Team goal unfulfilled, but many lacrosse players recognized

Coming into this season, the goal for Pencader Charter High School’s boys lacrosse team was to finish with a winning season for the first time in the program’s brief history.

For a program that has become stronger each season and finished 7-8 last year, it was a reasonable and achievable goal.

Unfortunately, life does not always go as planned.

With a final record of 6-9, the Titans came up short of their goal and are still in search of that first winning season.

“It always feels bad coming up so short,” said junior captain Tom Warwick, “but you always have to look forward to next year.”

After getting off to a rough 1-6 start, Pencader put together a three-game winning streak, and their season goal seemed possible again. But two tough losses put the goal out of reach, as the Titans fell to Mount Pleasant 6-4 and Caravel 8-6.

Still, there were quite a few bright spots for Pencader this season. Many players were satisfied with their overall effort and certainly not walking around with their heads down.

“We did well,” said senior attacker Arjun Patel. “With such a small team, we certainly did play hard.”

In recent voting by coaches in the Blue Hen Conference Flight B, four Titans were named to the all-conference second team. Warwick (attacker), junior Drew Stobaugh (midfielder), junior captain Sam Bajwa (defenseman), and sophomore Nick Borden (goalie) all received all-conference mention for the first time.

“I’m very proud of them,” said Pencader coach Brett Townsend of his all-conference players. “They surpassed expectations this season and made lasting impressions on their teammates and opponents alike.”

Warwick scored the most goals for the Titans this season. In a 13-1 win over Christiana, he exploded for five goals.

“It felt really good; I didn’t really expect to make this many goals in the season,” said Warwick, who has been playing lacrosse since the age of 10, when his father signed him up for a youth league. “I just wanted to help out the team as much as I could to achieve our goal.”

In the Titans first win of the season, an 8-7 overtime victory against St. Georges Tech, Warwick and senior Brandon Hodgdon each scored three goals, and Stobaugh scored the other two. Stobaugh also scored five goals in one game, when Pencader topped Dickinson 15-8.

In a close battle against St. Thomas More, senior captain Ryan Cheng scored three goals in the Titans 6-5 win, and Borden recorded 18 saves.

In another close game, a 7-5 victory over St. Elizabeth, Hodgdon led the way by scoring three goals, and Borden stopped 12 shots.

The Titans closed their season May 10 with a convincing 11-3 win over Campus Community, and at that game they honored their seniors. This year’s senior class consisted of Patel, Hodgdon, Cheng, Nana Otchere-Addo, Sam Rambo, Brandon Carbine, Alex Spracher, Morgan Smith, and Joe Heck.

Earlier in the season, Pencader’s athletic department honored those students who were also excelling in the classroom, and the list for the lacrosse team was long. Players earning nothing less than A’s and B’s in the third marking period were Cheng, Patel, Spracher, Warwick, Bajwa, Pruth Enugula, Vishal Patel, Nathan Rouwhorst, Taylor Cobb, Zach El-Azom, David Flores, Alvin Thomas, Shrey Patel, Juan Ruiz, and manager Julian Tanjuakio.

“I’ve been playing lacrosse for Pencader for three years,” said Cheng, “and since this is my last year, I hope next year’s team will continue to work hard and stay committed.”

And maybe next year’s team will finally climb over that mountain and produce the lacrosse program’s first winning season.

10 students welcomed into selective organization

Earlier this month, in a ceremony held at the school, 10 Pencader Charter High School students were inducted into the National Honor Society, an organization that recognizes outstanding students.

Following the induction of the new members, Pencader’s 18 senior members of the NHS were also honored.

“The induction ceremony went very well,” said social studies teacher Jenny Aunet, advisor of the NHS along with social studies teacher Emily Burnham. “The students seemed to enjoy themselves and we had a lot of parents and family members there, as well as some faculty members, so overall it was a great evening.”

Inducted into the NHS were juniors Felix Ackon, Dante DeAscanis, Joylynn Mbua, and Nathan Rouwhorst, and sophomores Jourdan Campbell, Christa House, Bakhita Mukundi, Shrey Patel, Rogena Rezkalla, and Michelle Stott.

