Softball
The Highlanders softball team is widely regarded as one of the top programs in the state of New Jersey and as the top public school program in the state. The program has won seven Passaic County championships, along with 24 conference championships (18 in the Northern Hills Conference, plus six in its predecessor, the Skyline Conference) and eight state sectional titles in North 1, Group III and North 1, Group IV. Varsity Head Coach Jim Dransfield has a career record of 496–103 during his 20-year tenure, ranking him among the winningest coaches in the state and the winningest all-time in North Jersey. Dransfield became the winningest softball coach in North Jersey (Bergen and Passaic Counties) with a 6–1 win over Hawthorne High School, giving him 471 for his career and moving him past former Clifton High School coach Rich LaDuke for the most all-time. The softball team has won at least 20 games in each of the last 20 seasons.
The softball program has produced two of the top ten winningest pitchers in New Jersey history: Karin Kolatac ('96) and Corinne Reiser ('00), who won 79 and 87 games during their high school careers, respectively. Kolatac was an All-American in 1996 (FP Magazine, NFCA). The program also boasts two-time FP Magazine All-American catcher Jen Pawol ('95) and DH Laura Remia ('97), the all-time leading home run hitter in the history of NCAA Division III college softball.
In 2003, the softball team won the North I, Group IV state sectional championship, edging Clifton High School 1–0 in the tournament final. The 2004 team repeated the title, after a shift to Group III, with a 4–2 win over Ramapo High School.
In the 2007 season, the softball team won the Northern Hills-Skyline championship with a 2–1 win over Mount Saint Dominic Academy, and won the Passaic County championship with a 3–1 win over Clifton High School, the eventual state Group IV champions and the #2-ranked team in New Jersey in the final The Star-Ledger polls. The Highlanders finished the season ranked #13, after reaching as high as #2 during the regular season.
The 2008 softball team was ranked first by The Record in its preseason poll for North Jersey. The team won its second-straight county title by capping off its tournament run with a 5–2 victory over Hawthorne High School. In the semi-finals, the team defeated rival Lakeland Regional High School by a score of 11–0. It has competed in the Mount Saint Dominic Academy Invitational tournament, and won the conference championship for the second-straight year, after beating Mount Saint Dominic Academy by a score of 4–0, Millburn High School by a score of 7–1, and Mount Saint Dominic Academy again by a score of 2–0. The team finished the season with a record of 22–8, making it the team's 19th consecutive 20-win season.
The 2009 softball team was ranked #3 by The Record in its preseason poll for North Jersey and was ranked as high as #2 in that poll. The team was ranked as high as #6 in the Star-Ledger Top 20 poll and won 20 games for the 20th consecutive season. The team finished with a record of 20–5.
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