Team News Archives (2017-18 season)

March 3 and 4, 2018

The 5 girls and 4 boys that represented Bernards at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology had a very strong showing, setting 3 new school records and seeing all 9 swimmers qualify for the finals.  In the preliminary round, Jessica Snyder lowered her own school record in the 100 breast to a 1:07.38 and finished in 21st place.  The girls medley relay of Mallika Negi, Jessica, Ali Maffei, and Caroline Casella made it in the "A" final for Sunday while the 200 free relay of Caroline, Jessica, Mallika, and Izzy Piccone qualified for the "C" final.  Matt Voight was the 1st alternate in the 200 free and qualified for the "B" final in the 500, and the 400 free relay of Alex Kiel, Joe Kiel, Ross Zazzarino, and Matt Voight, made it in to the "C" final for Sunday.

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In the finals, the girls medley relay, just missed their own school record and finished in 8th place, earning All-State honors while the 200 free relay finished in 23rd place posting the 4th fastest time in Bernards history.  Fortunately for Matt Voight, there was a scratch in the 200 free "B" final, allowing Matt to slide in and that was all he needed to swim to a scorching 1:44.46, breaking the school record of 1:45.67 set by Scott Armstrong in 1998 and good enough for 12th place in the state.  Matt then just missed Scott's 500 record of 4:42.00 as he stopped the clock at 4:42.30, good enough for 11th place.  After qualifying for the meet with a respectable 3:22.27, Alex, Joe, Ross and Matt lowered their time to a 2nd fastest all-time swim of 3:19.03 in the preliminary round on Saturday.  They returned, determined to take down the 2011 record of 3:18,.71, and they did just that with a blistering 3:17.45 - good enough for 20th place.

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February 26, 2018

Bernards closed out their season with losses to cross-town rival Ridge.  The girls lost 71-99 to end their season at 10-4, and the boys lost 58-112, finishing at 10-2-1.  Mallika Negi, Jessica Snyder, Ali Maffei and Caroline Casella opened the meet with a win in the medley relay followed by individual wins by each of them - Ali in the 200 free, Caroline in the 50 free (tie for 1st), Mallika in the back, and Jessica in the breast.  Izzy Piccone swam to two second place finishes (200 and 500 free) and Kristen Sardis was runner up in the fly.  Best times were recorded by Kerry Broderick (50 and 100 free), Sage Ecko (50 free), Kaelyn Godbey (50 free), Becky McCabe (100 free), and Cassidy Meeks (200 free).

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The boys were led by Matt Voight, who won the 200 and 500 free and anchored the winning 400 free relay with Joe Kiel, Alex Kiel and Ross Zazzarino.  Alex Kiel was runner up in the 50 and 100 free and Joe took second in the fly.  Owen Kelly went 2 for 2 with personal bests in the 200 free and back.  Matt Voight ended the season scoring 239.5 points, which raised his points-per-season team record (over his 3 seasons) to 225.42.

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February 20, 2018

The Bernards girls, having won the North 2 Group C Sectional title, faced the North 1 Group C champs, Mountain Lakes in the semifinal round of the Group C playoffs and came up short 68-102 at the Passaic County Technical Institute on February 20.  Jessica Snyder took the only individual race for Bernards in the breaststroke and Caroline Casella, Ali Maffei, Mallika Negi and Kristen Sardis fought off a charging Mountain Lakes to secure the win in the 400 free relay.  Bernards captured 8 runner up finishes with Caroline in the 50 and 100 free, Mallika in the IM and fly, Ali in the 500, Maddie Kiel in the back, and Zoe Bender in the breast.  Mallika, Jessica, Ali and Caroline took the other silver medal position in the medley relay.  Best times were recorded by Maddie Kiel (50 fly, 100 fly, 100 back), Kaelyn Godbey (100 free), Cassidy Meeks (50 breast), Mallika (100 free), and Natalia Youssef (50 back).

