Jersey Sporting News

Asbury Park Returns to TOC

Hughes Helps Young Panthers SucceedPage 2 Jersey Sporting News • March 20 - April 6

By Michael RogersThe Point Boro girls’ basketball team

had a fantastic season finishing with a23 - 9 record and won their third straightsectional title championship whilecoming up one game short of making itto the Tournament Of Champions(TOC). The Panthers were led all sea-son by the leading scorer in the ShoreConference: Kelly Hughes. WithHughes and the four other starting play-ers returning next season the Panthersshould be having some additional suc-cess next year.

In the Central Jersey Group II cham-pionship, the Panthers dominated bothsides of the floor with an 81- 50 winover Summit. Kerri Malleck led PointBoro in scoring with 24 points and nine

assists while Hughes had an outstand-ing all-around game scoring 21 points,grabbing none rebounds, handing outfive assists and forcing six steals.

Advancing to the semifinals of theGroup II State playoffs, the Panthersdefeated Middletown (24 - 6) by thescore of 54- 38. Hughes led the way inscoring with 19 points while Malleckadded 15 points. Already leading 17 - 13at halftime the Panthers used a toughfull court press in the third quarter tobreak the game open with a 10 - 0 run.Head Coach David Drew said, "we hadto play our game to succeed and wewere able to do that.”

Moving to the Group II state finalsfor the first time since 1996 thePanthers were matched against one of

the state’s perennial basketball power-houses in Shabazz (31-1). The Bulldogsuse speed and high energy to wearteams down and that is exactly whathappened to Point Boro. The game wastied at 25 when Shabazz went on a 25-9 run to close out the second quarter andlead 50- 34 at halftime. In the secondhalf Aliyyah Hanford proved too muchfor Point Boro to handle scoring 33points in the 100 - 64 Shabazz victory.The final score was extremely mislead-ing as Point Boro kept playing hardwith Hughes giving it her all and scor-ing 30 points. Even though thePanthers came up short of the TOC thisseason, with all five starters returningnext season Point Boro should be readyfor another successful season.

By Ted KaiserASBURY PARK— For the second year ina row, the Asbury Park boys’ basketballteam reached the Tournament of Champions(TOC). The Blue Bishops overcame thegraduation of leading scorer MauriceDickerson from the previous season to winthe state sectional and overall group cham-pionships. Asbury Park became only thethird Shore Conference team to win consec-utive overall state titles. In fact, it was near-ly the third Group I title in a row for theBishops who lost to University in the 2009

state final. This year, Asbury Park avenged that loss

to University by sending them home with a79-76 win at Rutgers University. TheBishops stormed out of the gate with a 26-point first quarter outburst. They utilized abalanced scoring attack to hold a 45-30 half-time advantage. University battled back andclosed to within one point at the lastminute. But Asbury Park held on thanks tosome clutch free throws by both Amir andArmond Conover. Armond Conover fin-ished with a team-high 21 points and histwin brother Amir added 16 points.Thommond Hammary managed to pour in20 points

On their way to the overall Group Ichampionship, the Bishops routed previous-ly undefeated Paulsboro 67-54 in the semi-finals. They won the Central Jersey Group

I crown with a 66-58 victory over Florence.Asbury Park never trailed in the game asThommond Hammary pumped in 19 pointsto lead the way. Armond Conover scored 17and Amir Conover chipped in with 16points.

In the TOC, the Bishops faced a familiarfoe in Plainfield. The two teams squared offlast year with Plainfield winning by 33points. This time around Asbury Park ledfor most of the first half before eventuallyfalling by a score of 68-53. Plainfield lostin last year’s TOC final to eventual cham-pion St. Anthony and returned most of theirlineup intact this season.

PHOTO: FRANCINE ATTARDIAmir Conover helped the Bishopsavenge a loss to University withaggressive play beating them 79-76at Rutgers University.

PHOTO: FRANCINE ATTARDIKelly Hughes (23) helped lead thePanthers to the Tournament ofChampions.

Elite Performance Opens In Grand FashionBy Eric BraunTINTON FALLS - Elite Sports PhysicalTherapy and Performance Center openedits doors in grand style last week. On handfor the grand opening were formerMonmouth University and current DallasCowboys standout Miles Austin and for-mer Red Bank Catholic and currentIndianapolis Colts standout Donald Brownsigning autographs. Both were clients ofElite during their playing days at theJersey Shore and added that without thehelp and training from owner SharonWentworth and her staff, they wouldn'thave been able to play at the levels neededto get where they are today.

Wentworth, along with her husbandBobby Smith, a former MonmouthUniversity standout and Olympic javelincompetitor, have opened the doors to a top-notch physical therapy and physical train-ing facility in the Jersey Shore. Teamingup with Reach Your Potential Training(RYPT), the combination makes for anelite training arena for Shore Conferenceand local collegiate and professional play-ers to call their own.

Wentworth said that the center primarilyfocuses on youths no younger then twelveyears old as their bodies until that time are still grow-ing. Pushing too hard early on has led to the increase

in knee and shoulder injuries among athletes under twelve. With the knowledge, beliefs and experience

that both Wentworth and Smith bring tothe area athletes, they will have no prob-lem growing their business and reputationin the Tinton Falls location.

According to Donald Brown, he hasbeen working with Wentworth and Smithsince his days at Red Bank Catholic andwhen he makes his way back to townfrom Indianapolis he still makes it a pointto stop in. Coming out of Red BankCatholic he was highly regarded as one ofthe premier backs in the ShoreConference, but like every other athletehe had his injuries. "Elite gave me a placeto rehab and get back on the field fasterand more productive with their knowledgeand desire to make me better,” saidBrown. Miles Austin echoed that samesentiment and added "that it is hard to findpeople who love what they do. Look atthis place, it is amazing."

For those of you looking to get yourstudent-athletes an edge on physical train-ing on an elite level, be sure to check thestaff at Elite Sports Physical Therapy.They are located at 1540 West ParkAvenue Suite 4 in Tinton Falls, rightbehind the American Red Cross building.They can also be reached at 732-544-0011or on the web at www.elitespt.com.

PHOTO: ERIC BRAUNAt the grand opening of the Elite Sports Physical Therapy &Performance Center were: Steven Bade, Sharon Miller Wentworth,Bobby Smith and Adam Feit. Also joining them were former clients andcurrent NFL players Miles Austin and Donald Brown.

