CBA swimmers capture another county title BY GEORGE ALBANO Staff Writer CHRIS KELLY staff CBA’s Joe Clemente races to the wall in the 100-yard breaststroke event during Saturday’s Monmouth County Championships at the Ocean County YMCA. The Colts won seven of 11 events en route to an impressive win, the team’s 16th straight county title. Without a doubt, the Christian Brothers Academy swim team has bigger goals in mind for 2006. Like winning the New Jersey Non-Public A state championship. But capturing another Monmouth County title was certainly on the Colts’ checklist. It has been for the past decade and a half. And for the 16th straight year, the Lincroft school won the county championship Saturday at the Ocean County YMCA in Toms River. As usual, the Colts did it in very impressive fashion too, as they accumulated 458.5 points to easily outdistance runner-up Red Bank Region with 224.5. CBA, ranked fifth in the state, was only 3-2 coming into this week, but the two losses have come against state powers St. Augustine’s, ranked No. 1 in the state, and No. 3 St. Joseph’s of Metuchen. Neither loss, however, sat well with the Colts as they prepared for the Monmouth County meet. “The kids were looking to have a good day,” veteran head coach Michael Sullivan said. “They had two good meets against St. Joe’s and St. Augustine’s, but they lost to both of them and they were looking to get vindicated at the county meet.” CBA lost to St. Joseph’s on Dec. 2 and to St. Augustine’s right before Christmas. “Two losses in one month, we’re not used to that early in the season,” Sullivan, now in his 16th season, said. “Again, we swam two very good teams. But we’re used to winning, and they wanted to come back and have a big day at the county meet.” Mission accomplished. The Colts dominated the meet by winning seven of the 11 events, including two each by senior captains Larkin MacDonald and Ryan Guttormsen. MacDonald had a day to remember as he broke two meet records and was named the meet’s MVP. He won the 100 butterfly in a record 53.28 seconds, and also broke his own record he set last year in the 100 backstroke with a winning time of 52.78 seconds. He was also a member of two winning relay teams, swimming the opening backstroke leg in the 200 medley relay and then swimming the third leg in the 400 free relay. Meanwhile, Guttormsen swept the 50 freestyle in 22.39 and the 100 free in 49.40. And he, too, was part of two winning relays as he anchored both the 200 and 400 free relay teams. Joining him and MacDonald on the winning 400 free relay (3:21.21) was Andrew DiPietro and Michael Harm, while the 200 free relay (1:32.56) consisted of Martin and Michael Harm, Sean Gillespie and Guttormsen. Besides MacDonald, the medley relay team (1:42.70) included Kevin Schafer on the breaststroke, Martin Harm on the butterfly and Terry Hubert on the anchoring freestyle. CBA also showed plenty of depth as Martin Harm, a sophomore, finished runner-up in both the 200 IM (2:08.26) and 100 fly (53.77), right behind MacDonald, while Michael Harm, a senior, was second in the 100 free (49.85) behind Guttormsen. DiPietro, a junior, added a pair of fourth-place finishes in the 200 (1:50.16) and 500 (5:06.08) freestyles, while Gillespie was fourth in the 50 (23.14) and 100 (50.62) freestyles. CBA will also be the favorite to win a 16th straight Shore Conference championship on Feb. 14. For Sullivan, winning the county and conference crowns never gets old hat. “It’s different kids every year, that’s one of the nice things,” he said. “Young kids get to step up every year, and that’s fun watching them grow up and step into leadership roles. It’s exciting to see that. “Plus our guys take a lot of pride in winning both meets every year,” Sullivan added. “They want to get their due. I tell them they have to prove it in the water and they stepped up on Saturday. They wanted to have a good day.” But make no mistake, it’s the Non-Public A state championship meet later in the month the Colts really have their eyes one. Last year, CBA went 10-2 with its only two losses coming against St. Augustine’s and St. Joseph’s. The Colts beat St. Joe’s during the regular season by one point, but then lost to them in the state semifinals. “It was their turn in the semis,” Sullivan joked. St. Augustine’s then beat St. Joseph in the state final. While they finished one-two in the state, CBA was third, and the same three teams figure to battle for the crown this season. “It’s gonna be tough,” Sullivan, who guided CBA to the state title in 1998, said. “St. Augustine’s is good, St. Joe’s is tough, and we have a lot of quality swimmers too; so, it’s going to be interesting. It depends who steps up, and who’s sick and who’s healthy.” And not necessarily who has the fastest swimmer in each event, but who has the most depth. “The meet is not won in the middle lanes,” Sullivan pointed out, referring to where the top-seeded swimmers are. “We have to swim fast in the outside lanes and our second relays have to swim well. I’ve had meets with St. Joe’s in the past where we won more races, but they had more seconds, thirds and fourths, and got more points and won the meet. The team with the least amount of last places usually wins.” CBA still has some time, though, before it has to start thinking about the state tournament. In fact, the Colts have a challenging schedule ahead of them this week. On Tuesday, they were scheduled to swim at Westfield. “And they’re one of the top public schools in the state,” Sullivan noted. Then after a meet on Friday against Ocean Township at Monmouth University, CBA will take part in the 27th annual Pirate Invitational on Saturday at The Bubble in West Windsor. There the Colts will face some of the state’s premier individuals and teams, including top-ranked and defending meet champion Mount St. Mary of Watchung. “It doesn’t get any easier,” Sullivan concluded. Notes ... The Holmdel boys took sixth place (156 points), led by a stellar effort from senior Brendan Jones. Jones took second in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle. He swam 1:47.45 in the 200, which was won by Howell’s Waldron Tucker in 1:47.11, and 4:54.73 in the 500, won by Shore Regional’s Andrew Dennis (4:48.38). Jones was also part of two third-place relay teams, teaming with senior Luis Martinez, senior Arman Yalcin and junior Nicholas Williams to finish the 200-yard IM in 1:49.32, before teaming with senior Sean Snyder, Williams and Yalcin in the 400-yard free relay (3:32.52). Williams also had some individual success, finishing tied with CBA’s Harm for second place in the 100-yard free (49.85) and taking fourth place in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.14. In the girls championship meet, held Sunday at the Ocean County YMCA, Red Bank Catholic emerged with the team title, despite capturing just one event — the 500 freestyle won by junior Christina DiMaria (5:22.73).