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January 20, 2018

On January 20, at Montgomery High School, Bernards swam to one of the most successful Skyland Conference Championship campaigns in its history.  Bernards joined the very competitive Skyland Conference in 2007 and the boys 5th place and the girls 6th place finish is the highest combined finish in 11 years.  The last time they placed this well was in 2008 when the girls were 5th and the boys were 6th.

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The boys opened the meet with Matt Voight, Ross Zazzarino, Joe Kiel and Alex Kiel stopping the clock at 1:42.00 in the medley relay, which just missed the MOC cutoff by 0.10 seconds but managed to grab 5th place and secure a spot on the all-time Top 5 listing.  Matt Voight followed that with a MOC qualifying 1:46.47 200 free - for another 5th place conference finish and the third fastest time in BHS history.  Joe laid down a 2:03.37 IM, placing 6th and also Joe's first individual all-time top 5 time.  Alex Kiel sprinted to a 4th place in the 50 free and an 8th place 100 free and Joe added an 11th place in the 100 - all with personal best times.  Matt Voight then swam to the highest finish for the boys with another MOC time in the 500 free - 4:50.39 - good enough for the bronze medal and the #3 all-time fastest 500 for Bernards.  Sean Robinson dropped 15 seconds off his 500 time to sneak in for a 12th place finish.  The 200 free relay team of Noah Youssef, Nicholas Falivene, Sean, and Matt Sardis took 10th and the Sean came back to score more points with a 9th place 1:03.89 in the 100 breaststroke, improving on his own Top 5 time.  Bernards finished the day with the sixth new Top 5 time of the meet with a 6th place in the 400 free relay by Joe, Alex Kiel, Ross and Matt Voight.  Their 3:22.27 qualifies them for the Meet of Champions. The boys 5th place finish put them ahead of 13 schools including Montgomery, Hunterdon Central and Watchung Hills.

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The girls arrived at Montgomery in the afternoon and put on an equally impressive show as they placed ahead of 12 schools including Ridge, Watchung Hills, Mount Saint Mary and Hunterdon Central.  Mallika Negi, Jessica Snyder, Ali Maffei and Caroline Casella recorded the highest relay finish of the day for Bernards with a 4th place and MOC qualifying 1:51.29, just missing the Bernards school record by 0.04 seconds! Jessica broke her own school record in the 100 breaststroke with a third place finish and MOC qualifying 1:07.97.  She also swam to a 7th place in the IM and swam the lead off leg on the 7th place (and MOC qualifying) 200 free relay with Kristen Sardis, Mallika Negi and Izzy Piccone.  Ali Maffei added two more 7th place finishes in the 200 free and 100 fly and swam a strong lead leg on the 6th place 400 free relay - with Izzy, Kristen and Caroline.  Caroline also finished 9th in both the 50 and the 100 free and Kristen also score points with two 12th place finishes - in the 100 fly and the 100 breast.

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January 17, 2018

Bernards swam past Somerville at the Somerville YMCA on January 17 to improve their records to 6-2 (girls) and 7-0-1 (boys).  The boys gained a tighter grip on the conference division title by winning every event on the way to a 111-55 victory and extending their division record to 6-0 with 2 meets to go.  The boys featured individual double winners Matt Voight (IM and fly), Alex Kiel (100 free and breast) and Noah Youssef (200 free and back). and single winners Joe Kiel (500 free) and Vincent Falivene (50 free).  Taking the relays were Matt Snyder, Alex Kiel, Matt Voight, Nicholas Falivene (medley), Nicholas, Ross Zazzarino, Owen Kelly, Matt Voight (200 free) and Vincent, Noah, Owen, Joe (400 free).  Despite the 87 degree water, the following boys posted new PRs at this meet:  Vincent (500), Alex Kiel (breast), Joe (breast), Sean (fly), Alex Ruffer (50 free, back), Matt Snyder (50 back), Noah (back), and Ross (fly).