Jersey Sporting News • March 20 - April 6 Page 3

By Ted KaiserJERSEY SHORE— Four ShoreConference teams won bowling statechampionships this winter. Manchesterwon the 2012 NJSIAA/BollingerTournament of Champions (TOC) and theGroup II championship on the girls’ side.Brick Township took home the girls’Group III crown. Keansburg and JacksonMemorial won the Group I and Group IV

titles on the boys’ side. Manchester defeated defending champion

Brick Township in four games in the TOCsemifinals to avenge last year’s loss at thehands of the Green Dragons. The Hawksthen went on to the final where they best-ed Cardinal McCarrick 214-190, 207-181and 214-165. Freshman Julia Ott bowled aperfect strike to clinch the victory. Earlier

in the Group III match, Brick Townshiprallied from behind to top Colonia for thetitle. Howell, Brick Memorial, JacksonLiberty, Manasquan and Keyport alsoreached the group finals stage.

In the boys’ competition, Keansburgwon its third straight Group I champi-onship. They were the defending TOCchampions, but this year came up just

short against Woodbridge. The Titans wonthe first game, but dropped three in a row.However, winning a third straight title wasa big time accomplishment for the teamthat included seniors Dale Barshewski,Korrie O’Hanlon and Dylan Jordan.Jackson Memorial won the Group IVcrown and set a record for most total pinsin the TOC with 3,409.

Four Shore Teams Take Bowling Crowns

By Eric BraunTOMS RIVER - The season for the seniorladen group from St. Rose came to an endon Thursday night against a grittyManasquan group in the semifinals of theTournament of Champions (TOC), but thememories these girls have made and therespect they have earned along the way willlast a lifetime. The Roses took the schoolback to the TOC for only the second timein school history and the first time since2000 with defense and excellent guard play.

Led by Fordham bound senior SamanthaClark during their Shore ConferenceTournament (SCT) championship andNon-Public A championship runs, thePurple Roses looked unstoppable headinginto their third contest against Manasquan.In the SCT finals, Clark had her way withthe inside game against the Warriors but inthe TOC semifinals, she found very littleroom to cause Manasquan any harm. Thiscontest was an off night for the PurpleRoses as they missed several free throws,turned the ball over and had no answer ondefense for the first time this season. S.t Rose got to the number two seed in theTOC and had a 29-1 record heading into the

contest based on patience, pre-cise shooting and excellentdefense.

The Purple Roses fabulousseason was in large part due totheir stellar three seniors atguard: Kasey Chambers,Morgan Barry and DianaMalanga. The three of themhelped guide the Roses offenseall season long and did so withveteran leadership, aggressivedefense and tremendous insideand outside shooting.Unfortunately, the three onlycombined for 27 total pointsagainst Manasquan who suffo-cated the three point arc allnight long and only allowed theRoses to hit three three-pointersall night, with Clark makingtwo of them.

Nothing can take away fromthe great accomplishments ofChambers, Barry and Malanga and Clark.They have helped rebuild a program usingtheir mental toughness and hard work and

have given the younger players somethingto carry on. Even though the program willgraduate five seniors, the underclassmen

have been able to be a part of a terrific runand have learned valuable lessons from theseplayers.

St. Rose's Season Comes To An End

PHOTO: ERIC BRAUNMorgan Barry's ball handling and threepoint shooting helped lead St. Rose intothe NJSIAA Tournament of Champions.

Page 4 Jersey Sporting News • March 20 - April 6

PHOTO: ERIC BRAUN: Kasey Chambers’ ( 11) stellar yearhelped St. Rose make it to the TO Csemifinals. Make sure there is a periodafter St

By Jim GarrettPeyton and Eli Manning are both elitequarterbacks in the long history of theNFL. They let their evaluation be solelybased on the ability level they both haveshown in all technique categories needed tobe considered one of the highest ratedskilled performers of all time in the NFL.The evaluations should not include Super

Bowl wins or individual team’s win andloss records.

Their evaluation is based solely on skill.Which Brother is the more talented per-former? Keep in mind the brother that israted second is still one of the finest quar-terbacks in the NFL and has more SuperBowl victories but his brother’s total com-mand of every situation he faces during a

game is totally remarkable. He reads and reacts to pass defense coverages with amind set never before domonstrated at anytime in the history of the NFL. He is themost accurate passer in the history of theNFL and he acts as his own offensive coor-dinator during both practice sessions andgame situations. He is the most accuratered zone quarterback of all time and is con-

sidered the best quarterback in the histroryof football. Eli Manning will be consid-ered as one of the more outstanding quarter-backs in the history of rating NFL quarter-backs, but in the Manning family there isonly one Babe Ruth and Peyton Manningis the Babe Ruth of the NFL.

The NFL Quarter Back Manning Brothers

DR. BADE ~ DR. JOHNSON ~ DR. TORPEY ~ DR. FOOS ~ DR. GENTILE ~ DR. GESELLS ~ DR. GABISAN ~ DR. SWICK


Jess Nicola was a student atSayreville High School whenshe walked in the door atFrozen Ropes in Tinton Falls.She began taking batting les-sons with owner MattPasserelle and excelled in herplaying career in high schooland college. After an All-StateHigh School career she attend-ed Monmouth University andcontinued her softball prowess.Nicola never stopped refiningher playing skills. She madeFrozen Ropes a home awayfrom home. Passerelle has nowwelcomed Nicola to the staffand she brings a passion need-ed to teach young softballplayers the knowledge she

gained along the way. At Sayreville War Memorial

High School, Nicola was afour- year varsity starter.Starting her career as an All-Conference Catcher, she fin-ished as a two time All-Conference Shortstop, All-State Shortstop and OffensivePlayer of the Year. During herhigh school years she playedfor the Elite ASA gold pro-gram: Jersey Inferno. She con-tinued her career to MonmouthUniversity. There she was afour- year starting catcher,two-time All-NEC Catcher andnamed to the All-Tournamentteam. She is the program’s all-time career leader with 41 dou-

bles, while ranking second inMonmouth history with 120runs batted in. Her 20 homeruns are third all-time, whileher 201 hits place her fifth onthe career record list. Shealso ranks in the all-time MUtop-10 in average (.345), runsscored (103) and walks (52).Finishing her career atMonmouth University shejoined the Hawks coachingstaff. Since 2007, Nicola hasbeen an assistant tournamentdirector for team NJ. Nicolanow spends her time workingon the daily operations ofFrozen Ropes includingstaffing, scheduling, teamtraining and private lessons.

