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2022 “DC” ALL-STARS (PART 2)

March 21, 2022 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

Last week, we started our highlighting of standout student-athletes from the Washington, DC region. We continue that initiative this week by honoring standout high school girls volleyball and boys football players from the DCSAA.

DCSAA VOLLEYBALL ALL-STATE TEAM
Coach of The Year: Dr. Perette Arrington, Wilson Senior High School
Player of the Year: MB Summer Campbell, Wilson Senior High School, senior
Setters: Claire Cooper, Georgetown Day School, senior; Gillian Gessert, Wilson Senior High School, junior.
Libero: Pallavi Bhargava, Georgetown Day School, senior; Kathryn Kelyman, St. John’s College 
High School, senior.
Middle Blockers: Jaiden Jones, DC International High School, senior; Pamela McCune, St. John’s 
College High School, junior.
Outside Hitters: Jada Aksu, Georgetown Day School, freshman; Erin Faughnan, St. John’s 
College High School, senior; Emma Gillespie, Georgetown Day School, senior; Aaliyah Howell, Georgetown Day School, sophomore 

CLASS A ALL-STATE FOOTBALL TEAM
Coach of The Year: Mike Engleberg, Maret School
Player of The Year: WR-DB Robbie Engleberg, Maret School, senior
Offense
Quarterbacks: Andrew Catron, Maret School, senior; Stephon Fuller, Richard Wright Public Charter School, senior; Chase Williams, St. Albans School, senior.
Running Backs: Tybias Barton, Bell Multicultural High School, senior; Christian Gamble, Sidwell Friends School, senior.
Offensive Line: Aaron Garnett, Sidwell Friends School, senior; Marc Lampkin, Maret School, senior.
“Athletes”: Ashton Embery, Richard Wright Public Charter School, senior; Zion Suggs, Bell Multicultural High School, junior.
Wide Receivers: Dajuan Samuel, Bell Multicultural High School, senior; Jaquan Thomas, Richard Wright Public Charter School, senior.
Defense
Defensive Line: Sean Brooks, Calvin Coolidge Senior High School, junior; Dylan Price, Sidwell Friends School, senior; Andrew Williams, Maret School, senior.
Linebackers: Gus Burns, Sidwell Friends School, senior; Luke Harmon, St Albans School, senior; Aaron Poawui, Maret School, senior; Malachai Redman, Anacostia Senior High School, junior; Alex Tilton, St Albans School, senior.
Defensive Backs: Deshean Dean, KIPP College Prep, senior; Miles Harmon, St. Albans School, senior; Malcolm Hatton, KIPP College Prep, senior.
Athlete: Neko Hagans, Anacostia Senior High School, sophomore.

CLASS AA ALL-STATE FOOTBALL TEAM
Coach of The Year: Robert Harris, Archbishop Carroll High School
Player of The Year: DE Nyckoles Harbor, Archbishop Carroll High School, junior
Offense
Quarterbacks: Kerry Burns Jr.,Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School, senior; Wyatt Hagan, St. John’s College High School, senior.
Running Backs: Jamar Curtis, St. John’s College High School, junior; Daequan Harvin, Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School, senior; Juan Pratt Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School, junior; Elijah Solomon, Archbishop Carroll High School, senior.
Offensive Line: Kristopher Boyd, Archbishop Carroll High School, junior; Evan Link, Gonzaga College High School, junior; Jeremiah Saunders, Archbishop Carroll High School, senior; Jordan Seaton, St. John’s College High School, sophomore.
Wide Receivers: Jamar Ebron, Archbishop Carroll High School, junior; DJ Linkins, St. John’s College High School, senior; Winston Page, Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School, senior; Sean Williams, St. John’s College High School, junior.
Tight End: Nate Kurisky, Gonzaga College High School, senior.
Athlete: Malachi Baker, Archbishop Carroll High School, senior.
Defense
Defensive Line: Joseph Mupoyi, Archbishop Carroll High School, junior; David Ojiegbe, St. John’s College High School, junior; Jordan Shuler, Gonzaga College High School, senior; Dylan Stewart, Friendship Collegiate Academy, sophomore.
Linebackers: Kadari Machan, Gonzaga College High School, senior; Shon Reid, Archbishop Carroll High School, senior; Nasir Smith, Archbishop Carroll High School, sophomore.
Defensive Backs: Michael Brown, Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School, sophomore; Robert Nelson Jr., Wilson Senior High School, junior; David Okechukwu, Archbishop Carroll High School, senior; Joshua Thompson, St. John’s College High School, senior; Ian Wall, Wilson Senior High School, junior

*****

We welcome anyone to share postseason accolades and accomplishments to us at any time here at The Shop by email me.

