About Town: Rye's Top College-Bound Athletes

Autumn is the air, school is underway, and one of the greatest and brightest athletic classes in the history of Rye High School has graduated into the college ranks, but not without leaving behind accomplishments that rank with the all- time Garnets best.

This time Around Town salutes athletes from the League champion boys ice hockey and boys lacrosse teams, the League and Section championship girls golf team as well as athletes who won individual accolades in sports ranging from swimming to softball to boys and girls track and field and girls lacrosse.

It should also be noted that every Garnet varsity team earned the New York State Public High School Athlete for 2010-11 which requires a 90% grade point average or above for a required number of team members.

Kevin Hughes is the All America athlete who made the biggest splash in swimming, going undefeated as well as becoming state champion in the 200 and 500-meter freestyle events. The Notre Dame-bound Hughes was team captain and Section 1 Captain at the State Championship meet. He also made the All League and All Conference team while following Ryan Feeley into the All American ranks. Feeley, now a college junior, made All America at the University of Michigan.

Chris Lyons teamed up with Hughes to give the Garnets one of the strongest one-two punches  in the area. Lyons set Section 1 Records in the 200-meter intermediate and 100-meter breast stroke, placing second in the 200-intermediate in the state championships.

Christian Bonaventura, Michael Collins and Max Bonsall were the co-captains of the lacrosse boys league championship.  That trio made the All League and All Section teams. Bonaventura is headed for Middlebury, Collins for Binghamton and Bonsall for Siena.

Mathew McReddie, yet another co-captain, made All League honorable mention and is headed for Bates. Brian Pickup, voted the school’s best overall male athlete and mentioned in previous columns for his prowess in football and basketball, also made honorable mention. He will do post-graduate work at Deerfield Academy before heading for Princeton next year. And Jack O’Callahan will head for Colgate.

In girls lacrosse, the Lady Garnets tri-captains –Madeline Chabot and Natalie Moore— made the Academic All American team while the other captain Laurel Kennedy made All League honorable mention.

Chabot also made the All League team and was All Section honorable mention as well as a key member of the Garnets girls soccer team, the number one ranked team in America as well as the subject of a previous AT featuring All Americans Lia Bellizzi (University of Richmond-bound high scorer) and goalie Tatiana Saunders (Dartmouth). Maddy will join her sister Liz at Wesleyan. Kennedy’s college address will be Gettysburg. Moore will attend Bowdoin.

The girls and boys spring track and field team produced a couple of high fliers in David Mangum, All League high jumper and Stephanie Alimena, All League pole vaulter. Lindsay Clark made All League as a long jumper. Mangum attends SUNY College at Potsdam, Alimena is going to Tufts and Clark is at Denison. Leo Mangum, All League in winter track, will attend West Point.

Julia Pasqualini captained the Lady Garnets League and Section Championship golf team. She made the All League and All Section team and will attend George Washington University. Girls softball team captains Jillian Chittenden and Ninamarie Grau both made the All League teams. Chittenden will attend Merrimack and Grau Coastal Carolina University while All League Honorable Mention Kathea Mueller is headed for Bates.

Baseball captain Ryan Crawford made the All League team and will attend Hamilton. Kevin Turco made the All League and All Section team and will attend Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. Derek Totten, All League honorable mention, is Fairfield-bound.

That winds up AT’s series focusing on Rye’s galaxy of graduated stars. Bon voyage in college. And good luck to this year’s varsity Garnets.