Still undefeated!

     The two teams that met up at Fordham University were well prepared.  If you look at the meet results, and really put those times into perspective, you will not believe that this was a dual meet.  Not Champs.  Not States.  Just a Tuesday night.  But not a Tuesday night like any other this season.

     We started the night with Krause, Bernil, Galan and Yeager (a freshman with an amazing comeback swim) qualifying St. Anthony’s Medley Relay to States.  A 1:40.97 at a dual meet… are you kidding!?

     Already a State Qualifier, Mike Forgione went a 1:46.69 200 free backed up by Bischoff and Pisano both going a 1:50.  Our 200 IM trio of Krause 1:56.85 SQT, Yeager 1:59.80 SQT and Jiran 2:03.85, also swam their best.  Next up were our sprinting gunslingers, Galan 23.00, Bernil 23.03, and “shot out of a” Cannon 24.35 outscored Fordham 11-5.

     Since bringing Coach Beth on the Friars staff, she has already brought her Friar Divers up to being the 2^nd best team in the entire league.  Second only to the amazing Fordham Divers.  Embracing the challenge, our Friar divers didn’t disappoint with their best performances of the season were Gannon, O’Connell and McNally.  That was huge at this point in the meet.  Best times continued in the 100 fly with Krause 53.47 SQT, and amazing swims from freshman Cannon 56.24, and Hayes 56.25.  Are you REALLY LOOKING at these times?

     Our 500 free was lead by another freshman sensation, Bischoff 4:59.52 with our veterans Pisano 5:00.86 and Jiran 5:09.49 also swimming personal best times.   Looking beyond the incredible 1:32.18 swam by Bernil, Yeager, Pisano and Forgione in the 200 free… was our 3^rd place relay of Cannon, Ruhnau, Brandt and Hayes that kept us in the meet. 

Bryan Galan’s amazing 54.97 SQT 100 back 1^st place finish, along with team leader McCarthy and freshman Parisi, both going 1:00… kept us tie with the Champs!  One of our strongest events this year is the 100 breast.  Adding to our top Friar breaststroker Bernil 1:02.24, are another freshman duo Yeager 1:01.36 (SQT and new team record) and the most improved swim of the meet McShane 1:03.48.  The awesome 2,3,4 finish by our breaststrokers put us up by the 2 points we would need to pull of what the rest of the league would have considered impossible.  McShane was the first swimmer I came across on the deck and grabbed in a hug because I knew… the Friars will NOT LOSE tonight!  We know what we have in our top relay.  Our best… against their best.  Our 3:22.39 by Forgione, Bischoff, Galan and Krause pushed the incredible Fordham relay to a 3:21.94.  Two of the most respectable 400 free relays I’ve seen in a dual meet.  But again, our fate was in our B relay.  Showing off the depth of the Friars team, Jiran, Mitchell, Pisano and Hayes took down Fordham’s B relay. 

The Friars were NOT DEFEATED!  After 12 long events… swimming and diving their absolute best.  Back and forth with the reigning Champs:   Bernil was the first to yell out “we haven’t lost”!  The Friars stand strong and proud to say “we tied”.  93-93.  

     The team got together and realized, we have yet another goal… Champs.  After getting past Fordham without a loss, the possibility of an undefeated season has become a reality.  We will now put the pedal to the metal… (although these days it’s put the pedal to the (TCS) sensor that sends a voltage signal to the PCM {powertrain control module} which sends a signal along a two-wire network to the throttle control motor that tells it to open full {WOT}, but I’m more old school) and finish as strong as possible to prepare us for where we always swim our best:    Champs!

     To begin with a recent history of the St. Anthony’s Swimming/Diving team:  Over the past eight years or so, we have basically been competing for 3^rd place in our league (League I of the Brooklyn/Queens CHSAA League).  Over those years, we have battled with some great teams like Molloy, Msgr. Farrell, and even recently with St. John’s.  When it came to Champs, we always accomplished our team goal to win our battle over those teams as Chaminade and Fordham were untouchable.  But over the past 3-4 years, the Friars have been breaking away from the “best of the rest” and becoming more competitive with the top two.  Last year, we finally made our impact and gave Fordham and Chaminade competitive dual meets.  Still, proudly finishing 3^rd… but commandingly.

