Patriot swim teams edge closer to championship
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

JEFFGRANIT staff Freehold Township's Andrew Hiss competes in the 100 butterfly during a dual meet win over Howell on Jan. 9 at the YMCA of Western Monmouth County.

Quantity won out over quality when Freehold Township's boys swimming team beat Howell on Jan. 9.

As a result, the Patriots are one step closer to a championship.

Showcasing their depth, the Patriots topped the Rebels, 95-74, at the YMCA of Western Monmouth County and took control of the Shore Conference A North Division. Both teams entered last week's dual meet undefeated in the division.

In just their third year as a varsity program, the Rebels have been one of the surprise teams in the Shore, led by Tucker Waldron, who won Monmouth County and SC titles last year. Along with teammates like Zach Minnich and Charlie Smith, Waldron has made the Rebels a contender.

Waldron won his customary two events, the 500-yard freestyle (5:11.25) and the 200 individual medley (2:10.35), and Minnich and Smith came through with wins themselves. Smith won the all-out sprint, the 50 freestyle (23.44), and Minnich took the 200 free (2:17.40).

However, Freehold Township was able to match those individual victories with Stephen Fox (100 backstroke in 1:02.85), Andrew Hiss (100 butterfly, 1:06.14), Ovidijus Alisauskas (100 breaststroke 1:08.01) and Jon Bosa (100 freestyle 56.20) and added the big second-, third- and fourth-place finishes.

The Patriots added victories in two of the three relays to settle the issue.

Devin Capretta, Danny Reed, Nick Camaiore and Anthony Musceillo made big contributions as members of the victorious relay teams, collecting those valuable second- through fourth-place points.

Freehold Township is now one win away from capturing the division title. If the Pats out-swim winless Middletown North North on Jan. 30, the championship is theirs.

On Friday, the Patriots stepped out of the division and scored a 92-78 win over Shore Regional to go to 5-0 overall.

Depth was again the difference here as the Blue Devils, led by their county champion Andrew Dennis, could match the Pats in first-place finishes, but not the important second-, third- and fourth-place finishes.

Anthony Muscillio (200 free), Bosa (100 free), Fox (500 free) and Alisaukas (100 breaststroke) were the Pats' individual winners.

Howell, which slipped to 2-1 in A North, improved to 5-2 overall when the Rebels beat Barnegat, 104-60, on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Freehold Township's girls stayed on course for their anticipated showdown with Middletown North on Jan. 30 by beating the Rebels, 125-45.

Both the Lions and the Pats are ranked in the top 10 in the Shore and are undefeated in division meets.

Having cleared all their major hurdles within the division, the 5-0 Pats can now look ahead to their battle with the Lions at the YMCA of Western Monmouth County.

Against Howell, the Patriots finished first in every event en route to a 121-45 win. Reliables Abby Muller, Rena Eleazar and Jamie Jeffreys each won two events. Ashley Pittner and Kate Dwyer scored the other individual first-place wins.

Muller won the 500 freestyle (6:03.39) and 200 IM (2:30.11). Eleazar scored her double in the 100 butterfly (1:04.63) and 100 backstroke (1:09.95), while Jeffreys took the 100 free (1:01.10) and the 100 breaststroke (1:20.15).

Carla DeFusco, Nikki Salvatore, Emily Nassi, Jill Griepenburg and Lauren Grajek made their presence felt on the relay team and in high finishes in individual races