History made as Chatham girls, boys defend Morris County swim titles

MORRISTOWN – Morris County swimming has been a hot topic around the Jeng family’s kitchen table. With Flora and Gloria both swimming for Chatham, there’s been plenty to talk about.

The sisters shared races, and helped the Cougars win their 14th consecutive Morris County girls swimming team title on Saturday.

Gloria won the 50-meter freestyle, with Flora third. They flip-flopped positions in the 100 free, with Flora on top and Gloria third. Both combined on the Cougars’ 200 free relay.

“It’s really exciting as a freshman to be able to score for the team – and beat my sister,” Gloria Jeng said.

While watching Gloria swim in Chatham’s 400 free relay to wrap up the meet, Flora Jeng said, “It’s something to look forward to, because it’s so fun to race. It’s a little extra motivation when it’s with her. … It’s a lot of fun to be wearing the same cap and swimming for the same team.”

Freshman Madeline Crawford was able to edge out her older sister, senior Katie Crawford, in both distance races.

“It was a really fun race,” Madeline said. “We train together. We don’t really focus on each other too much when we race. We swim our races.”

And they weren’t the only set of siblings that figured into a championship. There are three Chang brothers – Atticus, Tirian and Ransom – who helped the Chatham boys defend their team title.

Cougars sophomore Charlie Kulp won the 200 freestyle, in which his brother Jack Kulp also competed. Charlie also led off Chatham’s 1-2-4 finish in the butterfly.

The boys opened by breaking the meet record in the medley relay, and soared from there. The Cougars had multiple swimmers in the top six in five of the nine boys events, and also broke the meet record in the 200 free relay.

“The goal was to score points,” Kulp said. “We had a title to defend, and everyone stepped up and got faster.”

The Chatham girls had at least one swimmer in the top six in every event, and at least two in four of the nine individual races.

“We’re just trying to do our best and it came out good,” Katie Crawford said. “We try to swim for ourselves and do our best.”

Making history at Morris County meet

∎ Thi Tran was thinking about going to private school instead of Hanover Park, in search of a more competitive swim team. Instead, she chose to stay home and build something new.

Tran broke the school record in the 400-meter freestyle in her very first individual race, and has erased a top time in nearly every swim.

Now Tran has both a county title – and a record to go with it. She won the butterfly in 1:02.34, breaking Mary Laurita’s meet record from 2017. She is believed to be the first female Park swimmer to win a Morris County championship since the team was established in the mid-1990s.

But Tran didn’t even know she’d finished first. She looked at the oversized scoreboard at the far end of the pool and saw her goal time, a 1:03 – and thought Kinnelon sophomore Anna Kilponen had won.

Tran far surpassed even her own lofty goal. Kilponen was second in 1:03.06, with teammate Samantha Benzija third (1:03.19) – with Tran in the lane between them.

Benzija, a Colts senior, later won the Morris County breaststroke title.

“I was like, Oh my gosh, no way I went 103. I was in total shock,” Tran said. “I’m glad to be someone others look up to, and make them want to be faster. I’m happy to be motivation.”

∎ Itay Ben-Yoseph may be West Morris’ first male county champion. He’s believed to be the first to win since Jenelle Zee – who went on to swim at West Virginia – and Emily Miles, each of whom were crowned in 2010.

But Ben-Yoseph was more excited about how smooth he felt en route to a personal-best 4:10.71 in the 400 free. He was also happy to be part of the final heat with Randolph senior Connor Poetsch, a YMCA teammate and longtime friend.

“I’m happy with how I swam, and how I felt doing it,” he said. “I had a feeling (a 4:10) was in the cards. It’s a great feeling to see I’m swimming fast in season. I’m not usually a 500 swimmer. I took a risk and it paid off massively.”

Back for more

∎ Sophia Yousuf was “so happy but so tired” after breaking Morris Knolls’ school IM record. Yousuf, a junior, defended her championship in 2:19.6 – knocking 10 seconds off the old record, which dated to 1990, before even coach Kyle Plucinsky was born.

“I was kind of looking at it beforehand,” Yousuf said. “I was happy to get it, but I didn’t expect by how much I would get it.”

∎ Mendham sophomore Kenneth Barnicle captured the Morris County IM title that had eluded him last year. He came back later in the meet for his second championships in backstroke (55.03).

