John Csuka (Class of 2000) - John Csuka made his presence known on the Glen Ridge soccer field and on the wrestling mat. In soccer he was a three-year letter winner and was named captain his senior year. His tenacious defensive skills earned him honors during his senior year on the All Area Team and the All Essex County Team. His relentless work effort and discipline resulted in a historic career in wrestling. John earned four varsity letters and won the team’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for all four years as he became the first Glen Ridge wrestler to achieve the milestone of one hundred career wins. John’s career is littered with first time achievements. He is Glen Ridge’s first four-time County Place winner, including two County Championships. John was the school’s first four-time District Finalist and the first freshmen in Glen Ridge to win a district title, his first of three district titles. John was the school’s first wrestler to qualify for three State Tournaments. He was also our first wrestler to be named to the All-Conference Team for four years and for three of those years he was first team. John ended his wrestling career with an astonishing record of 110-17 with career records in reversals, near-falls, pins, and wins. John’s leadership guided the team into an era of success. Behind his accomplishments and direction, during his four years the wrestling team won more matches than any other four-year span, qualified for three State Tournaments, and won two Conference Championships. John was a true student-athlete and considered athletics just a small part of his educational experience. He was a four-year honor student, President of the Student Council, and was named the 2000-2001 Men of Essex Scholar Athlete. John continued his education and wrestling career at Brown University. Today, John’s relentless work ethic and discipline are evidenced through his success as a lawyer, husband, father, and resident of Glen Ridge.
Alan Cumming (Class of 1981) - In 1981, Alan Cumming was the most decorated player on Glen Ridge High School's Group I State Championship baseball team, which was 28-5 and finished as runner-up in the Greater Newark Tournament. The victory total of 28 remains a Glen Ridge High School record, and it was the most wins in New Jersey that season. Cumming batted .323 for that team with 26 walks and 26 runs batted in, and was the team leader in home runs with three. His real value to that squad, however, was his position as catcher. He set Glen Ridge records by recording 210 putouts and by throwing out 31 of 41 baserunners, seven in one game. For this, he was named the team's most valuable player. He was a three-year Ridgers starting catcher, and was named an All-Colonial Hills Conference All-Star, first team in 1980 and 1981. With Cumming behind the plate, the Ridgers won back-to-back Conference Championships those years with a combined 48-10 record. With 1981 being Glen Ridge's and Cumming's season of distinction, he was named to The Newark Star-Ledger All Essex County first team, and it’s All-State, All-Groups 1st team. Plus, he played in the North-South All-Star game for the North Jersey, Section 2 team. Cumming, who also played freshman basketball at Glen Ridge High School, has been a police officer in Montclair for many years.
Meg Dimon (Class of 1994) - Clearly one of the most versatile female athletes in Glen Ridge High School history, Meg Dimon won four varsity letters in tennis, basketball and softball. Softball was perhaps here best sport, being a four-year starter at shortstop, honorable mention as an All-Colonial Hills Conference player as a sophomore, second team All-Conference as a junior and first team All-Conference as a senior, earning third team All-Essex honors in 1994, a season in which she was captain of the team. She had a career total of 94 base hits and a batting average of .413. If softball was not her best sport, then basketball was, as she also was the team captain and a four-year letter winner. Meg was a 1994 3rd-team All-Essex Selection by the Star-Ledger along with first team All-Conference Honors, after leading the Ridgers to their first Colonial Hills Conference championship in 17 years. During her career as a point guard, she scored a total of 556 points. "Meg was one of the most coachable athletes I have had the privilege to work with," said Glen Ridge basketball coach Maria DiCondina. Her third sport was tennis, playing first doubles as a freshman on a Ridgers' team (18-6) ranked No. 17 in New Jersey. As a sophomore, she again played first doubles on a team which was 18-5 and played in the state tournament's sectional final. As a junior, Meg was again at first doubles on a team which recorded a 17-6 mark and was ranked No. 16 in the state. As a senior, she finally got to be a singles player, but an injury after the season was just three weeks old, took her out of the lineup. Meg matriculated to Amherst College where she played three seasons of varsity basketball.
