Colts, Caseys remain county’s top teams
Colts win 15th straight championship
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Middletown North sisters Jordan (above) and Taylor Crosby helped lead the Middletown North girls to a fourth-place team finish at Sunday’s Monmouth County Championships at the Ocean County YMCA.

TOMS RIVER — File this one under the “what else is new?” category.

The CBA swimming team dominated the Monmouth County Swimming Championships on Saturday at the Ocean County YMCA.

The Colts earned first-place medals in eight of 11 events, and added a plethora of other top finishes to trample the field en route to their 15th consecutive county title with 534 points.

Rumson-Fair Haven was a distant second with 219 points, followed by Holmdel (182), Red Bank (171) and Freehold Township (139).

Elsewhere locally, Shore Regional took sixth place (138), Monmouth Regional was eighth (114) and Ocean Township was ninth (104).

Among their eight victories, the Colts also managed to set four new meet records, three of which came in relays, starting with the 200 medley relay team, which smashed the 2003 record set by another CBA quartet of 1:42.24, by touching the wall in 1:41.37. Junior Larkin MacDonald swam the lead-off leg, followed by senior Donato Santangelo, Greg Plakoudas and Nolan Doyle, as the Colt foursome finished more than three seconds ahead of second-place Red Bank (1:44.57).

In the 200 freestyle relay, the team of senior Chris Cefalo, juniors Ryan Guttormsen and Michael Harm, and senior Kelly McCarthy set a new meet record with their time of 1:29.63, nearly six seconds ahead of second-place Rumson (1:35.26).

Cefalo, Guttormsen and McCarthy came back to set another meet record later on when they teamed with MacDonald to win the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:17.14, once again well ahead of second-place Rumson (3:26.95).

The fourth record set by CBA came in the 100 backstroke, where MacDonald broke Vito Chiaravalotti’s 1998 record of 53.54 with a time of 52.82. MacDonald’s teammate, sophomore Kyle Slate, was second in 57.35.

McCarthy took the 200 freestyle individual title (1:45.68) and the 100 butterfly title (53.63), while Cefalo also won a pair of individual titles in the 50 freestyle (22.67) and the 100 freestyle (49.94).

Among the other top finishes for the Colts were: MacDonald, second in the 200 IM (1:58.47); Mark Harm, second in the 100 butterfly (55.13); Slate, second in the 100 back (57.35) and fifth in the 200 free (1:51.51), Santangelo, second in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.48) and fifth in the 50 free (23.99); Doyle, third in the 50 freestyle (23.71) and fourth in the 100 breast (1:10.03); Guttormsen, second in the 100 free (50.64); sophomore Andrew DiPietro, third in the 500 free (5:00.34) and fourth in the 200 IM (2:07.26); Mike Harm, fourth in the 200 free (1:49.06) and fifth in the 100 free (50.87); and sophomore Kevin Schafer, fourth in the 100 breast (1:10.03).

It was simply the latest in a long line of dominant performances for the Colts at the county meet, and further evidence that they are among the state’s elite teams once again.

Third-place Holmdel was led by junior Brendan Jones, who took second in the 500-yard freestyle behind RFH’s Matthews with a time of 4:57.80. Jones also took third in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:48.95.

Sophomore Nicholas Williams took second in the 100 free for Holmdel (50.79), while the 200 freestyle relay team of senior Brian Macolm, juniors Luiz Martinez and Sean Snyder, and Williams, took third in 1:37.64. The 400 freestyle relay team of Jones, Martinez, senior Fred Riberio and Williams took fourth in 3:36.24.

Malcolm also fared well in individual events, taking seventh in the 100 butterfly (1:00.11) and eighth in the 200 IM (2:15.32).

Among the other top local finishers were Middletown South senior Ulick Sokolov, fifth in the 100 yard butterfly (56.12), and Middletown North sophomore Chris Sadecki, sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.27).

Though not quite reaching the level of dominance that CBA has exhibited in local boys competition, the Red Bank Catholic girls have a nice little run of their own going.

The Caseys used their depth to outscore rival Rumson-Fair Haven on Sunday to win their fifth consecutive Monmouth County title at the Ocean County YMCA, 331-285.

The Caseys collected just one gold medal, but stockpiled Top 5 finishes to clinch the title.

Junior Caroline Faughnan took home the 500 freestyle title in 5:28.02, after finishing second in the event last year to sophomore teammate Christina DiMaria, who finished third on Sunday (5:30.18) behind Faughnan and Ocean Township sophomore Lauren Pembleton (5:30.15).

While Faughnan’s win was the only first-place medal to go to the Caseys, their overall depth led to two second-place finishes, five third-place finishes and a pair of fourths.

Faughnan contributed beyond her win with a third in the 200 freestyle (2:03.59), won by Ocean Township’s Katie English in 1:59.39.

Among the other top swimmers for the champion Caseys were: sophomore Aubrey Cefalo, second in the 50 free (25.44) and sixth in the 100 butterfly (1:03.37); junior Ivy Wimberley, second in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.25) and third in the 100 butterfly (1:01.21); DiMaria, third in the 500 freestyle (5:30.18) and fifth in the 200 freestyle (2:05.07); sophomore Lauren Mirynowski, fourth in the 100 freestyle (58.20); sophomore Rebeka Schwartz, fifth in the 100 back (1:05.14) and sixth in the 200 IM (2:24.11); junior Keira Hetem, seventh in the 200 IM (2:24.15); Senior Colleen Murphy, sixth in the 100 free (59.23); sophomore Caitlin Dorgan, eighth in the 100 free (59.92); the 200 medley relay team of Mirynowski, senior Cassandra Stabbart, sophomore Caitlin Dorgan and senior Erin Bulanowski (1:47.02), and the 400 freestyle relay team of Cefalo, Faughnan, Hetem and Schwartz (3:55.40), both of whom took third.

In addition, the 200 medley relay team of senior Colleen Murphy, Wimberley, Cefalo and Mirynowski took fourth in 1:57.01.

If you would have told the Rumson-Fair Haven girls before Sunday’s meet that they would win six of the 11 events, they would have assumed they’d be celebrating a team championship as well.