Barnicle also anchored the Minutemen’s first-place 400 free relay to wrap up the meet.

“This year, I really wanted to win, so that’s what I had to get done,” said Barnicle, who placed second in the IM and 100 free last winter.

“I’m really excited about that.”

Going out on top

Rob Alexy has big goals before he graduates from Delbarton in the spring. He wants the New Jersey record in the 100-meter freestyle – and along the way, to best his older brother, Jack Alexy.

Rob left Morristown with two more county titles – in the 50 and 100 freestyle – but Jack’s records remain for another year. The brothers will be reunited on the Berkeley swim team, where Jack is a sophomore and Rob signed a National Letter of Intent in the fall.

“My job is to try to set the tone for them, get them going for the races” said Rob Alexy, who won the 200 free as a freshman, and the 100 and 200 free in yards last winter.

“All of us are pushing each other to try to reach individual goals.”

Girls results

Team scores: Chatham 287; Kinnelon 175.5; Morris Knolls 142; West Morris 1:09; Mountain Lakes 105.5; Morristown 99; Park 71; Pequannock 65; Parsippany Hills 62; Roxbury 50; Mount Olive 37; Morristown Beard 24; Montville 22; Madison 20; Randolph 14; St. Elizabeth 12; Morris Hills 6; Villa Walsh 1.

Medley relay: 1. Kinnelon (Samantha Benzija, Zoe Davies, Anna Kilponen, Ellie DeKeukelaere) 2:01.61; 2. Chatham (Nicole Sim, Alison Barton, Delaney Moynihan, Flora Jeng) 2:03.86; 3. Morris Knolls (Tara Wiarda, Sophia Yousuf, Bridget Rynkiewicz, Kari Mindrebo) 2:04.83; 4. Morristown (Isabella Tapkas, Mary Gillen, Lilia Ushiki, Jillian Rosenfeld) 2:07.82; 5. Mountain Lakes (Lorelai Page, Mira Marino, Jessica Tsang, Sarah LeVar) 2:07.94; 6. Parsippany Hills (Kaylee DePietro, Kelly Le, Elizabeth Duffy, Taylor Wong) 2:09.68.

200-meter freestyle: 1. Madeline Crawford (Chatham) 2:11.05; 2. Katie Crawford (Chatham) 2:14.26; 3. Isla Johnston (Morristown Beard) 2:14.46; 4. Isabella DiPasquale (Roxbury) 2:15.46; 5. (tie) Zoe Davies (Kinnelon) and Lorelai Page (Mountain Lakes) 2:16.65.

200-meter individual medley: 1. Sophia Yousuf (Morris Knolls) 2:19.68; 2. Thi Tran (Park) 2:24.89; 3. Ellie DeKeukelaere (Kinnelon) 2:30.05; 5. Alison Barton (Chatham) 2:30.44; 5. Anna Kilponen (Kinnelon) 2:31.51; 6. Nicole Sim (Chatham) 2:32.44.

50-meter freestyle: 1. Gloria Jeng (Chatham) 27.11; 2. Taylor Weth (West Morris) 27.48; 3. Flora Jeng (Chatham) 27.73; 4. Alexandra Lozanguiez (West Morris) 27.77; 5. Jillian Rosenfeld (Morristown) 28.49; 6. Jessica Tsang (Mountain Lakes) 28.58.

100-meter butterfly: 1. Thi Tran (Park) 1:02.34* (old record: 1:02.7, Mary Laurita, Mendham, 2017); 2. Anna Kilponen (Kinnelon) 1:03.06; 3. Samantha Benzija (Kinnelon) 1:03.19; 4. Kiera Harkins (Chatham) 1:04.91; 5. Mary Gillen (Morristown) 1:05.39; 6. Sophia Yousuf (Morris Knolls) 1:05.47.

100-meter freestyle: 1. Flora Jeng (Chatham) 1:00.31; 2. Alexandra Lozanguiez (West Morris) 1:00.38; 3. Gloria Jeng (Chatham) 1:00.65; 4. Hailey Oosterwyk (Pequannock) 1:01.39; 5. Tara Wiarda (Morris Knolls) 1:01.55; 6. Jessica Tsang (Mountain Lakes) 1:02.22.

