Matt Fratterman shaved four seconds off his personal best time with a 2:02.39 to finish in ninth place in the 200-yard freestyle, which led the way for Brick Township’s boys teams in the Ocean Country swim championships at the Ocean County YMCA in Toms River over the weekend.
Fratterman also knocked 11 seconds off his 500 time with a 5:38.99 personal best.
Brick Township’s team finished 12th out of 13 teams, but many swimmers posted their best times, which is the first goal of any head coach.
“We actually swam very well,” said coach Barbara Floyd. “Of the 16 boys we entered, 14 had their best times. This year, we have no individual stars but we got many big time drops of time.”
Fratterman also qualified for the Shore Conference championships on Feb. 9-10 at the Ocean Y in both events. Jordan Centofanti, who qualified for the Shore Conference meet in the 500 and 100 freestyles, clocked a personal best 56.65 in the 100 at the county meet.
Freshman Evan Jensen swam to a personal best 1:14.04 in the breaststroke, while Matt Effington had best times in the backstroke (1:11.82) and the 200 free (2:15.73). Justin Hahn with a 1:16.76 in the backstroke and Mike Bange with a 6:27.99 in the 500 free each dropped eight seconds off their respective times.
In the butterfly, Patrick Schaefer finished in 1:13.57 and Ryan Parks lowered his best time by four seconds to 1:14.05. Sprint freestyler Colin Crilley recorded a 27:51 in the 50 and a 1:01.64 in the 100. Floyd said Nick LaGrou “has improved greatly in his first year out” and finished the 100 free in 1:03.
Joining Fratterman and Centofante in the Shore Conference meet are Jensen, Travis Spier in the 200 individual medley, butterfly and breaststroke, John Morris in the IM and Josh Lyons in the IM and butterfly. The six qualifiers is four more than a year ago and the most in recent years, said Floyd.
– Wayne Witkowski