PB honors spring scholar athletes, students with perfect scores

Posted 10/7/21

The Pine Bush Board of Education honored some of the district’s most accomplished students at their meeting on Sept. 14: those who achieved a perfect score on an AP exam last year as well as …

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PB honors spring scholar athletes, students with perfect scores

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The Pine Bush Board of Education honored some of the district’s most accomplished students at their meeting on Sept. 14: those who achieved a perfect score on an AP exam last year as well as the spring scholar athletes.

A perfect score on an AP exam is a five. Pine Bush Superintendent Tim Mains explained how difficult it is to obtain that score.

“That’s really hard to get,” he said. “Most students feel really happy if they get a three or a four. But every once in a while a student can rise to the occasion and get that top score.”

Ordinarily, the district recognizes students who earn perfect scores on the AP and Regents exams at the same time. However, since Regents exams were optional last year the board did not have any students to honor for obtaining a perfect score.

Current junior Colby Zupetz was honored for earning a perfect score on the AP European History exam last year. Mains congratulated Zupetz for obtaining the score at such a young age.

“I think that’s awesome to have done as a sophomore Colby,” he said. “Excellent.”

Madeleine Cerone, Amanda Eagan, Sara Ippolito, Samantha Rezza and Aryn Simmons earned perfect scores on the AP U.S. History exam. Josiah Cruz, who graduated last year, was also honored for obtaining a perfect score on the 12th Grade AP U.S. Government and Politics exam.

Several students earned perfect scores on the AP English Language and Composition exam. This included Abraheim Ahmed, Linsey Itak and Alicia Kretschmer. Madeleine Cerone and Samantha Rezza had perfect scores on this exam as well.

Julian Lazaro was recognized for earning a perfect score on the 11th Grade AP Physics 1 exam. Mains is proud of each student who earned a perfect score on an AP exam.

“Great job, very very high accomplishment,” he said. “We’re all very proud of you.”

Students who played a spring varsity sport last year and maintained a grade point average of 90 or above were recognized as scholar athletes on Sept. 14. 99 athletes achieved that accomplishment last season.

Five members of last year’s varsity boys golf team were named scholar athletes: Nathan Brown, Marc DeSantis, Nicholas Diefenbach, Jackson Schultz and Logan Vatore. Michael Gillespie, director of physical education, health and athletics also recognized the other members of the team for finishing as an OCIAA Division Champion. He also honored Anthony Bressler, Dylan King and Aedan Shannon for their contributions to the team’s undefeated season.

The scholar athletes from the varsity boys lacrosse team included Colin Carey, Isaac Cruz, Josiah Cruz, Joseph Darrell, Jack Galloway, Alec Gorman, Anthony Greco, Evan Jaloszynski, Isaac Jaloszynski, Ryan Jaloszynski, Dominick Masi, Joseph Rosploch Jr., Trevor Schmidt, Trevor Zupetz and Nickolas Zwart.

27 students from the spring varsity boys outdoor track and field team earned scholar athlete honors. This included Eric Anderson, Bryce Boddie, Justin Ceiley, Logan Ceiley, Samuel Cerone, Elijah Cruz, Andrew Donaldson Jr, Joshua Dymond, Justyn Gingold, Malakai Henry-Geraghty, Oluseye Ilori, Mathew Kadanthod, Alexander Kozlowski III, Brandon Kroll, Alexander McCord, Alex O’Dell, Alexander O’Flaherty, Tomek Oakes, Shawn Riquelme, Tyler Sheeley, Alan Soto, Aidan Steele, David Tamakloe, Jared Urena, JamesMichael Vizzari, Kyle Zelonis and Colby Zupetz. The team also boasted two Section 9 individual champions: Bryce Boddie and Griffin VonDeben.

Seven players on the varsity baseball team were named scholar athletes: Jack Gandolfini, Edward Garmendiz, Joshua Martin, Joseph Sorge, Kealan Stelmaszyk, Jack Taylor and Aidan Torpey.

Not only did Sara Ippolito earn a perfect score on the AP U.S. History exam, she was also named a spring scholar athlete. Her teammates on the varsity girls golf team Abigail Pearson and Katherine Sassi were also named scholar athletes.

Eleven members of the varsity girls lacrosse team were named spring scholar athletes including Sara Barry, Brigid Boyle, Julia Corin, Mollie Harris, Katie Holmes, Alani Howard-Touwsma, Antonia Licardi, Sophia Licardi, Ella Meberg, Alexandra Watkins and Katie Webster.

Like the boys track and field team, the varsity girls track and field team had many scholar athletes. This included Yasmin Aguilar, Alyssa Biondi, Madeleine Cerone, Ella Galloway, Alexis Haskin, Jessica Horne, Maja Jablonski, Deanna Lindau, Madelyn Loennecker, Michaila Maggiolo, Caroline Michail, Madaghan O’Shea, Hannah Pawlowski, Sophia Perez, De’Anne Quiros, Samantha Ramnarine, Mya Riquelme, Zoe Rodi, Amelia Tremper, London Williams and Alina Zanetti.

Many members of the varsity softball team excelled in the classroom and on the field last spring. Sierra Birmingham, Nate’ Burley, Jessica Fowler, Serina Garmendiz, Ellie Hoppe, Courtney Meyer, Kaeli Murtagh, Caitlyn Price, Abigail Suleski and Kiara Vasquez all earned scholar athlete honors.

Several teams received the Scholar Athlete Team Award. This is given to teams whose average GPA for 75 percent of their roster is greater than or equal to 90. The varsity boys golf, boys lacrosse, outdoor track and field and varsity girls golf, lacrosse, outdoor track and softball teams earned this honor.

Gillespie noted that due to the success of all of the scholar athletes, Pine Bush High School received the School of Excellence Award last year from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. This is achieved when 75 percent of a school’s varsity athletes earn scholar athlete honors.

“We actually had about 85 percent last year,” Gillespie said. “So that’s a tremendous feat for our students and for our district.”