We’d love to hear from you!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

 

2022 “DC” ALL-STARS

March 14, 2022 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

A little while back, I reached out to friends in the administrative offices in our Washington, DC region to work with them on highlighting their local high school sports programs. One of my requests was for them to share their regular “all-star” lists and other scholastic accolades for the student-athletes in the DMV region.
To make a long story short, it took some time to successfully make this happen, along with a commitment that we would be able to work together to highlight the outstanding accomplishments from representatives in this region, like we have done for student-athletes in the Lehigh Valley. The first time this happened was in the winter of 2020 and I thought we’d have regular communications and updates on the top athletes in the DC area.
Then, COVID hit!
Needless to say, sports has been put on the back burner in many regions. Some sports seasons didn’t even occur for a good number of schools in areas like the DMV. Consequently, the listings of “all-stars” were put on hold. But, as we try to finally return to semblances of normalcy, I am proud to report that these honors have returned, and we can present the latest list now made public by the DCSAA in the Washington, DC area.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY ALL-STATE TEAM
Coach of The Year: Desmond Dunham, St. John’s College High School
Runner of The Year: Marisa Poe, Maret School, senior: Caroline Gotzman, St. John’s College High School, junior; Meredith Gotzman, St. John’s College High School, junior; Olivia Guiterrez, St. John’s College High School, senior; Vivian Kelly, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, junior; Ellie Kessler, Georgetown Day School, sophomore;Caroline Lee, National Cathedral School, freshman; Elena Stanciu, Basis DC, junior; Sophie Mattheus, St. John’s College High School, junior; Lila De La Vega-Rodriguez, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, junior.

DCSAA BOYS CROSS COUNTRY ALL-STATE TEAM
Coach of the Year: Desmond Dunham, St. John’s College High School
Runner of The Year: Pierre Attiogbe, St. Albans School, junior Luke Cohen, Georgetown Day School, junior; Nicolas Grabarz, St. John’s College High School, senior; Sebi Hume, St. Albans School, freshman; Micah Lachman; Sidwell Friends School, senior; John McMurray, Sidwell Friends School, freshman; Cameron Mickle, St, John’s College High School, freshman; Paul Robinson, St. John’s College High School, junior; Liam Thomson, Gonzaga College High School, junior; Finley Tobin, St. John’s College High School, sophomore.

DCSAA BOYS’ SOCCER ALL-STATE TEAM
Coach of the Year: Brian Schultz, St. Albans School
Player of the Year: MF Wayne Frederick, St. Albans School, senior
Goalkeepers: Johnathan Baunsgaurd, Washington International School, senior; Brian Ford, DC High International School, senior.
Defenders: Antonio Giorgiani, Washington International School, senior; Rich Kirkham, DC International School, junior; Colin Predergast, Gonzaga College High School, senior; Leo Siegel, St. Albans School, junior.
Midfielders: Lowen Jamison, St. John’s College High School, freshman; Rustin Khostravi, St. Albans School, senior; Cooper Laine, Wilson Senior High School, senior.
Forwards: Nicholas Laffey, St. John’s College High School, junior; Kadin Nuri, DC International High School, junior.

DCSAA GIRLS’ SOCCER ALL-STATE TEAM
Coach of the Year: Ryan Alexander, Sidwell Friends School
Player of the Year: F Kiki Rice, Sidwell Friends School, senior
Goalkeepers: Shelby Pollard, St. John’s College High School, junior; Caroline Roy, Maret School, junior.
Defenders: Giulia Balestrieiri, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, senior; Lila Brown, Sidwell Friends School, senior; Kaeden Koons-Perdikis, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, junior; Farah Salam, St. John’s College High School, senior.
Midfielders: Lucy Harlee, Wilson Senior High School, senior; Gemma Maltby, Sidwell Friends School, senior; Emily Rubio-Garcia, St. John’s College High School, junior.
Forwards: Gabi Green, Sidwell Friends School, freshman; Jacquelyn Shores, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, sophomore.

*****
We have not forgotten about some of the other sports played in the DMV this past year and will honor those athletes and teams next week here at The Shop!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

ALL-STARS 2022 #4

March 9, 2022 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

This week, we continue our latest “round” of all-star listings for teams in the ATVN area in the Lehigh Valley by honoring the outstanding student-athletes in girls field hockey and in boys and girls soccer.