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The girls grabbed gold in every event except the two freestyle relays as Izzy Piccone (200 and 100 free) and Caroline Casella (50 free and back) each took 2 events and Maddie Kiel (IM), Mallika Negi (fly), Sophie Ray (500 free) and Zoe Bender (breast) each won one individual event.  Sage Ecko, Zoe, Caroline and Jessica Snyder touched the wall first on the opening medley relay.  Runner up finishes in the free relays were recorded by Maren Petrie, Lauren Browne, Becky McCabe and Zoe in the 4 x 50 free and by Nicole Certisimo, Emily McEntee, Becky and Cassidy Meeks in the 4 x 100 free,  Best times were posted by Zoe (IM), Caroline (50 fly), Nicole (100 free), Marion Doerr (200 free), Maddie (IM), Emily (100 free) and Mallika (50 breast).

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January 12, 2018

Bernards faced Caldwell at the Somerset Hills YMCA on January 12 - the team that both the girls and boys defeated in last year's State Sectional finals - and came out on top again.  The girls prevailed 97-73 to raise their record to 5-2 while the boys remained undefeated with a 104-66 victory.

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The girls led from start to finish as Caroline Casella (50 and 100), Mallika Negi (fly and back), and Jessica Snyder (IM and breast) each swam to two individual golds and also each swam on two winning relays. Jessica and Mallika both swam on the winning medley with Ali Maffei and Izzy Piccone while Caroline anchored the first place 400 free relay behind Kristen Sardis, Maddie Kiel and Izzy.  Caroline, Mallika and Jessica all swam on the victorious 200 free relay as well.  Ali Added the other first place swim in the 200 freestyle.  Best times were recorded by Annie Cannan (100 free), Nicole Certisimo (50 free), Marion Doerr (50 and 100 free), Sage Ecko (back), Maddie (100 free), Emily McEntee (50 free), Cassidy Meeks (50 and 100 free and breast), Sophie Ray (500).

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While the boys lost the opening relay, they never looked back and won 8 of the remaining 10 events, taking either 1-2 or 1-3 in all 8 of them.  Leading the way was Joe Kiel who took both of his individual events (fly and back) and also swam on both winning free relays.   Right behind Joe, also with two individual wins and one first place relay were Matt Voight (200 and 100 free) and Sean Robinson (IM and breast).  Joe swam on the 200 free relay with Ross Zazzarino, Matt Sardis and Alex Kiel and on the longer free relay with Alex, Nicholas Falivene and Matt Voight.  Matt's time in the 200 free (1:48.60) improved on his 5th fastest BHS time and Sean also posted the 5th fastest time in BHS history with a 1:04.82 in the breaststroke. Additional PRs for the boys were recorded by Nicholas (IM), Vincent Falivene (200 free), Joe Kiel (50 free), Sean (IM), Alex Ruffer (IM, 500, 100 free), Matt Sardis (fly), Matt Snyder (back), Noah Youssef (100 free), and Ross (50 and 100 free).

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January 10, 2018

The Bernards boys remained undefeated with a 114-56 win over North Hunterdon at Raritan Valley Community College, improving their record to 5-0-1 while the girls lost a hard fought battle 75-95, dropping their record to 4-2. 

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Matt Voight was on fire, as he lowered John Lawson's individual medley school record from 1:59.54 to 1:57.69 and also posted the 4th fastest time in Bernards history in the 500 free with a 4:56.87.  Matt also lead off the winning medley relay with Ross Zazzarino, Joe Kiel and Matt Sardis and anchored the first place 400 free relay with Alex Kiel, Nicholas Falivene and Joe.  Joe also put two individual wins on the board in the fly and the back, while Alex Kiel (100 free) and Sean Robinson (breast) added wins as well.  Best times were posted by Vincent Falivene (100 free) and Noah Youssef (50 back, 100 free and breast).