Former Monmouth University Softball Standout Instructs At Frozen RopesPage 6 Jersey Sporting News • March 20 - April 6

By Pat RalphThe boys’ winter track season in the

Shore Conference was a season in whichnumerous records were broken by individ-ual runners and teams. Like always, theShore Conference’s boys’winter track sea-son failed to disappoint as the Conferencewas graced with having some of the bestrunning talent in the state and the nation.When New Jersey high school runningcomes to mind, the one team fans of thesport start with first is the ChristianBrothers Academy (CBA) Colts. TheColts, led by Head Coach Karl Torchia,came flying into the winter track seasonafter winning their first ever Nike CrossCountry National Championship and fin-ishing the fall season ranked number one in

the United States. The Colts began theirwinter season with their 50th MonmouthCounty Indoor Relays Championship, fol-lowed by another Shore Conference RelayChampionship. At the New BalanceCollegiate Invitational at the New YorkArmory, the Colts ran the second fastesttime in the U.S. this year and broke theNew Jersey state record in the 4x800. Totop that off, the Colts’ Distance MedleyRelay took first and ran the fastest timethis year in the country for the event.At the Millrose Games, the Colts took

first in the 4x400 relay and ran the thirdfastest time for this year. The Colts fin-ished their in-state season with their staterecord 17th Indoor State Championship to

cement their post as the top track programin New Jersey. The Colts star-studded line-up this season included: University ofMichigan-bound senior George Kelly,Dartmouth-bound senior Tim Gorman,Penn State-bound senior Conrad Lippertand Bucknell-bound senior Mark Stafurik.To conclude the season, the Colts finishedas the number one team in the UnitedStates for the boys’ winter track season.

CBA was not the only Shore Conferenceteam to have success this winter season. Atthe New Balance Indoor Nationals compe-tition the Jackson Memorial shuttle hur-dles team of seniors Mike Kaba, RyanWilliams, Jason Poppe and Steve Avinoset a new national record in the event with

a time of 30.13. Manchester took third inthe Group II state championships with ascore of 25, while Jackson Liberty tooksecond in the Group III state relays thisyear with a score of 34.

Locally, both Manchester and JacksonLiberty tied for fourth at the ShoreConference Relay Championships, whileFreehold Township and Manalapan tied forsecond to finish behind CBA. In the OceanCounty Relay Championships, JacksonMemorial edged out Manchester to win thecounty title 52-42. Along with CBA’s firstplace finish in the Monmouth CountyRelay Championship, Freehold Townshipand Freehold Boro took second and thirdrespectively.

Shore Conference Boys’ Winter Track Recap

Jess Nicola, a former softball player for MonmouthUniversity, now instructs at Frozen Ropes.

By Eric BraunNEWARK - Christian BrothersAcademy (CBA) ice hockey camewithin twenty minutes of regainingNJSIAA Championship glory againsttop ranked Delbarton, but ultimatelyran out of gas in the final period andlost 3-2. The Colts held the top rankedteam in the state to a 2-0 deficit head-ing into the final period before givingup the game winner with just over aminute to go.

CBA, who finished the season 19-5-5, opened the scoring midwaythrough the second period on a powerplay goal from Brendan vanRiemsdyk on an assist from JamesMartello. The Colts would get anoth-er goal with just over two minutesremaining in the period to go up 2-0from Anthony Cusanelli on assistfrom Matt Langlois, but Delbarton, who finished the season 29-1 was not

ready to give up. Delbarton wouldseize the momentum back early in thethird period when they broke throughthe Colts defense and scored on apower play goal at the nine minutemark of the third period. The Green

Wave would tie the game with threeminutes to go and then capitalize on ascramble in front of the Colts net withtime winding down to go up 3-2.

Unfortunately in classic games likethis one there is always a losing team,but according to Colts Head Coach

Ryan Bogan, "As far as I'm concernedthey are all winners in that CBA lock-er room." CBA continues to be a fac-tor in the ice hockey world in NewJersey and will continue to battleagain next year to get their first NJSI-AA title since 2005.

PHOTO: ERIC BRAUNCBA's John Amato was an offensive sparkplug for the Colts this season.

PHOTO: ERIC BRAUNCBA's Glen Florezak puck han-dling and leadership helped guidethe Colts to the finals of theNJSIAA Non-Public Champion-ships against Delbarton.

PHOTO: ERIC BRAUNChris D'Alessio's solid play between the pipes this seasonhelped lead the Colts to the finals of the NJSIAA Non-PublicChampionships against Delbarton.

CBA Suffers Heartbreak In Hockey Finals

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Page 8 Jersey Sporting News • March 20 - April 6 Jersey Sporting News • March 20 - April 6 Page 9

PROTECT YOUR ATHLETE’STEETH LIKE THE

PROFESSIONALS DO!!

By Jim HintelmannMIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP -Although losing to eventualNJSIAA Group IV championAtlantic City, 60-50, in thesemifinals recently, MiddletownNorth still enjoyed its finestboys’ basketball season inschool history. By winning itsfirst Central Jersey Group IVtitle since 2002 along with arepeat Buc Holiday Classiccrown, the Lions (25-5) also seta school record for wins. The bigseason didn't come as a completesurprise to Coach Mike Iasparro,who had a veteran team comingback. "I felt that we would have

a pretty good team," Iasparroadmitted, "but we did better thanexpected as far as the post seasonwas concerned."

North finished the season tiedfor second with Manalapan in avery strong A Division Northbehind division championFreehold Township. They werealso one game in front ofChristian Brothers Academy(CBA) and split two games withall three teams.

Two of their biggest wins wereagainst Colts Neck (23-4) in theCentral Jersey Group IV finalsand Jackson Memorial (24-3) inthe semifinals at Jackson. The

Colts Neck win avenged an earli-er loss while all three ofJackson's losses were to North."Jackson Memorial was unbeat-en at home," said Iasparro."Atlantic City had too much sizefor us. They went 6-8, 6-5 and 6-5 and really hurt us inside."

Jason Heulbig, a 6-4 centerwho will play basketball atAssumption College in the fall,led the Lions in both scoring(16.7 ppg) and rebounding whilepoint guard Eric Youncofski ranthe offense with about sevenassists per game. Rounding outthe starting five were TimFrawley, Cody Thompson and

Will Bowman. "Huelbig wasvery athletic, quick and had greatleaping ability," said Iasparro."Youncofski energized the teamand ran the offense. Frawley wasour best three-point shooter andhas led the team with 65 threepointers. Thompson didn't startuntil his fourth game of the sea-son but was a sparkplug allaround and averaged 10 pointsgame while Bowman was thedefensive specialist on the team.We started Thompson because weneeded more scoring," said Iasparro.”

Bowman was their defensivestopper and was one of the bestdefensive players in the Shore.North also had a strong bench ledby Tim Rhatigan and John Dini.

Although losing Huelbig,Youncofski and Frawley to grad-uation, North should still be oneof the area's better teams nextseason with Thompson andBowman coming back."We expect another very goodyear next season," said Iasparro."Our junior varsity and freshmanteams were good."

