Wilbur Cross High School

Wilbur Cross High School is a high school in the New Haven School District. It is located opposite East Rock in New Haven, Connecticut. It is named for Connecticut Governor Wilbur L. Cross. It is the largest school in the district in numbers of both students and teachers.

The school operates with two semesters and four marking periods.

Athletics

Wilbur Cross athletic teams are known as "The Governors" in recognition of the school's namesake. They are part of the Southern Connecticut Conference.

The school's teams have a long tradition of success on the basketball court. At one time, Cross teams were regular participants in the New England Tournament, an event at the Boston Garden in which high school teams played before crowds of up to 15,000. However, Connecticut withdrew from the tournament after riots broke out in 1958 during the tournament final between Wilbur Cross and a Somerville, Massachusetts team. New Haven high schools dominated Connecticut high school basketball in 1960s, when games were televised or held at the old New Haven Arena because the high school gyms were too small to accommodate the fans. Cross and cross-town rival Hillhouse High School won the state championship in nine of ten years of the decade of the 1960s. One of the stars of the late 1960s teams, John "Super John" Williamson, averaged nearly 40 points per game for the Governors in 1970 and went to play college ball at New Mexico State University and star as a pro in the American Basketball Association. [ [http://apse.dallasnews.com/contest1999/writing/100-250.hartford22.html New Haven's superstar: Williamson never left past too far behind] , by Ken Davis, "The Hartford Courant", 1999] In the 1973-1974 season "The Washington Post" ranked Cross the No. 1 high school team in the nation and a headline in the "New York Post" proclaimed Cross "The Best High School Team in the World" after the Governors defeated New York City's DeWitt Clinton High School team. [Paul Levy, [http://www.ct-hs-hoops.com/wilburcross1974.htm THE BEST HIGH SCHOOL TEAM IN AMERICA] , published in "Connecticut Magazine", 1974; retrieved from ct-hs-hoops.com, April 14, 2008] [http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxix/2000.03.24/features/front.html Wilbur Cross hoops brings back the magic] by Kate Moran, Yale Herald, March 24, 2000] The 1999-2000 team was considered the state's best, with a 24-0 record, until being upset by Bridgeport Central High School in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

They continue to be a force today in many sports, especially on the boys' side. The boys soccer team won its division and advanced to the final 16 of the state championship in 2007.when The boys' indoor track team finished second in Connecticut, also in the 2007-2008 year.when The 2007-2008 boys varsity basketball team had an undefeated regular season, going 20-0. They won the division, the SCC tournament, and the BABC Holiday Classic, but lost in to Lyman Hall by three points in the quarter-finals of the state tournament. The 2007-08 boys' freshman and junior varsity basketball teams also were strong, with records of 17-2 and 16-4, respectively. [ [http://www.southernconnecticutconference.org/sports/basketball-b_home.php Boys Basketball] , Southern Connecticut Conference website]

Notable alumni

*Lauren Ambrose, actress
*Lubbie Harper, Jr. (1961), Connecticut Appellate Court judge [See http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/appjudge14.html and http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/news/press212.htm]
*John Williamson (1970), star in the American Basketball Association, 1973-1981

References

External links

* [http://www.nhps.net/wcross/ Wilbur Cross High School Website]
* [http://www.nhps.net New Haven School District Website]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIPTCbHUGTY&feature=related YouTube]