Easton Area High School

For other schools of the same name, see Easton High School (disambiguation).
Easton Area High School
Location

2601 William Penn Highway

Easton, Pennsylvania 18045
Information
Type Public
Principal Michael Koch
Grades 9 - 12
Enrollment 2,693
Information 610-250-2481
Mascot Red Rovers
Colors Red and White and black             
Website Easton Area High School

Easton Area High School is a four-year public high school located in Palmer Township, Northampton County, in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. It is part of the Easton Area School District.[1] The school's colors are red and white (although black is used in many of the school's sports uniforms) and its mascot is the Red Rover. The current principal of Easton Area High School is Michael Koch.

Rivalry with Phillipsburg High School

The high school is probably best known for its rivalry with Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. The two teams play an annual Thanksgiving Day football game at Lafayette College's Fisher Field that is considered one of the nation's longest-standing high school rivalries. The rivalry began in 1905 and is still ongoing.

The game, which typically draws in excess of 20,000 fans, has been televised on national networks. The 1988 game, which was broadcast on ESPN, was the first high school football game to be broadcast on national television. The 100th anniversary game, played in 2006 and won by Easton 21-7, was broadcast on ESPN2. Easton leads the overall series with 61 wins; Phillipsburg has 42 and the teams have tied five times. One of these ties, the 1993 game, was resolved as part of the Gatorade REPLAY series. The Easton and Phillipsburg teams from 1993 were brought back to play a rematch in early April 2009; Phillipsburg won the game 27-12.

School accomplishments

Academics

Easton Area High School has twice won the Scholastic Scrimmage contest (1996 and 1998), where Pennsylvania high schools compete against each other in an academic trivia contest. The team was led by Jennifer Frey, and assisted by Stephen Semanek, Sheila Viglianti and Norma Shriver.

The Model United Nations team consistently places in the top three school's at Lehigh University's High School Model United Nations Conference. The team came in third in 2011 and second in 2010. In 2012, the team won first place overall at Lehigh University and returned for a conference with real delegates.

Athletics

Varsity sports at Easton Area High School include baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, indoor track, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.

Easton competes in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference in the District XI athletic division of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. Easton holds the record for the most recorded Lehigh Valley Conference championships in girls track and field athletics. In 2008, Easton girls track & field standout Chanelle Price won the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year award. This award is handed to the nation's top high school female athlete. In 2007, the Girls Track and Field team were Indoor and Outdoor PIAA State Champions, led by Price and teammates Allyse Barlow, Abbie Dubin Rhodin, Jenna Liew, Jessica Dorsey, Abby Schaffer, Amy Matulewicz and Tara Bright. Easton holds the third most Lehigh Valley Conference championships in all sports, behind only Parkland High School and Emmaus High School.[2] The cheerleading team consistently places within the top 10 at UCA Nationals, held in Orlando, Florida.

Football

The school is particularly known for its highly successful football and wrestling programs. All of the Rover's football games are played in legendary Cottingham Stadium off Northampton Street in Easton's West Ward. The football team is currently coached by Steve Shiffert, who was preceded by Robert Shriver. Coach Shiffert has thrice been voted as Coach of the Year by The Express-Times newspaper. Steve Shiffert is also the all-time winningest coach in Easton football history. In 2009, he surpassed Bob Rute's record of 131 wins. The Red Rovers are #2 all time in wins in Pennsylvania and are ranked #10 for wins in the country in football. Easton also has the most District XI class 4A championships in the Lehigh Valley with 6 in football.

Football had been played in the United States for about three decades when it was introduced at Easton High School in the late 1890s. In the fall of 1894, members of the senior class played in two games. The first recognized contest was against Phillipsburg and resulted in a 26-0 Easton victory. Thus, a tradition of football excellence. Now, nine hundred and thirty-five games later (Now over 1,000), we are embarking on the 100th year (1994) of this gridiron odyssey. Red Rover teams have won 66% of their games (Over 700 games total). Over the years, thousands have been directly part of this legacy as players, coaches, and support people; many more have encouraged them from the sidelines and stands as cheerleaders, band members, and fans. All have helped perpetuate the heritage that is Easton football.

