Sports Shorts

SPORTS SHORTS

Michael Phelps

Richie and Sydney Jaramillo of Woolwich Township planned to participate in a swim meet in Annapolis sponsored by the North Baltimore Aquatics Club. A week prior to the meet, Michael Phelps called the North Baltimore Aquatics Club, which was Phelps’ childhood swim club, and asked if he could train with them. Phelps wanted to warm up there while he was prepping for a swim meet in Europe.

On Friday, Dec. 11 with all the stars aligned correctly, those two locals kids got to meet Phelps. And the story gets better. Phelps was swimming with the North Baltimore Aquatics club all weekend and Sydney Jaramillo actually got to share pool time with the legend.

“Phelps was a true idol talking and interacting with the kids all weekend,” said Rich Jaramello Sr.

Sydney used the inspiration she gained from swimming with Phelps to have a stellar meet of her own. Richie now has a goal of beating Michael Phelps by winning nine (not 8) events in his next meet.

Both Richie and Sydney swim locally at the Greater Philadelphia Aquatics Club. The club meets at Gloucester County Institute of Technology.

Rich and Robin Jaramello, parents of Richie and Sydney, could not be more proud of their kids for their amazing pool performance and excellent academic records.

Photo: Sydney and Richie Jaramillo were fortunate enough to share pool with Michael Phelps during a December swim meet.

Kingsway Rebuilds Swim Team

Rob Conova is enjoying his second year coaching for the Kingsway Dragon swim team. This is his first year as head coach. Out of the gate, Conova loves every minute of it.

“This season was a rebuilding season,” said Conova. The team had one victory last year and improved to 5-5 this season. Much of this improvement is contributed to hard work and the fact that the team is now practicing five days a week as opposed to three days a week last season.

Conova admits he could not rebuild this team without the help of his wonderful assistant Aleida DiColli.

Senior Captain Josh Bustard swam the sprinting events. “Bustard worked really hard this season and almost qualified for states,” said Conova.

Senior Captain Elissa Everton swam the 50m freestyle and 100m breaststroke. “Everton is great at motivating the team,” said Conova.

Junior Captain Patrick Mulligan swam the 500m freestyle and the 100m backstroke. “Mulligan will be the number one swimmer next year and shows a ton of improvement from last season,” said Conova.

Junior captain Tessa Tichy swam multiple events and was very versatile. Conova was proud to say, “No matter what I put Tessa in, she would typically come in first or second to score points for the team.”

Justin West and Zach Hamley were two seniors that contributed heavily to the team. Hamley came out of nowhere given that this was his first year. “West really added value in the sprints and the 50m freestyle and the relays,” commented Conova.

Sophomore Alexis Drew swims the butterfly and backstroke. “Drew has been very valuable and is the one of the future leaders of the team,” said Conova.

Watch out for up-and-comers Caleigh West, Frankie Panebianco, Jim Amorebella and Jorge Diaz-Sanin. If these freshmen continue to excel, this team will be powerful in a few years.

With the team losing just a few senior swimmers, they should be solid next year. The goal is to break .500 in terms of record.

Conova and DiColli could not be happier with their swimmers, both in and out of the pool.

Continuous Improvement is Theme for Dragon Wrestling

Wrestling head coach Brian Farnham is gearing up for his second year at Kingsway. From 1999 -2003, Farnham was an assistant at Kingsway. Farnham left for five years to coach at Schalick High School in Pittsgrove. Now he is back as head coach for the Dragons.

When I interviewed Farnham, the team was just getting started for the season. Farnham says he’s looking to improve the team’s record from last season, where they finished just below .500. “We are going to continue to build the program from within,” said Farnham.

“The key to improving this young team is to raise the overall skill set of the entire team,” said Farnham. “Continuous improvement throughout the season is a must,” he added.

Farnham is the first to admit he could not do all this alone. Farnham credits Assistant Coaches Brent Dodulick and Tim Narcisi with the tremendous effort they put forward to help this team.

Senior captain Kurtis Becker is the youngest of three brothers. “Becker is a very hard worker and wants to wrestle division one in college,” said Farnham. Becker has his sights set on being an all-state wrester this year.

Senior captain Joe Renard is also the youngest of three brothers. “Renard, is an extremely hard worker,” said Farnham. Renard was a state qualifier as a junior and will look to become an all-state wrestler this season.

Senior Mark Dormann will dominate the heavyweight. Dormann is good enough that he will probably play football or wrestle at the college level.

Senior Michael Contarino is an outstanding football player and wrestler. Contarino is looking to win a title this year and qualify at the state championship.

“Senior Mike Macauley is extremely dedicated and a person who will sacrifice anything for his teammates,” said Farnham.

The team has two up-and-comers in Freshmen Billy Leone and Archie Peterson. “These are young kids with excellent skill sets that will develop into solid wresters for the team,” said Farnham.

112 pound Sophomore Cody Watson is coming off a 20 win season and looking to improve on that.

Farnham couldn’t be more proud of his team on and off the mats. With that being said, the Dragons are hoping to qualify for group three playoffs and have several individuals qualify for state tournament.

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