2019-20 Archives

Team News Archives (2019-20 season)

March, 2020

The Skyland Conference has announced the 2020 All-Conference Selections. In the Valley Division, Bernards placed 6 girls and 7 boys on the All-Conference Team as follows:

Girls

Sami Bender (Fr) - 1st team medley relay, 100 free, 400 free relay

Clare Johnson (Sr) - 2nd team 200 free

Maddie Kiel (Jr) - 1st ream medley relay

Grace Korey (Fr) - 1st team medley relay, 100 breast, 400 free relay

Nina Marquard (So) - 1st team 400 free relay

Izzy Piccone (Sr) - 1st team medley relay, 200 free, 400 free relay

Boys

Everett Bailey (So) - 2nd team 500 free

Vincent Falivene (Jr) - Honorable Mention

Joe Kiel (Sr) - 1st team medley relay, 100 fly, 200 free relay, 400 free relay

Bryce Lukacsko (So) - 1st team 100 free, 200 free relay, 400 free relay

Sean Robinson (Jr) - 1st team medley relay, 200 free relay, 100 breast

Ryan Schuller (So) - 1st team medley relay, 400 free relay, 2nd team 100 back

Matt Snyder (Jr) - 1st team medley relay, 500 free, 200 free relay, 400 free relay

February 29, 2020

The Bernards boys team of Ryan Schuller, Sean Robinson, Joe Kiel, and Matt Snyder set a new school record in the 200 medley relay with a 1:39.25 at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions preliminaries, earning them a (13th) spot in the finals. Also posting a personal best time was Sami Bender in the 200 free (30th) and Joe Kiel's 50 free, leading off the 200 free relay. Sami's 1:58.00 moves her up from the 20th to 6th on the BHS all-time list and Joe's 50 puts him at the number 10 spot. While not making the finals (top 16), all of the swimmers finished above their seeding in their individual events: Matt Snyder 200 free - 71st, 500 free - 24th; Ryan Schuller 100 back - 40th, and Sean Robinson 100 breast - 20th. Bryce Lukacsko was injured and was unable too compete.

February 14, 2020

The Bernards boys fell to Summit 72-98 in their 4th State Sectional Finals to end their season at 11-2. The small squad of 14 boys all fought valiantly to the end, posting 17 best times, including a new BHS record and winning 5 events against a much larger team from Summit. Sean Robinson lowered his own school record in the 100 breaststroke with an incredibly fast 59.00. Bryce Lukacsko (50 free - #9 all-time). Joe Kiel (fly), Matt Snyder (500), and Ryan Schuller (back) each won their individual events and Sean, Joe, Bryce, and Matt grabbed the top spot in the 200 free relay.

Bernards will be sending 6 athletes to the Meet of Champions at GCIT on February 29-March 1. Sami Bender (200, 50), Sean Robinson (breast), Ryan Schuller (back), and Matt Snyder (200 and 500 free) have qualified in individual events and the boys will also compete in all 3 relays - Ryan, Sean, Joe Kiel, and Bryce Lukacsko in the medley, Sean, Joe, Bryce and Matt in the 200 free, and Ryan, Joe, Bryce, and Matt in the 400 free.

February 13, 2020

The Bernards girls were State Sectional Finalists for the 5th time, but were not able to retain their Sectional crown, having won it the previous 3 years as they fell to Caldwell 73-97 at the Raritan Bay Area YMCA. The girls swam fiercely - posting 14 new PRs while winning 8 of the 11 events, but could not capture enough runner up finishes to come out on top this year. Leading the way for Bernards were freshmen Sami Bender and Grace Korey. Each took two individual events and swam on the victorious medley and 400 free relays. Sami touched the wall first in the 50 in an MOC qualifying time, which put her within 0.2 seconds of the school record. Her 100 time was the 6th fastest in BHS history and only 0.04 seconds off MOCs. Grace swam the 14th fastest 200 IM for BHS and also won the 100 breaststroke. Grace and Sami teamed up with Maddie Kiel and Izzy Piccone on the two winning relays and Maddie (fly) and Izzy (500) each took one individual event. The medley relay swam the fastest time of the season which was good enough for #7 spot on the all-time list. Maddie (back) and Izzy (200) were each runner-ups and Nina Marquard posted the lone individual 3rd place in the 500. Also securing bronze was the 200 free relay team of Marion Doerr, Keaton Haughan, Sarah Celentano, and Nina.