PHOTO: FRANCINE ATTARDICody Thompson (2) goes to the net forMiddletown North.

PHOTO: FRANCINE ATTARDIMiddletown’s Jason Huelbig (33) jumps tothe basket for two points.

North Boys’ Had Finest Basketball SeasonBy Eric BraunTOMS RIVER - Coming into thisseason, it was Michaela Mabrey thatguaranteed that the Warriors wouldbe in the Tournament ofChampions (TOC) final in EastRutherford but it was her freshmansister Marina and sophomoreKatelyn Flaherty who helped her getthere. The Manasquan girls’ basket-ball team exacted revenge against St.Rose, who knocked off the Warriorsto win the Shore ConferenceTournament (SCT), to win thesemifinals matchup at the Poland

Springs Arena in Toms River infront of a sold- out crowd.

Marina Mabrey and Flaherty bothhelped Manasquan improve to 31-2on the season and one win awayfrom the school’s first ever TOCtitle with a dominating one-twopunch on offense. The two com-bined for 41 of the team’s 56 points.The Warriors dominated for most ofthe contest and withstood a 20-point third quarter from St. Rosethat capped off the third with a gametying three- pointer from seniorSamantha Clark. That would be the

last time St. Rose would comeclose to Manasquan the Mabreysisters, Flaherty and AmandaHagaman would put the clampsdown on St. Rose and come outvictorious 56-50.

The Warriors played probablytheir first complete four quarters ofthe season and according toMichaela Mabrey, "we usuallyhave a letdown after the half, butthis time we took it to St. Rose."It was the youngsters that dominat-ed for the Warriors and helped getMabrey and the rest of theManasquan team to the final day ofhigh school basketball and amatchup with number one seeded

Gill S.t Bernard’s on Tuesday night.As a freshman, Marina Mabrey

showed that she is ready for the bigstage as she showed no nervesthroughout the season and especial-ly during this TOC run. She has apretty good mentor in her sisterMichaela, but she has made her ownname for herself as one of the tough-est defenders and offensive mindedplayers in the Shore Conference.Some players, coaches and fans maynot like her style, but the only thingshe worries about is getting bettereach game and winning. That mind-set along with the veteran leadershipof her sister and Flaherty has theWarriors one win from the ultimate

NJSIAA title.Michaela Mabrey who made her

peace before the season started, knewthe talent level this squad had and didnot care what everyone outside ofManasquan thought about them."To get to this point and to look inthe stands and see the doubters look-ing at us, celebrating and movingon is an awesome feeling," saidMabrey. While she will be takingher talents to Notre Dame next sea-son, Mabrey will actually have twogames left in her high school career.The first game is the TOC final onTuesday night followed by theMcDonald’s All American game inChicago.

Mabrey And Flaherty Lead Manasquan Into TOC Finals

PHOTO: FRANCINE ATTARDIAs her team watches, Manasquan freshmanMarina Mabrey (25) drives to the basket. Shehelped propel the Warriors to the TOC in EastRutherford.

PHOTO: ERIC BRAUNSophomore Kathelyn Flaherty (24) inher year has helped guide the offensefor Manasquan and into the finals ofthe NJSIAA Tournament ofChampions.

By Ted KaiserM I D D L E T O W N —Moving from the Public Bsection to the Public A sec-tion in ice hockey might bea challenge for some teams.The Middletown South icehockey team not onlyaccepted that challenge,they thrived in that setting.Last season saw the Eaglesreach the Public B champi-onship game. Thoughts ofa deep run in the Public Atournament seemed farfetched earlier this seasonwhen South struggled withconsistency. But everythingchanged on January 9thwhen the Eagles defeatedChristian BrothersAcademy (CBA) for thefirst time in school history.The 4-3 victory seemed to

instill confidence that setthe team on a path for a 17-game unbeaten streak thatlasted all the way to thePublic A semifinals.

South rolled through therest of the regular seasonand danced their way to theHandchen Cup final wherethey battled Brick

Township to a tie after reg-ulation and overtime. Themomentum carried rightinto the Public A tourna-ment where the Eagles hadno problems adjusting totheir new surroundings.The fifth seeded Eaglesshutout 28th seed MountOlive 6-0 in round one and

then dispatched fellowShore Conference memberMarlboro by a score of 6-1in the second round. Fivedifferent players scored forSouth against theMustangs including TylerRalph (two goals, oneassist), Zach England, WesFriberg, Nick Malvasi and

Chris Connor. GoaltenderTrevor Ralph made 17saves in net, one game afterthe shutout of MountOlive.

In the quarterfinals, theEagles scored two first peri-od goals and boosted theirlead to 3-0 before PascackValley got on the score-board in the second period.South went on for a 4-1victory that propelled theminto the semifinals. JamesBurns had a pair of goalsand Chris Connor scoredonce and had two assists.Unfortunately, South had toface defending championRandolph in the semifinals.The Rams are one of thetop programs in New Jerseyand proved it with a 7-2win.

Middletown South Skates To Semifinals

PHOTO: ERIC BRAUNMiddletown South ice hockey team and coaches.

Shido Martial Arts Offers Mixed Martial Arts For Children And AdultsFREEHOLD — The brand-new Shido Martial Arts hasjust opened its doors to thepublic and has begun enroll-ment. The facility is NewJersey’s largest martial artstraining facility. At 14,000square feet, it is the secondlargest in the nation.

“We wanted to createsomething special, that ourstudents could be proud of,where we could train a newgeneration of martial artistsin Monmouth County in thebest facility we could cre-ate,”said Greg Carr, Founderof Shido. “We knew afterreturning from South Koreathat the industry neededsomething radically differentand that Taekwondo andMMA students deserved alarge, state-of-the-art facility to train in”.With that in mind, Carr set out to bringtogether the best coaches he could find.“All of our coaches are required to havetrained in Korea and be 4th degreeMasters. This is because the mainstreamquality of martial arts instruction has

eroded dramatically over the years, so wewanted to get back to the basics. Highquality instruction in a high-qualityschool. That ended up being surprisinglynovel”.

Offering Taekwondo for children andadults, Shido also offers Mixed Martial

Arts for teens and adults. Its Muai ThaiKickboxing program is geared towardsmen and women of all ages who enjoychallenging and dynamic training. “Whenit comes to improving coordination, flex-ibility, strength and aerobic capacity,nothing really compares with martial arts

training. Its amazing how muchlearning self-defense can improvethe confidence of the practitioner.Confidence then improves the phys-ical performance. Its a win-win allaround,” added Dillon Lee, Jiu-Jitsuinstructor.