PLEASE NOTE: the Colonial League decided as an organization a few years ago to NOT identify individual standout performers for certain sports and no longer produce “all league” teams. That is the schools’ decision and therefore, that is why teams from that league are not represented below.

2021 EPC Boys Soccer All Stars 1st Team

School Name  Position Year
Emmaus Jaeden Amato Defender 12
Parkland Jake Seed Defender 12
Freedom Austin Hoffert Defender 12
Freedom Sebastian Garces Midfielder 12
Whitehall Elie Khalil Midfielder 12
Nazareth Zack McKinney Midfielder 12
Freedom Peter Tichy Forward 12 MVP
Allentown Central Catholic Maksym Komperda Forward 11
Nazareth Cole Hilarczyk Forward 11
Emmaus Ty Bleiler Goal Keeper 12
Allentown Central Catholic Brandon Quinn Defender 12

 

2021 EPC Boys Soccer All Stars 2nd Team

School Name  Position Year
Liberty Tanner Horvath Defender 10
Emmaus John Hanvey Defender 12
Whitehall Tyler Anderson Defender 12
Allentown Central Catholic Cole Sonday Defender 12
Easton Matthew Clark Midfielder 12
Allentown Central Catholic Ben Scandone Midfielder 12
East Stroudsburg South Tobias Golab Midfielder 11
Parkland Zach Morales Forward 12
Northampton Jackson Vajda Forward 10
East Stroudsburg South Christain Gilmore Forward 12
Nazareth Nolan Booth Goal Keeper 12
Parkland Michael Li Midfielder 12
Pleasant Valley Aidan Green Forward 12

 

2021 EPC Boys Soccer All Stars 3rd Team

School Name  Position Year
Nazareth Sam Roberts Defender 11
Easton Santiago Muniz Defender 12
Pleasant Valley Tyler Akob Defender 12
Parkland Kyle Rothwell Midfielder 12
East Stroudsburg North Carter Brown Midfielder 11
Dieruff Christopher Garcia Midfielder 12
Parkland Will Wagstaff Forward 12
Emmaus Ryan Kiernan Forward 10
Whitehall Ziyad Atiyeh Forward 12
Freedom Tristan Willey Goal Keeper 11
Pocono Mountain East David Bzura Midfielder 12

 

2021 EPC Girls Soccer All Stars 1st Team

School Name  Position Year
Nazareth Skylar Jordan Defender 12
Allentown Central Catholic Julia Roth Defender 12
Parkland Cat Crampton Defender 11
Northampton Raine Korpics Midfielder 12
Emmaus Madison Woodward Midfielder 11
Parkland Demi Olatilo Midfielder 12
Easton Aminah Baruwa Forward 11
Nazareth Kylee Hynes Forward 11
Parkland Olivia Kunz Forward 11
Pleasant Valley Samantha Merklin Goal Keeper 12 MVP
Easton Kendahl Popp Forward 10

 

2021 EPC Girls Soccer All Stars 2nd Team

School Name  Position Year
Emmaus Mya Cooper Defender 10
Easton Quelyn Nepa Defender 12
Parkland Bella Brans Defender 11
Nazareth Rachel Billet Midfielder 12
Easton Natalie Protyniak Midfielder 12
Parkland Dani Marsteller Midfielder 10
Bethlehem Catholic Summer Hill Midfielder 10
Pocono Mountain East Campbell Demarest Forward 10
Emmaus Kameron Watkins Forward 12
Pleasant Valley Alexa Weaver Forward 12
Liberty Sophia Albino Goal Keeper 11

 

2021 EPC Girls Soccer All Stars 3rd Team

School Name  Position Year
Allentown Central Catholic Josslin Muto Defender 12
East Stroudsburg South Trinity Juszynski Defender 12
Stroudsburg Jackie Neyhart Defender 12
Nazareth Kylee James Midfielder 11
Allentown Central Catholic Madi Szoke Midfielder 11
Bethlehem Catholic Tieghan Boyle Midfielder 12
Freedom Grace Joseph Forward 11
Allentown Central Catholic Meredith Eisenman Forward 9
Whitehall Ava Wells Forward 10
Northampton Olivia Vajda Goal Keeper 12
Pleasant Valley Ella Muir Midfielder 11
Dieruff Meghan Edinger Forward 11
Nazareth Jenna Martucci Defender 10

 