     Since the completion of last years Champs, this current team became focused on a goal.  The possibility of beating Chaminade in a dual meet was in reach.  And they wanted it!  From day one in the water this year it was talked about.  Every swim of every practice was focused.  Our captains, Billy Krause and Danny McCarthy, (who had been emailing and texting me for a year about this meet) were vocal and determined to make sure their teammates were mentally prepared for the upcoming challenge.  Our first 5 meets of the season were all planned out to get our swimmers and divers prepared to swim their best, and score their highest points as early in the season as Dec. 23^rd.  We began the season at 5-0, and when the team left practice on Sat, Dec. 20^th at 7:35… I knew they were ready!

     We had our layout, and yet Coach Scott, Coach John and I fine-tuned this lineup for an extra half hour.  We wanted to make our statement early, and this was our result:

We knew we had a great “A” Medley Relay, and should take 1^st with Krause, Bernil, Galan, and Yeager.  But our 1^st surprise was when our “B” relay, Parisi, McShane, Hayes, and Cannon, took 3^rd by over 2 seconds.  Just like that, we had our early lead.

The first surprise for us was the 200 free.  To me, this became the meet.  We set up this event with the hopes of breaking even, keeping our relay lead, and really making a statement of what should be our best event, the 200 IM.  Well, placing better then even expected, Forgione, Bischoff and Pisano went 1,3,4 to outscore Chaminade 11-5 with Forgione being our 1^st of 8 State Qualifying times of the night swimming a 1:46.88.

We followed that up with what we knew would be one of our best events the 200 IM.  Krause, Yeager, and Jiran didn’t disappoint with their 1,2,4 finish that gave the Friars our highest scoring event of the meet. Both Krause (1:58.15) and Yeager (1:59.99) qualified for States, and showing the depth of the Friars was Jiran’s 2:05.10. 

Chaminade displayed their first spark at the start of the 50 free.  Although they exploded off the blocks quickly, Bernil and Galan performed the two best turns of the night and came back with 25’s to remember.  Both of them out-touching the Chaminade sprinters for a dramatic 1,2 finish with freshman Chris Cannon getting his hand on the wall 5^th to also score Friar points. 

     As Coach Beth always does… she had our divers ready and psyched for their event.  As the scores went back and forth, and DD being multiplied; it became clear that we were again about to our-score the mighty Flyers.  Gannon, McNally, and O’Connell finished an incredible 1,2,5.  And we are about to follow that up with putting Billy Krause back on the block.  Krause dominated the 100 Fly and qualified for States for his 2^nd time in the meet (53.20) with Hayes finishing 3^rd and Cannon again finishing 5^th to score for the Friars. 

Going up against Chaminade’s three 51 second 100 freestylers, Forgione, Brandt and McShane took on the task with Forgione winning the event and qualifying for States for his 2^nd time (49.23). 

     Our distance freestylers finished 1,3,4 with Freshman Kent Bischoff winning the event at a 4:57.52, followed by Pisano’s personal best 5:00.50 and Jiran’s 2^nd amazing swim of the night at a 5:10.22. 

In an event where Chaminade has dominated with it’s sprinters, Yeager, Bernil, Cannon and Pisano finished with another Friar 1^st in the 200 freestyle relay. 

Galan, McCarthy and Parisi won the 100 backstroke with Galan putting the icing on the cake and qualifying for States with an incredible 55.44. 

     The 100 breaststroke didn’t just finish with a 1-2 finish… It finished with a 1-2 State Qualifying finish by Freshman Christian Yeager (102.37) and Sophomore Bernil Carmichael-Lopes (102.91) giving us a total of 8 State Qualifying times! 

The 400 freestyle relay stepped on the blocks with a chance to make it a clean sweep of finishing 1^st in every event of the meet.  Forgione, Galan, Bischoff, and Krause didn’t only make sure that happened, they finished first by 11 seconds! 

     The celebration was tremendous.  Even the stands stood up in a sea of Black and Gold… cheering on an event that even many alumni and their families came to witness.  Simply the best dual meet performance the St. Anthony’s Friars Swimming/Diving Team has put on to date.  For this, I’d like to thank my coaching staff, captains, supporting parents, and of course the incredible swimmers and divers of this year’s team.

     OUR SEASON IS JUST GETTING STARTED!