Shido specializes in classes forchildren as young as four years old.“Kids love our Taekwondo classes.We have years of experience teach-ing the little ones. If we can getaccess to them early in their devel-opment cycle, we can make atremendous impact on their long-term attitudes towards respect,work-ethic and self-control. Mostimportantly its about healthy self-esteem,”says Meghan Heelan, pro-gram coordinator.

MMA training, Muai ThaiKickboxing and Taekwondo areoffered on flexible schedules.

Private training, party events, summercamps, day camps, field-trips, seminars,childcare and free wi-fi and. Shido MartialArts is located at 200 Business ParkDrive in Freehold, next door to Pump-It-Up Bithday Party Center. Call 732-866-1688 for more information.

The new Shido 14,000 sq. foot martial arts complex has a lot to offer.


By Ted KaiserJERSEY SHORE — Although Christian BrothersAcademy (CBA) boys’ swimming was the only localteam to win a state championship this winter, severalindividual swimmers performed well in the Meet ofChampions (MOC).

In the boys’ meet, there were no first place winners,but plenty of strong finishers. Zach Molloy of TomsRiver North finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle. BrianCapozolla (Toms River East) and Curtis Meade (CBA)

came in fourth and sixth respectively in the 50-yardfreestyle. The Shore Conference had three top-eight fin-ishers in the 100-yard freestyle including Evan Mahoneyof Central Regional (second place), Brian Capozolla(fourth place) and Zach Molloy (fifth place). Will Molloyalso finished eight in the 500-yard freestyle and Mahoneyplaced third in the 100-yard breaststroke.

In the girls’ meet, the Shore Conference shined in the100-yard freestyle. Wall Township’s Danielle Griggs andColts Neck’s Noelle Klockner tied for sixth place with a

time of 52.25. Only three Shore Conference girls’ teams advanced in

the state tournament as a team. Rumson/Fair Havenadvanced with a first round win in the Central, DivisionB bracket and Manasquan defeated Toms River North toearn a victory in the Central, Division A section. RedBank Catholic continued their storied tradition with afirst round 128-42 win over Notre Dame. The Caseys losta close heartbreaker 90-80 to Bishop Eustace in the Non-Public A semifinals.

Shore Swimmers Compete In Meet of Champions

LITTLE SILVER – From little acorns,mighty oaks grow. And from the ‘seed’ ofan idea, Sickles Market, along with stu-dents from Point Road School, has takenan annual Earth Day event and grown itinto a fun and educational gardening expe-rience that provides lifelong lessons forstudents. On Friday April 20, 2012 at 1:30more than 400 students at Point RoadSchool will present their grocery bags dec-orated with Earth Day messages to BobSickles, 3rd generation owner of SicklesMarket, and in a show of thanks, he willhand deliver a lettuce seedling to each child.

It started four years ago when theschool’s Green Team approached BobSickles, owner of Sickles Market, askingif the market would take part in theschool’s Earth Day celebration. The idea –called the Earth Day Groceries Project, anational program – was for Sickles to pro-vide schoolchildren with plain brown shop-ping bags, which they would decorate withdrawings and environmental messages,such as “Save Our Planet” or “Reuse ThisBag.” The market would then use the bagsat checkouts on Earth Day, spreading the‘green’ messages to its customers.

Recognizing the educational benefits ofthe program, Bob immediately joined in,

and for the pastfour years,customers ofSickles Markethave enjoyedthe artistic andi n f o r m a t i v eshopping bagseach EarthDay, which isApril 22. Butafter that firstyear, Bobwanted to con-tribute more to the Earth Day effort and tohelp foster in the students a love andrespect of the land and environment. Andwhat better way than to give each studenthis/her own small piece of earths – aseedling in a pot – to nurture and grow.

And so for the past three years, Sickleshas presented each student at Point RoadSchool with an individual lettuce seedlingin a recyclable coconut-fiber pot. In addi-tion, Sickles has planted more seedlings inthe school’s courtyard, which, after 60days, are harvested for the school’s “SaladHarvest Day” lunch.

“Gardening is a hobby with manyrewards,” explained Sickles, who is the son

of a farmer. “I don’texpect all of thechildren to take upgardening, but a fewwill see the entire loop of the cycle and thatwill capture their hearts into adulthood.”

“It’s also my way of sending each child athank you for their environmental thought-fulness,” said Sickles. “The Earth is ourhome, our garden, our food. We want tosupport local efforts to keep it beautifulandcontinue to share the Good Stuff – aterm used for superior, quality ingredients -with everyone

In addition to the bags and seedlings,Sickles will celebrate Earth Day with itsannual Kids’ Day on Sunday, April 22,from 11a.m. – 3 p.m. The day will featuregardening demonstrations, food tastings,face painting, a magic show and more. Theevent is free and open to the public.

Susan Murray, a school parent and wasteefficiency consultant with Waste NotSolutions, and Pam Albert, the school’sPrincipal, initiated the initial collaborativeeffort between Sickles and the school. Artteacher Dale Dvorak oversaw the art projectand supervised the huge task of ensuringthat every child, K-4 grades, decorated abag.

“What started out as a simple activity for‘The Green Team,’ the Point RoadEnvironmental Club, has just continued togrow and has spawned many other activi-ties and educational outcomes,” saidAlbert. “We are committed to teaching ourstudents to be environmentally consciousand encourage as many collaborative com-munity projects as possible. We are veryexcited about this project and are veryappreciative of the on-going support fromSicklesMarket,” added Albert.

According to the Earthdaybags.org website the Groceries Project is one of thelargest and most well established educa-tional projects on the Internet. It is a non-profit, grassroots effort. The project startedin 1994, with 43 schools; today there areover 1,000 participating schools.

“The event will illustrate the tastyrewards of gardening,” said Sickles, whosemarket has earned numerous awards includ-ing the coveted 2011 New Jersey FamilyBusiness of the Year Award by RothmanInstitute of Entrepreneurship – FairleighDickinson.

Bob Sickles thanks each of the 400 stu-dents with a lettuce seedling.

Children present grocery bags decorated with Earth DayMessages.

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Jersey Sporting News • March 20 - April 6 Page 11Earth Day School Project With Local Century-Old Business Grows Into Gardening Project

Shore Conference StarsShine In Atlantic City

By Josh LashleyAnother season is complete and it can once

again be stated with certainty that a major focalpoint of great wrestling, both on a team and indi-vidual level, resided right in the ShoreConference.

Leading the way for the Shore Conference atthe NJSIAA State Individual Tournament at theBoardwalk Hall in Atlantic City earlier thismonth were Bryant Clagon from Toms RiverSouth and Dallas Winston from JacksonMemorial.

