By Wayne Witkowski
An early-season loss to Toms River High School North marred an otherwise perfect regular season and made the difference in Jackson Memorial High School’s boys swim team repeating as Shore Conference A South Division champions.
Toms River North ended up unbeaten in the division.
The Jaguars (10-1 in the regular season) dropped their state tournament opener to Cinnaminson High School but still had a lot of solid, memorable individual performances.
“They were definitely a hard-working bunch of guys who got along well and supported each other,” coach John Pelano said. “They pushed each other in friendly [practice] competition.”
This year’s team had to rebuild after a large number of swimmers graduated from last season, and Pelano will miss this hearty group of seniors going into next season, led by sprint freestyle swimmer Dallas Sheard. He finished seventh in the Ocean County championships in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.32 and fifth in the 100 freestyle in 52.30, as Jackson Memorial finished third as a team in that meet. Sheard qualified for both events at the Shore Conference swim championships as well.
“We had a tremendous senior class. It was exciting to watch then grow up over the years,” Pelano said. “We also had a strong freshman class this year, but the team was dominated by the seniors.”
One of the freshman, Patrick Idank, is the younger brother of Kate Idank, who helped the girls swim team finish unbeaten in A South for the first time in memory. Patrick Idank excelled at the Ocean County championships with third-place finishes in the 200 individual medley (IM) in 2:05.71 and the 100 butterfly in 57.22. He also qualified for both events for the Shore Conference meet, finishing eight in the IM with a personal best of 2:05.55.
Another freshman, Jacob Ariel, qualified for the Shore Conference meet in the 100 backstroke and the 500 freestyle.
Junior John Chitren also excelled in the big meets with fifth-place finishes at the county meet in the IM in 2:16.38 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.01. His times earned him spots in both events at the Shore Conference championships. Junior Jeremiah Navarro was sixth in the county meet in 1:00.79, and he teamed with Chitren, Idank and Sheard on the 200 medley relay for a third-place finish at the county meet in 1:46.29.
But it was the seniors who provided the depth and versatility that helped secure many dual victories, particularly a 100-60 rout of Southern Regional High School in the final dual meet of the season and a 93-77 triumph over Brick Township High School.
Dylan Glaser qualified for the Shore Conference meet in the 100 freestyle and he, Michael Ripp and Greg Lamont gave the Jaguars a big boost in the shorter-distance freestyle races that became progressively stronger events for the team as the season went along. Robert Stewart qualified for the Shore Conference meet in the 200 and 500 freestyles, and Christian Galassi qualified in the butterfly and IM.
Seniors Cole Olejarz excelled in the 200 freestyle, and Jeff Weiss swam well in the 100 backstroke.
They’ll be big losses to fill for next season, but Pelano feels the younger swimmers will work to strengthen their roles.
“I’m excited about the upcoming years,” Pelano said. “There are some guys who I know will make really big steps. It’s a hard-working group that is always excited about the opportunity to compete.”
