Cardinal Newman High School (Santa Rosa, California)
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Cardinal Newman High School, known informally as Cardinal Newman or simply Newman and by the acronyms CNHS and CN, is a Catholic boys' secondary school located in Santa Rosa, California. Founded on April 24, 1964, and named for the Cardinal John Henry Newman, it was one of the top 50 Catholic high schools in the nation for 2005, according to the Catholic High School Honor Roll.[1][2] The current principal is Graham Rutherford and its president is Mike Truesdell. Its colors are Cardinal Red and Gold; its mascot is the cardinal.
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[edit] Academic programs
Cardinal Newman High School's class offerings include mathematics from Pre-Algebra to Calculus, three years of lab science consisting of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, four years of English classes, social studies classes including Government, Economics, U.S. and World History, instruction in Spanish (other language options, including Latin and French, are pursued via Ursuline High School), and a four-year Theology program encompassing a variety of semester-length classes including World Religions, Ethics, Justice, and Christian Lifestyles. Freshmen also complete programs in physical education, basic computer literacy, health, and the visual arts including speaking and drawing. The school offers AP-level courses in many subjects. Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, the schedule was amended to a double-block schematic to allow for seven class periods instead of six, which opened the door for a variety of new elective offerings. These have included Psychology, Newspaper, Weight Training, and advanced art classes.
[edit] Sport programs
[edit] Football
One of Cardinal Newman's most celebrated sports, and indeed one of the most celebrated aspects of the entire school, is its football team. Newman has in recent years been renown for its football record, consecutively placing high in regional tournaments. The sport, as is common with American high school football, also serves as a primary social event, as attendance is consistently high relative to the school's other sports. Recently San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame player Joe Montana became a part-time quarterback coach for the team.[3] Former NFL player and author Keith Dorney also assisted with the team during his tenure from 2003 to 2006. In the 2005-2006 season, CN football won both NBL and Section 3A Champs. Anthony Dargenzio was named North Coast Sections MVP for his exceptional team player attitude and his overall ability to play all positions at the highest level of excellence for the year 2004 - 2005.
A notable absence of Cardinal Newman from the football championships occurred during the 2004-2005 season due to a scandal involving senior star running back Marty Ponzo, who transferred from a nearby public high school before his senior year. An NCS committee ruled that Newman had violated NCS rules barring sports 'recruiting', and the team was banned from postseason play. The ruling still remains controversial and school officials vehemently deny that any sort of coercion took place.
At the conclusion of the 2006 season, the Cardinals lost to Oaks Christian High School in the CIF Division III California State Bowl 27-20 in OT but showed the overconfident Oaks Christians Lions that they would not go down without a fight. Cardinal Newman also had control of the ball almost double the time of Oaks Chritian and secured much more yards and were able to pick off three interceptions in the first half from Jimmy Clausen, who will be attending Notre Dame.
[edit] Cross Country
Cross Country has been a steady team for Cardinal Newman and in 2002 and 2003 qualified for the State Finals. In the 2006 season, they were led by junior Joe Withers, who qualified for state. Also in the '06 season, freshman Brian King emerged as one of the top freshman in the state, making 2nd team all-state for freshman.
[edit] Basketball
Basketball, along with football, is one of Newman's flagship teams. In the 2005-2006 season, the team, led by Matt Cousins, won the NBL title with a perfect 14-0 record.
[edit] Swimming
The swim team has emerged in recent years as one of Cardinal Newman's most powerful athletic branches, winning NBL titles in both the 2005 and 2006 seasons and remaining undefeated in each. Anthony Dargenzio led the Cardinal Newman 2004 - 2005 team to the state championships held in Las Vegas. Anthony and his relay team placed first among 200 other relay teams. Individually Anthony won 3 of his 4 swim meets. He will go down in history at Cardinal Newman.
[edit] Water Polo
The Cardinal Newman water polo team remains a decent team, with roughly equal amounts of wins and losses in recent years. Water polo remains a fundamentally weaker sport due to the lack of competition in the Sonoma County area and the traditional superiority of Marin County teams to the south. Kyle Decker was named team MVP.
[edit] Soccer
Arguably Newman's greatest athletic asset is its soccer team, which has been ranked in recent years #1 in the nation. In the 2005 season, the team won both the NBL and NCS titles. The team is good year after year. This year, the team was led by the All-Americans Pat Sigler and Evan Chambers. Other notables: Jordan Anderson, Andrew Robello, Micheal Gilles, Andrew Owenson, Tim Hasler, and Robbie Mcgowan
[edit] Track and Field
Like the Cross Country team, track has also been a steadily successful team in past years. Runner J.K. Withers made the State Finals in the 1,600 meter race in 2004, but did not win. The team hopes to defeat their league rivals, Montgomery high school this year, and again like Cross Country, they hope to make it to the State Finals. Newman's team may be hurt this year by the loss of distance runner Brian King, who had an outstanding Cross-Country season.
[edit] Rugby
A non-Varsity sport, the Cardinal Newman Rugby Club belongs to the Redwood Empire Conference and is comprised mainly of Cardinal Newman and Santa Rosa High School, with a number of players from other Santa Rosa area high schools. While a social side, the team is competitive each year with a number of players moving on the play rugby in college. Kalin Henderson, a Senior at Ursuline High School the sister school to Cardinal Newman was chosen as the 2005 - 2006 MVP and All State Scholar Athlete. Although being a girl she played with deterimination and endurace and proved her fellow male teammates wrong when they said she couldn't play as well and as tough as they played. Well she proved them wrong when in her first two games she sent 2 of the members of the other teams to the hospital with concusions and leg fractures. She is a tough player and will go down in Cardinal Newman records for her excellence in rugby.
[edit] Ursuline High School
Cardinal Newman High School is a twin of a girls' secondary school located on the same road named Ursuline High School. Their campuses adjoin and share a common eating area. The schools' academic programs are also intertwined, with most classes for juniors and seniors taught coeducationally. Exceptions include all levels of math and basic levels of science. It is uncommon for CN and UHS freshmen and sophomores to take classes taught at the other school, but certainly not unheard-of as in the case of certain language classes. The schools have separate Associated Student Bodies that collaborate in the discharge of their duties. School-sponsored social events are also facilitated in cooperation between the two schools, as is the drama program; athletics, with the exceptions of Cross Country and Track & Field, are not. The schools have separate offices, libraries, computer labs, classrooms, and gymnasia, but share cafeteria facilities, a multipurpose facility, and some athletics facilities. Class rankings for Newman and Ursuline are separate, but the students graduate together, with at least one valedictorian and salutatorian from each school giving addresses.
[edit] References
- ^ Cardinal Newman High School. Catholic High School Honor Roll. Retrieved on June 30, 2006.
- ^ Cardinal Newman High School among Top 50 Catholic High Schools Named for 2005 (PDF). Catholic High School Honor Roll (2005-09-08). Retrieved on June 30, 2006.
- ^ Cohn, Lowell. "JOE MONTANA (CNHS Parent): Leaving it all behind A decade after retiring from football, the Hall of Famer is making a new life in Sonoma County away from the spotlight", The Press Democrat, Cardinal Newman High School, 2005-09-18. Retrieved on June 30, 2006.