John Tomasko (Class of 1957) - The first of three Tomasko brothers to excel in football and track at Glen Ridge High School, John earned six varsity letters, three in each sport. Although his football teams never compiled a winning record, John, a three-year starter at halfback, was the workhorse in the backfield, scoring most of the Ridgers points, all while competing in the tough Suburban Conference. In John's junior year, he was selected as 3rd-team All-Essex, 3rd-team All-State Group I and 2nd-team All-Suburban Conference, despite the Ridgers' overall record of 2-4-1. Elected co-captain his senior year, he suffered torn ankle ligaments in the season opener against Clifford Scott, which limited his playing time that season. In track & field, John was a star in the dashes and was the Group I State Champion in the long jump, with a leap of 19-9. John resumed his football and track careers at Franklin & Marshall College. In his senior year there (1960), he established single-season records in rushing (886 yards), and in yards-per-carry (6.1) as he scored 13 touchdowns and scored 80 points to gain the Pennsylvania State Collegiate scoring title, all in an eight-game schedule. For his efforts, he was selected to the Eastern College Athletic Conference weekly All-East teams twice, to the 1960 Associated Press All-Pennsylvania College team (with Mike Ditka of Pitt) and was named the outstanding player in the Middle Atlantic Conference's Southern Division. As a star Franklin & Marshall track and field athlete, John set his college's long jump record with a leap of 22-8 1/4. Tragically, John Tomasko died in an automobile accident in 1979 at the age of 40.
Roger Tomasko (Class of 1966) - Following his brothers, John and Robert, as football halfbacks and track and field stars at Glen Ridge High School, Roger earned seven varsity letters, four in track and three in football. His track career started as a freshman, competing in the low and high hurdles, and helping the Ridgers to four state championships. By the time he was graduated from GRHS, he was a dominant performer in his favorite event (180-yard low hurdles) and had become a two-time Group I State Champion, and had set the state record at 19.4 seconds in that event. Other major wins included the Newark Board of Education Meet (two-time champion), the Essex County and North Jersey Conference Championships. He also was a member of the Glen Ridge mile-relay championship team at the prestigious Penn Relays. Roger remains part of four GRHS track-records, established in 1966 in the high and low hurdles plus two relay events. On the gridiron, Roger was a three-year starter at halfback, scoring 27 touchdowns and amassing a total of 178 points. His football teams compiled an overall record of 23-1 and were undefeated in 21 conference games. The Roger Tomasko Ridger teams earned three Sectional State Championships and three North Jersey Conference Titles. As a football co-captain his senior year, he was an honorable mention All-Essex selection, a first team All-State Group I selection and a first team North Jersey Conference All-Star, also having been All-Conference as a junior. After graduation, Roger Tomasko was on the football and track teams at Taft College in California.
Tim Vinges (Class of 1990) - By the time Tim Vinges graduated from Glen Ridge High School in 1990, he had been a part of a remarkable run of Ridgers' baseball successes. He was on two Greater Newark Tournament Championship teams and was the winning pitcher in the 1989 title game, hurling a one-hitter against Livingston. He was a member of the 1988 Group I State Championship team and was the winning pitcher in the sectional championship game that year, out-pitching an opponent who made All-State, All-Groups and won the Union County Tournament Title. During that four-year span Glen Ridge was 93-11, also capturing three Colonial Conference crowns. Vinges pitched to a 22-5 career record (5-2 in 1987, 5-0 in 1988, 5-0 with a 1.60 ERA in 1989 and 7-3 with a 1.10 ERA in 1990). In addition, as a first baseman/pitcher, he recorded more than 500 fielding chances, committing just one error. At bat, Vinges hit better than .400 for three seasons, leading the Ridgers in batting average, extra base hits and runs batted in as a junior and senior. Vinges was named to the All-Conference All-Star team in 1989 and 1990. He was named to the All-Essex First Team by the Newark Star-Ledger in his junior and senior seasons. And he was All-State, Group I First Team as a senior, after making the Group I Second Team as a junior. Vinges' championship success did not end in high school. He was a four-year member of the William Paterson University baseball team and an integral part of WPU's National Division III championship squad in 1992, starring as a relief pitcher in the College World Series. With that team Vinges has been inducted into the WPU Hall of Fame. Baseball clearly was his best sport, but Vinges also earned three varsity letters as a wide receiver on the Ridgers football team.