Marlboro swimmers 1st in A North Division
Victory over Howell clinches no worse than championship tie
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
Gaining momentum with every swim meet, the Marlboro High School boys swimming team capped it off with a championship.

Coach Jennifer Maloney's Mustangs clinched no worse than a tie for the Shore ConferenceANorth Division public school championship by edging Howell, 88-82, on Jan. 24 at the YMCA of Western Monmouth County, Freehold Township.

The win made the Mustangs 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the division (their loss was to nonpublic Christian Brothers Academy). Marlboro has one division meet left with Manalapan on Feb. 12 at the YMCA. A win over the Braves will give Marlboro the outright division championship.

Howell fell to 3-2 in the division and 4- 5 overall and will need help if it is to share the title with Marlboro. Howell has one meet remaining.

"We've been getting a lot of second- and third-place finishes that have kept us in the meets," said Maloney. "We can count on our depth. Our three relays have been strong."

Marlboro needed its relay teams as wins by all three - 200 medley (1:53.72), 200 freestyle (1:40.84) and 400 freestyle (3:49.16) - helped make the difference in the six-point win.

Alex Galinskiy was the only Marlboro double winner. He was first in the 200 Individual Medley (2:13.69) and first in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:12.93).

Marlboro's other wins were by J.V. Kracke, 50 freestyle (24.28), and Kevin Forster, 100 butterfly (58.85).

The Mustangs have used a combination of returning veterans and newcomers to build their depth. That depth translated into some early wins that got the team on a roll, putting themin a position to first challenge, and now win the division title.

Alex Galinskiy, Matt Cohen, Kracke and Kevin Forster have bee the team's most consistent winners during the dualmeet season. Like they did against Howell, the three relays have steadily come through for the Mustangs.

Kracke, a junior, has been the team's most versatile swimmer.

"I can put him in everything and we can count on him," said Maloney.

Kracke, Forster, Ilya Galinskiy, Chris Antoniello, LiamMcNamara and Nick Englisis are the veteran nucleus of the team.

Ng, Robert Forster and Alex Galinskiy are the freshman newcomers who have energized the team and provided the depth that has made the difference this year. Marlboro was 4-10 in '07 and 2-4 in A North. The turnaround can be credited to the impact the freshmen have made.

Marlboro was 11th at the Monmouth County Championships held at the Ocean County YMCA in Toms River. The Mustangs scored 63 points.

Kracke was fifth in the 100-yard freestyle (51.96) and Kevin Forster was sixth in the 100 butterfly (59.19).

The Shore Conference Championships will be Friday and Saturday at a site to be announced.