Clagon, a junior, won the 138-lbs. statechampionship in eye opening fashion as hepinned South Plainfield’s Tyler Hunt in the firstperiod of their final round match. It was the finalbout of the tournament and both wrestlers enteredthe match undefeated.

Clagon was dominant at the states, with hisclosest match being a five-point victory in thesemifinals. In total he had two pins and a majordecision to go along with the 6-1 triumph in thesemifinal round. Clagon, who was named theState Tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler, was41-0 this season.

In his state final match at 182-lbs., Winstonwas faced with an undefeated opponent whoplaced second in the State in 2011. But, Winstonwasn’t going be denied as he held offPiscataway’s Tevin Shaw, 4-3, to earn the Statetitle. Winston won his first three matches at thestates by a combined score of 16-0. He was ableto topple an undefeated wrestler, Bryan Loughlin(Becton-Wallington), 1-0, in the semifinals.Winston completed his senior year with a record33-3 for the Jaguars.

While Clagon and Winston celebrated theirfirst individual state titles this season, RaritanHigh School celebrated its first state team cham-pionship. The Rockets topped South Jerseypower Delsea Regional, 30-28, in the State

Group II finals. The Rockets, a team with a greatdeal of balance throughout the lineup, finishedthe season with a 24-6 overall record.

SHORE CONFERENCE STATEPLACE WINNERS:

106 lbs: Joseph Ghione (Brick Memorial,sophomore) 6th place

113 lbs: Kevin Corrigan (Toms River South,junior) 5th place

120 lbs: Zack Hertling (Ocean Township,freshman) 3rd place

126 lbs: Brian Hamann (Jackson Memorial,junior) 4th place

126 lbs: Jalen Ramos (Central Regional, sen-ior) 8th place

132 lbs: Richard Lewis (Toms River East,junior) 5th place

132lbs: Jesse Meaney (Manchester, senior)6th place

138 lbs: Bryant Clagon (Toms River South,junior) 1st place

145 lbs: Ken Theobold (Toms River South,senior) 2nd place

160 lbs: Vincent Favia (Christian BrothersAcademy, senior) 6th place

170 lbs: Zak Nicholas (Jackson Liberty, jun-ior) 6th place

182 lbs: Dallas Winston (Jackson Memorial,senior) 1st place

195 lbs: Hayden Hrymack (Christian BrothersAcademy, senior) 5th place

195 lbs: Matt Moore (Brick Memorial, jun-ior) 7th place

220 lbs: Lex Knapp (Lacey Township, senior)2nd place

220 lbs: Colton Bigelow (Ocean Township,senior) 7th place

285 lbs: John Appice (Manalapan, junior) 7thplace


By Mike CelliThe sun is shining, the clocks have

changed and spring training is in fullswing. What better time to discuss foot-ball. March is an important month forthe NFL as it includes the standard dateon which player contracts expire. Playerswithout contractsin 2012 became"free agents" after4:00pm easternstandard time onMarch 13,2012.Here are someimportant points regarding "freeagency".

Exclusive Rights Free Agent - Aplayer whose contract expires at a timewhen he has less than three accrued sea-sons in the NFL cannot market his serv-ices to other clubs if his old club giveshim a minimum salary tender on orbefore 4:00pm eastern standard time onMarch 13, 2012. If the tender is provid-ed, this player can only re-sign with hisold club (unless the tender is later with-drawn).A Restricted Free Agent - A player

whose contract expires when he has threeaccrued seasons in the NFL (but less thanfour accrued seasons) in 2012 is in thiscategory. If his old club provides himwith a sufficient "Qualifying Offer" on orbefore 4:00pm eastern standard time onMarch 13, 2012, it retains the right toeither match an offer the player may getfrom another NFL club or to receive draftchoice compensation from the club mak-ing the offer. The "Qualifying Offer" isbased on the level of draft choice the oldclub wants to receive. For example, theQualifying Offer to receive a first round-er in 2012 is $2,611,000.00. TheRestricted Free Agent only has untilApril 20, 2012 to generate an offer fromanother club.

An Unrestricted Free Agent - Aplayer whose contract expires when hehas accumulated at least four accrued sea-sons in 2012 is free to sign with anyother clubs, if he does so by the begin-ning of training camp of the same year.If he does not sign elsewhere, his exclu-

sive rights revert tothe old club afterthat date, providedthat the old club hasgiven him a writtentender by June 1.An Unrestricted

Free Agent will be restricted in signingelsewhere, however, if he is designated aFranchise or Transition Player.

Franchise Players - Each club maydesignate one player who would other-wise be an Unrestricted Free Agent as aFranchise Player an offer equal to therolling average of the top five salaries inthe League at the player’s position. If thetender offers the top five average applica-ble at the end of the previous season, theFranchise Player can seek offers fromother clubs, but the old team can matchthe offer or receive two first -round draftchoices from the offering teams.Franchise Player and Transaction Playertenders become fully guaranteed for skilland football injury, if the player choosesto accept the tender.Transition Players - A club can elect

to use a "Transaction Player" designationfor one Unrestricted Free Agent instead ofusing its Franchise Player designation. Ifit does so, it must tender the player anoffer equal to the rolling average of thetop 10 salaries in the League at his posi-tion. A Transition Player can obtain anoffer from any other team, but his oldteam can only match or not match theoffer, it cannot collect any draft choicecompensation it does not match.

Spring Break

Jaguars Reach Tournament Of ChampionsJersey Sporting News • March 20 - April 6 Page 13

By Michael RogersThe Jackson Memorial girls’ basket-

ball team finished this season with anamazing 27- 6 record and for the firsttime in school history won a sectionaltitle, state title and reached theTournament Of Champions (TOC) .Head Coach Rachel Goodale reflectedon the season by saying, "It’s been areal long season and I think our regularseason prepared us to know how to windown the stretch. We gave it our all ".

Along the way, the Jaguars had somegreat comebacks and exciting finishes.In winning their first sectional title,Jackson Memorial trailed by as manyas 16 points before an amazing comefrom behind rally and defeat ofRoncocas Valley in overtime by thescore of 75- 56. Next for the Jaguarswas an impressive 47- 37 NJSIAAGroup IV semifinals win at DeptfordHigh School sending JacksonMemorial to their first state final.Hannah Missry and Tiffany Montagne

each scored 15 points while StephanieMason added 11 points. The Jaguarshave won all season with their shoot-ing and making a high percentage ofthree- point shots and during a 12 - 2run in the second quarter both Missryand Mason each hit two three- point-ers. The Jaguars also used the three-point shot in the finals. Missry ledJackson Memorial in scoring with 27points, seven rebounds and eight three-pointers. With the game tied at 47,Missry connected on her last three-pointer of the day giving the Jaguars a50 - 47 victory and their first state titlein school history. The Jaguars connect-ed on 11 three- pointers in the game andthe win earned Jackson Memorial theirfirst trip to the TOC.