We welcome anyone to share more postseason accolades and accomplishments to us to share here at The Shop and on our “SportsTalk” program on ATVN. Please email those honors to me.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

ALL-STARS 2022 #3

March 7, 2022 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

Before we continue our latest “round” of all-star listings for teams in the ATVN area in the Lehigh Valley, just a quick word for our high school sports fans about the past week of sports programming, as I have gotten quite a few inquiries about our schedule last week.
As our audience knows COVID-19 has affected all aspects of life, and our winter schedule has not been immune. ATVN has a commitment to Lafayette College to broadcast a specific number of events. A number of previously scheduled games from November and December were moved to January, only to have many of them postponed again for a later date.
Several of those postponed events were all made up last week, with five Leopards’ games in six days. As a result, we only had three scholastic events, but all were good ones!
On Tuesday, we featured the high-flying Hawks from Bethlehem Catholic–they haven’t lost a league game since December–played their city rivals from Liberty, who had scored a few exciting upset wins this year.
On Friday, we had two of the top District XI 6A schools in the area. Parkland, a team that just knocked off the state champions from Central Catholic, took on the biggest positive surprise team in our coverage area this winter, Emmaus, on Friday night.
On Saturday, we featured the top wrestlers in the nation as ATVN brought you the District XI 3A Wrestling Team Championships.
It was a hectic week of sports programming–one we hoped you enjoyed (and Astound customers can watch again for free On-Demand)!
And…we’ll be resuming a full slate of high school broadcasts starting with the EPC basketball semifinals. Make sure you tune in and bookmark the new Astound TV Network schedule for updates on our sports programming!

Now, it’s time to honor the outstanding student-athletes in girls tennis & volleyball in the Eastern Pennsylvania conference for girls tennis and volleyball.

First Team:

Name High School
Paras Briegel Stroudsburg
Erin Joo Parkland
Sabrina Yurconic Allentown Central Catholic
Ellyana Jacobs Easton

Second Team:

Name High School
Cara Magliochetti Bethlehem Catholic
Jocelyn Chow Emmaus
Leah Zolotareva Parkland

Third Team:

Name High School
Isabella Szmodis Freedom
Shelby Carter Emmaus
Taylor Adams Bethlehem Catholic
Gigi Leonzi Parkland

For Doubles:

First Team:

Name High School
Anshika Gupta/Kaila Miles Parkland
Indira Tatikola/Teya Gougoustamos Emmaus
Alison Willis/Katie Hoske Stroudsburg

Second Team:

Name High School
Patty Superka/Grace Hartman Bethlehem Catholic
Elise Kney/Hermani Patel Liberty
Julia Ressler/Samantha Wallitsch Easton

Third Team:

Name High School
Kara Wang/Catherine Grub Allentown Central Catholic
Emma Ricci/Mackenzie Shoup Nazareth
Payton McGlory/Liza Puerholz Emmaus

And for volleyball: 

EPC Girls Volleyball First Team All-Conference:

Name High School
Brynn Dreisbach  Parkland
Alaina Roman Freedom
MacKenzy Ruggiero Bethlehem Catholic
Samantha Simmers Freedom
Elena Pursell Parkland
Ava Holden Emmaus
Scarlett Jago Parkland

EPC Most Valuable Player: Brynn Dreisbach, Parkland

EPC Second Team All-Conference:

Name High School
Elizabeth Barnes Freedom
Sydney Houchens Liberty
Emily Harclerode Nazareth
Maren McGuire Allentown Central Catholic
Maggie Smith  Parkland
Brylee Tereska Liberty
Courtney Shire  Liberty

EPC Third Team All-Conference:

Name High School
Mia Pickering Emmaus
Sydney Esquieres Parkland
Abigail Schweitzer Emmaus
Megan Holland  Nazareth
Kyla Rodriguez Bethlehem Catholic
Alexa Crum Whitehall

We will also have some exciting news concerning our local sports coverage at ATVN…you’ll have to check back to The SportsTalk Shop next week to find out what it is!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Ladies Week-In-Review

