By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
Every once in a while, a particular school will have a certain vibe that lasts the entire school year. A special group of seniors who lead multiple sports to memorable seasons. It’s these kinds of school years that can galvanize entire communities.
We saw it last year with Mainland Regional’s class of 2024, as the football team recorded a 14-0, state championship season, then the girls basketball team followed that up with their second state title in the last five years; the swimming teams were outstanding, as usual, the softball team had an inspiring run to a sectional final. The Mustangs’ baseball team won 20 games, the boys basketball squad won 26 games — including an unforgettable three-overtime win over rival Ocean City in the sectional championship game.
This year’s version might just be Camden Catholic. The Irish have been enjoying memorable runs in everything from field hockey to wrestling. Even the boys bowling team — in just its second year of existence — has won a sectional title.
In fall and winter sports, Camden Catholic teams compiled a .720 winning percentage, captured the state championship in wrestling and went to the state championship game in both field hockey and boys basketball.
“It’s been an exciting year. I came in in April of 2024, so I jumped right in during the spring then was able to take the summer to get the lay of the land around here. It’s been really enjoyable to see the community and their support of athletics, and it’s been great to see the coaches and players’ hard work rewarded with some success,” said new athletic director Jim McHugh, a former athletic trainer at Rancocas Valley High. “What I said to the coaches when I first got hired was my main role as athletic director is to just support the coaches and kids as much as possible. I try to be there for our coaches, but also let them do their thing because we have great coaches and support staff. I try not to get in the way as much as possible, and take as much off their plate so they can focus on the kids and their teams. If they need anything they know they can come to me. It’s great being around these great coaches and learning from them.”
Success in high school sports generally starts from the top, and Camden Catholic has some of the best coaches in their respective sports. Mark Vittese is one of the best field hockey coaches in the country and every year, it seems, his girls are ranked nationally, and that’s with playing one of the toughest schedules in the region. Boys basketball coach Mark Crawford has hoops roots that run deep in South Jersey, and took his team on one of the most magical runs in recent history this winter before the Irish fell by three points to North Jersey power Bergen Catholic. Bill Heverly put about half his wrestling team into the individual state championships in Atlantic City this year and produced a champion in 132-pound junior Sammy Spaulding. And girls basketball coach Christine Matera put up 15 wins while playing in the Olympic Conference, one of the most brutal in the state.
“That guy (bowling coach Joe Nawn) puts a lot into that program, he’s super enthusiastic. It’s definitely been a good year. We have a new athletic director and he does a great job figuring out the landscape of the school,” Heverly said. “You don’t realize (how well other teams are doing) when you’re in the middle of your season, but I know Matt Crawford really well and would text him. I watched them down the stretch, and seeing them lose in the state final really hit hard — it ripped my heart out of my chest. I felt for him because they did so well this year. But that was a great story, and we have a lot of football players in the wrestling room and having that connection all year was a big deal.”
It all seemed to start with football, as Wayne Gilliam II (who has since stepped down) guided the Irish to a 9-2 season that featured a nine-game winning streak to start the season and a West Jersey Football League Patriot Division title.
“I don’t want to say we necessarily saw this coming. I know that traditionally Camden Catholic athletics has been very strong. We’ve had some great programs across the board. But an undefeated regular season in football was definitely something that took the school by storm, and there was some great buzz around our athletics starting in the fall season,” McHugh said. “We have elite programs like field hockey and wrestling and basketball that perennially are competing for sectional and state championships, but then you have the bowling program, which won the conference last year in their first year, and in the second year as a program under Joe Nawn they win a sectional title. I definitely did not see that coming, but the passion and work that these coaches put in, it’s not necessarily surprising, either. That run our boys basketball team went on was magical. Two double-overtime wins, back-to-back, against the No. 1 seed (in the sectional semis) and to follow that up by beating the No. 1 team in the state for the sectional title. I don’t think anybody saw that coming after we lost to Paul VI three times during the season.”
The boys basketball playoff run was one that will be talked about for decades in the Cherry Hill area. The Irish showed all kinds of heart, grit and determination, taking out higher ranked and higher seeded teams the whole way, including consecutive overtime wins over Paul VI and St. Peter’s Prep, two of the top teams in the state. In fact, St. Peter’s was No. 1 in the state when Camden Catholic beat them to win the sectional title.
