Good morning. 🥍⚾🥎 It’s Friday, April 17. These days, it seems every Rye High School sports team contends for a section championship — and beyond — every season.

Since November 2023, 13 Garnet teams have won section titles. Nine advanced to state tournament semifinals, and five achieved the ultimate goal of winning a New York state championship. Football and girls soccer both claimed state crowns in 2023 and 2025, just a few months before hockey won its first state title this March.

So, how is it possible for a small-town public high school, with an enrollment of 900 students, to win so often?

This edition of “Between the Lines” shares some hypotheses. For a more in-depth analysis, check out Steven Kearney’s full story here.

“Between the Lines” is curated by Chris Marshall.

➡️ Sign up for the newsletter here. 

How Can Rye Sports Be This Good?

Today’s student-athletes in Rye are just … different.

Thirty-nine graduates from Rye High School’s class of 2025 went on to compete in college athletics. There were 22 from the class of 2024, and 13 from the class of 2023.

That feels like a lot.

“One thing I’ve observed, is that the athletic kids who arrive as freshmen at RHS are stronger, fitter, and more flexible than they used to be,” said Jeannie Romano, a 1981 RHS graduate and retired RHS physical education teacher emeritus. “They do year-round weight training. They have better diets, they sleep better. Many of them work with private coaches in the off-season … These kids are just more complete and more polished athletes than ever before.”

There’s also an argument to be made regarding the affluence of Rye families, which has grown over the decades. Families with disposable income — and kids who like sports — have opportunities for things like club travel teams, personal trainers, and year-round athletic skill development.

With established in-town programs like Rye Youth Soccer, Rye Youth Lacrosse, Rye Youth Rugby, Rye Little League, Rye Youth Softball, and Rye Rangers Hockey, parents don’t have to look far to find effective development in a variety of sports.

Rye has a top-shelf athletic director and high-caliber coaches.

Susan Reid, who was recently awarded the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators State Award of Merit for 2026, can’t quite put her finger on why Rye teams happen to be doing so well of late. In spite of all the recent success, Reid knows the work at a high school is never done.

“I don’t believe there is one single factor for success, but rather a collective commitment to doing things ‘the Rye way,’” Reid said. “At the core is the quality and character of our coaches. We are fortunate to have veteran coaches who are not only knowledgeable in their sport, but deeply committed to developing young people as students, teammates, and citizens.”

Rye practically has a murderer’s row of talented coaches, including Dino Garr, the winningest football coach in New York state history; girls soccer coach Rich Savage, who was inducted into the New York State High School Girls Soccer Hall of Fame last season, just before leading his team to its second state championship in three years; boys soccer coach Jared Small, Section 1 large school coach of the year; girls basketball coach Margo Hackett; hockey coach Peter Thomas; and baseball coach Mike Bruno.

Could there actually be something in Rye’s water?

Who better to answer than Bill Madden, vice president of communications at Veolia, the regulated water provider for most of Rye.

“I’m not surprised to hear about all of Rye High School’s athletic success,” Madden said. “Veolia delivers the best drinking water in the world. But the delicious water in Rye has been unchanged for decades.”

So, it’s not that simple.

Are RHS athletic teams winning championships at an historic rate? Yes, they are. Is winning contagious? Probably. Do we know precisely why all of this is happening?

No, but it’s fun to think about — and fun to watch.

Weather Report: Check out the weekend weather forecast for Rye here.

➡️ Follow The Rye Record, @ryerecordnews, on our social media channels and at ryerecord.com for the latest in sports. 💻📱

➡️To follow The Record on Instagram, click here. And to follow us on Nextdoor, click here.

Performer of the Week: Thomas Goldszer

🥍 Congrats to Thomas Goldszer — winner of the Sportech Performer of the Week.

With junior teammate and face-off specialist Wilson Redd taking a college entrance exam, Goldszer was the next man up Saturday against Marin Catholic, one of the top teams from Northern California.

Not only did the fearless Goldszer battle all game long at the face-off dot, he scored the winning goal in a physical, back-and-forth 10-9 Garnet victory.

With just over a minute to play, Redd, who had just put his No. 2 pencil down, grabbed his stick and came out onto the field to win the biggest face-off of the game, leading to Goldszer’s winning goal.

“Thomas Goldszer played his butt off today, battled so hard on the draw all afternoon,” said Rye coach Jeremy Guski. “To see him get that last goal was great to see. We were a little sluggish early, but I loved how we rose to the challenge.”

RYE RECORD STUDIOS 🎙  

Game of the Week: Rye Baseball Rallies From 6-Run Deficit to Win 10-8

⚾ After celebrating the town’s little league baseball and softball teams in Saturday’s opening day parade, Rye got off to a slow start against Class AAA opponent New Rochelle. The Huguenots led 6-0 before the bottom of the third inning, when senior Jamie Morris, junior Luke Ontaneda, and junior Ben Fineberg collected hits to make it 6-2.

New Rochelle responded with two runs in the top of the fourth, going ahead 8-2. In the bottom of the inning, Morris singled, senior Jackson Pineault reached base on an error, and Ellis drove Morris in on a sac fly, cutting the deficit to 8-5.

The Garnets were still down by three runs, with just four outs remaining, when New Rochelle lost control. Four Rye batters drew walks, London singled, and Hutson doubled, scoring five runs to take the first lead of the game. London then pitched a scoreless final inning to preserve a 10-8 win.

This Week’s Rye Record: 9-4

➡️ Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up for our “On The Record” newsletter here. Interested in advertising or sponsoring this post? Click here.