Each month, Montgomery High School Athletic Director Kris Grundy polls local coaches to select a female and male scholar athlete to spotlight on this page. In addition to a feature article, each athlete receives gift certificates to The Tiger’s Tale and Beniamino's Cucina and Pizza. Emma Scrudato and Jacob Chang are The Montgomery News July Athletes of the Month.

Heading into the South Jersey, Group IV finals, Jacob Chang had already solidified his place on the Montgomery golf team. The senior earned the captaincy back in the fall, had regularly shot under 80 for head Coach Joe Bassford’s group, and was the model of honesty. Then Chang shot an 83 at the sectional final, a score most can only fathom but one that bumped him out of Bassford’s top four as they headed to the state championship.

Emma Scrudato thought she had fallen in love with lacrosse too late. Until 8th grade, she played goalie in middle school and for Ultimate Lacrosse in Princeton. After than, she became an avid ice hockey player. However, by junior year, the strain of travel hockey had worn on her (and her car’s tires), swaying the pendulum back to lacrosse. It’s never too late to fall in love.

Students who are training peers to recognize signs of mental health struggles got a warm reception at the Township Committee, a contrast to the debate that accompanied the program's school board launch in the fall. Hope Squad, a national peer-to-peer suicide prevention program, launched chapters across Montgomery schools this year. Faculty advisors and student members presented a progress update at the committee’s June 4 meeting.

Van Harlingen Historical Society (VHHS) began a project last year to research and identify soldiers who lived in Western Precinct (known as Montgomery Township since 1798). After countless hours of research, VHHS so far has discovered and confirmed 123 previously unknown soldiers (see names below). And there may be dozens more.

Twenty-two-year-old, fifth generation John Van Dike (1709-1777) married Margaretta Barcalo in 1732 and moved to the 230 acres that his father had purchased for him in the Bridgepoint section of Montgomery. He built a house and settled into a life of farming while raising a family.

The wooden Griggstown Causeway Canal Bridge will be replaced soon with a single-span steel-plate girder bridge with a concrete deck and timber sidewalk surface, according to the NJ Department of Transportation. Plans also call for a flashing beacon at the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park trail crossing at Griggstown Causeway. It is a popular spot for hikers, and the location of a canoe-rental business on the canal.