Hudson County's top male student/athletes

The male high school graduating seniors from Hudson County who recently received the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Scholar/Athlete awards are among the very best student/athletes that the county has ever produced. It’s an eclectic bunch with interesting backgrounds and resumes. Let’s take a closer look.

Juan Valencia, Union City

Valencia realizes that he has sort of a different athletic background than most. Valencia was on the Soaring Eagles’ volleyball and bowling teams.

“It’s an interesting mix,” Valencia said.

Growing up as a kid, Valencia said he played practically every sport.

“I played football and soccer,” Valencia said. “I was also involved in martial arts. I played baseball here and there.”

When Valencia entered Union City High School, he initially thought of staying away from sports altogether.

“I needed to focus on my grades and maintain a good GPA (grade point average),” Valencia said. “It was going to be hard to focus on a sport for four years. I thought about playing football, but I would always get the little injuries that kept me off the field.”

Valencia said that he wanted to be involved in a winter sport.

“I looked around and me and my friend saw that they were having bowling tryouts,” Valencia said. “I went that day to the lanes just to take a look. When I went to try it, the 16-pound ball was so big, so I decided to try bowling with two hands. Once I saw the ball hook, I thought it was so cool.”

When Valencia started bowling, he owned around an average of 120.

But sticking with the sport, Valencia improved dramatically and by the time he was a senior, he had an average of 193.

“I’ve had an average of 200 in some leagues,” Valencia said. “But I did well for the high school team.”

Valencia qualified for the Hudson County King and Queen championship tournament and finished ninth overall in the county.

As a volleyball player, Valencia was one of the most versatile members of the Soaring Eagles, seeing most of his action as an outside or a right side hitter.

“I just loved getting smashed in the face with balls,” Valencia laughed.

But Valencia’s best achievements were in the classroom. He maintained an astounding 4.56 grade point average out of the conventional 4.0 standards and scored a 1290 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Valencia is headed to Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken where he plans on majoring in civil engineering. He plans on continuing his bowling and volleyball proficiencies at Stevens. The school does have a bowling alley on campus.

Valencia’s only regret was not having a final volleyball season in the spring that was canceled due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was really looking forward to the volleyball season,” Valencia said. “I was a little upset when it was canceled. But overall, I was glad that I did what I wanted to do. I always tried to maintain a low profile, but getting this award? Well, this is insane.”

Anthony Passariello, Marist

Although the football team wasn’t very successful during Passariello’s tenure at Marist, he thoroughly enjoyed leaving his mark on the very last Royal Knight grid squad, as Marist officially closed its doors for good last week.

“Even though we weren’t the best team, I had a great time,” said Passariello, a four-year starter along both the offensive and defensive lines for the Royal Knights. “I think football taught me to be a good person, how to work well with others. I had to do things over and over to learn. But being around others and working with others was one of the best things about playing football.”

A few weeks ago, Passariello was with some other students when they went to clear out their lockers for the very last time.

“Mr. (Mauro) DeGennaro (the Marist athletic director) saw me and told me about the award,” Passariello said. “I had no idea about it before he told me. I never heard of the award, so I was a little surprised and shocked, but also proud. I’m the last Marist student to ever win that award. No one will ever have that title again. If you look up Scholar/Athlete from Marist, it will be my name and never be anyone else. It’s a cool thing.”

Passariello said that he was taught by his parents at a young age about the value of good grades.

“My parents always stressed the importance,” Passariello said. “I have two older sisters and there was always competition to get good grades.”

Both Gina and Nicole Passariello were standout softball players at Bayonne High School.

“We’d come home with our report cards and compare our grades,” Passariello said. “My sisters always motivated me.”

But Passariello is the only member of the family to receive the NJSIAA Scholar/Athlete award.

“I can definitely rub that in their faces a little,” Passariello laughed.

Passariello had a 4.0 GPA and a 1340 in his SATs. He’s headed to Rutgers University in New Brunswick to major in business.

Jonathan Blaya, North Bergen

When one speaks to Blaya, you would not think he was born in a foreign land. He has only a slight hint of an accent.

But Blaya was born in Cuba, arriving in the United States when he was 11 years old.