“We took a couple of buses to Rutgers and that was something I was happy to do, it was a great experience for our whole community,” McHugh said. “Even though we fell short in the state championship game, I think you saw the pride that the entire school community has in our teams and coaches, and how important our athletic programs are here at Camden Catholic.”
“It’s a small community but everybody pulls for each other. The basketball team is happy when the wrestling team does well, and vice versa. We root for the field hockey team, the football team — everybody roots for each other, there’s no animosity or egos between the sports. It’s a good community, and we’re enjoying a good stretch right now,” Crawford said. “Some of the wrestlers were (at Rutgers for the state championship) cheering us on. It’s pretty cool to see. Sammy Spaulding had just won a state championship and he’s out there rooting on the basketball team a couple nights later. Our crowds were great, we had a lot of supporters. There have been a lot of loyal people around the program.”
“It was definitely a great feeling. It’s sad that my career is over, but it was a great feeling knowing that even the kids who don’t play sports or have nothing to do with the teams show up to all the games. There was a ton of great school spirit this year,” said senior basketball star Luke Kennevan.
It may sound silly to say, given that Camden Catholic is a private school, but most who wear hunter green and white consider themselves blue collar. Kennevan said athletes at the school never take for granted what an honor it is to wear that uniform, and they work hard to be able to earn the right to wear it, no matter what sport it is.
“We have great school spirit. We all work hard and I think we have the same values that the Catholic schools teach, and that carries over into the sports we play. Everyone at Camden Catholic, we’re just a bunch of hard-working kids and we don’t take things for granted. We work hard every day in practice, the coaches push us. We’re not cocky kids, we just play hard. We’re a bunch of blue-collar kids. I don’t think we’re preppy kids by any means,” he said. “I’m proud I went to Camden Catholic, and I’m proud to represent the school and the basketball team. It’s a great feeling that you have all these people — people who graduated from the school 40 years ago — coming back to watch and support us. It shows how much great alumni came from Camden Catholic and how much support the school has had throughout the years.”
Spaulding concurs.
“At the end of the day, we’re very blessed by God and I think that does play a major role in it, because of our faith we just carry ourselves to a higher standard. When you go to Camden Catholic, it’s not a right, it’s a privilege. Everyone carries themselves with pride and we have a tradition of great sports. We are kids who have faith, we put in the work, we do well in school and we’re just nice people. I went to public school my whole life, but I think Camden Catholic was my greatest decision ever because I’ve gained some brothers,” he said. “I feel like we all have something to prove and carry a little chip on our shoulder. The basketball team were the underdogs and had something to prove, just like all the kids on my team who went to the state tournament. Other teams are going to have to fight until the end against us because we are definitely the Fighting Irish, and we definitely go to the whistle.”
“After we beat St. Peter’s Prep, I come in Tuesday morning and kids are literally dancing in the hallways, high-fiving each other,” McHugh recalled. “Everybody was rallying around the basketball team, and that’s been going on all year. It’s been great.”
Added Crawford, “we have a core belief in working hard at this school. I teach most of the kids, especially juniors and seniors, so I’ve taught wrestlers and field hockey players who were some of the best in the country. You wouldn’t know that teaching them, they just act like regular kids, good students. They don’t brag or anything like that. It’s a good community where everybody pulls for each other and everyone believes in hard work.”
McHugh said this group of seniors set to graduate in May have made a huge impact on Camden Catholic athletics, and are taking the Irish to the next level, collectively.
“The field hockey seniors have won four sectional titles and two state titles, and Luke Kennevan will go down as one of the best boys basketball players in Camden Catholic history,” he said. “This senior class is going to be remembered for a long time, not just because of their various accomplishments, but because of the impact they’ve had on the school in general.”
Spaulding still has one more year to go, but he said he’s definitely enjoying the ride the Irish are on this year.
“It’s been awesome,” he said. “The winter, specifically, with both the boys basketball and wrestling teams pulling all these crazy wins, it was just amazing. We love the school, we love each other and we love the environment.”
