Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 50

Wednesday, March 16, 201)5 www.courierpostonline.com 6E fe. dtreffingercourierpostonline.com TT TO Varsity Editor Dave Tref finger (856) 486-2424 11 vmeia ffiis asam me Varsitpxto South Jersey Scholastic Sports mmm. Fighting Clan earn yet another 'Courier-Post' Cup I. ft im mi rir imiwi.riTmBlrt hn 'V V. 1" GIRLS' SWIMMING NO.

1 TEAM: VINELAND By CHARLIE SPRANG Courier-Post Staff And the winner The Vineland High School girls' swimming team. But you already knew that. Once again, Vineland has finished the season as the No. 1 team in the Courier-Post Top 10 and will be presented the Courier-Post Cup at the South Jersey Interscholastic Swimming Association banquet on April 3. The Fighting Clan breezed through the regular season and playoffs without being seriously challenged and won their fifth consecutive Public A state championship, a record for public schools in New Jersey.

Along the way, Vineland has won 50 consecutive dual meets and shows no signs of slowing down. Winning never gets old. "Every team is unique," junior Tiffany Malatesta said. "Every year we lose swimmers who graduate and we have new people coming in. Every year we are rebuilding.

Every team is new." True, swimmers come and swimmers go. But there's always a solid nucleus remaining. Always enough coming back on which to build another contender. The reality is Vineland never really has to rebuild, it just reloads. This year was no different.

Malatesta, Sabrina Warren and Stevie Anderson, three-quarters of the group that won all three relays at the Meet of Champions last year and set a meet record in the 200 freestyle relay, returned. Replace the graduated Tia Bassano with junior Victoria Bonifield and the nucleus was in place. Next, coach John Casadia found his coveted senior leadership in Karly Daplyn, Nina Montero and Kaitlin Muchler and gradually blended in promising young talent such as freshmen fifth straight Public A state championship after they defeated Westfield 1055 on Feb. 26. The Vineland girts celebrate their FINAL RANKINGS The Courier-Post honors the No.

1 team in each Final Top 20 with a special commemorative page. The winter season lineup: Today: Girls' swimming Thursday: Boys' swimming Friday: Wrestling Hote: The commemorative pages for boys' and girls' basketball will be published following the Tournament of Champions. Carolyn Brooks, Danielle Deckard and Annie Farnoly. That made the Fighting Clan ready for any test. It just didn't come, not in the regular season or the playoffs.

The smallest margin of victory in the regular season was 32 points, 109-77 against Rancocas Valley. In the tournament, Vine-land was even more dominating, VP' winning the state title over Westfield, 105-65. In addition to its fifth straight championship, other highlights this season included sweeping the relays at the Cape-Atlantic Championships, breaking meet records in each race and establishing a new national public school short-course meters record in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:49.82. Vineland also duplicated last year's effort at the Meet of Champions, again winning all three relays. It beat the Academy of St.

Elizabeth in the medley relay and Mainland in the 200 freestyle relay, each by a little more than a second. In the 400 freestyle relay, both Vineland and Mainland finished under the meet record of 3:36.18, set two years ago by Shawnee, with the Fighting Hi' Clan winning in 3:34.92. That put the finishing touches on another overwhelmingly successful season for the Vine-land girls. The records, however, were just unexpected additions to the season's resume. "We never really think about records," Warren said.

"It's all about everyone coming together and swimming as fast as we can. If that results in a record, that's all well and good. It's really all about the team." At Vineland, it's about the team. The girls credit Casadia with getting them there. He prefers to deflect the credit back to them.

"They are the program," he said. "If anyone thinks I am Vine-land swimming, that I am the program, they are wrong. The program is the swimmers, the i) t. i X)SE F. MORENOCourier-Post parents, the fans, everyone connected with Vineland swimming." Casadia wondered aloud several times this season as to why they do it.

Why they sacrifice so much to be part of this team where the demands on their time and energy are so overwhelming they literally put the rest of their lives on hold from mid-November to the beginning of March. "It's because we are all in it together," said Daplyn, a member of four state title teams. "We're there every day working hard together. We're so close, we become best friends. And it's rewarding to see that hard work pay off at the end of the season." Reach Charlie Sprang at (856) 486-2424 or csprangcourierpostonline.com Vineland's (k) Victoria Bonifield, Stevie Anderson, Tiffany Malatesta and Sabrina Warren celebrate their win In the 200 freestyle relay at the Meet of Champions.

They finished In 1:38.66 to place ahead of runner-up Mainland. DOUGLAS M. BOVITT Courier-Post 1, 1 fci. 1" j. v- f' I Final Top 10 No.

Team Rec Prv 1. Vineland 15-0 1 2. Mainland 11 2 3. Cherry Hill West 131 3 4. Eastern 7-5 4 5.

Washington Twp. 8-4-1 5 6. Cherry Hill East 7 6 7. Holy Spirit (M 7 8. Haddonfield H5 8 9.

Rancocas Valley 8-6 9 10. Ocean CHy 73 10 The Top 20 Is selected by staff writer Charlie Sprang. Results Record: 15-0 Opponent Score Haddonfield 137-48 Cherokee 141-42 Moorestown 129-56 Rancocas Valley 109-77 Eastern 134-51 Cherry Hill East 116-54 West Deptford 129-57 Lenape 1 31 -54 Washington Twp. 108-72 Bishop Eustace 135-51 'Shawnee 121-49 Toms River North 1 08-62 Mainland 108-62 Morris Knolls 115-55 Westfield 105-65 -state tournament Roster Swimmer Class Lara Castorina Sr. Karly Daplyn Sr.

Lindsay Marcus Sr. Nina Montero Sr. Kaitlin Muchler Sr. Victoria Bonifield Jr. Tiffany Malatesta Jr.

Sarah Mulvihiil Jr. Candice Stolar Jr. Sabrina Warren Jr. Stevi Anderson So. Ashlee Capano So.

Nicole Chinnici So. Elizabeth DiRenzo So. Catherine Ensslen So. Brittany Giacomelli So. Carolyn Brooks Fr.

Danielle Deckard Fr. Annie Farnoly Fr. Kristen Freeman Fr. Kaitlyn Grabowy Fr. Rebecca Lelli Fr.

Rachel Masilotti Fr. Samantha O'Brien Fr. Carli Place Fr. Aleen Sanford Fr. Kariann Talone Fr.

ir It 1 rv v. Tj v- v. X)SE F. MORENOCourierost Vineland's Sabrina Warren swims the 200 freestyle at the Public A state championships against West-field. She won the event, as well as the 100 butterfly.

you. r- I i JOSE F. MORENOCourier-Post Vineland junior Tiffany Malatesta swims the backstroke at the Public A state championship. Malatesta won the event. Head coach: John A.

Casadia Jr. Assistant coach: John Malatesta. Diving coach: Debbie Hemphill. -iMrr- lir-i 4.