Five Friars make States Cuts as Friars go to 6-0. Michael Forgione 100 Free, 200 Free Billy Krause 200 IM, 100 Fly Christian Yeager 200 IM, 100 Breast Bernil Carmichael-Lopes 100 Breast Bryan Galan 100 Backstroke The Friars place 1st in EVERY event.  Results     Slide Show* *Slide Show compliments of Loretta Jiran

Friars Freshmen make a great first impression.

Friars Finish Second at CHSAA's   

  I just drove home in silence.  Every swim I witnessed over the past weekend played over in my head in total amazement.  Did they really swim that incredible?  Coach Scott rang my phone.  “I can’t believe they just swam like that!” were the first words he said.  The Friars just scored 769 points.  I thought about some Friar teams of the past.  When we would score over 600 points to win a Championship.  In the mid 90’s when we became a powerhouse scoring over 650.  When we had 2 nationally ranked All-American’s with an All-American relay finishing 2^nd in the State, and we scored over 700 points to dominate a Championship meet.  Now we just scored an amazing 769.  If someone would have told me on Friday of last week, my team would score 769 points and need 16 more to win… I would have referred them to see Dr. Ray Yeager (who did an absolutely amazing job at announcing the Championships!).  We may not have walked out of Eisenhower with a plaque, but I for one will call my girls….  CHAMPIONS!

     From day one in September, we began to work for Championship weekend.  This year’s team was more focused and determined than ever.  Their goal was to swim their absolute best at Champs.  Over the last two days, the Lady Friars did just that. 

     I have to start off with thanking my dear friends and colleagues, Coach Scott, Coach Annie, and of course Coach Liz, who’s currently in Switzerland with her America’s Cup Champion husband and family. (Coach Liz emails me daily to see how the girls are doing).   Coaches Scott and Annie were vital in getting the swimmers prepared, and properly focused.  They were also keeping me focused!  I don’t know how any of the girls actually swam that well.  I myself was mentally and physically exhausted after two days of split timing decisions to keep as many swimmers rested and not overused as possible.  This kept us performing at our very best. (And special thanks to Sam Schlich and Celine Rivera, who every 15 minutes reminded me to breathe!)

     Right off the bat, the meet started with a split second decision.  As the meet was seeded just before the start of the meet… due to circle seeding, Taddeo had to swim back to back.  Because the Friars had already qualified the 200 Med Relay at the SHA dual meet, we were able to have Jenna and Callie Vacchiano, Erin Kosubinsky and Alison Sinicropi take over.  Take over they did… they qualified us 4^th for Finals!  This set us up for our 1^st State qualifying relay.  Marisa Taddeo, Emily DiDonato, Lindsey Parmiter, and Brianna Riley broke the St. Anthony’s team record with an incredible 153.12!  This was followed by the first of our Friar dominated Finals.  We had 4 (that’s right…  ALL FOUR) of our qualifiers in the Final heat!  Alana Biagioli gave us our fastest 200 free since 2005, with a blazing 155.57!  (the look on Lanzy’s face was priceless!)  Taddeo was right behind her with her lifetime best 157.17!  (Coach Scott, Coach Annie and I all knew as soon as we saw Tads on Sat, that she was going to have an awesome weekend… she was in a ZONE!!).  Colleen Manning had already done her best by dropping a second on Sat., but of course that’s not enough for Colleen… she iced the cake and dropped two more to go a 205.09 on Sun!  Then, freshman Shannon Lulley (Holy Cow are you going to hear about her) began her awesome story by swimming a 205.32.  The Lady Friars just kept rolling in the 200 IM.  Taylor Cannon swam her best of the season dropping another 1.5 seconds to a 225.15.  Keira Yeager now decides to go completely crazy and drop 7 seconds overnight moving up 8 spots to win her heat in Finals with a 221.90.  (show off!)  Still new to the IM this season, the new and improved Christine Swartwout qualified in the Final heat to swim her Friar best at a 224.50.  Following a week of having the flu, carefully rested Emily DiDonato had a comeback to remember overtaking Sacred Heart’s Emily Tan in the breaststroke/freestyle and ripped up the pool with a Friar 1^st at 213.14! 

