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Connie Washnik honored by board
(by Kathryn A. Burger - July 01, 2008)
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Staff Photo By Kathryn A. Burger
BCSL Olympic Track and Field Coach of the Year Connie Washnik was honored at a recent Park Ridge Board of Education meeting. Pictured from left are Richard Martinez, then principal of Park Ridge High School; Patricia Johnson, superintendent of schools; Coach Washnik, and Chris Brown, athletic director.
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Chris Brown, athletic director of Park Ridge High School, put it this way. “After leading both the Boys and Girls track teams to Bergen County Scholastic League Championships in 2006, and another title for the girls’ team in 2007, you had to wonder what Coach Washnik and her teams would do for an encore.”
What they did was this: The Girls Varsity Track and Field team defended their title for the third year in a row, going undefeated in the league and winning the League Championship Meet. The Boys Track and Field team, Brown said, “came into the season determined to get back a championship that eluded them last year.” And they did.
Brown, who made his remarks at a recent board of education meeting where several of the school’s sports teams and dozens of athletes were honored, said, “There are schools in the league that still have not accomplished this feat once, to have it happen twice in three years is extremely impressive.”
With that record of achievement, it was only fitting that Connie Washnik was named the 2008 BCSL Olympic Coach of the Year for both male and female teams. Commenting on the consistent success of the teams on the field of play – the championships, the titles, the individual honors – Brown said, “All the accolades are terrific, but as athletic director, I am most impressed when officials and coaches from outside our school compliment the sportsmanship our track athletes exhibit. To quote an official, ‘I love going to Park Ridge. The meets run smoothly, and the student-athletes are the most polite in the county. To think the kids greet you when you arrive and thank you when you leave… this doesn’t happen anywhere else in Bergen County.’”
Brown said, “This practice reflects directly back to our head coach, Connie Washnik. Although she will defer much of the credit to her coaching staff and student-athletes, tonight we honor her for a job well done.”
Washnik was presented with two statues and received the congratulations of the board of education and rousing applause of the audience.
Kathryn A. Burger's e-mail address is burger@northjersey.com.
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