The Top 5 Highlights of Winter Sports at Ocean City High School

The calendar may have officially turned to spring, but before we look ahead to warmer weather and the ping of a bat, let's take one last look back at what was a memorable winter athletic season at Ocean City High School.

Here are the five highlights of the winter season:

1. The Ocean City girls' basketball team wins the Group 3 South championship

The Red Raiders entered the season knowing they had talent, but some questioned whether they had enough experience to contend. However, Ocean City steadily improved this season and played its best basketball when it counted the most.

The Red Raiders beat St. Peter's on Feb. 20 to start a seven-game winning streak, including all four of their sectional playoff games. Ocean City defeated Moorestown, 48-34, to win the title.

Sophomore center Julia Duggan led the team in scoring and rebounding, but the Red Raiders were far more than a one-player show. Emily Duggan, a junior, had a solid playoff run, Emily Gillian, Reilly Larkin and Katie Johnson excelled on the perimeter, and Kelsey Ladd and Natalie Landi did everything that was asked of them this season by Red Raiders coach Paul Baruffi.

The Red Raiders' run came to an end against Neptune, a nationally ranked squad, which is playing for the Tournament of Champions title on Monday night.

"I couldn't have asked for a better end than with a South Jersey championship," said Ladd after the Neptune loss. "I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls to play with in my last year."

2. Ocean City boys winter track team wins Group 3 title

When Miles Schoedler wasn't racing in national meets, including in New York, Boston and Seattle, the distance runner helped Ocean City boys capture the state championship, the first in school history.

Schoedler was first in the 800- and the 1,600-meter events. Erik Johnson, who went on to win the Meet of Champions mile, finished second in the 1,600.

Ocean City's James O'Connor won the high jump, and Michael Oberg won the pole vault.

"When Erik and I came in 1-2 in the 1,600, that sparked a great day for us," Schoedler said after the win.

3. Dan Pettit makes it to states

The Ocean City High School senior didn't even win a match at districts last season, however, Pettit was a completely different wrestler this year.

The Red Raiders' 145-pounder won the District 32 Wrestling Championship, and finished second at Region 8 to qualify for the Wrestling State Championships in Atlantic City.

Pettit won his opening-round match and made it to the second day of wrestling.

"I just started to understand more," Pettit said after his career came to an end. "I started understanding the little things instead of going out there and making a bunch of mistakes. I kind of slowed everything down, and took my time."

4. Ocean City girls' swimming wins conference crown

Led by Melanie Wilezol, Sam Brady, Noel Styer, Lee Styer, Rachel Chain, Grace Becker, Nicole Fiscus, Devon Vanderslice and Casey Merrill, the Red Raiders went 5-0 against conference opponents. It is their first conference crown since the Cape-Atlantic League created a separate division for girls' swimming in 2004-05.

The Red Raiders clinched the title with a 97-69 win over Wildwood Catholic on Jan. 26.

5. Red Raiders boys' basketball team makes playoff run

After losing several key players from last year's CAL championship team, there was some uncertainty surrounding the Red Raiders this season.

However, the Red Raiders were a poised and mature team that made it to the semifinals of the Group 3 South tournament. The starting five of Matt Bosch, Chris Turner, Tom Ballezzi, Dylan Canova and Luke Hogan played as one throughout the season.

The playoff run included a win over Delsea and an overtime thriller against Central Regional. Ballezzi hit a game-winning three-pointer to put the Red Raiders into the semifinals where Ocean City eventually lost to top seed Kingsway.