season by winning GMCs and had a TOC appearance.

But that season is in the past and we have to direct our attention toward this year and focus on getting back to the GMC championship. This year’s team isn’t as talented as past years, but our camaraderie is stronger than it’s ever been. We have the potential to do some great things this year.”

Ditmars will have a big role on the team due to his past experience from last year’s 31-3 season. For the Volleyball team, an ideal season was stopped short by Southern in the TOC finals, but the sky’s the limit for this year’s team and there’s no doubt they will defend St. Joes’ powerhouse reputation.

Falcons Looking to Keep Flame Burning, Water BoilingBy Anthony Colucci

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

St. Joe’s Falcon Lacrosse will be an interesting team in 2014. The Falcons return five starters from last season in Mike Allen, Kyle Sten-berg, Drew Ross, Matt Olivo and Andrew Monahan. Blended with the experience that saw St. Joe’s win the GMC in 2011 and 2012 will be a group of very talented underclass-men who will look not only to make St. Joe’s a competitor this year but in years to come.

Throughout this season, St. Joe’s will be challenged with one of the most difficult schedules in program history. The Falcons will meet up with state powers Summit, Rutgers Prep, Mountain Lakes and Law-renceville Prep. St. Joe’s also will take on some of the best New Eng-land talent in Needham High School (MA) and Bishop Gurton (NH), a fellow Brothers of the Sacred Heart school.

Due to the tough schedule the Falcons have on tap, their regular season record may not reflect the

season in its entirety. However, St. Joe’s will be more than ready for the county and state tournaments after meeting up with some of the best teams in the northeast.

“We always want to be playing our best lacrosse for the playoffs,” ninth year head coach Mr. Moreau said. “With this schedule, we will be more than tested and ready to make a run in counties and states.”

Ross, Monahan and Stenberg will power the Falcon offense, but

expect players like juniors Paul Laki and Chris Culver and sophomores Jimmy Tovey, Matt van de Sande and John Henry Ricciardi to be key contributors. Two other players to look out for will be freshmen Max Bischoff and Tim Day. After losing goalie Matt Valdez to graduation, St. Joe’s has two options in either junior CJ Gahagan or sophomore Ryan Hultberg to start in goal.

St. Joe’s will be a very competi-tive team this season and according

to Coach Moreau, it all starts at home. “We like using the idea of 212 degrees to get our guys to do one more thing than they’re sup-posed to or expected to do and we want it to go outside of lacrosse. We’re challenging our players to go out of their way to do things like picking up a book or emptying the dishwasher before someone else does,” he said, “and this group really understands it and lives it. That’s what makes them special.”

By John RiccardiSTAFF WRITER

Spring is a time of sunny weather, fun events, and, for some, track. The Spring Track team hopes to have a better season than last. Coach Salam ran winter track and was able to improve the team overall.

The team has a lot of young talent this year, made up of some sophomores and juniors. Running under Coach Salam isn’t always the easiest either, considering his well-rounded background, it must be tough to impress a guy like him.

The new coach is a gradu-ate of Rutgers University-Camden with a Bachelors Degree in Political Science and Economics. Currently, he attends graduate school part time at Rutgers University-Newark where he is seeking a Masters Degree in Global Affairs.

On top of that , Coach Salam is also a soldier serv-ing in the US Army National Guard assigned to the 2nd Modular Training Battal-ion, 254th Regiment which is responsible for conduct-ing training for the Officer Candidate School and which will soon host soldiers of the Albanian National Army to conduct training for both their Commissioned Offi-cers and Non-Commissioned Officers.

Photo by Pete CoronatoA Falcon runner strides over a hurdle.

FALCON SPORTS

Spring Track is Back

GOLF

LACROSSE

VOLLEYBALL

By Lucas PickSTAFF WRITER

With a crack of the bat, the base-ball season has begun at St. Joe’s. Last spring the Varsity team strug-gled to maintain a .500 record. Now, a new squad is ready to gain redemption and capture a county title. Senior Dan Iannacone said, “Last year we looked good on paper, but this year we will look good on the field.”

There was truly no off-season for the baseball team this year. Less than a month after the regular season ended, the summer JV team met success in the GMC Coach’s League, peaking with first place in the playoff tournament. After practicing all of August, both the JV and Varsity squads participated

in a fall wood bat league. Finally, this winter, players

trained three days a week at the

Underground Strength Gym in Edison and hit twice a week at the Baseball Warehouse in High-

land Park. This year’s returning Varsity

squad consists of seven core seniors, including Notre Dame bound pitcher Brandon Bielak. Bielak, Mike Mohin, and junior Mark Bobko have been selected as captains to lead the team this season. Seniors Yanni Vayas and Jack Harlan are also expected to head the pitching rotation. Varsity Head Coach Bucchignano has high expectations for teams at all levels this spring. “I feel that we really have a set of guys who can bring us to a GMC championship. They worked hard all off-season and deserve their efforts to pay off.”

The Falcons kicked off the sea-son motivated by guest speaker John Paul Gonzalez. Gonzalez, who inspired the 2008 Giants to

Super Bowl victory, urged the team to go “all in” this season.

For two weeks, despite harsh weather, the team had practice after school almost until dusk. Scrimmages began after the first week, as the team split a double header against Brick Memorial and Brick Township high schools. They beat Holy Spirit the follow-ing day and Elizabeth High one week later.

So far, the season is off to a solid start. Senior center fielder Brandon Ciambrushcini is ready to make his last season at St. Joe’s memorable: “Wearing the same uniform doesn’t make our team; it’s pushing each other to move forward through our hard work. When we do that, the winning will take care of itself.”

SPRING TRACK

Photo by Peter CoronatoSenior Hartej Gill takes a shot

Photos by Normandy StudioFalcons prepare to take on powerhouse schools.

Photos by Normandy StudioLeft: Senior Jack Harlan winds up for a pitch.Right: Senior Brandon Ciambruschini throws from center field.

Photo by Peter CoronatoFalcon Volleyball players go up for the hit.

Golf Team Keeps to Their Goals Despite Loss of 7 Seniors from Last Year’s Team

BASEBALL UPDATE