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The girls have always faced solid competition from the North girls as they have now evened their record out at 5 wins, 5 losses and 1 tie in the 11 years that they have met. In fact, for the last 6 years, Bernards and North Hunterdon have each been Skyland Conference Raritan Division Champions 3 times!  It looks like the title will go to North this year despite a valiant effort by the Bernards girls, taking 2 relays and 3 individual events.  The medley relay squad of Mallika Negi, Jessica Snyder, Ali Maffei and Caroline Casella posted an MOC qualifying time of 1:51.94, as did the 200 free relay with Jessica, Caroline, Izzy Piccone and Kristen Sardis (1:43.94).  Both relays also were the 4th fastest times for their respective events in Bernards history!  Caroline (100 free/50 free), Ali (500 free/200 free) and Jessica (breast/IM) each added first and second place points in their respective individual events but it wasn't enough to overtake the Lions this year.  Posting personal bests were Zoe Bender (IM), Sarah Celentano (50 back, breast), Marion Doerr (50 breast, 50 free), Kaelyn Godbey (100 free), Becky McCabe (50 free), Emily McEntee (50 free), Cassidy Meeks (500 free), Grace Villani (100 free) and Natalia Youssef (back).

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January 3, 2018

The Bernards swim team opened up 2018 by continuing their unbeaten streak in the Skyland Conference Raritan Division with easy wins over Voorhees at the Somerset Hills YMCA on January 3, 2018.  The girls improved to 4-1 with a 117-52 score while the boys won 121-46 and remain undefeated at 4-0-1 for the season.

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The boys stole the show as they finished either 1-2 or 1-3 in every event except the 200 free relay, where they finished 1-4 and the girls won 8 events, sweeping half of them.  Personal bests were recorded by Zoe Bender (500), Annie Cannan (50), Sarah Celentano (50 breast), Nicole Certisimo (50), Marion Doerr (100), Sage Ecko (100), Maddie Kiel (50 back), Gianna Lorenzo (100), Emily McEntee (100), Izzy Piccone (breast), Kristen Sardis (50 fly), Mattie Sbaraglio (50 and 100), Vincent Falivene (50), Owen Kelly (50), Alex Kiel (50 back, fly), Sean Robinson (50 back), Alex Ruffer (100), Matt Snyder (IM), Matt Voight (breast), and Noah Youssef (50).

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December 19, 2017

The Bernards swim team won their last meet of 2017 with convincing wins over Franklin allowing them to remain unbeaten in Skyland Conference Raritan Division competition.  The girls beat Franklin for the 11th straight time 121-49 while the boys won 117-53.

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The girls swam to 1-2 finishes in 2 relays and 3 individual events. The medley sweep was completed by Mallika Negi, Zoe Bender, Caroline Casella and Izzy Piccone for the gold followed by Natalia Youssef, Ali Maffei, Maren Petrie and Kerry Broderick for the silver and the 400 free relay 1-2 finish was posted by Kaelyn Goodbye. Emily McEntee, Maddie Kiel and Mallika and Maren, Nicole Certisimo, Sophie Ray, and Caroline.  Jessica Snyder, Maddie, and Mattie Sbaraglio swept the 200 free as did Maddie, Izzy and Kristen in the 500 free.  The remaining 1-2 punch was delivered by Caroline and Natalia in the backstroke. Zoe added a win in the fly and the other first place swim was added by Sarah Celentano, Kaelyn, Nicole and Mallika in the 200 free relay.  The girls are 3-1 overall.

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The boys touched the wall first in every event except one and also completed a 1-2 sweep in five events.  Leading the boys was senior co-captain Alex Kiel with wins in both sprint freestyles and a leg in the victorious 200 free relay with Vincent Falivene, Joe Kiel and Matt Voight.  Matt added a very fast win by completing the 200 individual medley in the 4th fastest time in BHS history with a 2:04.88,  Matt also swam on the winning medley relay with Ross Zazzarino, Joe, and Vincent, which touched just before Noah Youssef, Alex Ruffer, Matt Sardis and Alex K to complete a 1-2 finish.  The other winning swims were posted by Nicholas Falivene (200 free - 1-2 with Matt Snyder). Joe Kiel (fly), Ross Zazzarino (1-2-3 with Nicholas and Matt Sardis), and Noah Youssef (breast). The boys are 3-0-1 for the season.