400-meter freestyle: 1. Madeline Crawford (Chatham) 4:35.2; 2. Katie Crawford (Chatham) 4:37.96; 3. Isla Johnston (Morristown Beard) 4:41.2; 4. Ellie DeKeukelaere (Kinnelon) 4:42.51; 5. Bridget Rynkiewicz (Morris Knolls) 4:48.08; 6. Isabella DiPasquale (Roxbury) 4:48.74.

200 free relay: 1. Chatham (Kiera Harkins, Alison Barton, Gloria Jeng, Flora Jeng) 1:49.9; 2. Kinnelon (Samantha Benzija, Zoe Davies, Charlotte McNamara, Anna Kilponen) 1:53.29; 3. West Morris (Alexandra Lozanguiez, Abby Ford, Taylor Ford, Taylor Weth) 1:53.32; 4. Morristown (Mary Gillen, Keira Riley, Ginger Carlin, Jillian Rosenfeld) 1:56.93; 5. Mountain Lakes (Mira Marino, Lorelai Page, Jessica Tsang, Sarah LeVar) 1:57.25; 6. Parsippany Hills (Taylor Wong, Kelly Le, Kaylee DePietro, Elizabeth Duffy) 1:58.45.

100-meter backstroke: 1. Lorelai Page (Mountain Lakes) 1:04.73; 2. Danielle Cabsaba (Mount Olive) 1:07.2; 3. Tara Wiarda (Morris Knolls) 1:07.32; 4. Kiera Harkins (Chatham) 1:07.6; 5. Nicole Sim (Chatham) 1:08.7; 6. Kaylee DePietro (Parsippany Hills) 1:09.18.

100-meter breaststroke: 1. Samantha Benzija (Kinnelon) 1:12.74; 2. Alison Barton (Chatham) 1:13.86; 3. Zoe Davies (Kinnelon) 1:16.72; 4. Victoria Zjawin (Montville) 1:17.02; 5. Taylor West (West Morris) 1:17.49; 6. Mira Marino (Mountain Lakes) 1:17.88.

400 free relay: 1. Chatham (Madeline Crawford, Nicole Sim, Kiera Harkins, Gloria Jeng) 4:03.96; 2. Morris Knolls (Bridget Rynkiewicz, Kari Maindrebo, Tara Wiarda, Sophia Yousuf) 4:06.53; 3. West Morris (Taylor Westh, Abby Ford, Taylor Ford, Alexandra Lozanguiez) 4:18.27; 4. Park (Michelle Zhao, Ashley Yanovak, Sarah Rossi, Thi Tran) 4:19.33; 5. Pequannock (Shannon McGowan, Emily Fricker, Mackenzie Glenn, Hailey Oosterwyk) 4:21; 6. Roxbury (Isabella DiPasquale, Anna Anikiej, Grace Hill, Camila Gill) 4:22.05.

Boys results

Team scores: Chatham 323; Delbarton 197; Mendham 141; Kinnelon 113; Randolph and Mountain Lakes 73; Parsippany Hills 72; Madison 67; Morristown 61; West Morris 46; Roxbury 42; Pequannock 32; Morristown Beard 21; Mount Olive 15; Morris Hills 10; Park and Montville 7, Montville 2

Medley relay: 1. Chatham (Ryan O'Day, Jack Bigham, Ryan Snarr, Charlie Kulp) 1:45.18* (old record: 1:47.26, Morristown, 2016); 2. Mendham (Raaghav Reddy, Kenneth Barnicle, Matthew Parker, Nick Patino) 1:47; 3. Kinnelon (Will Kilponen, Max Connelly, Benjamin Papendick, David Zoltek) 1:47.84; 4. Delbarton (Mark Sebastian, Dalton Brooks, Femi Oshodi, Jonah Kim) 1:52.58; 5. Parsippany Hills (Connor Johnson, Nico Iannucci, Brandon Lyubarsky, Cooper Moffatt) 1:53.07; 6. Morristown (Ben Goroway, Jack MacMillan, Lincoln Stuek, Owen Barone) 1:53.67.

200-meter freestyle: 1. Charlie Kulp (Chatham) 1:56.22; 2. Gus Hann (Mountain Lakes) 2:00.35; 3. Connor Poetsch (Randolph) 2:00.47; 4. Michael Fialcowitz (Delbarton) 2:03.3; 5. Jacques Chemaly (Madison) 2:03.35; 6. Simon Stryszak (Chatham) 2:04.09.

