A new face may be in command, but the proud tradition is expected to continue for the Bridgewater-Raritan High School's boys' lacrosse program.
The new face is Nick Hemans, who will replace one of the state's most iconic scholastic boys' lacrosse coaches, Chuck Apel.
Hemans was appointed the boys' lacrosse coach at Bridgewater-Raritan High School at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, August 25.
He assumes a position that is synonymous with championships and victories.
Apel began coaching at Bridgewater-Raritan High School East in 1980 and remained the program's head coach when the school merged with Bridgewater-Raritan High School West in 1992, resulting in Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
In 2023, one year after Bridgewater-Raitan won the Group 4 state championship, Apel joined his son, Matt Apel, as co-head coach of the boys' lacrosse program through the 2026 season. The younger Apel left his teaching position at Bridgewater-Raritan High School after graduation in June, which opened this high-profile role that his father had carved out through his legendary career.
Chuck Apel, who has been enshrined in the National Interscholastic Lacrosse Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the New Jersey Lacrosse Hall of Fame, ended his illustrious career with a record of 598-46 and guided his teams to six Group 4 state championships, three Tournament of Champions state titles, and one overall state championship before the state playoffs were broken down into groups.
Bridgewater-Raritan's new skipper grew up in New York State, played lacrosse at Auburn High School, and then Hemans continued to compete at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego.
Hemans launched his coaching career in 2003 at Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and then served as an assistant coach at Wakefield High School in Raleigh, North Carolina.
He came to New Jersey and worked as an assistant coach at Bernards High School from 2011 until he was promoted to the program's head coach in 2025.
He received a taste—and milked all he could about the elite program—when he served as a volunteer assistant coach at Bridgewater-Raritan this past spring.
"I have only the second last name to coach here," Hemans declared. "I will uphold the tradition here, and I learned a lot under Matt this past season."
But he did reveal that he has "his own Xs and Os to stand on."
"We will run up and down the field, and I will bring that blue-collar mentality to the team," Hemans reported.
While Hemans, who lives in Bernardsville with his wife and two sons, will continue to work at Bernards High School as a teacher of Engineering, Architecture and Woodmaking, he plans to be visible to the players he will inherit at Bridgewater-Raritan in the coming years.
"I look forward to having a good relationship with the underclassmen and getting to know them and the youth program," said Hemans, who will bring his fellow coach from Bernards, Matt Femenella, on as an assistant at Bridgewater-Raritan. Femenella was also approved at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, August 25.