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December 12, 2017

Bernards added two important victories to their dual meet record with wins over Skyland Conference Division opponent Warren Hills at the Somerset Hills YMCA on December 12, 2017.  The girls improved the season record to 2-1 with a 111-56 win and the boys remained undefeated at 2-0-1 with a 119-46 victory.

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Leading the way for the girls was Mallika Negi who won the IM and the 500 free and also swam the fly leg on the opening medley relay.  Zoe Bender swam the breaststroke leg on that relay, led off the winning 200 free relay, and added a first in the individual breast and a second in the 50 free.  Other individual wins were posted by Caroline Casella in the 200 free, Izzy Piccone in the fly, and Jessica Snyder in the back.  Jessica and Izzy joined Mallika and Zoe on the winning medley relay and Annie Cannan, Sophie Ray, and Cassidy Meeks joined Zoe on the winning sprint free relay.  The Bernards girls swept the 500 free as Natalia Youssef (swimming backstroke!) and Cassidy Meeks followed Mallika in a 1-2-3 finish and Jessica, Gianna Lorenzo, Mattie Sbaraglio, and Natalia completed a 1-2 sweep in the 200 free relay.

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The boys meet featured all 13 boys on the roster putting points on the board as they swam to 1-2 finishes in every individual event and won all three relays.  Freshman Sean Robinson led the way with individual wins in the 500 free and breast and also swimming on two first place relays.  Sean was joined by Noah Youssef, Matt Snyder, and Vincent Falivene in the medley relay and Noah, Vincent and Nicholas Falivene on the 200 free relay.  Noah added a victory in the 50 free while Matt Sardis (fly and 100 free) and Ross Zazzarino (200 free and back) added two wins each.  The final individual win was recorded by Joe Kiel as he touched the wall first in the individual medley.  Bernards closed out the meet with as Joe, Matt Sardis, Owen Kelly and Alex Kiel won the 400 free relay.

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December 7, 2017

The Bernards swim team participated in the Cougar Relays at Montgomery High School on December 7 and while no school records were broken, Bernards managed at least a top 3 finish in every event they entered except for one. Bernards snared the gold medal in both backstroke relays with Maddie Kiel, Caroline Casella, Sage Ecko, and Natalia Youssef on the girls side and Matt Voight, Noah Youssef, Nicholas Falivene and Sean Robinson for the boys.  Matt Voight, Alex Kiel, Noah, and Sean also claimed the boys breaststroke relay title.  Adding silver medals were both medley relays (Caroline, Jessica Snyder, Maddie, and Zoe Bender and Matt Voight, Noah, Matt Snyder and Alex), the boys free relay (Nicholas, Matt Snyder, Joe Kiel and Matt Voight) and finally the mixed medley relay featuring all three Kiels - Alex, Joe and Maddie along with Izzy Piccone.  Three more relays made it to the podium touching third:  The boys "B" medley (Nicholas, Sean, Joe, and Vincent Falivene), the boys "B" free (Sean, Vincent, Noah, and Alex) and the girls breaststroke relay (Zoe, Sarah Celentano, Sophie Ray, and Jessica). 

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December 5, 2017

The Bernards girls and boys both started out their Skyland Conference Raritan Division campaign with victories over Phillipsburg at the Somerset Hills YMCA on December 1.  The girls improved their record to 1-1 with a 101-69 win while the boys remained undefeated with a very tight 86-84 win against what will probably prove to be their toughest division meet of the season.  Neither the girls nor the boys have ever lost a meet to Phillipsburg in 12 years.

