JCHS Swim Chiefs Make a Splash at Essex County Championship Meet

The following article was written by JCHS Head Swim Team Coach Steve Trivino, following impressive wins by both the boys' and girls' swim teams.

The James Caldwell High School Swimming Chiefs took to the pool at Seton Hall University on Saturday, Feb 2 and they made quite a splash every time a Chief took to the blocks.   

State championship times were achieved and new school records were established.

Dave Burton was the most decorated swimmer of the day. Dave set school records in the 200 Freestyle, besting Harry Squires record from 2007 by posting his own time of 1:48.81. Burton also took over Jackson Salters' 100 Butterfly record set in 2011 by crossing the pool in an impressive 54.39.

His times not only set the school records, but they qualified him for NJSIAA Individual Championship Meet in March for both of these events. Burton finished 3rd overall in the 200 Freestyle and 2nd in the 100 Fly in both the county and the Super Essex Conference.

Dan McCarthy also made some impressive splashes in his 50 freestyle event. Dan just missed the elusive 22-second plateau in the sprint race and clocked in a 23.02 and finished 3rd in the Super Essex Conference and 4th in the county.

One last school record was established, which shocked the coaches and the participants as well, when the Boys 200 Freestyle relay broke a 12-year-old record set back in 2001 by establishing a time of 1:33.45.

The relay was led off by Burton and anchored by McCarthy, but in between were two very clutch swims by Andrew Canavan and Co-Captain Jon Krippahne. The relay swam fast enough to also qualify for the Individual Championships in March along with Burton’s entries and  McCarthy, who had previously qualified in an earlier meet this year in the 50 Freestyle.

Other personal best times were recorded by Conor Byrne, Aditya Deo, and Erik Machi. John Buoye, Louis Mollet and Michael Brennan also participated in this very fast meet.

The boys record may not be lined with the amount of wins and loses they might like to see, but that small fact has never stopped a great group of boys from performing at levels not seen by the male aqua Chiefs in a long time!

Our girls team went in with a philosophy of “knocking on the county door” this year with a goal of finishing as a team in the top 5. We wanted the rest of the county to know this young team isn’t 7-1-1 in the conference by mistake, with the team's only loss to undefeated Mount St. Dominic. When you next see our girls at Seton Hall in 2014 we won’t be knocking on the door, we expect to kick it in and get back to the top of the county where our program belongs!

Lauren D’Angelo, Grace Endersby, Julia Housel ( 100 Back & 200 Free), Addie Maykish( 200 & 500 Free) and Co-Captain Cara Housel ( 200 Free & 100 Back) led the way for our young Swim Chief girls and set an example that all of our underclassmen took as a sign that told them how important performances are in this meet.

Personal best time littered the times sheet as other girls took their swim acts to a new level. Rebecca Coughlin (100 fly & 200IM), Riley Heiblim (50 free), Alex Bambrick (100 free) Paige Mitstifer (50 & 100 free), all set Chief personal bests in each of their events, and their participation in relays solidified the girls 5th place team finish at meets' end.

D’Angelo swam the second fastest times in Chief history by recording a 2:02.16 and earned 4th overall in the County in the 200 Freestyle and a 5:23.34 and an 8th place in the County in the 500 Free .

Grace Endersby wouldn’t let the top performances stop there when she clocked a top 3 team time in the 100 Breaststroke, touching the wall with a smooth 1:11.84 and finished 5th in the County.

Seniors Katie Duca and Carleigh Trivino participated in their final county meet and did so with class and tremendous effort. Both girls posted some of their best times of the season, and each left a mark on the team for their commitment to the Swim Chiefs.

Co-Captain Corinne Cannavale, also a senior, could not compete because of injuries, but this didn’t stop her from getting up early and joining her teammates as they cheered poolside for all of our swimmers.

Other participants in the meet were Megan Kinsella, Erin Peterson, Jacqueline Mescia and Maria Bongo.

Overall the coaching staff couldn’t have been more proud of every swimmers' effort. Whether performances were record setting or not, the pride each coach felt when they saw those bright white chief emblems grace the pool could not be measure, and we look forward to the state meets coming in the next few weeks!