Alicino looks to lead Raiders to conference title
North Brunswick girls and boys expect
successful seasons
JEFF HUNTLEY North Brunswick’s Kelly Wright competes in the backstroke during a meet against crosstown rival South Brunswick Tuesday.
North Brunswick High School is home to one of the Greater Middlesex Conference’s top swimmers, and the scary part about it is, she’s only a sophomore.
After a brilliant freshman campaign, Nicole Alicino is ready to make her mark on the state as she leads the Raiders in an attempt to qualify for the state dual meet.
Alicino is off to a fast start this year, winning the 50 yard freestyle in a meet against Bishop Ahr (26.38) as well as being part of a winning 200 freestyle relay team (1:49.43) with teammates Alli Palladino, Meri Perla and Kelly Wright.
But based on her success last year, these victories are just a warm-up for what should be a stellar season for both Alicino and the Raiders.
Last year, the freshman topped the field in the Greater Middlesex Conference championship meet in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.36. From there, she went on to take second in the 100 freestyle, with a time of 56.86.
This season, she is looking to knock a few ticks off her times en route to defending her title in the 50, and winning one in the 100.
In addition, she hopes to help her teammates win another relay at the championship meet.
But Alicino is not the only member of her team with high expectations. The Raiders look to be one of the top teams on both the girls and boys side in the Greater Middlesex Conference.
Along with Alicino, the North Brunswick girls team includes seniors Wright and Meredith Strimple, who comprised half of the 400 freestyle relay squad (with Alicino and Chrissy Casler) that took first at the GMC championship meet with a time of 3:55.77, and qualified for the NJSIAA Meet of Champions.
In addition, the team’s coach, Gregg Anderson, expects big things this year from seniors Perla and Teresa Socha.
The Raiders are expected to compete with Bishop Ahr for the top spot in the GMC, but will also likely be challenged by strong teams from East Brunswick, where seniors Danielle Stringer, Nicole Leblon and Thasia LaDeluc lead a very deep Bears squad (which includes another standout freshman, Chrissy Leblon), Metuchen, led by the sophomore duo of Hannah Thomas and Carolyn Gusick, and Piscataway, led by the junior tandem of Shannon Clegg and Shenna Marosy.
On the boys side, the Raiders are not as deep but do have a number of swimmers who can win in a number of events throughout the season.
Seniors Carl Koch, Josh Schanen and Rich Benkovics will look to lead the team this year, along with juniors Brian Miller, Andrew Remm and Paul Jennings, and sophomore Jordan Schanen.
The Raider boys are not expected to have the same degree of success as their female counterparts, but if they continue to improve, they should have a strong showing in the GMC this year.
In terms of their competition, the teams from Bridgewater-Raritan, which is expected to be one of the top up-and-coming teams in the state, East Brunswick and St. Joseph will be the tops of the GMC.
The Raiders will jump back into the pool today when they travel to Lawrence. From there, they will host Metuchen on Tuesday before welcoming Old Bridge next Thursday.