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Junior Jessica Snyder (IM and breast) and sophomore Izzy Piccone (200 and 500 free) both won two individual events and also swam on two winning relays to lead Bernards over Phillipsburg.  Joining Jessica on the winning medley relay was Mallika Negi, Maddie Kiel and Caroline Casella, who put up the 6th fastest girls medley in Bernards history with a 1:56.59.  Izzy combined with Caroline, Mallika and Kristen Sardis to take the 400 free relay and Jessica and Izzy both swam on the first place 200 free relay with Zoe Bender and Kristen.  Caroline added a win in the 50 free and a runner up finish in the 100 free while Mallika grabbed two silver individuals in the fly and the backstroke.  Bernards placed third in four individual events (Zoe in the IM and the breast, Kristen in the 100, and Maddie in the back) and in all three relays.  In the medley, Sage Ecko, Zoe, Maren Petrie and Natalia Youssef; in the 200 free, Kerry Broderick, Sarah Celentano, Mattie Sbaraglio, and Sophie Ray; and in the 400 free, Sophie,, Cassidy Meeks, Maren and Maddie all added important third place points to the winning score.

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The boys came off a very tough 85-85 tie against Watchung to take down Phillipsburg 86-84 in an incredibly exciting showdown.  Bernards grabbed an early lead by going 1-3 in the medley relay (Matt Voight Ross Zazzarino, Joe Kiel and Alex Kiel took first and Nicholas Falivene, Sean Robinson, Matt Snyder and Vincent Falivene took third), 1-2 in the 200 free (Matt V and Matt Sardis), and then finishing either first or second in the next 5 races (Ross - IM, Alex - 50, Joe fly, Alex - 100, Matt V - 500).  But Phillipsburg showed their freestyle sprint strength by finishing 1-3 in the 200 free relay to take a 2 point lead with 3 events to go.  Pburg widened the gap to 4 points in the backstroke despite a 2-3 finish by Joe and Matt Snyder and then Sean and Ross finished first and second in an incredibly tight breaststroke race - Ross touching out Pburg's swimmer by 0.04 second - to tie the meet at 78-78 going in to the final relay.  Nicholas, Matt Sardis, Joe and Matt Voight swam out of their minds to seal the victory for Bernards by two points as the screaming crowd cheered both teams on to one of the most exciting finishes in Bernards' history. 

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December 1, 2017

Bernards opened their regular dual meet season against a tough Skyland Conference Delaware Division opponent in Watchung Hills at the Somerset Hills YMCA on December 1. 2017.  The boys swam to an 85-85 tie while the girls lost 64-106.  The medley relay team of Matt Voight, Ross Zazzarino, Matt Sardis and Joe Kiel got touched out by Watchung to open the meet but Bernards came back with 1-2 finishes in the 200 free (Matt V. and Alex Kiel) and the 200 IM (Ross and Sean Robinson) to jump to an 8 point lead.  Matt S. finished third in the 50 free which reduced Bernards' lead to 2 points, which Bernards maintained by winning the 100 fly (Joe), 100 free (Alex K.) and 500 free (Matt V.).  Watchung then took the lead by taking the 200 free relay over Sean, Ross, Noah Youssef and Alex K and held on to that lead going in to the last relay despite a second 1-2 punch in the breast by Ross and Sean.  Having exhausted all of their big guns, Watchung could only manage a second place finish in the last relay and Bernards outscored them by 6 points with Matt V, Alex K, Joe, and Matt S taking first and Nicholas Falivene, Noah, Matt Snyder and Alex Ruffer securing third to bring the nail biter to a close with an 85-85 tie.

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The girls started out with a convincing win in the medley relay as Mallika Negi, Jessica Snyder, Maddie Kiel, Caroline Casella touched the wall 9 seconds ahead of Watchung.   Jessica continued with strong wins in the IM and the breaststroke and Mallika added a win in the fly but four first place finishes were not enough to contain Watchung.  Mallika added a runner up finish in the backstroke and Caroline added two second place swims in the 50 and the 100 free.  Important bronze medal finishes were added by Maddie Kiel (fly), Cassidy Meeks (500 free), and the 200 free relay foursome of Jessica, Zoe Bender, Sarah Celentano and Sophie Ray.