To start off the 50 free on Sat, Gabi Cannon, Kirsten Smith, Callie Vacchiano, and Colette Carmen all lined up in the final heat and ALL in the middle.  Total Friar domination!!  (man… I love it when that happens!).  Both Meredith Vanderveldt and Brianna Riley dropped time in finals to feed the Friars more points.  MaryKate Morcerf dropped her 50 free time twice at Champs to finish with a 26.49!  Sam Schlich tried to swim completely THROUGH the bulkhead… dislocating her shoulder.  She figured the best place to rest up for finals would be in the hospital, so her mom took her straight there.  It worked.  As determined as Sam always is, she found a way to swim better in finals with a fourth place 26.12! 

*OK… there’s usually a break here in the meet for a 10 minute warm-up.  So, go ahead and take a reading break… maybe get a soda or something.  There’s still quite a bit to go here!

One thing the Friars have had over the past few years are 50 fly specialists.  This was shown again with the “four in finals” Christine DellaRatta, Mary Kruse, Jackie Zoine, and Erin Kosubinsky.  We continued to drop time in the 100 Fly.  Meredith Vanderveldt finished her senior year with a personal best 107.28.  Taking on the fly event late in the season, Brianna Riley sprinted her best 106.63.  One of our awesome surprises this season was Danielle Arens.  She was a coaching staff eye opener on the 1^st day.  It was a pleasure to watch her drop to a 106.33!  In finals was our Friar “spark plug”… Lindsey Parmiter.  After a monumental top seed swim on Sat. (100.13) Lindsey broke a minute in the 100 fly with a 59.80!  (whooo wheee!)

Guess what the Friars had on Sat. in the 100 free?  C’mon… one guess. 

You got it!  Four in the top heat… all four in the middle!  Oh man, you HAVE to love that.  Olivia Jannuzzi, Jenna Vacchiano, Alison Sinicropi, and Morgan Krause treated Eisnhower to another “That’s right… we’re the Friars” show!  In Finals on Sun, we had three HUGE swims.  Shannon Lulley, first swam a 57.1 (keep waiting, it’ll get better) and blew that away with her best flat start 56.83!  Brianne Dwyer, another one of our tough competitors who’s a pleasure to watch, swam her best 56.07!  Still smiling from ear to ear after her 200… the always focused Alana Biagioli swam another consistent 54.07!  (have a meet Alana!)   To my young 500 freestylers…  you made your coaches very proud.  On Sat, we got three (Christine Swartwout, Chandler Lulley, and Gennie Cohen) to seed at the top of Consols and Colleen Manning made Finals!  This became a tall order on Sun, as at a minimum, we must keep our spots.  This was the most focused I’ve ever seen these 4.  They embraced the challenge, and became competitors.  Not just swimmers.  Staying at the top of their heats, G-Coh swam a 555.88, C-Lulley dropped to a 547.23, and Swartwout dominated the heat with a 542.82!  Colleen Manning stepped into the Final heat with one of the best high school swimmers in the country.  Not only did she do her best time (546.90), but she moved up a spot to 7^th overall! 

The 200 freestyle relay was psyched.  Leading off with one of my all time best sprinters, Alana Biagiloi, she jumped us out to an early lead.  Emily DiDonato was blazing, sprinting her best to keep us in front.  I was so proud to see MaryKate get on that relay and do as well as she did.  Perseverance pays off!  The relay was anchored with none other than Lindsey Parmiter, (who can swim as fast as she can talk!) who’s finish gave the Friars another team record of 142.72!  This put our second relay into States. 

On our Friar team, we are again loaded with 50 yard backstrokers.  Putting in our fastest four again had our group of Friars in the final heat.  With their much improved starts and turns, great performances were turned in by Alison Sinicropi, Erica Ryan, Morgan Krause, and Jenna Vacchiano! 

