Team News Archives (2020-21 season)

 

October 20, 2021

The Skyland Conference Valley Division Coaches have finalized the "All-Conference" selections for the 2020-2021 season.  Congratulations to the following Bernards swimmers who were named to the All-Conference Team:

Girls:

First Team

Medley Relay - Ashley Hartnett, Meghan Robinson, Maddie Kiel, Grace Korey

200 IM - Meghan Robinson

50 Free - Samantha Bender

500 Free - Grace Korey

200 Free Relay - Meghan Robinson, Cydney McGee, Katie Riegler, Samantha Bender

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Second Team

50 Free - Ashley Hartnett

100 Fly - Maddie Kiel

500 Free - Nina Marquard

400 Free Relay - Grace Korey, Maddie Kiel, Ashley Hartnett, Samantha Bender

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Honorable Mention

Tara Hartnett

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Boys:

First Team

Medley Relay - Ryan Schuller, Sean Robinson. Matt Snyder, Bryce Lukacsko

200 Free - Thomas Ambelang

50 Free - Bryce Lukacsko

100 Fly - Matt Snyder

500 Free - Everett Bailey

200 Free Relay - Everett Bailey, Matt Giunta, Alexander Ruffer, Vincent Falivene

100 Back - Ryan Schuller

100 Breast - Sean Robinson

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Second Team

100 Back - Noah Youssef

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Honorable Mention

Nicholas Snyder

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March 25, 2021

Bernards completed 2021 with a 5-0 record, the first complete undefeated season for the Bernards High School swim team!  Bernards handed Belvidere a 110-60 defeat and broke two school records in the process.  The medley relay team of Ryan Schuller, Sean Robinson, Matt Snyder, and Bryce Lukacsko lowered their own standard which they set earlier in the week by another 0.18 to touch the wall at 1:37.89!  Then Matt followed that with a stellar swim in the 100 fly, breaking Ben Baxter's 2016 record (52.56) with a 51.98!  The Bernards coed squad won 7 individual events with 7 different swimmers.  Thomas Ambelang (200), Sami Bender (IM - #10 all-time), Bryce (50 - #7 all-time), Matt (100 fly - new school record), Everett Bailey (500), Ryan (100 back - #2 all-time, just missing the school record by .04), and Sean (100 breast) each grabbed the gold.  Bernards also won the 400 free relay with Alex Ruffer, Nina Marquard, Everett, and Noah Youssef.  Also swimming on the Top 20 list were Trevor Lukacsko (#14 in the fly) and Meghan Robinson (#18 in the back). 

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March 22, 2021

Ryan Schuller, Sean Robinson, Matt Snyder, and Bryce Lukacsko opened Bernards' virtual meet (v Franklin) by setting a new Bernards High School record in the 200 medley relay with a 1:38.16, breaking last year's record of 1:39.24 (set by Ryan, Sean, Joe Kiel, and Matt at last year's Meet of Champions).  The Bernards girls and boys combined for their 3rd coed victory of the season by beating Franklin 98-70.  Winning their individual events were Ryan (IM), Thomas Ambelang (50), Matt (fly), Meghan Robinson (500 - #9 all-time), and Noah Youssef (Back).  Grace Korey improved to a #11 spot in the 500, Sean improved to a #13 spot in the fly, and Bryce improved in 2 events - to #5 in the fly, and #18 in the back.  Adding to the effort were silver medals won by Sami Bender (IM), Matt Giunta (50), Bryce (fly), Maddie Kiel (100), Grace (500), Kurt Hunziker (breast), and the 200 and 400 free relay teams of Matt G, Caitlyn Sebastian, Gianna Lorenzo, Noah, and Marion Doerr, Caitlyn, Meghan, and Nicholas Snyder.

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March 18, 2021

Bernards remained undefeated as the girls defeated Gill St. Bernards 92-76, winning 6 events including the 2 sprint relays.  Leading the way with 2 individual wins was Sami Bender who won the 50 and the 100 free and also anchored the winning 200 free relay behind Meghan Robinson, Cydney McGee, and Katie Riegler.  Meghan also touched the wall first in the IM and joined Ashley Hartnett, Maddie Kiel, and Grace Korey to wine the 200 medley relay.  Grace added one more gold medal for Bernards as she won the 500 free.  As Gill won 5 events, Bernards needed some strong runner up finishes to secure the victory.  Ashley added 3 silvers to her gold in the 100 free, backstroke and the 400 free relay - with Grace, Maddie, and Sami.  Maddie (fly), Meghan (breast), and Nina Marquard (200 free) also put second place points up for Bernards.  Meghan's IM time puts her in the #13 spot on the BHS all-time Top 20 and her breast time moves her up to the #6 all-time position.

