Union County Coach of the year: Summit coach Kevin Zaleski changed the perception of his team from that of the bully in the middling Union County Conference-Valley Division to a squad that is on the rise in the county. When Summit won its first conference title in 15 years by wrapping up the outright division crown, few around the county were impressed, given the struggles the other teams in the division besides Summit had this season.

But once the championship was secure, the Hilltoppers continued to win, validating their championship status with a late season 13-game winning streak that featured wins over New Providence, Scotch Plains and Union, as well as a come-from-behind triumph over Nutley in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 first round before giving Cranford all it could handle in an 8-5 sectional quarterfinal loss that saw the tying run reach base in the seventh inning for Summit. Under Zaleski, Summit went 21-6, hitting the 20-win plateau for the first time since 1998. In seven years at Summit, Zaleski has a 87-91 mark.

All Union County

SECOND TEAM Sean Guida
THIRD TEAM Nick Abbott,

Final Union County Top 10:
1-Cranford (25-1)
2-Westfield (19-12)
3-Elizabeth (17-12)
4-Dayton (20-5)
5-Johnson (16-10)
6-Union (14-12)
7-Union Catholic (17-8)
8-Gov. Livingston (14-11)
9-Summit (21-6)
10-Scotch Plains (15-10)

SOFTBALL

Coach of the year: In only her third season at the helm, Rachel Killeen has turned the Summit softball program around. Summit finished with an 18-2 record after winning only eight games in Killeen's first two seasons combined. Summit outscored its opponents, 268-52, good for an outstanding run differential of plus-216, with its only losses coming to Johnson and West Morris. The team's game-by-game win total by season (7, 3, 2, 2, 6, 2, 4, 6, 2, 18) over the past decade shows just how remarkable this season was for Summit. The 18 is from 2013, and the last time Summit won more than six games was in 2004.

This season's 18 victories was the most since Summit won 11 back in the spring of 2000. Summit finished undefeated in the Union County Conference, Valley Division. It played well against teams outside of the division as well, though, defeating Rahway and Dayton. It also defeated Dover during the regular season and advanced past Ferris in the first round of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 tournament. This shouldn't be a short-lived stay near the top for Summit, which loses only two starters for next season. Combine that with star freshman pitcher Kayla Hoesly returning to the circle for her sophomore campaign, and Summit should continue to build in the right direction.

All Union County

SECOND TEAM
Kicca Fabricant
Kayla Hoesly,

THIRD TEAM
Tasha Kewalramani

Men’s Lacrosse

THE STAR-LEDGER TOP 10
1-Ridge (20-3)
2-Don Bosco Prep (18-3)
3-Delbarton (17-1) 4-
Chatham (19-5)
5-Summit (18-3)
6-Somerville (18-3)
7-Bergen Catholic (12-5)
8-Rutgers Prep (19-3)
9-Ridgewood (14-10)
10-Westfield (14-6)

ALL STATE

FIRST TEAM
Austin Carbone, 6-0, 185 pounds, Senior The dynamic attackman collected a state-high 76 assists and 136 points, the most in a season in school history. Bound for Tufts, he broke Summit's all-time scoring record with 266 career points.

SECOND TEAM Tyler Carbone

ALL-UNION COUNTY

FIRST TEAM
Liam Mennig, Summit
Austin Carbone, Summit
Brian Hadley, Summit
Tyler Carbone, Summit

SECOND TEAM
Matt Maier, Summit
Will Shamim, Summit
Andrew Helmer, Summit

THIRD TEAM
Mike Badgley, Summit
Matthew Herman, Summit


Women’s Lacrosse

Coach of the Year: From the first day of practice at Summit High School, coach Mike Walsh let his team know they should not make plans for Memorial Day weekend. Yes, Summit had claimed its fifth consecutive Union County Tournament championship and was named the NJGLL Stars & Stripes division co-champions with Oak Knoll before May 27. But the homestretch of its season had just begun. On the shore's opening weekend, the Summit players were not basking in the sun; instead, they were getting ready for its biggest games of the year. "When you're in high school and you're in the spring and teams finish up by Memorial Day, that's a pretty usual thing," Summit's second-year coach said. "It's really the special teams that play in June."