Certainly many things have changed in 100 years time. For example, the nickname for Easton teams since 1934 has been the Red Rovers, but in former years, the teams were called the Red and White, the Red Tornado, the Red Robins, and the Red Eagles. Today's home games are played at Cottingham Stadium. However, early teams rented various area fields, then used March Field on the Lafayette Campus and the Twelfth Street Field near the site of the present stadium. After construction, Cottingham Stadium was first used in 1925. Easton fans sat in the south stands until 1930 when the north stands were completed. Since then the home fans have always occupied the north stands. Lights were not added until 1953. Red, white, and black have been the predominant colors in Easton uniforms. Red usually has been the basic color with white and black trim. But at times, both white and black have been the basic uniform colors of choice. Blue has also been a color used in the trim.

Wrestling

The Easton wrestling program is well-known for The Streak: a period of 68 years over which it always produced at least one individual district champion in Pennsylvania's PIAA District 11. Producing 185 individual district champions over the 68-year period, The Streak exemplified the program's consistently excellent performance.[3]

Easton's wrestling program was ranked as the 3rd best high school program in the nation in 1991. The wrestling team was also ranked as the number one public school wrestling team in the nation in 2004. The current coach is Steve Powell, who, as of 2009, has a career record of 402-84-3[4] and is a member of the PIAA and National High School Wrestling Halls of Fame. Easton also won four consecutive state dual meet wrestling championships in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. The wrestling team's home matches are held in the Easton Area Middle School Campus Gymnasium in Forks Township. Prior to moving to Easton Area Middle School, Easton held its matches at the school's 25th Street Gymnasium.

Music

Choir

The high school is also famous in local artistic venues for its choir, which recently won first place at the Heritage Festival in Virginia Beach. The current directors are Peter Deshler and John Shilanskas, who took over from Ed Milisits - the previous director of 34 years - in 2009. The choir currently consists of six parts: the Concert Choir (for singers grades 10-12), the Freshman Choir, the Treble Choir (for all high voices, including countertenors), the Camerata, the Chamber Singers and the Jazz Chorale. Some students from the EAHS Choir also participate in the PMEA District 10 and Region V Choirs.

Instrumental Music

Easton is also home to a prominent instrumental music program. Many students take part in the various high school ensembles. Instrumental music consists of 9th Grade Concert Band, 10th-12th Grade Concert Band, Marching Band, 9th Grade String Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Jazz Lab. Select groups which require audition include Jazz Band, Pit Orchestra, and Chamber Strings. All of the above named ensembles are under the direction of Carole Lutte.

The "Red Rover" marching band contains approximately 250 students. Significant accomplishments include performances at the 1993 Rose Bowl. Also the 1998 Orange Bowl and the 2003 Orange Bowl where both times they also performed their own half-time show during a Jacksonville Jaguars game, and the Second inauguration of George W. Bush (2005). The competitive band has also traveled to Florida for the Disney High Honors program in both 2007 and 2009. In 2010, the band traveled to San Diego, California, to perform in the Port of San Diego Bay Balloon Parade and the 2010 Holiday Bowl.

In 2012, the Red Rover Marching Band made an appearance in Orlando, Florida, and in 2014, the Red Rover Marching Band [erformed their field show in the Orange Bowl in Miami Florida. In 2015, they marched in the Miss America parade.

Notable alumni

astronomy columnist, lecturer and sky photographer

References

  1. ↑ http://www.eastonsd.org/hs/
  2. ↑ LVIAC Historical Stats.
  3. ↑ http://highschoolsports.lehighvalleylive.com/news/article/-7862996797390588561/its-all-over-eastons-district-11-title-streak-ends-at-68/
  4. ↑ http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/01/easton_high_wrestling_coach_st.html
  5. ↑ "Former Easton Mayor Fred Ashton dies". The Express-Times. 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2013-06-08.

External links

Coordinates: 40°40′55″N 75°15′07″W / 40.682°N 75.252°W / 40.682; -75.252

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