Bernards High School Swim Team
Home Page Last revised: March 02, 2008.

Team News & Announcements

• 2007-2008 is the 20th season for BHS Swim Team (70-71-1 Co-Ed Team, 20-22 Boys Team, 65-26-2 Girls Team)

• Girls team named to the NISCA 2004 Academic Team Scholar "Silver" list (the girls were named to the NISCA 2003 Academic Team Scholar "Gold" list)

• Boys are named Skyland Conference - Raritan Division Champions for 2007

• Girls finished 5th at the 2008 Skyland Conference meet; Boys finished 6th

• Girls finished 6th at the 2008 Somerset County meet; Boys finished 6th

• Girls and boys are quarter-finalists in the 2008 North II, Division B State Playoffs

• Mary deMarrais makes All-State at 2008 Meet of Champions!

• Fifth season with both boys and girls teams

Mary deMarrais Finals in Top 8 at Meet of Champions

Mary deMarrais, Jamie Hepburn, and Mitch Colby qualified for the very competitive Meet of Champions held at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology on March 1 and 2.  Mary finished in the top 8 in both events, bettering her own BHS Top 5 times in the process.  Mary swam a 2:10.98 in the 200 IM and a 5:07.06 in the 500 which placed her 7th and 4th respectively going in to the finals.  She dropped her IM time 0.2 seconds in the finals and finished in her seeded slots (7th and 4th) for both events.  Mary has the second fastest Bernards swim in the IM and the third fastest 500 - only .03 seconds behind Lesley Barnet's time from 1999.  These were Mary's 4th and 5th All-State (Top 16) performances.   Jamie Hepburn and Mitch Colby swam well, finishing 30th and 23rd in New Jersey (all-Groups, all-Sections) in the 500 free.

Bernards Girls Stopped in Quarterfinals of State Playoffs

The Bernards girls had the unenviable task of facing top seeded Mountain Lakes in the quarterfinals of the North II, Division B state playoffs on February 13 at the Lakeland Hills YMCA.  The Mountain Lakes girls improved their overall record against Bernards to 3-4 as Bernards last defeated the Lakers in 2004.  Bernards won 4 events and took seconds in the two free relays in their 55-115 defeat.  Mary deMarrais took the IM and the fly, Jamie Hepburn won the 500, and Sam Cembrook outswam the competition in the last lap of the breast.  Julie Farrell, Jamie and Mary all swam on the runner up 200 free relay with Jenna Meyers and on the 400 free relay with Emily Coyle.

Mary deMarrais, Jamie Hepburn, and Mitch Colby will represent Bernards at the NJ Meet of Champions on March 1 and 2 at GCIT.

Bernards Boys Break 3 School (SCM) Records at Morristown

Mitch Colby continued his newly established dominance in the distance freestyle by winning both the 200 and the 400 meter events in the quarterfinals of the North II-B State playoffs against Morristown High School on February 11.  In the 400, he broke Mike Tiger's record from 1990 with a 4:23.79.  John Lawson led off the record breaking 200 medley relay and then proceeded to lower the school mark in the 100 back with a victorious 1:09.37.  Joining John in breaking the medley relay record were Jose Agnese, Brendan McCrossan, and Sebastien Sicard.  The boys lost 66-104, finishing with a very impressive 9-3 season.  John, Sebastien, Matt Sisto, and Mitch recorded the only other first place swim in the 400 free relay.  Morristown was a formidable opponent, but Bernards did manage to put two second place swims (John - IM, Sebastien - fly) and four third place swims (Justin - 200 and 100 free and Brendan - 50 and fly).  Chris Banks pulled out a great come from behind 5th place finish in the 400 free to add another point to the scoreboard.

Bernards Boys Break School Record in the 200 Medley Relay
Boys and Girls Lose to Hillsborough

John Lawson, Jose Agnese, Brendan McCrossan, and Mitch Colby broke the 2 year old boys medley relay school record of 1:48.01 with a 1:47.90 as a tough Hillsborough squad pushed many of the boys and girls to personal best times.  The boys lost 74-96, while the girls lost 81-89 at the Somerset Hills YMCA on February 7.

John moved himself up to the 4th fastest BHS time in the IM and the 2nd fastest BHS time in the back, while Sebastien Sicard reclaimed the #3 spot in the fly.  Bernards won three individual events as Brendan won the 50, Justin Meyers, the 100 free, and Mitch Colby, the 500.  Bernards also took the 400 free relay as John, Sebastien, Justin and Mitch touched first in 3:36.60.  The boys ended their regular dual meet season with 9 wins and 2 losses.

The girls also faced some very stiff competition, but managed to swim to several best times as well.  Mary deMarrais took the IM and the 500, and Julie Farrell won the 100 free.  Emily Coyle swam to victory in the back and the three of them combined with Jamie Hepburn to take top honors in the 400 free relay.  The girls finished with a 9-3 regular season record.