The girls finished their illustrious season at 10-2 as Skyland Conference Valley Division champions and North 2 Group C State Sectional Finalists.

February 12, 2020

Bernards faced their first defeat of the season against cross-town rivals Ridge as they bid farewell to 10 graduating seniors in their last (regular season) dual meet of their career. The class of 2020 included Kerry Broderick, Sarah Celentano*, Will Garvin, Kaelyn Godbey*, Clare Johnson, Joe Kiel*, Izzy Piccone*, Sophie Ray*, Matt Sbaraglio, and Grace Villani (*=captains). The girls (10-1) lost by a score of 58-104 , while the boys (11-1) fell 66-91.

Sami Bender (50 free) and Grace Korey (100 breast) each won an individual event, and the relay team of Izzy Piccone, Nina Marquard, Sarah Celentano, and Izzy Piccone took the 400 free relay. Sami also swam the 100 breast with a BHS Top 20 (#16) fastest time. The boys won all 3 relays as Ryan Schuller, Sean Robinson, Joe Kiel, and Bryce Lukacsko took the medley, Bryce, Sean, Joe, and Matt Snyder the sprint freestyle and Ryan, Joe, Vincent Falivene, and Matt the longer free relay. Sean also took top honors in the 100 breast. Matt Snyder entered the BHS Top 20 for the 200 free at the #13 spot.

February 10, 2020

The Bernards girls also remained undefeated (10-0) with a semifinal round win over Madison (92-78) in the NJSIAA State Sectional North 2 Group C bracket. Second seeded Bernards will face the winner of first seed Caldwell and fourth seed New Providence in the finals on February 13 at the Raritan Bay Area YMCA. Bernards edged out Madison 6 wins to 5 in a very close contest at the Somerset Hills YMCA. Sami Bender won the 50 and 100 free and also anchored the two winning relays for Bernards. Joining Sami on the medley relay was Izzy Piccone, Grace Korey, and Maddie Kiel and on the 200 free relay was Clare Johnson, Marion Doerr, and Mattie Sbaraglio. Izzy Piccone (500) and Maddie (fly) added an individual win each. Izzy, Maddie, Clare, and Grace teamed up for the runner up spot in the 400 free relay, although the meet was clinched with a strong 2-3 finish in the breaststroke by Grace and Sophie Ray.

The Bernards boys swam a focused and determined meet to overtake the higher seeded Governor Livingston boys 91-79 in a spirited semifinal meet at the Morris Union Jointure school. Bernards exploded out of the starting blocks in the opening medley relay, lowering their MOC qualifying time and touching the wall only six hundredths of a second off the school record to set the stage for an evening of jaw-dropping swims. The medley team of Ryan Schuller (back), Sean Robinson (breast), Joe Kiel (fly), and Bryce Lukacsko (free) each added individual victories in their specialties. Ryan's back time claims the 4th spot in the BHS all-time swims, Joe's fly is the 3rd fastest ever, and Bryce's 50 free puts him in the #9 spot. Matt Snyder put on a show as he won the IM with the 2nd fastest time in BHS history and then posted the 4th fastest time in winning the 500 with another MOC qualifying time. After a (very) short rest, Matt anchored the 200 free relay behind Sean, Joe, and Bryce to qualify the boys' 3rd relay for MOCs with the 4th fastest time at BHS. Adding to the BHS Top 20 list was Ryan's 200 free (#9), Sean's 50 (#10), and Trevor Lukacsko's fly (#13). The boys team remains undefeated at 11-0.

