Bernards High School Swim Team
Home Page Last revised: December 04, 2009.

Team News & Announcements

• 2009-2010 is the 21nd season for BHS Swim Team (70-71-1 Co-Ed Team, 31-23 Boys Team, 72-29-2 Girls Team)

• Boys are named Skyland Conference - Raritan Division Champions for 2009

• Girls finished tied for 8th at the 2009 Skyland Conference meet; Boys finished 6th

• Girls finished 7th at the 2009 Somerset County meet; Boys finished 6th

• Boys were semi-finalists in the 2009 North II, Division B State Playoffs

• Mary deMarrais and Mitch Colby make All-State at 2009 Meet of Champions!

• Sixth season with both boys and girls teams

Bernards Alums Claim the Turkey Trophy at the 2nd Annual Alumni Meet!

Bernards alumni Mary deMarrais, Hanson Gong, Jamie Hepburn, Russel and Josh Kostelak, Brendan Lawson, Jamie. Jenna and Julie Meyers, and Gillian Smith led the way to a 109-99 victory over the Ridge alumni in a friendly Thanksgiving holiday meet on November 27, 2009.  Also joining the alumni were several parents and younger siblings, who will hopefully be on the Bernards swim team some day.  The victory allowed Bernards to take home the "Turkey Trophy" and enjoy bragging rights for at least a year!

Bernards will be participating in the Cougar Relays at Montgomery High School on Friday, December 4, 2009.

Mary deMarrais and Mitch Colby Achieve All-State Status at Meet of Champions
Mary Breaks School Record in 500 Free

Mary deMarrais and Mitch Colby both finished in the Top 16 to earn All-State honors at the New Jersey Meet of Champions at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology on March 7 and 8.  Mary swam to a personal best in the preliminary heats of the 200 with a 1:54.05, and improved her BHS Top 5 placing to the #2 spot, second by less than a second to sister Kelly's 1:53.08.  Mary then obliterated Kelly's school record of 5:04.78 with a 5:00.40 in the 500.  In the finals, Mary finished in 6th place in the 200 and 4th place in the 500, which were Mary's 6th and 7th All-State titles in her high school career.

In Mitch's second appearance at the Meet of Champions, he tied his own personal best time in the preliminary heats with a 4:49.14, which was good enough to make the finals.  He then lowered his time (and his #2 BHS Top 5 time) to a 4:49.07 for a 6th place finish.

Bernards Boys are Named Raritan Division Skyland Conference Champions!

The Bernards boys team have been named the Raritan Division Skyland Conference Champions by having an undefeated dual meet record against the conference teams in their division.  Those teams are Belvidere, Franklin, North Hunterdon, Phillipsburg, Ridge, Somerville, Voorhees, and Warren Hills.  Bernards was also named Raritan Division Skyland Conference champs in 2007.

Bernards Gives Top Seeded Chatham a Good Fight in Semi-Finals

Bernards fought hard to the finish as they bowed out 74-96 in the semi-final round of the North II Group B state playoffs on February 17 at the Morris Union Jointure pool.  Bernards, seeded 4th, entered the meet as 800 power point underdogs to the top seeded Chatham, but swam the strongest meet of their season to post times that earned them over 3000 power points - a 300 point improvement over their regular season performances.  This is the highest finish ever for the boys team, as well as the best win-loss record at 11-1.

Mitch Colby continued to dominate his competition as he led a 1-2 finish in the 200 free with Justin Meyers, easily won the 500 by 10 seconds, and anchored the victorious 400 free relay behind Justin Meyers, John Lawson, and Sebastien Sicard.  Justin's 200 free (1:53.35) moved him up to fourth on the BHS all-time Top 5 list, and he also led another 1-2 finish for Bernards in the 100 free (51.72) with Robert Crane (53.70).  Bernards stayed in the game throughout the meet with many other critical second through fifth place finishes.  John (50 and back) and Sebastien (fly) each grabbed second places while Jose (IM and breast) and Robert (50) each took third place.  Finishing in 4th place were Thomas Kostelak (IM and breast) and Chris Banks (500), while Josh Kostelak (back), Keith Lafuente (fly), Sebastien (200), Chris (IM), and Reid Orza (breast) all posted point-scoring fifth place swims.

Bernards Proceeds to Semi-Final Round in State Playoffs with Win Over Caldwell

The 4th seeded Bernards boys handed 5th seeded Caldwell a 116-54 loss in the quarterfinal round of the North II Group B state playoffs on February 12 at the Somerset Hills YMCA.  Bernards finished either 1-2 or 1-3 in every event except the IM, where they finished 1-4.  Bernards took charge from the first event as Mitch Colby, Jose Agnese, Sebastien Sicard, and John Lawson won the medley relay and Josh Kostelak, Tom Kostelak, Keith Lafuente, and Matt Sisto finished 1-3.  Then Mitch, Justin Meyers, and Chris Banks finished 1-2-3 in the 200 free to jump to a 23-7 lead.  Jose muscled his way to an exciting 0.12 second lead to win the IM and John and Robert Crane's 1-2 punch in the 50 made it 44-18 by the break.  After the break, Sebastien won the fly, Justin the 100 free, Mitch the 500, and John, Sebastien, Justin, and Robert took the 200 free relay with Thomas, Reid Orza, Brendan Cleary, and Matt Sisto coming in 2nd as well to bring Bernards to 85 - 1 point away from winning the meet.  The finishing touches were applied by John and Jose in winning the back and breast as Caldwell rested their fastest swimmers to give Bernards a good race in the closing relay.  Justin, Robert, Sebastien, and Mitch, each swimming their 4th event of the evening, gave it their all and touched out Caldwell 3:37.03 to 3:37.54 as they posted a new #4 all time swim for Bernards.