Bernards Girls Swim to 5th Place; Boys to 6th at Skyland Conference Championships
deMarrais and Colby Conference Champs in the 500 Free

The Bernards girls finished in 5th place in a field of 16 schools at the Skyland Conference Championships on January 30, just ahead of Hunterdon Central and Ridge.  Bernards trailed Hunterdon Central and Ridge until Mary deMarrais and Jamie Hepburn finished first and third in the 500 free.  While that ended the individual scoring for Bernards, Jamie, Mary, and Julie Farrell teamed up with Emily Coyle in the 200 free relay and Jenna Meyers in the 400 free relay to finish one place ahead of Hunterdon Central in each of the events to secure fifth place overall.  Mary also placed second in the IM while Jamie finished in 8th place in the 200 free.  Bernards also received points from a 12th place finish in the 200 medley relay by Emily, Sam Cembrook, Ali Gatzke, and Jenna Meyers.

The boys swam to an impressive 6th place swim against 14 other schools as 4 boys contributed to the individual scoring.  Frosh Mitch Colby won the 500 free, breaking the 5 minute barrier and qualifying for the 2008 Meet of Champions with a 4:57.43.  Mitch swam to victory in the penultimate heat, which he won by 14 seconds!  The final heat, could not match Mitch's final time, even though top seeded Jared Lang from Hunterdon Central swam almost identical splits through the first 450 yards.  Mitch closed the race with a very fast 28.72, while Jared finished with a 29.78 to finish .5 seconds behind Mitch's new BHS #2 Top 5 time.  Mitch is the first Conference Champion since Dorian Delamare won the 200 IM and 100 fly in the Colonial Hills Conference Championship meet in 2001.  Mitch also placed 5th in the 200 free.  John Lawson scored in both the 100 fly (9th) and the 100 back (11th) with both swims in the BHS Top 5 listing.  Sebastien Sicard (10th) and Justin Meyers (12th) both added points in the 200 free.  All three relays medaled as the 200 medley relay of John, Jose Agnese, Brendan McCrossan, and Mitch placed 6th and lowered their own BHS Top 5 time to within .25 seconds of the school record.  The two free relays placed 5th with Brendan, Justin, Robert Crane, and Sebastien in the 200 and John, Sebastien, Justin, and Mitch in the 400.

The entire girls' and boys' conference crowd was treated to a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner sung by Bernards' own Patty Howell!  Patty was invited to open the Cougar Invitational meet on February 8.

Bernards Defeats West Morris Central

The Bernards girls managed a close victory against a few tough competitors from West Morris Central, as Bernards came out on top 96-74 at the Somerset Hills YMCA on January 29.   Bernards only won 3 individual events and a relay but took both second and third place in 6 events, which enabled them to grab the meet.  Mary deMarrais won the IM, Julie Farrell the 50, and Jamie Hepburn the 500, while the three of them combined with Jenna Meyers to take the 400 free relay and seal the meet.  Mary (fly), Julie (100 free), and Jamie (200 free) finished second in the other events and Emily Coyle swam to two critical runner up spots in the 50 and the back.  Julie, Emily, and Alexandra Crane broke open the meet with a fast 1-2-3 finish in the 50.  Mary's 100 fly time of 1:00.68 pushed her in to the #2 all-time spot, passing sister Kelly who swam a 1:01.01 in 2004.

The boys swam to their largest margin of victory of the season with a 120-49 score over the West Morris Central boys team.  Bernards won all the relays and 6 of the individual events as West Morris was not able to fill all the lanes with swimmers.  Thomas Kostelak was the lone double winner for Bernards, winning the IM and the 100 free.  Thomas also swam on the winning 200 free relay with John Lawson, Robert Crane and Mitch Colby.  John also won the 500, lowering his #5 top 5 time and Mitch took the 200.  Jose Agnese showed some surprising speed with a victory in the back and Brendan McCrossan sprinted to the wall first in an extremely tight 50 free, as less than 0.1 seconds separated the top three swimmers.  In fact, Brendan and Sebastien Sicard were both timed at 24.18, which ties them for the #5 top 5 slot!  John, Jose, Brendan and Sebastien won the medley relay and Justin Meyers, Matt Sisto, Mitch, and Chris Banks led a 1-2 sweep in the closing 400 free relay.  The second place team featured Keith Lafuente, Brandon Gatzke, Ryan Coyle, and Joe Kubeck.

deMarrais Leads Bernards to 6th Place at Somerset County Championships
Boys Also Finish in 6th Place

The Bernards girls finished in 6th place at the Somerset County Championships on Friday, January 25, beating 6 schools including Ridge and Watchung Hills.  The team was led by Mary deMarrais who won the 500 free in a BHS #3 time of 5:10.55 and finished second in the IM with a time (2:11.09) that is second only to Alexis Skoda's school record 2:07.18 from 2001.  Jamie Hepburn was tenth in the 200 free and seventh in the 500 free. Mary and Jamie also scored points on two sixth place free relays with Julie Farrell, Emily Coyle (200), and Jenna Meyers (400).  The medley relay of Danielle Colby, Samantha Cembrook, Ali Gatzke and Emily Coyle finished in 8th place.