“I was surprised that I made it because there were a lot of people who were invited to the ceremony,” said Mbua. “It felt good to be a part of something.”

Qualifying for the NHS is not an easy job. To be eligible, students must be at least a sophomore in the second semester and own a cumulative GPA of 3.8 or higher. Those students are invited to apply for the NHS.

Students who meet these requirements must complete an application that touches on character, leadership, and service.

Once inducted into the NHS, students receive a service requirement every year. Each member must complete 20 hours of community service. Members are also required to attend all NHS meetings and maintain their 3.8 GPA.

DeAscanis was also enthused to become part of such a prestigious group, and noted an added benefit.

“I’m pretty honored because it’s very selective,” said DeAscanis. “Plus it looks really good on college applications.”

Mathletes prepared for tonight’s state competition in Dover

Baseball players toss the ball back and forth, basketball players take jump shots, and football players run through their plays.

But what do mathletes do before their competitions?

“The mathletes are preparing for states by memorizing pi to the thousandth decimal place and eating two pounds of carrots each day,” joked Kelly Quinn.

The 35th annual Math League State Invitational Competition takes place in Dover tonight (April 16) at 4:30 pm, and Pencader Charter High School will be well represented. Pencader’s 10th-12th grade team placed 4th in the region to qualify for the state competition, and two 9th graders scored high enough to qualify for the individual competition.

The 10th-12th grade team consists of seniors Ryan Cheng, Tom Krauss, and Joan Lu, and juniors Brandon Gilbert and Vishal Patel. During regular competitions, Gilbert tied for the third highest score in the region. The team is coached by Quinn, a math teacher at Pencader.

The freshmen who qualified for the individual competition are Arabelle Osicky and Paolo Tiamson. The 9th-grade team was coached by Pencader math teacher Brett Townsend.

“It’s a good experience,” said Tiamson. “Even if you don’t score perfectly every time, you learn to improve every meet.”

The 10th-12th grade team will be given six individual questions and two team questions, with limited time to answer. They will compete against 12 other teams. The freshmen will be given six individual questions. Following the competition, there will be a dinner and an awards ceremony.

“Our pencils are sharp and our batteries are fresh,” said Quinn.

Students honored for September, October classroom efforts

Drake Brown, a senior here at Pencader Charter High School, does not hide his feelings about mathematics.

“I hate math,” said Brown.

Ironically, for his efforts in the classroom, Brown was chosen as the math student of the month for September.

“I especially did not expect to be student of the month in math,” said Brown, who attended Penns Grove High School in New Jersey before transferring to Pencader. “My grades are generally A’s and B’s. I hope it stays this way so I can be able to attend a good college.”

Other students who were part of this honorable list for September were: sophomore Zachary El-Azom (business), senior Arjun Patel (social studies), junior Mathew Baranowski (English), freshman Arabelle Osicky (health), and senior Ben Hodesblatt (science).

Patel, who is in his fourth year at Pencader, said he received a student-of-the-month honor while at Gunning Bedford Middle School, but this was the first time he was named a student of the month at Pencader.

“When I found out, I had a tingly feeling,” said Patel. “I am proud of myself and it makes me feel great because it proves to me that if I work hard, I will succeed in anything I put my mind to.”

Patel, who plans to major in engineering at the University of Delaware, pointed out that his social studies teacher makes it easier for him to succeed.

“Mr. [Steve] Quimby inspires me to do well in his class,” said Patel. “He is a wonderful teacher.”

The students of the month for October were recently announced, and they are: junior Sarah Bell (science), freshman Jwaun Booth (health), freshman Lauren Brown (English), freshman Rodger Gow (social studies), sophomore Rogena Rezkalla (world languages), freshman Raeqwan Savage (physical education), junior Iryna Vavasova (math), and freshman Trevor Vivian (business).

These students are great examples of hard work paying off.

One may assume that after receiving such an award, one would take a break from the work and treat himself or herself in some lavish manner, such as eating out at a fancy restaurant or buying the latest and greatest cell phone.

For Patel, the September social studies student of the month, it was somewhat different. He received joy from buying a little treat for himself: ice cream.