Sports

The Livingston High School girls’ soccer alumni is honoring their former soccer coach, Ed Grasso, who passed away suddenly in August of 2021. He was 64.

“Ed was dedicated to the Livingston soccer community. He was a 1975 LHS graduate, playing varsity soccer with the 1974 conference championship team which was ranked #11 in the state.

He is known as the co-founder of the LHS girls’ soccer program which began in 1983. In 1988, he was named Essex County ‘Coach of the Year.’ After leaving his paid head coach position at Livingston, he continued for several years as a volunteer goalie coach. He was inducted into the LHS Hall of Fame in 2019,” Lisa Holub Diorio wrote.

The alumni are currently raising funds through their alumni network using a GoFundMe page with a $3,000 goal. These funds will be used to purchase a bench and custom plaque as a memorial to him. They have raised $1,600 so far.

On February 25, the first part of the U.S. Table Tennis 2023 junior national team trials was held at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. More than 200 players from across the country participated, including Emma Yang, a fourth grader from Livingston’s Collins School who competed in the girls’ under 11 category.

Emma advanced as the second seed from the stage one round robin group, won three out of her five matches in stage two, and was ranked seventh in the final stage of top eight best U11G players nationwide.

In July, Emma will travel to Fort Worth, Texas to play the part two of junior team trials, which will be held in the 2023 U.S. National Table Tennis Championships tournament.

The Livingston Free Public Library was founded in January, 1913, by the Alpha Club, a group of 65 women. The library started with a collection of 200 books.

The boys’ varsity basketball team finished its winter season with 17 wins and 11 losses. The 17-win total matches the second most for the program in over 40 years.

The Lancers took second place in the Super Essex Conference Independence Division with a 10-4 in-division record. Along the way the team scored an upset victory over Newark Collegiate.

According to the team’s coach, David Cohen, season highlights included reaching the finals of the Whitey Dukiet Holiday Tournament; advancing in the Essex County Tournament; winning a game in the NJSIAA State Tournament; and competing with state-ranked opponents Paterson Eastside and Union Catholic. The Lancers also beat West Orange twice, including a first round NJSIAA Tournament game, 32-28.

The team was led by senior captains: Matthew Kaye, Harris Rosenthal, Dylan Perlstein, Luke Cohen and Nate Nussbaum. Post-season meetings, where personal accolades will be awarded, have yet to take place.

The #18 state-ranked Livingston Lancer ice hockey team defeated Southern Regional, 6-1, in the opening round of the state tournament on Monday, February 20, at the Codey Arena. The Lancers next defeated the Monroe Falcons, 6-1, in the state quarterfinals, on Friday, February 24, at the same location. Monroe Falcons’ goalie William Burkshot made 38 saves against the Lancers.

The Lancer scoring against Monroe was led by two goals each by Zach Silva and Dillon Schultz, and one each by Ryan Zales and Sean Chen.

The Lancers will play the winner of the Ridge vs. Princeton game in the semi-finals on Thursday, March 2, at the Codey Arena. The Lancer record stands at 14-5-4.

The Lancers have given up just eight goals in their last ten games. Assistant captains Brett Conklin and Zales, along with seniors Reed Plotnick,Alex Selvin and sophomore Mitchell Friedman, have continued to stifle the offense of opposing teams.

Photographer Don Schwartz gathered highlights of many Livingston High School (LHS) sports teams at the end of their winter seasons. The following is a compilation of the athletes’strongest games and accomplishments, according to Schwartz.

JV Boys’ Basketball

The junior varsity boys’ basketball team finished the season with a record of 19 and 1. The season highlights included their winning streak in the Super Essex Conference games and the Championship of the Whitey Dukiet Holiday Basketball Classic.

Freshman Boys’ Basketball

The team ran off six consecutive wins to finish its season with a final record of 18-5. The Lancers went 11-0 in conference games and had overtime wins against West Orange, West Caldwell and Clifton. Offensively, the team scored over 50 points in ten of their last 13 and played their strongest team defense of the year over the final two weeks.

Varsity Girls’ Basketball

David Su, fourth grade student at Hillside Elementary School, was named the youngest player to win first place for U1900 at Westchester USA Table Tennis (USATT)-rated four-star tournament on Sunday, February 19.

David is the child of Ying Cui and Shangguo Su, and enrolled in Justin Grossman’s class. David’s current USATT rating is 1887, and he has participated in numerous table tennis tournament, and won first place for U850 and U1600 in the past.

JV BASKETBALL TEAM RECENT PLAY: The Livingston High School boys’ junior varsity basketball team recently split two games. The Lancers defeated Newark Collegiate, 45-30, on Tuesday, February 7. The Lancers then suffered their first loss of the season, losing to Orange, 48-46, on Friday, February 10. Shown above, left, against Newark Collegiate, Lancer guard Ben Langer, #24, scores from underneath against the Panthers. Above, right, Lancer forward Kodey Freeman, #1, drives the lane to score.

RECREATION BASKETBALL CHAMPS: The Mercury are the Livingston Recreation fourth grade basketball champions. Shown here are, front, Lilian LaVie, Emily Laskaris, Carly Nacht, and Amelia Schiffer; and rear, coach Neil Rome, Jade Rome, Abby Rein, Elyse Pomeranc, Jordyn Skidds, and head coach Jan Michael Skidds. Also on the team is Ella Herhskin.

SENIOR CHEERLEADERS HONORED: The Livingston High School senior cheerleaders were honored on Senior Night, Friday, February 10. Shown here are Ilanni Hill, Sophia Kasson, Vivian Turner, Alyssa Galasso, and Brooke Vorona. Don Schwartz Photo

SYNCHRONIZED SKATERS WIN HONORS: The Skyliners Synchronized skating team, which includes a number of Livingston residents, recently captured the Eastern Championship title in three divisions. All the Skyliners’ qualifying lines ended up on the podium; the novice and intermediate lines earned gold, and the juvenile line captured the silver. In the two developmental levels they entered, the Skyliners placed first and second in the Pre-Juvenile Championship and third and fourth in the Preliminary Championships. Shown above, Livingston members include, front, Chloe Ren, Ivy Yang, Julia Karpov, Olivia Siu, Sophie Chen, Sophia Karpov, and Chelsea Li; and rear, Carolyn Qiao, Jessica Liu, April Wei, Isabelle Gao, Jenny Xu, and Bella Wu. Left, Chelsea Peng won the gold medal in the Mozart Cup in Austria on behalf of Team USA Skyliners Junior.