On Saturday, January 26, the Bernards boys also finished in 6th place behind Bridgewater, Pingry, Hillsborough, Montgomery, and Ridge.  Frosh Mitch Colby and co-captain Sebastien Sicard scored in both of their individual events, as Mitch finished 11th in the 200 and 7th in the 500, improving his #2 BHS top 5 time to 5:05.85.  Sebastien finished in 12th in both the 200 free and the fly, and also improved on his #5 top 5 time in the 200 free with a 1:56.27.  Justin Meyers completed the individual scoring with a 12th place swim in the 100 free.  The 200 medley relay squad of John Lawson, Jose Agnese, Brendan McCrossan and Mitch placed 6th and lowered their own #3 top 5 time to 1:48.95, which ties the #2 time.  Both free relays finished 5th as the 200 free relay team included Brendan, Justin, Robert Crane, and Sebastien and the 400 free relay was swum by John, Sebastien, Justin, and Mitch.

Bernards Undefeated in Coed Meets Over Last Three Seasons

The Bernards boys and girls combined forces for a rare coed meet against South Plainfield at the Somerset Hills YMCA on January 17.  Bernards began as a coed team 20 years ago and competed only as a coed team for its first 12 season.  Bernards has had one coed meet in each of the last three seasons and has won each one improving their overall coed record to 70-71-1.  The lineup against South Plainfield had Bernards swimming a completely different set of three boys and girls in every individual event.  All 37 members of the Bernards swim team competed in the meet and 30 of them scored.

Bernards won 6 events as Mary deMarrais (200), Jamie Hepburn (IM), Sebastien Sicard (fly), John Lawson (500), Mitch Colby (back), and Justin Meyers (breast) each placed first in their respective events.  Mitch's time in the back puts him in the top 5 in every event except the breaststroke, while John's time in the 500 knocked his brother Brendan, out of the top 5.  Bernards had as many second place efforts, including two runner-up relays.  In the medley relay, Danielle Colby, Mary, Brendan McCrossan, and Sebastien finished second and Robert Crane, Ali Gatzke, Yvette Gong, and Josh Kostelak did the same in the 400 free relay.  Jose Agnese (IM), Matt Sisto (50), Brendan (fly), and Josh (100 free) all scored second place points for Bernards.

Bernards Sets 6 New (Unofficial) Records at Cougar Relays

The Bernards swim team, which clearly took the gold medal among the six participating teams for team spirit, rewrote the (unofficial) relay record book on December 7 at Montgomery High School.  Two girls, one boys, and three new coed records were set as Bernards raced against Hillsborough, Montgomery, Warren Hills, Somerville, and Immaculata.

Danielle Colby, Katie Drinkwater, Jenna Meyers and Mary deMarrais broke the 200 back relay, and Mary combined with Yvette Gong, Angela Agnese, and Julie Farrell to set a new 200 breast relay standard.  The boys 200 back relay record also fell to John Lawson, Josh Kostelak, Robert Crane, and Mitch Colby.  Three new coed relay records were also established in the 200 fly, 400 medley, and 4 x 100IM relay events. Sebastien Sicard, Ali Gatzke, Colette Rosenhaus, and Brendan McCrossan swam the 200 fly relay, while Josh, Reid Orza, Colette, and Alexandra Crane swam the 400 medley.  The final record breaking relay of the night belonged to the 4 x 100IM squad of Julie, Robert, Jenna Meyers, and Thomas Kostelak.

Bernards Swim Team to Work With Special Olympics Athletes

The Bernards swim team will be working with the local Special Olympics swim team at the Somerset Hills YMCA throughout the season.  The Bernards swimmers will assist in coaching the swim team, helping them with their stroke technique and participating in fun, yet competitive relay races.  This will be a great opportunity for the Bernards swimmers to serve their community while sharing their talents with a great group of local athletes.

2006-2007 Highlights
Bernards Boys Named Skyland Conference Raritan Division Champions

The Skyland Conference is made up of two divisions - the Delaware and the Raritan.  The members of the Raritan Division are Bernards, Franklin, North Hunterdon, Phillipsburg, Ridge, Somerville, Voorhees (girls team only), and Warren Hills.  The Bernards boys were undefeated in dual meets against all teams in the Raritan Division, so they have been named Conference champions of this division.