Lions sending several swimmers to conference meet
To set up that dramatic finish against the Rebels, the Lions posted a 112-58 dual meet victory over Barnegat, in which its swimmers finished first in all but one event as junior Jacquie Dowe won the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly.
The girls team finished the campaign with a 4-6 record.
Two Jackson Liberty girls have qualified for the Shore Conference championships this weekend, Feb. 5-6, at the Ocean County YMCA, Toms River: sophomore Lauren Baccoli in the individual medley and the 100 freestyle, and senior Gina Cavallo in the breaststroke.
“We brought more girls to the Ocean County meet than ever before, and a lot of girls took seconds off their times,” Jackson Liberty girls coach Janice Schenck said of the greatest measuring stick of success — lower times. “They have done as well as expected. The younger swimmers are improving a lot. They are starting to get a grasp of everything.”
Schenck pointed to the medley relay that clocked a seventh-place 1:08.03 in the county meet with swimmers junior Nadine ElHage in the 100-yard backstroke, Cavallo in the 100 breaststroke, Dowe in the 100 butterfly and Baccoli in the 100 freestyle.
Three of those swimmers hold school records — Baccoli in the individual medley in 2:38.2, Dowe in the butterfly in 1:17.93, and ElHage breaking her own record in the backstroke in 1:15.42. Cavallo has a fine 1:19.95 time in the breaststroke that was a Shore Conference qualifying time.
The only other seniors aside from Cavallo cited by the coach were co-captains Jaime Sweet and Liz Russo. Both swim the butterfly.
“I could not ask for better leaders,” said Schenck. “Almost all of the younger swimmers have stepped up. I see the most improvement from those who did not swim much before.”
Schenck pointed to junior Jenny Hulse as an example of a swimmer who has made “a lot of improvement in different meets, especially the distance events.” In the Jags Shore Cut Meet, Justine Giletta clocked an eighth-place 1:26.25 in the breaststroke.
As for the boys, Zach Koerber, a junior, has trimmed 22 seconds off his 500 freestyle time from the start of the season and recorded a school record 6:20 in the Jags Shore Cut Meet on Jan. 17, said coach Richard Henninger. Koerber earlier in the season clocked a school record 2:19 in the 200 freestyle, but junior Tyler Dilks surpassed it with a 2:14.79. Dilks also has a 6:34 personal best in the 500 freestyle. Koerber has the top time in the 500 freestyle, a 6:20.
Two boys have qualified for the Shore Conference championships this weekend — juniors James Lee and Alex Mulholland, who is the team co-captain with Koerber.
Mulholland swam a 1:03 in the 100 butterfly for 11th place and 2:22.45 for 13th place in the 200 individual medley at the county meet to qualify for the Shore Conference championships in both events. Lee qualified in the 50 freestyle in 24.97.
“The kids want to be better, and the parents are seeing it,” said Henninger, who moved over early in the season from Jackson Memorial, where he had been an assistant coach for four years (ironically, Henninger was at Jackson Memorial early this season when the Jaguars swam against Jackson Liberty).
John Rosado, who swims the 100 breaststroke, is the lone senior on the boys team, which finished with a 3-7 record in dual meets.
Dave Hobson, a sophomore, has performed well in the breaststroke. Hobson swam on the medley relay that clocked a 10th-place 2:08 time in the Jags Shore Cut Meet with junior Keith Moran, sophomore Kyle Bennion and freshman Steve Lee. Moran was eighth in the breaststroke in 1:17.90 and freshman Randy Trasky was 12th in the butterfly in 1:11.36 in that meet.
“I believe that next year, people might be surprised with what happens with this team,” said Henninger. “I would say we are best at distance events, with training and working a little bit harder to reach goals. But we are pretty competitive in the backstroke, and in the sprints we are going to pick it up next year.”
