Chatham claims boys, girls Morris County swimming championships

Jane Havsy, Morristown Daily Record
·11 min read

RANDOLPH – Oops, Chatham did it again. The Cougars girls won their 13th consecutive Morris County team swimming title on Saturday morning. They edged Morris Knolls, 213 to 209.

Not to be outdone, the Chatham boys also won the county title — 222 to 213 over Kinnelon, with three-time defending champion Delbarton third.

"It's really exciting to be here and have counties, after last year we didn't get one," senior Kyle Beebe, who anchored the Cougars' winning 400 free relay — their only event victory on Saturday.

"I knew it was going to be a close meet. Kinnelon, Randolph, those teams are usually at the top. We were watching individuals and seeing where we placed, and hoped we would ultimately get a good score."

Chatham senior Kyle Beebe swims the 200-yard freestyle during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.
Chatham senior Kyle Beebe swims the 200-yard freestyle during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.

Both girls teams employed a similar strategy, one Chatham has used to its advantage for many years. Instead of finishing first over and over, both the Cougars and Golden Eagles piled up points.

Chatham claimed the 200 free relay, junior Flora Jeng was first in the 100 free, and sophomore Alison Barton won breaststroke. The Cougars had at least one swimmer in the top six in every event.

Morris Knolls won the medley and 400 free relays, and Sophia Yousuf was first in the individual medley. The Golden Eagles had a swimmer in the top six of all but breaststroke, taking second and third in the 100 free; second and fifth in the 500; and second, fourth and fifth in the backstroke.

Just keep #VWimming

Danielle Carter might finally be reaching the potential her club coaches saw when she was 12 years old. A 5-foot-10½ freshman at Villa Walsh, Carter won the Morris County 50-yard freestyle title. She edged Jeng, a teammate from Lifetime Swim in Florham Park — and the home base of several champions.

It's actually the second time Carter has slipped by Jeng in a week, the first time in a club meet.

Carter added the county backstroke title (57.66) to her resume from lane one. She is Villa Walsh's first individual county champion since Rebecca Morel in the breaststroke in 2016.

"I came to this meet trying to go as fast as I can," Carter said. "I knew the girl next to me, Flora, so I thought, 'I've got to beat her.' I really love having the club team vibe at a high school meet. A dual meet, it's over super quick, an hour. I don't love that as much. This gives me more time to think about my races, see what I can improve, and calm my nerves."

Jeng won the 100 free, and also anchored the Cougars' first-place 200 free relay to victory by five hundredths of a second.

"It's super fun to get everyone together," she said. "It's pretty impressive they pulled this whole thing off. It's different when there's so many people, and we're cheering — even when we're upstairs (in the gym). It's good to be back."

Kinnelon rewrites record book

James Curreri leads off Kinnelon's 200-yard medley relay during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.
James Curreri leads off Kinnelon's 200-yard medley relay during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.

James Curreri helped Kinnelon get off to a good start, swimming backstroke in the opening medley relay and then coming back to win the IM (1:52.96). Both races broke school records, and it's the first time Curreri has taken IM gold in a high school invitational.

Curreri gave a special shoutout to Mendham freshman Kenny Barnicle, a club opponent in the next lane.

"It feels great to come in and get the gold and score points for Kinnelon," said Curreri, who added the backstroke title about an hour later.

"Hopefully we can make a name for ourselves."

Riding the (Green) Wave

Rob Alexy (center) cheers on the Delbarton 200-yard freestyle relay during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.
Rob Alexy (center) cheers on the Delbarton 200-yard freestyle relay during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.

Finally a Delbarton senior, and with his older brothers Max and Jack off to college, Rob Alexy has embraced a leadership role. Winning championships has always been part of that.

Towering over the competition at 6-foot-7, Alexy defended his 200 free crown and added the 500 on Saturday afternoon. He also led off the Green Wave's winning 200 free relay.

"There's a big responsibility, showing people how to conduct themselves," Alexy said. "It's a lot of fun to see everything we've been doing in practice come to life, to see how it pays off in the races."

More medals for Morristown

Morristown senior Molly Webber has been part of many Morris County and NJSIAA championships. She's even helped the Colonials claim a share of the 2020 team crown. But on Saturday, Webber became an individual Morris County winner for the first time — twice.