200-meter individual medley: 1. Kenneth Barnicle (Mendham) 2:04.35; 2. Connor Johnson (Parsippany Hills) 2:08.77; 3. Jack Bigham (Chatham) 2:14.64; 4. Dalton Brooks (Delbarton) 2:18.14; 5. Joe Narduzzi (Delbarton) 2:19.58; 6. Anuthra Abeysinghe (Madison) 2:19.65.

50-meter freestyle: 1. Rob Alexy (Delbarton) 23.1; 2. Nick Patino (Mendham) 23.82; 3. Colin Faraher (Morristown Beard) 24.26; 4. Atticus Chang (Chatham) 24.63; 5. Ryan Snarr (Chatham) 25.06; 6. Chip Powers (Chatham), Lincoln Stuek (Morristown) and Max Connelly (Kinnelon) 25.06.

100-meter butterfly: 1. Charlie Kulp (Chatham) 56.14; 2. Ryan Snarr (Chatham) 56.82; 3. Will Kilponen (Kinnelon) 57.08; 4. Ryan O'Day (Chatham) 58.05; 5. Itay Ben-Yoseph (West Morris) 59.17; 6. Colin Faraher (Morristown Beard) 59.4.

100-meter freestyle: 1. Rob Alexy (Delbarton) 50.56; 2. Raaghav Reddy (Mendham) 53.79; 3. David Zoltek (Kinnelon) 54.72; 4. Atticus Chang (Chatham) 54.91; 5. Erik Hoie (Chatham) 55.17; 6. Jonah Kim (Delbarton) 55.92.

400-meter freestyle: 1. Itay Ben-Yoseph (West Morris) 4:10.71; 2. Michael Fialcowitz (Delbarton) 4:16.9; 3. Gus Hann (Mountain Lakes) 4:18.01; 4. Connor Poetsch (Randolph) 4:18.26; 5. Jack Kulp (Chatham) 4:23.77; 6. Simon Stryszak (Chatham) 4:24.99.

200 free relay: 1. Chatham (Atticus Chang, Chip Powers, Erik Hoie, Ryan Snarr) 1:37.56* (old record: 1:38.24, Delbarton, 2019); 2. Delbarton (Femi Oshodi, Jonah Kim, Michael Fialcowitz, Rob Alexy) 1:38.4; 3. Morristown (Jack MacMillan, Owen Barone, Ben Goroway, Lincoln Stuek) 1:40.25; 4. Mountain Lakes (Gus Hann, Anthony Wu, Shane Tucker, Zach Ferdico) 1:43.06; 5. Randolph (Matthew Shortino, Alexander Lopez, Connor Poetsch, James Lachica) 1:44.16; 6. Roxbury (Aidan Ochoa, Mathew Milun, Aidan Saladino, Tyler Chen) 1:44.24.

100-meter backstroke: 1. Kenneth Barnicle (Mendham) 55.03; 2. Connor Johnson (Parsippany Hills) 57.38; 3. Raaghav Reddy (Mendham) 59.66; 4. Ryan O'Day (Chatham) 1:00.98; 5. Owen Weller (Madison) 1:02.11; 6. Will Kilponen (Kinnelon) 1:03.51.

100-meter breaststroke: 1. Max Connelly (Kinnelon) 1:05.8; 2. Jack Bigham (Chatham) 1:06.43; 3. Erik Hoie (Chatham) 1:06.78; 4. Joe Narduzzi (Delbarton) 1:08.37; 5. Ransom Chang (Chatham) 1:09.87; 6. Nick Patino (Mendham) 1:10.11.

400 free relay: 1. Mendham (Raaghav Reddy, Nick Patino, Matthew Parker, Kenneth Barnicle) 3:35.98; 2. Chatham (Atticus Chang, Erik Hoie, Jack Bigham, Charlie Kulp) 3:36.22; 3. Delbarton (Michael Fialcowitz, Dalton Brooks, Joe Narduzzi, Rob Alexy) 3:41.59; 4. Randolph (James LaChica, Michael Diaz, Connor Poetsch, Matthew Shortino) 3:47.5; 5. Parsippany Hills (Brandon Lyubarsky, Nico Iannucci, Cooper Moffatt, Connor Johnson) 3:48.64; 6. Pequannock (William Hyde, Mathew Waters, Alex Frame, Thomas Pownall) 3:58.11.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ swimming: 2023 Morris County Championships results, story, photos