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March 10, 2021

Bernards continued their 2021 season with another coed victory over Voorhees 112-58 in their home pool - the Somerset Hills YMCA.  This was the first time in 20 years that Bernards swam Voorhees in this mixed format.  Bernards managed to swim 34 swimmers out of their 40 person roster, with 11 of them capturing gold medals, led by double winners Everett Bailey, Matt Giunta, Grace Korey, Meghan Robinson, Alex Ruffer, and Matt Snyder.  Single event winners were Vincent Falivene, Ashley Hartnett, Meghan Lukacsko, Audrey Panik, and Ryan Schuller.  Silver medalists included Thomas Ambelang, Marion Doerr, Tara Hartnett, Keaton Haughan, Maddie Kiel, Bryce Lukacsko, Nina Marquard, and Sean Robinson.​

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March 3, 2021

Bernards finally opened their season with a victory over Somerville 111 -59.  Because of Somerville's small team size, the meet was a coed meet - with girls and boys mixed in the same events.  Bernards began as a coed team and swam as a coed team for the first 12 seasons!  This win improved the team's coed win-loss record to 73-72-1.

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Bernards won the opening and closing relays as well as 7 individual events - led by senior Matt Snyder who captured both the 100 fly and the 500 free.  The other individual winners were Ryan Schuller (IM), Bryce Lukacsko (50), Alex Ruffer (100), Ashley Hartnett (back), and Meghan Robinson (breast).  Ryan improved on his #9 all-time spot in the IM and freshmen Ashley and Meghan both made the BHS All-Time Top 20 list with a #20 spot for Ashley in the back and a #9 spot for Meghan in the breast.  The meet began with a very tight race between 2 Bernards medley relay teams as Ashley, Sean Robinson, Maddie Kiel, and Bryce just touched out Ryan, Meghan, Matt, and Grace Korey by .02 seconds!  Bernards closed out the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay as Alex, Tara Hartnett, Marion Doerr, and Vincent Falivene touched the wall first.  Additional runner up points were posted by Nina Marquard (200), Sean (IM and fly), Vincent (50), Grace (500), and Nick Snyder (back).

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February 21, 2021

The 2021 season has kicked off despite significant snow cancellations and the Bernards swim team is ready for some Skyland Conference dual meet action!  Not surprisingly, there are many changes this season either in addition to, or because of the pandemic, so this season's contests will come in several varieties.  Bernards will have one virtual, coed meet (Franklin - 3/22), one in-person coed away meet (Somerville - 3/3), two in-person coed home meets (Voorhees - 3/10 and Belvidere - 3/15), one in-person girls home meet (Gill - 3/17), and will end the season with one in-person double dual (separate girls and boys) away meet (Warren Hills - 3/27)!  One bit of good news is that we can allow a limited number of spectators at our home meets!  It's all better than not having a season so BHS is going to make the best of it!

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January 13, 2021

Almost every school in the division has been able to secure pool time.  The participating schools and their home pools are listed below:

Belvidere (Coed) - Phillipsburg Elementary School

Bernards (Girls and Boys) - Somerset Hills YMCA

Franklin (Coed) - Bridgewater YMCA (virtual only)

Gill St. Bernards (Girls only) -  Somerville YMCA

Somerville (Coed) - Somerville YMCA

Voorhees (Coed) - Flemington Healthquest (cannot host meets)

Warren Hills (Girls and Boys) - Phillipsburg Elementary School

With strict restrictions on deck and pool capacity, as well as tight time slots, it is likely that many meets will have to be run as single gender meets.  The schedule is still being worked on.

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January 11, 2021

The Bernards swim team looks forward to finally kicking off their 2021 season!  NJSIAA has approved a shortened season (Feb 1 to March 27) with meets beginning on Feb 16,   It looks like there will be as many as 6 other participating schools in the Valley Division of the Skyland Conference (Belvidere, Franklin, Gill St. Bernards, Somerville, Voorhees, and Warren Hills),  Safety protocols and meet schedules still have to be finalized, but the swimmers are all anxious to safely get back in the water!  Stay tuned for more details.  The schedule is still very tentative.