Webber won both the 200 and 500 free by huge margins, an entire length of the CCM pool in the shorter race.

"I wanted to go out hard and try to hold on," said Webber, who has received a commission to the U.S. Military Academy.

"I was going to give it my all and see what happens. ... It feels pretty good. I'm happy."

Jane Havsy is a storyteller for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.

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Chatham won the Morris County girls swimming title for the 13th consecutive year.
Chatham won the Morris County girls swimming title for the 13th consecutive year.

Girls results

Team scores: Chatham 213; Morris Knolls 209; Morristown 144; Mountain Lakes 118; Kinnelon 92; West Morris 84.5; Parsippany Hills 77; Roxbury 69; Madison 60.5; 10. Park Regional 50; Villa Walsh 48; Morris Hills 39; Montville 27; Mount Olive 20; Randolph 17; St. Elizabeth and Pequannock 16

Medley relay: 1. Morris Knolls (Caroline Weldon, Sophia Yousuf, Bailey Rynkiewicz, Tara Wiarda) 1:50.18; 2. Mountain Lakes (Lorelai Page, Mira Marino, Lily Hann, Emma Devine) 1:51.46; 3. Chatham (Nicole Sim, Charlotte Siow, Delaney Moynihan, Alison Barton) 1:54.28; 4. Morristown (Keira Riley, Mary Gillen, Molly Webber, Jill Rosenfeld) 1:56.37; 5. Parsippany (Kaylee DePietro, Kelly Le, Elizabeth Duffy, Taylor Wong) 1:57.99; 6. West Morris (Abby Ford, Alexandra Lozanguiez, Taylor Weth, Francheska Lacap) 1:58.58.

200-yard freestyle: 1. Molly Webber (Morristown) 1:50.44; 2. Katie Crawford (Chatham) 2:01; 3. Isabella DiPasquale (Roxbury) 2:01.23; 4. Bridget Rynkiewicz (Morris Knolls) 2:02.28; 5. Reagan Moffatt (Parsippany Hills) 2:02.42; 6. Carolyn Kao (Park) 2:05.73.

200-yard individual medley: 1. Sophia Yousuf (Morris Knolls) 2:08.98; 2. Nicole Sim (Chatham) 2:13.04; 3. Lily Barisonek (Madison) 2:15.89; 4. Hailey Tiu (Mount Olive) 2:17.75; 5. Hailey Oosterwyk (Pequannock) 2:19.27; 6. Mira Marino (Mountain Lakes) 2:21.14.

50-yard freestyle: 1. Danielle Carter (Villa Walsh) 24.53; 2. Flora Jeng (Chatham) 25.0; 3. Taylor Weth (West Morris) 25.28; 5. Alexandra Lozanguiez (West Morris) 25.53; 5. Lily Hann (Mountain Lakes) 25.58; 6. Jill Rosenfeld (Morristown) 25.82.

100-yard butterfly: 1. Lily Hann (Mountain Lakes) 56.77; 2. Samantha Benzija (Kinnelon) 57.11; 3. Bailey Rynkiewicz (Morris Knolls) 58.78; 4. Anna Kilponen (Kinnelon) 1:00.32; 5. Mary Gillen (Morristown) 1:00.53; 6. Delaney Moynihan (Chatham) 1:00.61.

100-yard freestyle: 1. Flora Jeng (Chatham) 54.33; 2. Tara Wiarda (Morris Knolls) 54.49; 3. Caroline Weldon (Morris Knolls) 56.29; 4. Cami Gil (Roxbury) 56.86; 5. Emma Devine (Mountain Lakes) 57.1; 6. Ashtyn Grow (Morris Hills) 58.43.

500-yard freestyle: 1. Molly Webber (Morristown) 4:54.57; 2. Bailey Rynkiewicz (Morris Knolls) 5:16.58; 3. Lorelai Page (Mountain Lakes) 5:17.37; 4. Katie Crawford (Chatham) 5:19.27; 5. Bridget Rynkiewicz (Morris Knolls) 5:23.41; 6. Isabella DiPasquale (Roxbury) 5:24.39.