“I took some English classes in Cuba,” Blaya said. “But I had to learn most of my English from watching television.”

Blaya said that he became more proficient with his new language by watching the Disney Channel and the Cartoon Network. Imagine that. People like Hannah Montana and Spongebob Squarepants helped Blaya speak better English.

Blaya was also inspired by his parents.

“My parents wanted me to do the best that I could,” Blaya said. “If it meant that I wanted to be a janitor, then I should be the best janitor. It was always about doing my best.”

For Blaya, his best came on the wrestling mat, where he competed at four different weight classes, from 182 pounds to 220 pounds, as long as it helped the Bruins’ cause. More often than not, it did, as Blaya posted a 29-7 record during his senior year, with all of his victories coming via a pin.

“I always tried to get the most team points I could get,” Blaya said.

Despite getting a late start in learning English, Blaya managed to finish fourth in the North Bergen Class of 2020 with a 105.9 average and a 1370 score on the SATs.

“I bounced back and forth from fifth to fourth in the class,” Blaya said. “My coach (Jerry Maietta, who also doubles as the athletic director at the school) used to joke with me calling me Cuatro (Spanish for four) or Cinco (Spanish for five) depending where I was ranked in the class. I’d always hear, ‘C’mon Cuatro, you’re better than that,’ when I didn’t understand a drill.”

Blaya is also headed to Stevens Institute of Technology to study mechanical engineering. He hopes to maybe join the wrestling team there.

“I want to stay in shape,” Blaya said. “I somehow do better in school when I am wrestling. It makes me stay focused. I really enjoy wrestling.”

Blaya is also stunned by being North Bergen’s top student/athlete.

“I did not imagine this,” Blaya said. “I can’t describe this.”

Steven Ebrahim, Dickinson

Ebrahim was born in the Middle East in the nation of Qatar, which will host the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament. So of course, Ebrahim initially played soccer in his native land.

But when Ebrahim arrived in the United States, he wanted to try a new sport, namely tennis.

“I decided to play tennis when I was a sophomore,” Ebrahim said. “I used to watch a lot of tennis. I guess I wanted a little bit of a change, so I decided to try something different. I had a lot of my friends also joining the tennis team. It was easy, because we were all learning the sport together. The coaches were very helpful.”

When Ebrahim joined the Dickinson tennis team he was playing second doubles. He ended up working his way all the way to second singles. He said he tried to “mimic the styles” of top players Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Ebrahim wanted to play tennis so badly that he would constantly walk from his home near Journal Square to either the tennis courts or the handball wall in Lincoln Park to practice and play.

“I didn’t care,” Ebrahim said. “I liked doing it. I got more consistent with my return shots from hitting the ball off the wall and having it come back to me. It really helped a lot.”

Ebrahim said that his friend and teammate Rushi Trevedo also helped with his improvement.

“We played a lot together,” Ebrahim said. “I think we helped each other because Rushi was first doubles and became first singles and I did the same with second doubles to second singles.”

Ebrahim made sure that his grades didn’t suffer. He had a 99.3 average out of 100 and received a 1380 on his SATs. He graduated as the valedictorian for the Dickinson Class of 2020.

“My grades were very important, because I wanted to maintain my rank (in the class),” Ebrahim said. “I actually contemplated giving up tennis to concentrate on my grades.”

Ebrahim is headed to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he will major in computer science. He hopes to specialize in software engineering.

“I’m just really happy and lucky to have all this happen for me,” Ebrahim said. “I’ve received a lot of support from my coaches, my friends and my family. I’m glad I was able to succeed.”

Gabe dos Santos, Kearny

Dos Santos received 11 varsity letters in his career – three for cross country, four for indoor track and four for outdoor track, even though there wasn’t a season this past spring.

“For the most part, it’s an individual sport,” dos Santos said. “But at practice, we’re one big community. Everyone is so friendly with each other. We hang out and stretch together. It’s a lot of fun. I’ve made so many friends through track. I’ve had friendly competition, both in practices and in races.”

Dos Santos participated in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs during his career.

“Well, only the 3,200 a few times,” dos Santos said. “I’m really not great with distances.”

Dos Santos said that he struggled at first with running track.