February 6, 2020

The Bernards boys remained undefeated at 10-0 with a quarterfinal round win over Madison (107-62) in the NJSIAA State Sectional North 2 Group C bracket. Third seeded Bernards will face second seeded Governor Livingston in the semifinal round on February 10 at Morris Union Jointure. Bernards took all 3 relays and 6 individual events, led by double winners Ryan Schuller (200 and back) and Matt Snyder (IM and 500). Also adding individual wins were Sean Robinson (50) and Bryce Lukacsko (100). Ryan, Sean, and Bryce teamed up with Joe Kiel to open the meet with a first place medley relay. Bryce and Matt Snyder were joined by Vincent Falivene and Matt Sardis to take the 200 free relay and Vincent, Ryan, Matt Sardis, and Trevor Lukacsko closed out the meet with a come-from-behind victory in the 400 free relay. Important runner up points were added by Joe Kiel (200 and fly), Bryce (50), Matt Sardis (100), and Sean (500).

January 31, 2020

Bernards swam very well at the Cougar Invitational Meet at Montgomery High School on January 31 as the girls and boys combined for a total of 16 podium finishes - 3 golds, 5 silvers, and 8 bronze medal finishes. Clare Johnson won the 100 and 200 freestyle events and also anchored the fastest 400 free relay in the meet behind Nina Marquard, Marion Doerr, and Tara Hartnett. Nina added 2 individual runner up finishes in the 200 IM and 100 fly, and Meghan Lukacsko (50 free) and Sophie Ray (100 breast) each added one. The boys 200 free relay team of Alex Ruffer, Matt Giunta, Trevor Lukacsko, and Vincent Falivene also came in second place. The 3rd place individual finishes went to Sophie (IM), Meghan (100 free), Tara (100 back), Vincent (IM), and Everett Bailey (fly). Both medley relay teams earned bronze medals. For the girls, it was swum by Tara, Sophie, Nina, and Meghan and for the boys it was Everett, Alex, Matt, and Vincent. The final podium finisher was the girls 200 free relay squad of Mattie Sbaraglio, Marion, Sophie, and Meghan.

January 30, 2020

NJSIAA has announced the state sectional tournament brackets and in the North 2 Group C playoffs, the Bernards girls are seeded 2nd and the boys are seeded 3rd. Tournament action begins with the quarterfinals on February 6 when the boys will host the winner of the Glen Ridge (#7) at Madison (#6) preliminary meet. The girls have earned a bye until the semifinal round on Feb 10, when they will host the winner of Madison (#3) v the winner of Belvidere (#7) at Rutherford (#6).

January 28, 2020

The Bernards swim team finished their Skyland Conference Valley Division dual meet schedule with a perfect 7-0 record to claim the division title for the 2nd year in a row for the girls and the 5th consecutive year for the boys. The girls defeated Warren Hills 120-49 and the boys by a score of 119-36. Both teams are 9-0 overall.

The girls featured 13 different first place winners as Sami Bender (200 - 20th all-time for BHS), Clare Johnson (IM), Nina Marquard (fly), Grace Korey (500), Tara Hartnett (back), and Sophie Ray (breast) each touched the wall first in their individual events and all 3 relays were victorious as well. The medley relay was won by Tara, Sophie, Olivia Seker, and Marion Doerr, the 200 free relay by Mattie Sbaraglio, Gianna Lorenzo, Izzy Piccone, and Marion, and the 400 free relay by Izzy, Audrey Panik, Sami, and Miray Savluk. Earning silver medal relay performances were the medley relay team of Clare, Katie Riegler, Nina, and Miray as well as the 400 free relay of Nina, Aoife Flaherty, Grace, and Caitlyn Sebastien.

