Nob Valley dominates at C
Conference Championships
Three local swimmers finished in the top four at last weekend’s New Jersey Swimming and Diving Conference C Championships at North Brunswick High School.
The team from Nob Valley took the overall championship on Saturday, beating second-place Willows Swim Club by over 100 points. The North Brunswick Rapids finished fourth in the meet, which featured 64 events and eight teams.
The other teams involved in the meet were the Gran Centurians, the Metuchen Municipal Pool team, the Brookhill Swim Club of Watchung, the Coppermine Swim Club of Bridgewater, and the Edison Community Pool team.
According to Priscilla Rose, the director of the meet, the swimmers from Nob Valley dominated the competition in a number of events, accumulating a total of 412 points. The Willows team finished with 287 points, while the North Rapids scored for 170 points.
"Nob Valley really had a great showing at the championships, continuing what they started in the regular season," Rose said.
Prior to the championship competition, teams were awarded trophies for their regular season. The C Conference is split into two divisions, the Tan and the White.
Nob Valley swam away with the Tan Division title, finishing just ahead of the Willows team, while the Rapids took the White Division title.
Although the regular season division title was a source of pride for the Nob River swimmers, head coach Jeanette Jaskowski was especially pleased with her team’s performance at the championships.
"I was really ecstatic," she said. "We had so many kids who swam well, and so many finished near the front in their given events."
Jaskowski, who successfully finished her first year as head coach after serving as an assistant coach for the two previous seasons, said that she began the season with a talented team.
"These kids swim all winter and came in ready to compete," she said. "We had a great season, and we were really lucky to have kids at the right age."
In addition to awarding team points at the championship, the top 10 high point scorers were also recognized, with a number of swimmers from the three local teams making the list.
A total of five swimmers from Nob Valley made the list and were joined by one swimmer from the Willows and the Rapids.
Three Nob Valley boys dominated the competition, winning every event they entered. Andy Rose, 9, John Kosmo, 12, and Casey Snepar, 12, all won three individual events while being part of a winning relay team.
They were joined by Nina Malanga, 12, who also won three individual events and a relay, and Julie Rose, 12, who won two events and a relay.
The Willows team was led by Ryan Janos, 14, who took two individual events and a relay, and Amy Wolf, 13, who won one individual and had two second-place finishes.
The Rapids were paced by Wayne Karalevich, 18, who won the breaststroke event and medaled in several other events in his final club championship. He was joined by Christine Casler, 18, who was also swimming in her last championship and won three events and a relay.
The Rapids also received several points from 10-year-old Veronica Feltrin, who won two events and a relay, showing abilities that will surely make her one of the young stars to watch in years to come.
— Doug McKenzie