Jackson Memorial was the fourthseed in the TOC and they faced thenumber five seed in Gill St. Bernard’s(28- 5) in the first round. The Jaguarsled 29 - 23 at halftime and led by as

many as ten points in the second halfbut the Knights used their size and ath-leticism to take control of the game.With the score tied at 44, the Knightswent on a 8 - 0 run on their way to a58- 51 victory and ending the Jaguarsmagical season. Missry led the waywith 22 points (six three- pointers) andMason added 18 points (four three-pointers).

Overall it was a great season forJackson Memorial as they won theschool’s first sectional and state cham-pionships as well as reaching the TOCfor the first time in school history. TheJaguars finished the season with a 27 -6 record.

By Ted KaiserJERSEY SHORE— The Shore Conferenceperformed well as a whole in the girls’indoor track Meet of Champions (MOC)for this winter season. Several local ath-letes finished in the top six in their events.Red Bank Catholic’s Liana Marzano wonthe 1,600-meter run championship bestingher competition with a time of 4:58.38.Chelsea Vaughan of Southern Regional notonly finished in first place in the pole vaultbut tied for the meet record.

In the 55-meter dash, Central Regional’s

Samantha Jensen came in sixth with a timeof 7.34 seconds. Jensen’s best eventthough, was the 55-meter hurdles whereshe finished in second place. MeghanMcMullin of Red Bank Catholic wasfourth in the 400-meter run. Two ShoreConference athletes tied for third place inthe high jump. Manasquan’s MichaelaRead and Toms River South’s Elly Wardleturned in 5’4 performances. In shot put, St.John Vianney’s Andrea McKenna came insecond.

Also this season, the Rumson/FairHaven girls’ indoor track team won theCentral Jersey Group II championship forthe first time in school history. JuniorRachel Christ led the team with 20 pointswinning the 1600-meter run (5.09.59) andsetting a meet record. Senior ShannonMcCarthy scored 16 points winning the800-meter run (2:21.61) and finished thirdin the 1600 meter run (5:11.03). The4x400 meter relay team, composed of sen-ior, Kate Kostecky, Meagan McGurl,

Elizabeth Bellin and Emily Geiger finishedsecond. “All of the team members whohave trained so hard to this point should bevery proud to be part of RFH’s athletic his-tory,” said Head Coach Tim McLoone.

In the New Balance Nationals at the NewBalance Track and Field Center in NewYork, Neptune senior Ajee Wilson won hersecond straight national championship inthe 800-meter run with a time of 2:06.58.Wilson is committed to attend FloridaState next fall.

Shore Girls’ Perform Well In Meet Of Champions

PHOTO: ERIC BRAUNJackson Memorial’s HannahMissry (23) led the Jaguars tovictory by scoring 22 points.

On Tuesday, February 7 in Toms River, the Rumson FairHaven High School girls’ indoor track team won, for the firsttime in school history, the NJSIAA Indoor Sectionals CJ Group2 title. Scoring 60 points, the team finished in front of thirteenother teams including local teams Matawan, Holmdel, andMonmouth Regional.

Junior, Rachel Christ, led the team with 20 points winning the1600-meter run (5.09.59) and setting a meet record. In addition,Christ won 3200-meter event (11.24.37). Senior, ShannonMcCarthy scored 16 points winning the 800-meter run (2:21.61)and finishing third in the 1600 meter run (5:11.03). Scoring 8points, the 4x400 meter relay team, composed of senior, KateKostecky, freshman, Meagan McGurl, senior, Elizabeth Bellinand junior, Emily Geiger, finished second in 4:13.37.

Also scoring points for the RFH girls’ team in the 800-meterrun were senior Molly Hellman (2:26:47) and sophomoreCourtney Howley (2:27.83). Geiger scored 2 points for her 5thplace finish in the 400 meter dash (1:01.51), junior MichaellaIrvine scored 2 points for her 5th place finish in the 1600 meterrun (5:20.91) and freshman, Fini Satzke, scored 2 points for her5th place finish in the 3200 meter run (11:58.41). Tim McLoone,one of the coaches of the RFH indoor track team commented, “weare peaking at just the right time and all of the team memberswho have trained so hard to this point should be very proud to bepart of RFH’s athletic history.”

The RFH boys’ indoor track team finished in sixth place beat-ing out eight other teams. “It was rough night for the boys over-all but there were certainly some highlights like Sam Gottuso’sexcellent double,” said McLoone. Scoring 18 points for his team,

Gottuso, a senior, finished first in the 800 meter run (2:02.48)and second in the 1600 meter run (4:37.54).

Gottuso and the ten girl runners mentioned above will advanceto the NJSIAA Group 2 Championship, which will be held onSaturday, February 18, 2012 at the John Bennett Indoor SportsComplex in Toms River.

RFH Girls’ Indoor Track Team Wins NJSIAA

PHOTO: FRANCINE ATTARDIScoring 60 points, the girls’ teamfinished in front of thirteen otherteams including local teamsMatawan, Holmdel, and MonmouthRegional.

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The RFH boys’ indoor track team finished in sixthplace ahead of eight other teams.


By Eric BraunEAST RUTHERFORD - The final game of theseason will pit number three seeded ManasquanHigh School against number four seed Gill St.Bernard’s in the girls’ basketball Tournament ofChampions (TOC) Tuesday night at the IZODCenter in East Rutherford. Manasquan is look-ing to finish out the season where they started,ranked number one in the State of New Jersey.Coming into the season they were the preseasonfavorites but after two losses during the year andone to St Rose in the Shore ConferenceTournament championships, the Warriorsdropped to number three.

The loss to St. Rose seems to have woken upthis young and talented group. Led by NotreDame bound senior Michaela Mabrey, freshmanMarina Mabrey, sophomore Amanda Hagamanand sophomore Katelyn Flaherty, the Warriorslook primed to hoist the TOC championship tro-phy on Tuesday night. Manasquan, since the lossto St Rose, has been on a mission, dominatingeveryone they play and averaging close to 70points a game.

