Ironmen rust-proof in swim pool

Jan 25, 2010

*Many NYSA athletes competed in the Bergen Meet of Champions on Sunday January 24, 2010 - this is the write-up in the Bergen Record*

Ironmen rust-proof in swim pool

Monday, January 25, 2010
BY RONALD P. CLARK
The Record
STAFF WRITE
 
WEST NYACK, N.Y. — It was Don Bosco's turn

KEVIN R. WEXLER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Chloe Conjares of IHA is all smiles after her team won the 200 freestyle relay Sunday.
 
Since the Bergen County boys swimming championship meet began four years ago, Bosco and Ridgewood have taken turns going home with the team title.
 
Immaculate Heart continued its County dominance with its 11th straight girls championship, breaking seven meet records along the way. The boys and girls combined to break 16 meet records.
 
Last year, it was the Ridgewood boys. On Sunday, Don Bosco won its second County championship, beating Tenafly, 183-162, at the Felix V. Festa Middle School pool. Ridgewood finished third.
 
"There were no disappointments," Don Bosco coach Anne Langan said.
 
"Of course, we'd like to win them all, but we know that's an impossibility. The level of competition was excellent. The level of commitment was there and it was beautiful."
 
Unlike the past two years, the boys title did not come down to the final race. But the Ironmen still had to fight off Tenafly and Ridgewood from beginning to end as the Tigers and Maroons won two and three races, respectively.
 
Don Bosco was consistent, ending the meet with eight top-three finishes, including wins in the 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard freestyle.
 
"This [pool] is where I swim all year," said Don Bosco junior Ryan Magee, a Montvale resident who won the 200-yard freestyle with a meet-record 1:44.22. "I like it. It's a nice facility."
 
Tenafly's Leo Lim won both the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly and Ridgewood's Austin Taylor won the 100-yard backstroke and was the anchor leg on Ridgewood's winning 400-yard freestyle relay.
 
Senior Chloe Conjares broke two meet records as IHA beat Northern Highlands, 369-174, for the girls title.
 
"It's sad that I'm leaving," said Conjares, who won the 50- and 100-yard freestyles. "But I'm happy that I was able to do what I did, all with an IHA on my cap and a smile on my face."
 
"It's always easy to swim fast when you have fast competition," IHA coach Jason Schlereth said. "That's what's great about a meet like this. From top to bottom, the competition is strong, so it forces you to swim faster."
 
The Blue Eagles had eight wins and three other top-three finishes.
 
The Blue Eagles also kept their streak of never having lost a relay at the County meet.
 
Rutherford's Ellen Huelbig won the 200-yard IM and held off IHA's Casey Fazio by .05 seconds to win the 100-yard fly with a time of 59.35 in one of the best races of the day.
 
Glen Rock's Sara Craft won the 500-yard freestyle with a meet record 5:05.44. Craft and Huelbig represented the only non-IHA girls to leave with wins.
 
E-mail: clarkr@northjersey.com

WEST NYACK, N.Y. — It was Don Bosco's turn.

Since the Bergen County boys swimming championship meet began four years ago, Bosco and Ridgewood have taken turns going home with the team title.

Immaculate Heart continued its County dominance with its 11th straight girls championship, breaking seven meet records along the way. The boys and girls combined to break 16 meet records.

Last year, it was the Ridgewood boys. On Sunday, Don Bosco won its second County championship, beating Tenafly, 183-162, at the Felix V. Festa Middle School pool. Ridgewood finished third.

"There were no disappointments," Don Bosco coach Anne Langan said.

"Of course, we'd like to win them all, but we know that's an impossibility. The level of competition was excellent. The level of commitment was there and it was beautiful."

Unlike the past two years, the boys title did not come down to the final race. But the Ironmen still had to fight off Tenafly and Ridgewood from beginning to end as the Tigers and Maroons won two and three races, respectively.

Don Bosco was consistent, ending the meet with eight top-three finishes, including wins in the 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard freestyle.

"This [pool] is where I swim all year," said Don Bosco junior Ryan Magee, a Montvale resident who won the 200-yard freestyle with a meet-record 1:44.22. "I like it. It's a nice facility."

Tenafly's Leo Lim won both the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly and Ridgewood's Austin Taylor won the 100-yard backstroke and was the anchor leg on Ridgewood's winning 400-yard freestyle relay.

Senior Chloe Conjares broke two meet records as IHA beat Northern Highlands, 369-174, for the girls title.

"It's sad that I'm leaving," said Conjares, who won the 50- and 100-yard freestyles. "But I'm happy that I was able to do what I did, all with an IHA on my cap and a smile on my face."

"It's always easy to swim fast when you have fast competition," IHA coach Jason Schlereth said. "That's what's great about a meet like this. From top to bottom, the competition is strong, so it forces you to swim faster."

The Blue Eagles had eight wins and three other top-three finishes.

The Blue Eagles also kept their streak of never having lost a relay at the County meet.

Rutherford's Ellen Huelbig won the 200-yard IM and held off IHA's Casey Fazio by .05 seconds to win the 100-yard fly with a time of 59.35 in one of the best races of the day.

Glen Rock's Sara Craft won the 500-yard freestyle with a meet record 5:05.44. Craft and Huelbig represented the only non-IHA girls to leave with wins.

E-mail: clarkr@northjersey.com