Amy Wang (left) is competing in her first Summer Olympics in the sport of table tennis, while Cheryl Reeve is head coach of the USA women’s basketball team.
If you click on the Washington Township School District website, it proudly displays two alumnae who are making waves at the Paris Summer Olympics in the sports of table tennis and women’s basketball.
Cheryl Reeve, a 1983 graduate of the township high school, is head coach of the USA women’s basketball team, which triumphed over Belgium in the second game of group play on Aug. 1. They play Germany on Aug. 4.
Reeve has been head coach for the WNBA Minnesota Lynx since 2010 and led them to a WNBA title in 2011. She is a three-time WNBA Coach of the Year and has earned six WNBA titles. In 2017, Reeve took over as general manager of the Lynx and has complied a 300-170 record and a 41-21 playoff slate, according to USA Basketball.
Reeve took over as head coach of the USA women’s basketball team at the end of 2021 and is contracted through the end of this year.
Amy Wang is a 2022 graduate of the township high school. The 21-year-old started playing table tennis at the age of 4, according to the Team USA website. Her two older brothers – Allen and Eddie – and her father Xiaota Wang are also accomplished table tennis players. The latter once played professionally, but switched to coaching his daughter.
Wang made her first U.S. National Team when she was 12. In Paris, she beaat Tommy Priscilla of Vanuatu 4-0 in the Round of 64 on July 27. But in the Round of 32 four days later, she lost to Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico, 4-2. She will compete for the women’s team against Germany on Aug. 6.
“To see such a talented alumna compete in the Olympics is an amazing feat of which we are very proud here at Washington Township High School,” Principal Ray Anderson said of Wang. “The entire community wishes (her) … all the best as she pursues her dreams in Paris.”
Anderson – who himself has competed in national U.S. tennis leagues and events – said he’d love to have Wang return to the school after the Olympics to be honored, as well as to meet some students and maybe even take on the principal in a match.