March 2, 2022 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

Last week, we changed things up a bit on ATVN.
For the first time to the best of my recollection, we opened up our coverage of the District XI playoffs with four of our first five games featuring the girls basketball teams in our viewing area.
I appreciated quite a few positive responses I received from parents about us featuring the girls programs last week, including many young ladies playing on television for the first time in their lives.
There were quite a few noteworthy accomplishments in the games we broadcast. Liberty was making its first playoff appearance in six years and Executive Charter was playing in its first ever post-season contest. We also showcased Notre Dame for the first time in a few years and the Emmaus girls team made its first appearance on our network in eight winter basketball seasons.
We will have a bunch of both boys and girls high school playoff games coming up over the next several weeks on ATVN. Make sure you bookmark our scholastic sports broadcast schedule and check out all the playoff action coming up over the next several weeks.
Also, we are working very hard on an expansion of our girls high school sports coverage on ATVN. We will have some exciting news for you about this, but you’ll have to wait a few weeks for the official details. Keep checking back to the SportsTalk Shop to find out more.
********
Now, it’s time to honor the outstanding student-athletes in girls tennis & volleyball in the Eastern Pennsylvania conference for girls tennis and volleyball.

Singles/First Team
Paras Briegel, Stroudsburg
Erin Joo, Parkland
Sabrina Yurconic, Allentown Central Catholic
Ellyana Jacobs, Easton

Second Team
Cara Magliochetti, Bethlehem Catholic
Jocelyn Chow, Emmaus
Leah Zolotareva, Parkland

Third Team
Isabella Szmodis, Freedom
Shelby Carter, Emmaus
Taylor Adams, Bethlehem Catholic
Gigi Leonzi, Parkland

Doubles/First Team
Anshika Gupta/Kaila Miles, Parkland
Indira Tatikola/Teya Gougoustamos, Emmaus
Alison Willis/Katie Hoske, Stroudsburg

Second Team
Patty Superka/Grace Hartman, Bethlehem Catholic
Elise Kney/Hermani Patel, Liberty
Julia Ressler/Samantha Wallitsch, Easton

Third Team
Kara Wang/Catherine Grub, Allentown Central Catholic
Emma Ricci/Mackenzie Shoup, Nazareth
Payton McGlory/Liza Puerholz, Emmaus

EPC Girls Volleyball First Team
Brynn Dreisbach, PARKLAND
Alaina Roman, FREEDOM
MacKenzy Ruggiero, BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC
Samantha Simmers, FREEDOM
Elena Pursell, PARKLAND
Ava Holden, EMMAUS
Scarlett Jago, PARKLAND

Second Team All-Conference
Elizabeth Barnes, FREEDOM
Sydney Houchens, LIBERTY
Emily Harclerode, NAZARETH
Maren McGuire,ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC
Maggie Smith, PARKLAND
Brylee Tereska, LIBERTY
Courtney Shire, LIBERTY

Third Team All-Conference
Mia Pickering, EMMAUS
Sydney Esquieres, PARKLAND
Abigail Schweitzer, EMMAUS
Megan Holland, NAZARETH
Kyla Rodriguez, BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC
Alexa Crum, WHITEHALL

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

BY THE NUMBERS…

February 23, 2022 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

One of my goals as sports director is to have as much balance as possible in our coverage of scholastic games on ATVN. It’s always a difficult concept to be fair and have an equal amount of schools represented while also bringing our audience quality games night in and night out. It’s a challenge I have enjoyed when scheduling guests for the last 18 years on our SportsTalk program.
Another objective this season was to showcase more Colonial League teams, as there were times in the past in which we only featured a couple of those schools the entire calendar year.
Unfortunately, this past year was probably the most challenging year — by far — in trying to achieve balance. It became impossible to have a “normal” schedule with constant and, at times, daily changes, altering what might have been some well-thought out plans.
Nevertheless it continues to be a goal of mine for this year and all seasons going forward to work around whatever hurdles may be thrown at us, achieving as balanced a broadcast schedule as possible.
To that end, I want to hold myself accountable and consistently reflect on how many teams we were able to feature while simultaneously giving our general audiences the best games of the night every time our production trucks roll out.
Before we take a look at the numbers heading into the winter postseason, a few notes…
Many schools had just plain bad luck in scheduling games this season and that spilled over to our coverage schedule. For some schools multiple games (and broadcasts) were canceled. We tried very hard to reschedule them on at a future date, if it was possible.
Also, there are always schools that actually prefer not to be on television in a given year. Most programs go through some sort of rebuilding or retooling process and, in the best interest of the students, we may not broadcast a team when / if they’re going through a rough patch or facing other issues that they don’t want enhanced by having their games broadcast.
A few other factors…
Many schools over the last year and a half now choose to play teams outside of our viewing area in various sports. This not only reduces our opportunity to feature teams by half (instead of featuring two teams at once, we can only spotlight one team in our coverage area). Also, exactly half of these games are played a significant distance away from our area, which further complicates scheduling.
Additionally, teams that have great success in a given year will be featured more times than others – due to their playing other competitive schools in our viewing area (m). The fact that playoff-bound teams’ seasons may extend by as much as seven weeks longer than other schools gives them more opportunities to have their games broadcast. To support that point, eight of the first nine schools listed below all qualified for the postseason in football, basketball AND wrestling.
There are numerous other factors that affect and alter our schedule which we won’t mention for now. Instead, let’s add up the numbers for the top eleven schools most often featured in our coverage and see where we are currently heading into the playoffs…with a few months left to go in the scholastic sports year.