The boys won 10 of 11 events, sweeping 9 out of the 10 events they won. Winning two individual events each were Joe Kiel (200, fly), and Ryan Schuller (100, breast) and grabbing one gold each were Sean Robinson (IM), Matt Giunta (50), Vincent Falivene (500), and Bryce Lukacsko (back). Vincent combined with Will Garvin, Everett Bailey, and Trevor Lukacsko to take the medley relay while Matt Giunta, Noah Youssef, Matt Sardis, and Joe won the 200 free relay. The medley relay sweep was completed by Bryce, Alex Ruffer, Matt Giunta, and Caden Lorenzo.

January 25, 2020

The Bernards swim team continued to rewrite the record books at the 55th Somerset County Swimming Championships at Montgomery High School. The girls finished 9th (of 13 teams) and the boys finished 5th (of 12 teams) and together they posted 14 new BHS all-time Top 20 times!

The girls were somewhat hampered by illness, but still scored in 5 events as Sami Bender finished 2nd in the 100 free and 4th in the 50 free and also swam on the 8th place medley relay (with Izzy Piccone, Grace Korey, and Marion Doerr), and on the 6th place 400 free relay (with Izzy, Grace, and Nina Marquard). Sami's 50 and 100 free times were the 7th fastest times in these events in BHS history. Izzy also swam a fast 100 free that was good enough for 8th place and Grace Korey completed the scoring with a 9th place 100 breast.

The boys assaulted the Top 20 list as this squad of 10 scored in 8 events, posted 12 new Top 20 times, and 13 individual PRs. Matt Snyder led the scoring with a 4th place 500 free (#4 all-time), and 7th place fly along with taking a leg in both the 4th place 200 free relay with Joe Kiel, Sean Robinson, and Bryce Lukacsko and the 5th place 400 free relay with Joe, Bryce, and Ryan Schuller. Both of these relays were the 5th fastest in BHS history and the 400 free relay time of 3:21.06 qualified them for the Meet of Champions. Bryce and Matt each posted new Top 20 times in each of the free relays. Ryan added a 5th place 100 back (#4 all-time), Bryce put up 8th place points in the 50 free (#9 all-time), and Sean finished in 11th place in the IM (#6 all-time). Completing the individual scoring was Joe with a 12th place in the fly, and the 4th place medley relay of Ryan, Sean, Joe, and Bryce.

January 22, 2020

The Bernards girls and boys swim teams both defeated Franklin at the Rutgers University College Avenue Gymnasium pool to improve their Skyland Conference record to 6-0 and their overall record to 8-0. The girls won by a score of 68-26 while the boys finished on top 58-36.

The girls won 9 of 11 events, finishing 1-2 or 1-3 in all 9 of them as all 21 swimmers who swam in this meet scored points. 7 different girls won individual events - Nina Marquard (200), Sophie Ray (IM), Maddie Kiel (fly), Meghan Lukacsko (100), Sami Bender (500), Clare Johnson (back), and Grace Korey (breast) all grabbed gold and following each of them with valuable runner up points were Clare (200), Tara Hartnett (IM), Olivia Seker (fly), Gianna Lorenzo (100), Izzy Piccone (500), Bhavya Negi (back), and Sarah Celentano (breast). The medley relay was won by Tara, Grace, Maddie, and Keaton and the 400 free relay by Sophie, Gianna, Grace, and Sami. The girls are now 13-0 against Franklin.

The boys faced some very tough competition from Franklin but still managed to win 7 events in what may have been the meet to determine the Skyland Conference Valley Division boys champions. Matt Snyder (IM), Bryce Lukacsko (50), Joe Kiel (fly), Ryan Schuller (500), and Everett Bailey (back) each secured individual victories and Sean Robinson, Matt, Joe, and Bryce (200 free relay) and Ryan, Joe, Vincent Falivene, and Everett (400 free relay) touched the wall first. Winning sliver in the medley relay was the team of Everett, Noah Youssef, Trevor Lukacsko, and Vincent. Franklin kept Bernards on their toes opening up an early lead through the first 4 events after which Bernards gained control, clinching the win in the backstroke when Everett and Alex Ruffer went 1-2.