The Bernards Boys are Seeded 4th in the State Playoffs

The Bernards boys earned a 4th seed in the North II, Group B state playoffs.  Bernards will face 5th seeded Caldwell in the quarterfinals on Thursday, February 12 at the Somerset Hills YMCA (7:30pm meet start).  The winner of that meet will face the #1 seed Chatham.

Girls Finish Tied for 8th Place at Skyland Conference Championships
Boys Finish in 6th Place at Skyland Conference Championships

The Bernards girls tied Watchung for an 8th place finish, out of 16 teams, at the Skyland Conference Championships at Montgomery High School on February 6.  Mary deMarrais posted two 3rd place finishes in the 200 and 500 free and also swam on the 7th place medley relay with Emily Coyle, Julianna St.Onge, and Yvette Gong.  The 200 free relay of Jacqueline Cembrook, Alex Crane, Yvette, and Sam Cembrook also scored points by finishing in the top 12.  Personal bests were posted by Angela Agnese (breast), Jacqueline (200 free), and Julianna (100 free).

The Bernards boys finished in 6th place, out of 15 teams, at the Skyland Conference Championships at Montgomery High School on February 5.  Mitch Colby had the top finish for Bernards with a 3rd in the 500 free.  Mitch also placed 7th in the 200 and anchored the 4th place 400 free relay, swimming behind John Lawson, Justin Meyers, and Robert Crane.  This relay improved their #3 all-time Top 5 time to 3:31.65.  Mitch also swam on the 6th place 200 free relay with Justin, Matt Sisto, and Sebastien Sicard.  Justin scored points with a 5th place in the 100 and an 8th in the 200 (with a new best time, improving his #5 Top 5 time to 1:55.36). John also improved on his own #4 Top 5 swim with a very fast 57.01 in the fly, as he finished in 7th place.  John led off the 6th place medley relay, swimming with Jose Agnese, Sebastien, and Robert.    Other point scorers for Bernards were Sebastien (8th in the fly), Robert (tied for 8th in the 50), and Jose (12th in the breast).  Personal bests were also posted by Chris Banks (IM), Reid Orza (IM and breast), and Thomas Kostelak (breast).

Mary deMarrais is County Champ in the 500 Free
Bernards Girls Finish in 7th Place at Somerset County Championship Meet

Mary deMarrais repeated as Somerset County championship in the 500 free with a winning time of 5:08.69 as Bernards finished in 7th place at Montgomery High School on January 23, 2009.  Mary was also the runner up in the 200 free, as she lowered her BHS Top 5 (#3) time to 1:56.66.  Mary also swam with Danielle Colby, Emily Coyle, and Julianna St. Onge on the 6th place medley relay and the 7th place 400 free relay.  Additional points were scored by Jacqueline and Sam Cembrook, Alex Crane, and Yvette Gong as their 200 free relay finished in 9th place.

Bernards finished in 7th place behind Mt. St. Mary, Bridgewater, Montgomery, Pingry, Ridge and Hillsborough.

Bernards will swim against Belvidere on January 27 and North Hunterdon on January 29 at the Somerset Hills YMCA (7:25pm)

Mitch Colby is County Champ in the 500 Free
Bernards Boys Finish in 6th Place at Somerset County Championship Meet

Mitch Colby lowered his Bernards Top 5 time to within 7 seconds of Scott Armstrong's school record when he captured the Somerset County championship for the 500 free in 4:49.14 at Montgomery High School on January 22, 2009.  Mitch also placed 5th in the 200 free with a 1:51.07, also improving on his Top 5 time. Mitch also swam on the 200 free relay with Justin Meyers, John Lawson, and Robert Crane, which finished in 5th place, and just missed the number 2 Top 5 spot.  To finish his scoring, Mitch anchored the 400 free relay with the same foursome, for a 6th place finish, and another Top 5 time.

John added a 9th place in the 100 free and a 10th in the backstroke while Justin posted two 10th place finishes in the 100 and 200 free.  Justin's 200 free made it on to the Top 5 list with a 1:55.91.  Robert swam a very strong 50 free that was good enough for 9th place.  The 200 medley relay of Josh Kostelak, Jose Agnese, Keith Lafuente, and Matt Sisto completed the scoring for Bernards with an 8th place finish.

Bernards finished in 6th place, as they did last year, behind Bridgewater, Hillsborough, Pingry, Montgomery, and Ridge.

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.