Red Bank Regional scholar-athlete Jazz Van Loon of Little Silver is headed to Dartmouth this fall, where she will compete on the Ivy League school’s track and field team.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
Jazz Van Loon of Little Silver, a senior at Red Bank Regional High School and a well accomplished scholar-athlete, is headed to the Ivy League this fall, when she joins the track and field team at Dartmouth College.
“I am thrilled to be playing for Dartmouth,” states the resident of Little Silver. “It is an incredible opportunity to obtain a top education and play Division I sports.”
While the Big Green had a need for Jazz’s talents in long jumping — she holds the RBR record for the long jump and triple jump, and was the 2013-2014 Monmouth County Women’s Champion in the long jump — she could have easily played basketball or soccer for many other colleges. The captain of all three sports for several years at RBR, Jazz lists numerous other impressive athletic accomplishments. She was her team’s high scorer in basketball for the past three years, becoming a member of the elite 1,000 point scorers club this year. She also holds the school record for most goals scored in a single season in soccer, at 25.
Dartmouth was equally attracted to Jazz’s many academic achievements. As a member of the Academy of Finance, Jazz had made the honor roll or high honor roll her entire high school career. While taking her school’s most rigorous courses, she earned a 4.0 grade average and gained acceptance to the National, Spanish, Math, and English Honor Societies. She has also been actively engaged in school government as the Student Council’s business manager and president of the Future Business Leaders Club. She participated in the Key Club and Environmental Club, and explored her hobbies as her class’s photographer for the past two years, a member of the RBR Culinary Club, and a participant in the Percussion Ensemble. She was also selected as an officer in RBR’s Peer to Peer Counselor program.
Sports, however, have always remained her primary passion. When Jazz first came to RBR, she had to give up ice hockey since there are only three sport seasons in the school year. Together with her twin, Paris, and younger sister Devon, the three Van Loon sisters have long played together as “a package deal” on every recreational and travel league in which they were eligible to participate, as well as on multiple RBR high school teams.
Jazz intends to major in economics at Dartmouth, and would love to incorporate her passions to work in the finance department for a major sports’ organization someday.
As RBR’s Athletic Director Del Dal Pra observes, “Jazz is a throwback athlete that is hard to find in the 21st century. She plays three sports every season and goes at every game and practice like it is her last. We will miss her very much at RBR, but we are very excited to see wonderful things she will do in life. Dartmouth is very lucky to get not only such a great athlete but a great kid as well.”