January 20, 2020

The Bernards girls and boys swim teams had an excellent showing at the Skyland Conference Championship (all divisions) swim meet at Montgomery High School. The Skyland Conference is comprised of 24 high schools and 17 of them competed in the 2020 championship meet. The Bernards girls finished in 10th place and the boys finished in 4th and both the girls and boys finished 1st among all Valley Division schools.

The girls opened up the scoring (the top 12 in each event scored) with an 8th place medley relay. Izzy Piccone, Grace Korey, Maddie Kiel and Sami Bender's 1:56.21 was also the 8th fastest medley relay in BHS history. Sami also finished 6th in the 50 free (her 25.41 improves on her 9th place all-time swim) and 4th in the 100 free. Sami led off the 8th place 400 free relay with a 54.72, which moves her 12th fastest all-time swim to 8th. Sami was followed by Izzy, Meghan Lukacsko, and Grace. Grace completed the scoring for Bernards with a tie for 6th place in the 100 breast. Her time of 1:11.60 moves her up to 6th all-time. While not finishing in the top 12, Grace added a 2:04.72 in the 200 free (15th all-time), and Maddie swam a 1:03.19, moving her 15th all-time position up to 13th.

The boys scored in 9 events for one of the strongest finishes in BHS history as they added 8 swims to the boys all-time top 20 tabulation. The relays placed the highest with the medley relay (#5 all-time with an MOC qualifying 1:40.77) swum by Ryan Schuller, Sean Robinson, Joe Kiel, and Bryce Lukacsko coming in 3rd, the 200 free relay team of Joe, Sean, Matt Snyder, and Bryce finishing in a tie for 3rd, and the 400 free relay team of Joe, Ryan, Bryce, and Matt placing 5th. The shorter free relay featured a #10 all-time 50 by Bryce and a #12 all-time 50 by Joe while the longer free relay also had 2 new all-time swims in the 100 free as Matt jumped on to the list at #13 and Bryce came in at #14. Ryan and Matt each added individual points as Ryan was 8th in the 200 free and 6th in the 100 back (with a #4 all-time 55.01) and Matt put up two #3 all-time swims with an 8th place 2:01.78 IM and a 6th place 53.92 in the fly. Bryce was 6th in the 50 free and Sean was 5th in the breast.

January 14, 2020

The Bernards swim team beat Gill St. Bernards at the Somerset Hills YMCA on January 14 to remain undefeated for both girls and boys in regular season meets as well as Skyland Conference Valley Division contests. The girls won 116-54 and the boys won 113-43 for the first ever dual meet against Gill in Bernards 32 year history.

The girls won 9 of 11 events and finished 1-2 or 1-3 in all of those 9 events against previously unbeaten Gill. Winning 2 individual events each were Sami Bender (50 and 100 free), and Grace Korey (IM and breast). Sami's 100 free time moved her up to #12 on the top 20 list and Grace's IM time gets her on to the top 20 at #14. Also touching first were Maddie Kiel (fly) and Nina Marquard (500). Completing 1-2 sweeps were the teams of Nina, Grace, Maddie and Meghan Lukacsko and Tara Hartnett, Sarah Celentano, Olivia Seker, and Marion Doerr in the medley relay, Maddie and Olivia in the fly, Sami and Izzy Piccone in the 100 free, Nina and Sophie Ray in the 500 free, and Grace and Sarah in the breast.

The boys completely dominated Gill taking every event and managing 1-2 finishes in 7 of them. Matt Snyder (IM and 500) and Joe Kiel (200 and fly) came out on top in both of their individual events and winning one each were Bryce Lukacsko (50), Vincent Falivene (100), Ryan Schuller (back), and Sean Robinson (breast). 1-2 finishes were recorded by the relay teams of Ryan, Sean, Matt Snyder, and Bryce and Matt Giunta, Noah Youssef, Trevor Lukacsko, and Vincent (medley) as well as Vincent, Matt Snyder, Ryan, and Joe and Trevor, Alex Ruffer, Matt Giunta, and Noah (400 free). The other 5 1-2 finishes were completed by Matt Snyder and Ryan (IM), Bryce and Sean (50), Joe and Trevor (fly), Matt Snyder and Noah (500), and Sean and Bryce (breast).