Freedom – 10
Nazareth – 10
Parkland – 9
Northampton – 8
Easton – 8
Emmaus – 8
Central Catholic – 8
Bethlehem Catholic – 8
Liberty – 7
Whitehall – 6
William Allen – 5

Additionally, we have been able to broadcast no less than 15 Colonial League football/wrestling/basketball teams so far this year (the reason for the odd number is because Northern Lehigh played a state playoff game against a squad outside our viewing area). We’ll be adding two more of these schools to this category later this week (see the “coming up” listing of district playoff schedules here on our website).
While the numbers are not perfect and we will continue to be as fair to all schools as possible, I do think we did our best balancing competitive games (and constant scheduling changes) with trying to showcase as many teams as we can.
My thanks to the entire Astound TV Network sports staff for not only outstanding quality work but also showing an amazing amount of flexibility in trying to feature as many teams in our coverage area as we possibly could.
Now, it’s time to start our extra busy season with the winter sports district playoffs commencing this week (five high school basketball games, plus the District XI wrestling championships and Lehigh/Lafayette college basketball over the next few days alone!)
Be sure to bookmark and check back to our website for our schedule of winter postseason action over the next month and a half.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

New Name, New Faces

February 14, 2022 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

By now you’ve noticed many changes to our company’s name and television network, but our evolution is continuing to grow with our on-air staff additions!
A few months back we introduced Megan Kane — one of four new broadcasters added to our sports team this past fall — to do color commentary for the high school basketball season. An accomplished scholastic and collegiate coach, Megan made history when she became the first female broadcaster to announce a boys’ basketball game in the Lehigh Valley this winter.
As a coach, she had the reputation of having one of the most prepared teams for each game among any schools in the Eastern Pennsylvania region. In working with her over the last few weeks preparing for the upcoming high school season and broadcasting our first few games, I can tell you she has been just as diligent in doing her homework and getting ready for our broadcasts on ATVN this winter.
Also last fall, we introduced Meagan Caffrey as the first female football sideline reporter in our network’s history, who continued to do work for the Lafayette Sports Network this winter.
But Megan and Meagan are not the only new announcers handling the ATVN microphones going forward, as we have now added additional three commentators to our on-air sports team.
Brittany Thomas was one of three one-thousand point scorers in one of the greatest basketball dynasties in the rich history of Catasauqua High School athletics. Her teams reached the state playoffs all four of her years with the Rough Riders. After playing in college at East Stroudsburg, she returned to coach at her alma mater, before accepting an assistant coaching position with Muhlenberg College.
I’ve had the honor to interview her at different stops over her tremendous career and always agreed when her coaches described her as having a high basketball IQ. Now, our ATVN audience can experience her wisdom on our broadcasts. Thomas will be making her debut this week as we will have no less than eight high school basketball games coming your way!
Last year, Erik Schmitt was announced as the new baseball coach at Whitehall High School and, in doing so, became the first minority to coach one of the four “major” sports in their school district.
In my 17 years as the station’s “SportsTalk” show host, very few people brought the passion and love of the game more than Eric has in his multiple appearances on the program. Eric will take the reins as the primary color analyst for our Blue Mountain League baseball “game of the week” this year. I look forward to Eric’s valuable insights as a former BML coach and player with the league and his thoughts on the current, local baseball players.
He had an excellent run as a player for the Martin’s Creek baseball team and became the youngest manager in the league, reaching the finals several times before he stepped away from the BML last year to devote more time to coaching at the high school level.
Last but not least, former Major League Baseball player Matt McBride will be joining us for our high school baseball broadcasts this spring.
McBride was drafted by the Cleveland Indians and played for the Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics. After several seasons, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies organization and played for their Triple-A affiliate for three years before retiring. Always a great interviewee, Matt was excited for the opportunity to share his unique baseball background and experiences with us on our broadcasts and is looking forward to joining our ATVN sports family.

