BY MIKE WHITE
Staff Writer
DOVER TOWNSHIP — Jackson High School swimmer Danny Murphy brought the crowd to its feet as he rallied for a win in the 100-yard butterfly Saturday night at the Ocean County Championship meet.
Murphy started slowly and then steadily picked up the pace, as he won the event in a personal-best time of 54.72 seconds.
In fact, Murphy was in third place as he approached the wall to make the turn for the final 25-yard sprint. Murphy posted a dramatic rally in the final leg to win the title.
“It was a spectacular effort,” Jackson coach John Pelano said.
“For him to come from behind like he did was remarkable. He has been swimming well all season. He has a lot of confidence when it comes to this event.”
Jackson placed fourth overall by compiling a total of 214 points at the Ocean County YMCA. Pelano figured his squad was strong enough to place in the top five.
“We pretty much finished where I thought we would,” Pelano said. “There are a number of very solid teams out there. I thought the kids put forth a solid performance. We had a number of kids swim personal best times.”
Earlier in the event, Murphy took fourth place in the 50 free with a time of 23.87.
Teammate Colin Brown was fifth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:16.32. Later, Brown finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.51). Both of Brown’s times were personal bests.
Mike Columbo was fifth in the 100 breast with a time of 1:08.75.
“That was strong for us to place two swimmers in the top six in that event,” Pelano said. “At the start of the year, that was one events that we were looking to improve upon. We’ve had a couple of guys step up and do a great job there.”
John Wolek placed sixth in the 100 free with a time of 52.08.
Pelano hoped for faster times in the relay events. Jackson’s 400-free relay team was fourth, while the 200-free relay squad was fifth.
Wolek, Murphy, Eric Skurka and Brown posted a time of 3:41.67 in the 400 free to place fourth. Earlier, the same group of swimmers posted a time of 1:38.02 to take fifth in the 200-free relay.
“I think that we can go faster than both of those times,” Pelano said.
“Our goal for the Shore Conference meet is to finish both of those events faster than we did this weekend.”