January 7, 2020

The Bernards swim team opened their 2020 dual meet campaign with two convincing wins over Voorhees at the Somerset Hills YMCA on January 7 to maintain a perfect 6-0 record for both the girls and boys. Both teams are now 4-0 in the Skyland Conference Valley Division with 3 matches remaining. The girls won 100-54 and the boys won 94-56.

The girls won every event except the 200 free relay, with 10 different girls securing a gold medal. Sami Bender led the way with 2 individual wins (50 free and 100 back) and also swam the opening leg on the first place medley relay along with Grace Korey, Maddie Kiel, and Marion Doerr. Other individual winners were Clare Johnson (200 free), Izzy Piccone (IM), Maddie (100 fly), Tara Hartnett (100 free), and Grace (100 breast). Grace lowered her #8 all-time BHS swim in the 100 breast with a 1:12.75 PR. Izzy teamed up with Nina Marquard, Keaton Haughan, and Meghan Lukacsko to touch first in the 500 free relay. The girls swept 3 events as Maddie, Grace, and Olivia Seker went 1-2-3 in the fly as did Tara, Clare, and Marion in the 100 free. They also took the top 2 places in the 400 free relay as the silver medal went to Tara, Katie Riegler, Maddy Mehmel, and Gianna Lorenzo.

The boys won 7 events with 8 different boys topping the podium. The boys were led by Joe Kiel who won the 100 fly but also swam on the two first place relay teams. Joining Joe on the victorious 200 free relay were Sean Robinson, Matt Sardis, and Vincent Falivene and for the 400 free relay win he teamed up with Matt Snyder, Matt Giunta, and Alex Ruffer. Adding individual wins were Sean (200 free), Matt Snyder (100 fly), and Alex (100 back). Sean snuck on to the BHS All-Time Top 20 with a 20th place time in the 200 free (1:59.41). Matt Snyder, Ryan Schuller, and Everett Bailey swam to a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 fly to break open the score after Voorhees managed their best finish of the meet in the 50 free to keep them within 5 points of Bernards.

December 19, 2019

The Bernards swim team finished their 2019 dual meet season with an unblemished 5-0 record for both the girls and boys teams with wins over West Morris Mendham at Morristown High School (meters) on December 19. The girls won on the last relay, where they finished 1-2, with a 94-75 score while the boys won 108-61. Grace Korey broke the team record in the 400 meter free with a 4:51.40 and Sean Robinson set a new team standard in the 100 meter breaststroke with a 1:09.53.

The girls only won 5 events but showed surprising depth by taking 2nd place in every event except one. The Bernards squad of Izzy Piccone, Grace Korey, Maddie Kiel and Sami Bender took the opening and closing relays as Sami (IM), Izzy (100), and Grace (400) each won an individual event. The 10 key runner up spots were posted by Izzy (200), Sophie Ray (IM), Cydney McGee (50), Sami (fly), Meghan Lukacsko (100), Maddie (back), Grace (breast), and the two free relays. The shorter (200) free relay was made up of Meghan, Cydney, Mattie Sbaraglio, and Clare Johnson, while the long relay was swum by Nina Marquard, Clare, Cydney, and Keaton Haughan.

The boys again won 9 events with quadruple winner Ryan Schuller taking the 200 free and back as well as swimming on the winning medley relay (with Sean Robinson, Joe Kiel, and Bryce Lukacsko) and the first place 400 free relay (with Matt Snyder, Everett Bailey, and Joe). Additional individual wins were recorded by Matt Snyder (IM), Joe (fly), Bryce (100), and Sean (breast). Sean, Matt Snyder. Vincent Falivene, and Bryce also touched the wall first in the 200 free relay.

Bernards High

Swim Team