Oh… the 100 back!  The first of the next two events where the Friars would score over 90 points in each!  Celine Rivera’s incredible four year career came down to her final 100 back.  Of course her heat had to swim faster on Sun, but not to be outdone, Celine dropped another 2 seconds for her all-time personal best 106.15!  Now to Finals, Sammy Norman who has really been fine tuning her backstroke late in the season, swam her best in over a year at 105.69.  Placing second in the backstroke Finals is Taylor Cannon.  WHAT!  Second in Finals… Taylor Cannon!  Crying tears of joy, Taylor swam a 104.80 only to finish behind none other than our very own Taddeo!  Tads was just in a zone.  Using her asset, one of the best streamline positions you’ll ever see, Taddeo (that’s right, she does have a first name… Marisa) just blew the heat away and broke her own team record with a 100.30!  Do I even have to tell you where the 4 Friar 50 Breaststrokers were, or are you catching on by now?  Of course in the final heat!  Chloe Hyland, Joanna Vetere, Callie Vacchiano, and Kim Corso displayed their awesome breaststroke technique and showed just how deep the Friars are!  Next, we have our top scoring event of the day for the Friars.  Four swimmers ALL in Finals combined to score 97 points.  I was thrilled on Sat. when Keira Yeager qualified for Finals.  Then she moves up to 6^th with a 113.00.  Leave it to Keira to go out in style!  Brianne Dwyer also ripped up the pool.  The potential for a 110 swim was there when she went out like a rocket in Prelims.  Did she go 110?  Of course she did!  Brianne turned in her best time (not surprised, are you!) with 110.87 that placed her 4^th.  Lindsey Parmiter looked like she was shot out of a cannon.  I was actually impressed and bragged about her Prelim swim at a 108.30.  Tough as nails, Lindsey swam an amazing 107.70.  That turns out to be the 2^nd fastest breaststroke swim by a Lady Friar EVER.  The fastest was right next to her! (Go Friars… Go Friars…).  Finishing up her amazing weekend, Emily DiDonato, pulling a “Babe Ruth” and calling her record.  (I hope that isn’t an insult… Emily is 10 times the athlete “the Babe” ever was!)  Not only did she finish 1^st, but she broke her own team record as well as the NSCHSGAA 100 breaststroke league record with a 107.05!  Are… you… kidding!

Heading into the final event of Champs, Coach Scott and I were already talking about how every swimmer swam their best.  EVERY swimmer!  We already had two relays in states.  Never before have we sent three.  Can we make this another Friar first? 

You know it!  Right from the start… Lanzy took off.  Attacking every wall as she did consistently all championship weekend, giving the Friars another early lead.  Brianne Dwyer continued to stretch the lead out as she looked stronger then ever.  Now for our freshman story.  Shannon Lulley had sprinted a remarkable 57.1 on Sat.  In order for our best shot at Champs, we strategically used one of our best assets… our depth.  We are definitely strength in numbers.  The faster the Friars kept swimming, the more we were able to use them.  Shannon’s prelim swim gave her a birth on our 400 Freestyle Relay.  Although she looked scared to death as I spoke to her, I knew she was up for the challenge.  Swimming with our “big” girls, Shannon split a 55.6!  Holy Cow everyone went crazy!  A split that kept her on the relay for Finals and set up our anchor, Marisa Taddeo.  Tads did what she always does… give 110% in the water.  Her 54 second split gave the Friars their 3^rd State qualifying relay! 

Taddeo’s final touch on the wall also gave the Friars their monumental 769 Team Points at Champs.  I know you’re all asking yourselves, “what did we score last year”?   If you must know: 727.5 points.  This year we did better.  We were faster.  We broke team records.  We broke league records.  We’re sending 9 swimmers to represent us at States in Buffalo in 8 individual events and 3 relays.  We scored more points then ever in our history.  We may not have a plaque on the wall, but I guarantee you, I know 45 young Friar athletes who will NEVER forget it!  I congratulate every one of you.  From the girls who took off the blocks, to the girls who stood right by my side with our stomachs churning and cheering as hard as we could.  Everyone gave all they could give.  I believe that’s why when the final scores were read, our girls proudly stood up and in first class fashion, applauded the new Champions across the pool.  There was a peace among our swimmers.  They knew the effort they gave.  Not just for two days, but for two months.  Their goal was to perform their best.  I say they did even better.  I preach to my team to “always conduct yourself like a Champion, on and off the pool deck”.  You don’t need a plaque to walk off the deck at Eisenhower and hold your head up like a Champion.

During my silent ride home, I felt nothing but pride.  Pride in my swimmers.  Pride in my coaches.  I thank each and every one of you, parents, swimmers and coaches, for making this season such a success. 

So what’s next for the Friars?  Nine swimmers will represent us in two weeks in Buffalo.  And then everyone else will suit up on Jan. 10^th to defend our win over Paul VI from last year.  Please stay tuned to the web site and your email as we are never “out of season”!

- Proud to be called your coach,

Coach Dan