The two yellow ShopRite Cup banners hang high on the gym wall. “Best high school athletic program,” they proclaim. The first banner is dated 2010. The second, 2021-22.
Now Westfield sits in an ideal position to add a third.
The Blue Devils are tied with Freehold atop the 2022-23 Group 4 ShopRite Cup standings after the fall season.
The ShopRite Cup is awarded annually to the best high school athletic program in each of New Jersey’s six groups—Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4, Non-Public A and Non-Public B. Groups are based on schools’ student population, making Group 4 the putative strongest public-school group.
A points system determines ShopRite Cup champions. Westfield and Freehold each claimed 38 points during the fall. Cherokee (20 points), Ridgewood (19) and West Orange (16) round out the top five.
Schools earn points based on their state tournament results. Each sport awards 28 points per group: 10 points to the group state champion, 8 to the runner-up and 5 each to the group semifinalists. In simpler terms, a team must win a sectional championship to earn points for its school.
(The caveat arises in sports that don’t employ head-to-head tournament formats. In cross country, for example, the third- and fourth-place finishers receive 6 and 4 points. In gymnastics, only the group champion receives points.)
The other route to earning ShopRite Cup points is through avoiding disqualifications. Schools that avoid any athlete disqualifications (e.g., a red card in soccer, an ejection in football) earn 3 points per disqualification-free season.
Westfield collected those 3 points this fall. The Blue Devils also avoided any coach disqualifications, which incur a 3-point penalty.
The Blue Devils’ 35 “championship points” arrived across five teams.
The girls volleyball team gathered 10 points by winning the Group 4 championship. The girls tennis team produced 8 points by reaching the Group 4 championship. The boys soccer team obtained 5 points by winning the sectional championship before falling in the Group 4 semifinals. The boys cross country team gained 8 points by placing second in Group 4; the girls won 4 points by finishing fourth.
It was a remarkable season for Westfield. But plenty of points remain available. The winter and spring seasons will unspool, bringing new champions and shifting the standings.
Westfield’s strong fall season laid a solid foundation for another ShopRite Cup banner.