This will be a return of sorts for MichaelaMabrey as she returns to the TOC final. As afreshman coming off the bench for St. JohnVianney (SJV), she was part of the Lancers lastteam to win the tournament but left SJV thatsummer. Mabrey said that she never felt com-fortable and happy there. With that being said,she left the school that had just won the NJSIAATournament of Champions, never ordered hervarsity jacket, never picked up her varsity letterand did not order her championship ring. Thisseason she has helped Manasquan to its first evertournament final and says "she has all the help inthe world with her fellow teammates and can relyon anyone of them to take the big shot." This issomething special for an athlete who is wrappingup her high school career with a chance at theNJSIAA TOC title, a trip to Chicago as a mem-ber of the McDonald’s All-American team andheaded off to the Big East with Notre Dame nextseason.

If the Warriors are to send Mabrey out in style,they are going to have to get another stellar night

from Marina Mabrey, Flaherty and Hagaman.Against a similar foe like Gill S.t Bernard’s, theWarriors were able to shut down a sharp shoot-ing Roses team with a tenacious defense andtimely shooting. Flaherty and the youngerMabrey will need to continue their hot hands anddominate together from inside and outside thepaint, while the biggest part of the championshipcontest will rely on the ability of Hagaman toduplicate her performance against SamanthaClark. Against Clark, Hagaman did not give aninch and forced Clark into several off balanceshots and was able to create her own offense andassists for the Warriors.

Gill St. Bernard’s will be led by fellow BigEast bound senior Dominque Vitalis who isheaded to Georgetown. The matchup of Vitalisand Hagaman could be what determines the win-ner. The Knights will be led on offense by stel-lar guard play from twin sisters Sam and LinnettGraber. The duo helped the Knights overcome a23- point deficit against top seeded Shabazz toearn their ticket to Tuesday night’s final.

Underdogs Headed To TOC Final

PHOTO: ERIC BRAUNManasquan’s Michaela Mabrey's allaround game has helped lead a young,but talented Mansquan team into thefinals of the NJSIAA Tournament ofChampions.

By Ted KaiserNEPTUNE— The Neptune boys’ bas-ketball team followed up their ShoreConference Tournament (SCT) champi-onship with another strong run in thestate playoffs. The Scarlet Fliers avengedlast season’s sectional final defeat at thehands of Lakewood with a 74-61 win forthe Central Jersey Group III crown. Oneyear ago, the Piners pulled off a mildsurprise to win the championship overNeptune.After going through that expe-rience, the Fliers made certain that they

were the team celebrating this time around. Coach Ken O’Donnell’s squad was

confident despite losing to Lakewoodearlier this season. Of course it was byonly four points in the season openerand Neptune had clearly been playing itsbest basketball over the last few weeks.The Fliers needed every ounce of confi-dence because the Piners came out onfire. Lakewood opened up a 23-16 leadby the end of the first quarter. Neptuneturned things around in the second quar-ter and carried that momentum into thesecond half. They held the Piners to justsix points in the third quarter as they built a 19-point lead. Junior Keith

Kirkwood scored 24 points and seniorJaheem Woods added 22 points as well.Point guard Ikie Calderon also finishedin double figures with 16 points.

The Fliers made it all the way to theGroup III championship game thanks toa 63-46 win over Camden in the groupsemifinals. Kirkwood scored 19 pointswhile Calderon had 14 points and sixassists. Coach O’Donnell also creditedsenior Rahsul Holland with a nicestretch in the third quarter that helpedNeptune build their lead to double digits.The Fliers would bow out in the groupfinal at the hands of defending championPlainfield.

Fliers Take Off In Sectional Final 6

PHOTO: FRANCINE ATTARDIJaheem Woods (4) makes a move to the basket for Neptune.

When one thinks about the dom-inance of Christian BrothersAcademy (CBA) sports, the teamsthat come to mind are usually crosscountry, track and field, soccer andbasketball. They dominate in hock-ey and baseball as well but the teamthat has until recently fallen underthe radar is the swim team led byCoach Vito Chiaravalloti. Nowwith three consecutive state cham-pionship rings under his belt thebig question is, can CoachChiaravalloti possibly win afourth?

This season, led by senior cap-tains Sean Dunne, Curtis Meadeand James Malgeri, CBA cruisedthrough the regular season scoringat least 100 points in every dualmeet, but this year they did so withdepth rather than superstars likeHarrison Cefalo. “This year’schampionship was more rewardingand a bit different than the previ-ous two”, said CoachChiaravalloti. “The last two yearswe were underdogs, but each yearwe had a couple of big guns. This year we wereranked number one in the state from pre-season somy job was more to motivate and focus the teamrather than teach them. I am very fortunate that a lotof my swimmers are also club swimmers. The clubcoaches are wonderful in that they prepare the swim-mers for meets long before they come to high schoolso by the time I get them they are very experiencedcompetition swimmers. This year we were three andfour deep at every race and if truth be told, my num-ber three and four swimmers would be number onesat most of the other Shore Conference schools. Thisyear my toughest task was getting everyone on theteam to do the mental preparation needed to win andto create opportunities for everyone to swim. I need-ed to make sure the team kept its eye on the prize.We dominated this year because we were able to usu-

ally finish with three swimmers inthe top four in every single race. Toomuch depth is not a bad problem tohave.”

CBA has won a total of four stateswimming championships and CoachChiaravalloti has been involved in allof them. The first state championshipcame back in 1998 under legendarycoach Mike Sullivan. Chiaravallotiswam the 100- yard freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke and sometimes eventhe butterfly. “He taught me every-thing I know about swimming” saidCoach Chiaravalloti of Sullivan.CBA has won 22 consecutive ShoreConference championships, most ofthem under Sullivan but until CoachChiaravalloti came along, the Coltsstruggled with the state finals losingseveral before he stepped in in 2009.Until recently Coach Chiaravalloti

was known more for his baseballprowess than as a swim coach. Aftera standout four- year baseball career atCBA, he became a collegiate All-American playing for the Universityof Richmond Spiders. He then was

drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays and he played at var-ious levels of professional baseball finishing hiseight- year career with the AAA Independent LeagueSomerset Patriots.” I hung up my cleats to comehome to CBA,” said Chiaravalloti. In addition to hisswimming and baseball coaching, Chiaravalloti is apsychology teacher and admissions administrator atthe school.

So the most recent championship still begs thequestion, will there be a four-peat? CoachChiaravalloti’s answer is humble yet confident, justlike his demeanor. With a little smile he says, “Well,it’s tough to say because you never know how strongthe other schools like St. Augustine and St. Joe’s willbe from year to year. They are great programs, but Iwill tell you this, we will be even deeper and fasterthan this year so I like our chances.”

CBA Swimmers are Three-Peat State Champions

The CBA swim team celebrates one of their three consecutive state champi-onships.

Many CBA swimmers are club swimmers and areprepared to compete for their high school team.


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