What a time to be a Mountaineer! In the fall of 2016, the success of sports teams, extracurricular clubs and West Orange High School amounted to new heights. This was the most successful fall season for WOHS in recent history. Let’s recap all of the accolades and honors bestowed upon our Mountaineers.

One of the top headlines from the 2016 fall season was that WOHS won four Super Essex Conference Liberty Division titles in Girls Volleyball, Girls Tennis, Cheerleading and Football. Another major accomplishment for WOHS is that it won its second consecutive NJSIAA Sportsmanship Award for the 2015-2016 school year. To be eligible for this award, a school must be disqualification free in every sport for the entire school year. WOHS also won the NJSIAA Sportsmanship Award for the 2014-2015 school year.

Other fall programs also had stellar seasons such as both the West Orange boys and girls soccer teams. West Orange Girls Soccer stunned the Ridgewood Maroons in the first round of the NJSIAA Group IV State Sectional tournament during an overtime shoot-out. Ridgewood was ranked number 12 in the state and was the second seed in the state tournament at the time. Meanwhile, West Orange Boys Soccer played in the State Sectional final for the tenth time in the last 14 seasons (they won seven sectional titles over that period). After the Mountaineers beat Morristown High School in overtime during the semifinals, they lost to Kearny High School in the sectional finals during a shoot-out.

The WOHS Marching Band also had one of their most successful seasons in recent history. The Marching Mountaineers won their first national championship at the Group V-A USBands National Championship in Allentown, PA where they scored a 96.693 out of 100. They also received honors for best music, best visual, best overall effect and best percussion. During their competition season, the band was also undefeated in their group and won the Group V-A USBands State Championship at Rutgers University.

The West Orange High School Cheerleaders won first place in the Varsity Medium Non-Tumbling Division at the UCA Pocono Regional Competition. This victory gave the cheerleaders an automatic bid for the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship (NHSCC) in Orlando, Florida. This is the most distinguished cheerleading competition in the country, which takes place at Walt Disney World Resort from Feb. 11-12, 2017 and will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2.

The Mountaineers put a strong foot forward when WOHS cross-country team had a successful rebuilding season. The team was lead by senior Derek Lim and junior Ebizie Anuamadi, and each student-athlete ran a personal-best at one point during the season. Even though the girls were plagued by injuries, a strong group of underclassmen led them to their best Sectional finish since 2012.

Flashback to Our Fruitful Fall

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In non-athletic news, the West Orange High School Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Club won gold and bronze medals at their first competition of the year. On Nov. 21 in Edison, NJ, Dawn Flood received a bronze medal in the Apple Bake-Off and Agnes St. Vil, Sarah James, and Sarah Thomas received a Bronze medal in the Cupcake Challenge. The club won a gold medal for making a banner that “reflected their idea of the limitless possibilities that FCCLA offers.”

Additionally, the WOHS Supervisor of Technology and Engineering, Mr. Del Guericio, and Technology and Engineering teacher (and our printer extraordinaire) Mr. Prasa have recently been featured authors in the Technology and Engineering Teacher Journal. Their feature article, “Introducing the DECIDER Design Process,” explained how this “process is used in WOHS technology and engineering classes to initiate and complete projects.” Due to the hard work of teachers and administrators like Mr. Prasa and Mr. Del Guericio, WOHS received a Five-Star Technology Education Citation from the New Jersey Technology and Engineering Teachers Association.
Let’s congratulate our Mountaineers for not falling short this fall. This season was one for the history books. Let’s carry the momentum forward for our winter sports teams as their seasons begin!