200-yard free relay: 1. Chatham (Delaney Moynihan, Alison Barton, Katie Crawford, Flora Jeng) 1:41.78; 2. Morristown (Jill Roseneld, Mia Barlotta, Ella Pfahler, Molly Webber) 1:41.83; 3. West Morris (Francheska Lacap, Abby Ford, Alexandra Lozanguiez, Taylor Weth) 1:43.84; 4. Mountain Lakes (Lily Hann, Mira Marino, Lorelai Page, Emma Devine) 1:44.11; 5. Morris Knolls (Bridget Rynkiewicz, Kari Mindrebo, Cassie Furman, Tara Wiarda) 1:46.02; 6. Morris Hills (Ashtyn Grow, Olivia Lin, Anna Falcone, Haley Grow) 1:49.17.

100-yard backstroke: 1. Danielle Carter (Villa Walsh) 57.66; 2. Caroline Weldon (Morris Knolls) 57.83; 3. Samantha Benzija (Kinnelon) 58.41; 4. Tara Wiarda (Morris Knolls) 59.38; 5. Sophia Yousuf (Morris Knolls) 59.51; 6. Nicole Sim (Chatham) 1:00.58.

100-yard breaststroke: 1. Alison Barton (Chatham) 1:08.32; 2. Taylor Weth (West Morris) and Lily Barisonek (Madison) 1:08.98; 4. Mary Gillen (Morristown) 1:10.96; 5. Victoria Zjawin (Montville) 1:11.15; 6. Hailey Tiu (Mount Olive) 1:11.29.

400-yard free relay: 1. Morris Knolls (Bridget Rynkiewicz, Bailey Rynkiewicz, Caroline Weldon, Sophia Yousuf) 3:38.71; 2. Chatham (Nicole Sim, Samantha Tornberg, Katie Crawford, Flora Jeng) 3:43.49; 3. Roxbury (Anna Anikiej, Isabella DiPasquale, Sydney Lanager, Cami Gil) 3:55; 4. Kinnelon (Ellie DeKeukelaere, Samantha Benzija, Jianna Sartorio, Zoe Davies) 3:58.17; 5. Park Regional (Lindsay Baitinger, Natalie Gorthey, Michelle Zhao, Carolyn Kao) 4:00.31; 6. Morristown (Mary Gillen, Mia Barlotta, Ella Pfahler, Virginia Carlin) 4:00.32.

Boys results

Team scores: Chatham 222; Kinnelon 213; Delbarton 157; Mendham 123; Randolph 122; Morristown 1000; Parsippany Hills 66; Madison 59; Mountain Lakes 51; Park Regional and West Morris 38; Morris Knolls 27; Roxbury 24; Morristown-Beard 23; Mount Olive 17; Pequannock 16.

Kevin McNamara swims breaststroke on Kinnelon's 200-yard medley relay during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.
Kevin McNamara swims breaststroke on Kinnelon's 200-yard medley relay during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.

Medley relay: 1. Kinnelon (James Curreri, Max Connelly, Kevin McNamara, Benjamin Papendick) 1:37.36; 2. Mendham (Raaghav Reddy, Kenny Barnicle, Ethan Posner, Nicholas Patino) 1:39.7; 3. Chatham (Kyle Beebe, Jack Bigham, Ryan O'Day, Erik Hoie) 1:40.09; 4. Morristown (Ben Goroway, Zachary Annuik, Owen Genrich, Kieran Hyland) 1:43.28; 5. Madison (Owen Weller, Anuthra Abeysinghe, Justin Lee, Artha Abeysinghe) 1:44.42; 6. Parsippany Hills (Connor Johnson, Cooper Moffatt, Nicolas Iannucci, Nicholas Velicky) 1:44.8.

200-yard freestyle: 1. Rob Alexy (Delbarton) 1:41.97; 2. Kyle Beebe (Chatham) 1:46.45; 3. John Papendick (Kinnelon) 1:50.32; 4. Michael Fialcowitz (Delbarton) 1:50.38; 5. Connor Poetsch (Randolph) 1:50.5; 6. Jack MacMillan (Morristown) 1:50.83.

200-yard individual medley: 1. James Curreri (Kinnelon) 1:52.96; 2. Kenny Barnicle (Mendham) 1:54.52; 3. Connor Johnson (Parsippany Hills) 1:58.69; 4. Kieran Lucus (Randolph) 1:59.38; 5. Itay Ben-Yoseph (West Morris) 2:01.38; 6. Jack Bigham (Chatham) 2:02.7.

