By Sean Moylan, Sports Writer
Rich Haff’s impressive individual wins in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 IM were not enough to lead the Northern Burlington County Regional High coed varsity swim team to a victory against Holy Cross at Burlington County Community College this past Saturday afternoon. The Lancers took the meet, 110-60.
With a fine 1:09.74 time, Haff won the 100 breaststroke quite easily. His 2:13.63 mark in the 200 IM was nearly 13 seconds faster than A. Shurkmur’s second place mark of 2:26.60. Shurkmur had also been the runner-up to Haff in the breastroke. Haff actually played a role in all three of NBC’s wins as he swam the anchor leg in the 400 freestyle relay team’s first-place finish.
Ian King, Chris Sichel and Zach Leili-Marrazzo also swam on that relay team which posted a very fast 4:14.35 winning time. Haff, Gill, King and Sichel joined forces to capture second place in the 200 freestyle relay event with a time of 1:52.26.
While Haff may be an obvious standout, NBC coed varsity swim head coach Jessica Murray likes the effort she has been getting out of her team as of late.
”We’ve seen consistent improvement in all of our swimmers, which is really important since many of them are new to the sport. Their hard work is paying off and they are able to experience beating their personal bests,” noted Murray.
Northern Burlington’s relay teams are beginning to taste some success. Its 200 medley relay team of Brianne Flynn, Matt McGillen, Sichel and Leili-Marrazzo placed second with a time of 2:09.03.
Flynn, a team captain, also took third in the 100 backstroke with a personal best 1:18.73 time.
”(Flynn is) very motivating and supportive of her teammates and always puts in 110 percent,” added Murray.
In the 500 freestyle, a race that’s not for the meek of heart, King placed second with a time of 7:05.59. King finished third in the 200 freestyle with a 2:22.85 mark.
Murray was also quite pleased with Leili-Marrazzo’s second-place finish in the 100 freestyle (59.42 seconds), his third-place finish in the 50 freestyle (a 26.12 second time) and his overall splits in the relays.
”He (Leili-Marrazzo) is only a second-year swimmer and has worked extremely hard during pool practices. He is motivated to do well and really loves the sport and he is always seeing improvement in his times,” remarked Murray.
McGillen, meanwhile, placed third in both the 200 IM (2:50.90) and the 100 breaststroke (1:18.68). Although the team wins haven’t come yet, NBC is getting better and better. Just check the overall times.
NBC is scheduled to swim against Moorestown on Friday and Holy Cross on Saturday at Burlington County Community College.