Please join me in welcoming these new voices to ATVN. I know our audience will appreciate their experience, wisdom with their respective sports experiences and unique insights when they tune into our broadcasts.
We are also hoping to add even more new on-air announcers over the next several months, along with a new internship position featuring someone looking to be in front of the camera.
We have always had crew positions available for internships in both the spring and fall semesters. However, I am hoping we can add to our work in the community by adding an “on camera” reporting and announcing position to help young people get a foot in the door of the communications field and bridge the gap into this wonderful industry.
I have spent the last several months reaching out to colleges both inside and outside of our viewing areas but am always looking to expand our program and contact as many schools as possible.
If you are interested or know of colleges or trade schools which participate in broadcasting internship programs, feel free to email me their contact information.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

2022 “All-Stars” (Part 2)

February 3, 2022 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

Last week we started honoring the student-athletes who were named to “all-star” teams for either league, district or state-wide honors.
This week, we will feature the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference all-league members for golf, as well as boys and girls cross-country teams.
PLEASE NOTE: the Colonial League decided as an organization a few years ago to NOT identify individual standout performers for certain sports and no longer produce “all league” teams. That is the schools’ decision and therefore, that is why teams from that league are not represented below.

*******

2021 EPC Cross Country All-Stars

Boys All Conference High School
Alex Heidemann Freedom
Liam Davis East Stroudsburg South
Liam McLaughlin Stroudsburg
Adam Kollgaard Nazareth
Cameron Koch Nazareth
Emrick Leshko Liberty
Connor Murphy Nazareth
Ethan Strzempek Emmaus
Ezekiel Colyer Northampton
Andrew Huntsberger Stroudsburg
Paul Abeln Parkland
Jacob Orrico Liberty
Evan Dempsey Northampton
Ethan Willard Parkland
Owen Reilly Liberty

 

Girls All Conference High School
MVP Hailey Reinhard Emmaus
Caitlin Voloshen Nazareth
Madeline Mumma Liberty
Addison McPeek Easton
Avaline Fihlman Freedom
Isabela Lees Emmaus
Jessica Price Parkland
Deandra Young Stroudsburg
Ella Bray Pocono Mountain West
Payton Campbell Emmaus
Erin Vincent Easton
Gracie Trexler Parkland
Izzy Kehoe-Huck Allentown Central Catholic
Elena Wenger Parkland
Kylie Karavitch Nazareth

*******

For boys and girls golf…

EPC Most Valuable Player (Male): Matt Vital, Liberty
EPC Most Valuable Player (Female): Everlyn Wong, Emmaus

EPC Golf First Team All-Conference:

Boys All Conference High School
Aiden LeBlanc Emmaus
Matt Zerfass Emmaus
Michael Vital Liberty
James Kelly Parkland
Hunter Probst Stroudsburg


EPC Golf Second Team All-Conference:

Boys All Conference High School
Jimmy Barker Liberty
Matt Ronca Liberty
Chase Skrapits Nazareth
Pierce Argot Pocono Mountain East
Trent Moyer Northampton


EPC Golf Third Team All-Conference:

Boys All Conference High School
Nathan Myers Allentown Central Catholic
Charlie Long Allentown Central Catholic
Jase Barker Liberty
Owen Fahs Nazareth
Bryson Hicklin Nazareth

*****
As always, we welcome anyone to share postseason accolades and accomplishments to us to share here at The Shop and on our “SportsTalk” program on ATVN.
Also, special thanks to our marketing team for taking the time to post these honors during one of the busiest times of the year!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

First All-Stars for 2022

January 18, 2022 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

With so much going on locally of a more negative nature (i.e., scheduling changes, recruitment issues, officials shortages, et al), it’s important to take time to focus on the positive contributions of our student-athletes!
We periodically like to honor the young people who were recognized by their league, district of state-wide honors and named to “all-star” teams. We appreciate the sports chairs, athletic directors, administrators and even parents and the players themselves sharing that information with us and welcome anyone to share students’ accolades with us from throughout our ATVN viewing area.
This week, we focus on the scholastic gridiron to recognize those who received post-season honors. We hope you check back to The Shop next week as we continue highlighting boys and girls sports receiving accolades.