“It was definitely hard at first,” dos Santos said. “There was one time that I came home from practice so tired that I just conked out on the floor for about three hours. But as the years progressed, I got better with it.”

Dos Santos really never had to worry about grades. He graduated with a 5.1 grade point average (out of 4.0) and scored an astounding 1450 on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests.

So is there any wonder that dos Santos, the salutatorian for the Kearny Class of 2020, is headed to Yale in a couple months? Dos Santos will major in computer science and will be part of Yale’s STEM program.

Dos Santos also served as the SGA President and was the Homecoming King last fall.

“I had so many great teachers during my days in Kearny,” dos Santos said. “Academics have always been important to me. I wanted to get involved as much as I could all four years.”

Dos Santos didn’t know he was receiving the award.

“I saw something come in the mail, but I didn’t know what it was,” dos Santos said. “I was a little shocked that I received it. It came on the same day as (Kearny High’s virtual) graduation. It was a big honor to be selected. I know that there are a lot of students who do well in both academics and sports.”

Ray Ugaz, Harrison

It’s not every day that a Harrison High School graduate heads to the University of Michigan.

But that’s where Ugaz is headed, after he had a brilliant scholastic career, posting a 4.21 grade point average and 1170 on his SATs.

 Ugaz was also the valedictorian for the Harrison Class of 2020.

Ugaz will study biology and will be on the pre-med track.

“It was honestly a dream of mine to go to Michigan,” Ugaz said. “I had this rain jacket when I was young. I put it on and it said Michigan. I said, ‘When I grow up, I’ll go to Michigan.’ When I got to high school, I did some research and realized I could get there.”

Ugaz, a native of Peru, also played his fair share of sports at Harrison. He played football for a while, then joined the cross country team as a senior. He played basketball and volleyball for three years.

“Volleyball is my main sport, but I really wanted to try everything,” Ugaz said. “Academics always came first. My mother (Silvia Carhuavilca) always made sure that I was doing good things in both.”

As for the top scholar/athlete award, Ugaz was a little shocked.

“I was kind of surprised about it,” Ugaz said. “I tried to play it cool. I thought maybe I had a shot for the scholar part. I found out in school that I was the scholar/athlete and I was proud. I put my heart into everything I did.”

And incredibly, a youth’s windbreaker is the reason why a valedictorian is headed to Ann Arbor.

“It’s actually really crazy for a jacket to make a dream come true,” Ugaz said. “The jacket still has the logo and everything.”

Ugaz was very grateful for his chance to be a Blue Tide.

“I felt like my coaches were like family members,” Ugaz said. “They kept telling me that I could do it. I doubted myself and second guessed myself, but they encouraged me. I never thought I could be the top student/athlete. It’s still a bizarre feeling, like a dream come true.”

Ugaz’s dream will eventually come true when he becomes a doctor.

“I want to focus on the human body,” Ugaz said. “I would love to be an orthopedic surgeon.”

If Ugaz could do it all over again, he would have asked for one more volleyball season to make up for the one the Blue Tide lost last spring due to the coronavirus,

“I would love to get one last ride with my teammates,” Ugaz said. “I feel like my ride was cut short.”

Elijah Williams, Lincoln

Williams was a two-way standout lineman for the Lincoln football team. He first attended University Charter, but transferred to Lincoln because he wanted to be closer to the football team.

“I knew that if I wanted to reach my goal (of playing college football), I needed to get really good grades,” Williams said. “Just in case football didn’t work out, I needed something. I put a lot of time and work in.”

Williams is headed to Morgan State University in Maryland to play football, so he has attained one goal. He is undecided about a field of study.

Williams received his NJSIAA Scholar/Athlete award in the mail.

“It was very surprising,” Williams said. “I knew I was a good student, but I didn’t think that good. No one told me that I was getting it, so when it came in the mail, I was pretty happy. It’s a nice award, a nice achievement. It’s pretty disappointing that I didn’t get the chance to graduate on stage with my friends and my family there or going to the prom, but this is a nice award.”

Williams was selected to play in the Phil Simms/New Jersey Scholastic Football Coaches Association North-South All-Star Classic, but that was obviously canceled as well due to the coronavirus.