50-yard freestyle: 1. Liam Lynk (Mountain Lakes) 22.0; 2. Colin Faraher (Morristown-Beard) 22.38; 3. Nicholas Patino (Mendham) 22.4; 3. Vedran Gjivoje (Delbarton) 22.57; 5. Charlie Kulp (Chatham) 22.65; 6. Daniel Batrachenko (Park) 22.77.

100-yard butterfly: 1. Kevin McNamara (Kinnelon) 52.74; 2. Will Kilponen (Kinnelon) 53.18; 3. Itay Ben-Yoseph (West Morris) 53.54; 4. Charlie Kulp (Chatham) 53.88; 5. Ryan O'Day (Chatham) 55.97; 6. Owen Genrich (Morristown) 56.15.

Delbarton senior Rob Alexy defended his 200-yard freestyle title during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.
Delbarton senior Rob Alexy defended his 200-yard freestyle title during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.

100-yard freestyle: 1. Rob Alexy (Delbarton) 46.65; 2. Kenny Barnicle (Mendham) 48.12; 3. Kieran Lucus (Randolph) 48.51; 4. Ryan Snarr (Chatham) 48.85; 5. Colin Faraher (Morristown-Beard) 48.99; 6. Raaghav Reddy (Mendham) 49.84.

500-yard freestyle: 1. Kevin McNamara (Kinnelon) 4:46.46; 2. Michael Fialcowitz (Delbarton) 4:49.71; 3. Kyle Beebe (Chatham) 4:49.85; 4. Erik Hoie (Chatham) 5:02.04; 5. Connor Poetsch (Randolph) 5:02.71; 6. John Papendick (Kinnelon) 5:02.8.

200-yard free relay: 1. Delbarton (Rob Alexy, Tyler Catapano, Jonah Kim, Vedran Gjivoje) 1:29.11; 2. Chatham (Ryan Snarr, Atticus Chang, Erik Hoie, Charlie Kulp) 1:29.53; 3. Mendham (Raaghav Reddy, Nicholas Patino, Craig Sharer, Kenny Barnicle) 1:29.83; 4. Randolph (James Lachica, Matthew Shortino, Jonathan Saltos, Kieran Lucus) 1:31.37; 5. Kinnelon (Max Connelly, Will Kilponen, David Zoltek, Benjamin Papendick) 1:31.69; 6. Morristown (Kieran Hyland, Lincoln Stuek, Jack MacMillan, Owen Genrich) 1:32.02.

100-yard backstroke: 1. James Curreri (Kinnelon) 50.35; 2. Connor Johnson (Parsippany Hills) 53.54; 3. Raaghav Reddy (Mendham) 54.56; 4. Jonathan Saltos (Randolph) 55.5; 5. Will Kilponen (Kinnelon) 55.63; 6. Owen Weller (Madison) 56.13.

Liam Lynk of Mountain Lakes High School defended his 100-yard breaststroke title during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.
Liam Lynk of Mountain Lakes High School defended his 100-yard breaststroke title during the Morris County Boys Swimming Championships at Morris County Community College on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022.

100-yard breaststroke: 1. Liam Lynk (Mountain Lakes) 58.86; 2. Max Connelly (Kinnelon) 59.54; 3. Jack Bigham (Chatham) 1:00.72; 4. Erik Hoie (Chatham) 1:02.04; 5. Daniel Batrachenko (Park) 1:03.04; 6. Joe Narduzzi (Delbarton) 1:04.2.

400-yard free relay: 1. Chatham (Ryan Snarr, Atticus Chang, Charlie Kulp, Kyle Beebe) 3:14.27; 2. Kinnelon (James Curreri, Kevin McNamara, John Papendick, Will Kilponen) 3:14.76; 3. Delbarton (Rob Alexy, Michael Fialcowitz, Jonah Kim, Vedran Gjivoje) 3:18.39; 4. Randolph (Jonathan Saltos, Connor Poetsch, James Lachica, Kieran Lucus) 3:20.99; 5. Morristown (Owen Genrich, Jack MacMillan, Ben Goroway, Lincoln Stuek) 3:24.43; 6. Parsippay Hills (Nicolas Iannucci, Nicholas Velicky, Connor Johnson, Brandon Lyubarsky) 3:32.44.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ Swimming: Morris County Championships 2022