By Emily Nassi (Freehold Twp.) - Student Swimming Correspondent

     RED BANK - After a long meet between Christian Brothers Academy and St. Joseph’s-Metuchen that was close throughout, it was St. Joe’s that took the meet with an 86-83 nonconference victory at the Red Bank YMCA on Saturday.  
    CBA took six of the 11 events, but it was not enough to keep St. Joe’s off its tail.  Two disqualifications, in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay, as well as a St. Joe’s sweep in the 500 freestyle, also set CBA back a few points.
        CBA’s TJ McCarthy, a sophomore, led the way for the Colts with wins in the 50 and 100 freestyles with times of 22.90 and 49.35.  Despite being sick for the past week, and not swimming in that amount of time, McCarthy did not falter.
    “It’s not about feeling good,” said McCarthy. “It’s about sucking it up and putting in all your effort.”
    Other individual winners for CBA included senior Martin Harm in the 200 freestyle, junior Alex Fitton in the 100 backstroke, and freshman Harrison Cefalo in the 100 breaststroke.  Cefalo said his win was all for his team, and not for himself.
    “I wasn’t worried about myself and my lane,” commented Cefalo. “It was a team effort to try and beat them (St. Joe’s.)
    CBA also took first and third in the 400 freestyle relay, but were still unable to make up the points lost from earlier in the meet.  CBA also showed depth throughout the meet in events such as the 200 freestyle, 200 IM, and 50 freestyle.
    As for St. Joe’s, Scott Marino powered his way through the 200 individual medley in 1:57.96, and the 100 butterfly in 52:02, and helped St. Joe’s to a win in the 200 medley relay.  St. Joe’s swept the 500 freestyle, with Mike Napolitano taking first in that event. St. Joe’s also took the 200 freestyle relay after CBA’s disqualification.  Head coach Steve Whittington was pleased with his team’s effort.
    “We were looking a little shaky coming into the season,” said Whittington.  “Some quality guys left, and there were a lot of question marks. A lot of freshmen really stepped up today though.”
    CBA head coach Mike Sullivan said that mistakes in this type of meet can cost a team a lot.
    “When you swim against a team with the caliber of St. Joe’s, you can’t make mistakes,” said Sullivan.  “It’s part of the meet though. You can’t have any false starts. It makes a difference.”
    Despite the loss, Sullivan was said the overall effort of the team had improved greatly.
    “Our outside lanes swam much better than they had at St. Augustine,” said Sullivan.
    Whittington also noticed the effort and improvement of CBA, who has lost to St. Joe’s in their last six meetings. Whittington said the addition of Cefalo to CBA’s lineup has also helped them greatly, especially since CBA has been lacking in the breaststroke event for a few years.
    “Harrison Cefalo has beyond answered the call (for a breaststroker),” said Whittington. “He has really injected power into their weakest event and makes CBA dominant in every event.”
    Regardless of the loss, CBA is looking ahead to the upcoming weeks, where the Colts will meet St. Joe’s again at the Pirate Invitational next week in West Windsor, and more than likely during the state tournament. CBA senior Stephen Zapf believes they can bounce back in to form.
    “The loss is a little bitter right now,” Zapf said after the meet. “But next week it should get better for us.”

Results
St. Joseph's-Metuchen 86, CBA 83

200 Medley Relay:
1. St Joe’s (Aleksander Burzynski, Donald Keenan, Timothy Mancuso, Scott Marino) 1:39.38 2. CBA 1:39.97 3. CBA 1:45.78

200 Freestyle:
1. Martin Harm (CBA) 1:50.94 2. Andrew Robinson (CBA) 1:52.80 3. St. Joe’s 1:53.41

200 IM: 1. Scott Marino (St. Joe’s) 1:57.96 2. Alex Fitton (CBA) 1:59.97 3. Harrison Cefalo: 2:03.95

50 Freestyle: 1.  McCarthy (CBA) 22.90 2. St. Joe’s 23.02 3. Charlie Pataffi (CBA) 23.04

100 Butterfly: 1. Scott Marino (St. Joe’s) 52.02 2. Martin Harm (CBA) 53.58 3. Andrew Robinson (CBA)

100 Freestyle: TJ McCarthy (CBA) 49.35 2. St. Joe’s 49.39 3. Terry Hubert (CBA) 51.83

500 Freestyle: 1. Mike Napolitano (St. Joe’s) 5:09.09 2. Travis Catania (St. Joe’s) 5:11.61 3. St. Joe’s 5:12.63

200 Freestyle Relay: St. Joes (Dan Napolitano, Ryan Terracciano, John Wieczoriek, Donald Keenan) 1:35.13

100 Backstroke: 1. Alex Fitton (CBA) 54.76 2. St. Joe’s 56:82 3. St. Joe’s 57.84

100 Breaststroke: 1. Harrison Cefalo 1:02.34 2. St. Joe’s 1:04.50 3. St Joe’s 1:05.20

400 Freestyle Relay:
1. CBA (Martin Harm, Andrew Robinson, Alex Fitton, TJ McCarthy) 3:22.76 2. St. Joe’s 3:26.70 3. CBA 3:30.94