Summit proved that it was one of those special teams. On May 29, Summit secured its spot in the Tournament of Champions with a 9-8 victory over Chatham in the North Jersey, Group 2 sectional final. The triumph marked the second time that Summit defeated its rival this season. The first victory came in a 13-3 triumph on April 24, which was the first time Summit defeated Chatham since 2005. "The last couple years we couldn't seem to crack that Chatham nut," Walsh said. "To be able to get by Chatham was important to us."

Walsh's squad was not done making history after it defeated Chatham. Summit claimed its first state title since the NJSIAA switched to the Group format when it handled Allentown, 16-11, in the Group 2 final on June 1. Prior to the victory Summit had won state titles in 1986 and 1999. Summit's history making season came to an end in the game of the year. Summit and Shawnee traded leads and ended regulation deadlocked at 12-12. In overtime the chips fell in Shawnee's favor when Carly Demato found the back of the net to secure a 13-12 victory. "It was a strange game for us because we usually don't allow 13 goals," Walsh said. "That's girls lacrosse and Shawnee is awfully good. When you get to the Tournament of Champions you figure there are probably four pretty good teams left. I guess TOC semifinals should probably be decided by a goal in overtime."

The victories and accolades that Walsh achieved with his squad are not the most impressive thing about his coaching. Year-in and year-out Walsh is able to get his players to succeed in all aspects of the game. This year his project was Stuart Humphrey. At the end of last season, Walsh sat down the Duke-bound midfielder and told her he wanted her to not only play a sound game in her own zone, but take chances on offense. The results were uncanny as Humphrey led Summit with a career-high 53 goals. "I've been coaching for about 21 years now and Stuart is as good of a leader on and off the field as I've ever had," Walsh said. "She could sense as the other kids got more comfortable in the offensive zone, she'd take a step back and not shoot as much."

Behind Walsh, Summit brought success at the statewide level back to a tight knit lacrosse community. "Summit is a very deep program and that's to the credit of the hard work the kids put in," Walsh said. "Lacrosse is a very important sport in Summit and it always has been. I think that's something they take a lot of pride in."

THE STAR-LEDGER TOP 10
1-Moorestown (25-0)
2-Shawnee (19-3)
3-Summit (18-5)
4-Oak Knoll (17-6)
5-Ridgewood (18-5)
6-Mendham (15-6)
7-Mountain Lakes (19-2)
8-Allentown (22-2)
9-Glen Ridge (15-8)
10-Chatham (10-9)

ALL STATE

FIRST TEAM
Stuart Humphrey

THIRD TEAM
Kady Glynn
Anna Johnson

ALL-UNION COUNTY

Kady Glynn
Stuart Humphrey
Anna Johnson

Men's track

All Union County

SECOND TEAM
100-David Connolly
3,200-Leland Jones



Women’s Track

ALL-UNION COUNTY

FIRST TEAM
1,600-Gillian McIlroy, Summit

SECOND TEAM
1,600-Jessica Martins, Summit

THIRD TEAM
1,600-Kirsty Gargiulo, Summit
HJ-Cassidy O’Malley, Summit

Tennis

THE STAR-LEDGER TOP 20
1-Millburn (29-1) 
2-Holmdel (31-2) 
3-Newark Academy (29-4) 
4-Livingston (23-9) 
5-Montgomery (19-1) 
6-West Windsor South (20-2)
7-Ridge (18-4)
8-Westfield (22-6) 
9-Haddonfield (31-6)
10-Bridgewater-Raritan (17-6) 
11-Moorestown (30-6) 
12-Hopewell Valley (18-2)   
13-South Brunswick (17-3) 
14-Bernards (26-3)
15-Demarest (18-4)
16-Summit (19-3) 
17-Scotch Plains (21-8)
18-Fair Lawn (18-2)
19-Montclair (17-9) 
20-Dwight-Englewood (22-3)

ALL-UNION COUNTY

FIRST TEAM
Singles -Maxwell McDonald, Summit
Doubles-Christian Harkins, Summit
Doubles-Ben Schwartz, Summit

THIRD TEAM
Singles-Matt Celona, Summit


Volleyball

Summit was ranked 11th in North Jersey