*****

FIRST TEAM 

NAME  HIGH SCHOOL  GRADE
Dylan Osorio East Stroudsburg South 12
Chris Sell Dieruff 12
Jose Almonte East Stroudsburg South 12
Jaelen Richardson Northampton 11
Donovan Jones East Stroudsburg South 12
Christian Bundra Northampton 11
Luke Fulmer East Stroudsburg South 12
Luke Baker Northampton 11
Blaise McCarroll Pocono Mountain West 11
Bobby McClosky East Stroudsburg South 12
Ron Blake East Stroudsburg South  12
Andre Reames Stroudsburg 11
Robert Papaleo Pleasant Valley 12
Nick Radoi Stroudsburg 10
Nathan Voorhis Stroudsburg 12
Ethan Schweitzer Northampton 12
Caden Reph Northampton 12
James Syracuse Pleasant Valley 12
Maycen Harryn Northampton 12
Alexander Hafler Pocono Mountain East 12
George Europe Pocono Mountain West 12
Nate Kloss Stroudsburg 10
Victor Hunt Northampton 12
Mike Lawrence Pocono Mountain West 12
Andrew Sharga Northampton 12
Vincent Santostefano Northampton 11
Jaelan Richardson Northampton 1

 

SECOND TEAM 

NAME  HIGH SCHOOL  GRADE 
Gary Weige East Stroudsburg South 12
Colin Burdian East Stroudsburg South 12
Ryan Blass Pleasant Valley 12
Mike Lawrence Pocono Mountain West 12
Zylon Wright Pocono Mountain West 12
Anthony Liguori Stroudsburg 12
Xion Chapman Dieruff 11
Anthony Witherspoon Stroudsburg 11
Cobly Reph Northampton 10
Eithen McGuire Pocono Mountain East 12
Jaden Bowen Pocono Mountain West 12
Clarence Watkins William Allen 11
Alfred Kumi-Atiemo Stroudsburg 12
Austin Cavallo Northampton 2
Isaiah Armand Pocono Mountain West 2
Nic Perez East Stroudsburg South 12
Jarod Moore Pleasant Valley 11
Terrance Jewell Stroudsburg 12

 

OFFENSIVE MVP: Bobby McClosky

DEFENSIVE MVP: Caden Reph

*****

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

AN ‘INTERESTING’ START

January 10, 2022 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

Before we take a look at highlights of recent games broadcast on RCN-TV, a few observations on what has been an interesting start to the winter 2022 sports season in our viewing area.
Of our first five broadcasts for the winter season, three of the games’ outcomes have been decided by a COMBINED total of nine points, including last Friday’s broadcast featuring a thrilling victory by the defending state champion, Central Catholic basketball team. The fourth game was a five-point contest with less than two minutes left in the game.
With the exception of Parkland’s size being a little too much for Allen to handle, we’ve seen some very competitive games on RCN-TV to start this winter. We are very excited and remain optimistic on bringing you more great match-ups on the horizon.
As most people know, the big challenge high schools are facing right now is keeping everyone healthy while trying to get on the court. Easton High School, for example, is already five games behind other schools in terms of games played due to health issues, and just lost another game last Friday due to the snow storm.
Unlike last year when COVID protocols allowed for flexible scheduling, a team like the Red Rovers are going to be playing a TON of games over the next few weeks in order to get caught up to other schools, just to complete district requirements and have a chance at postseason action.
Our friends at Lafayette College have had an even more arduous time trying to play this season. Although we are less than a week away from the midpoint of the collegiate season, the Leopards have played ZERO league games so far, and our RCN/LSN crew is still waiting to broadcast our first game of the winter season.
Everyone’s health remains a priority – as it should be. But with COVID numbers currently on the rise, collegiate and scholastic administrators will continue to be tested and a rollercoaster type of season will not level off anytime soon this winter.

Now, here’s highlights of our recent high school broadcasts on RCN-TV.

1. RCN Sports: Southern Col. vs. Northern Lehigh (12/21)
https://youtu.be/P2fyMiwMuKk
2. RCN Sports: Dieruff vs. Easton (12/21)
https://youtu.be/8IraCae4jN4
3. RCN Sports: Northampton vs. Liberty (12/21)
https://youtu.be/_o7kyTicbPw
4. RCN Sports: Catasauqua vs. Northern Lehigh (12/21)
https://youtu.be/Dxo9yUVtlUI
5. RCN Sports: Allen vs. Parkland (12/21)
https://youtu.be/Fb4y9lHscGM

All of these games will be available to watch for free for RCN customers through RCN On-Demand for two months. DVD copies are available to be purchased when you call 610-443-2909!
Also…be on the lookout for some big news coming to our website and RCN-TV very soon!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

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