Sports Shorts

The Old Bridge Junior Knights hockey organization traveled to Lake Placid, N.Y., on March 27 for the Can/Am Challenge Cup tournament. Seven teams made the trip. The sea of purple against the beautiful snow-covered mountains and mirror lake was truly a sight to behold. Over 250 Old Bridge supporters joined the caravan, including players, their families and friends. All enjoyed the beautiful Adirondack Mountains. Some went skiing, dog sledding and bobsledding. Others enjoyed sightseeing and shopping in the lovely and historic village of Lake Placid, where the famous '80s "Miracle on Ice" occurred. Many went from rink to rink trying to grasp each moment of Junior Knights hockey that they could. Six out of the seven teams made it to a medal round, with five teams lucky enough to bring one home. Congratulations to the Mite B team for winning the gold medal. It was the third time in as many years for the Mite level to achieve this goal. The Squirt A team was triumphant in their quest to win the gold with a nail-biting double-overtime victory. The Pee Wee A team battled hard to win the silver medal, and the Bantam A and Squirt B teams each fought hard to land bronze medals. Each and every player dug deep inside and brought all they had to the games. They should be very proud of themselves. The commitment level that is needed from the families of these players is tremendous, and no organization delivers more than the Knights. These accomplishments are the perfect ending to another phenomenal season for the Old Bridge Junior Knights ice hockey organization led byMr. John Piccolo, aka Father Hockey. Congratulations to everyone involved with the club.Anyone interested in joining the Knights can check out theWeb site at www.oldbridgejuniorknights.com for the tryout schedule. Come and "unleash the Knight within."

East Brunswick's Raritan Valley YMCA's Riptide swim team returned Monday from the Sunkissed National Junior-Senior Championships of the USA with a number of notable achievements in hand. Riptide finished in third place overall, won three individual events, and took home the team spirit award from this national competition in Charlotte, N.C.

"It was an amazing meet for our team," said Michael Heidelberg, Riptide's head coach. "Not only did we swim fast, but the kids really supported each other and showed what teamwork is all about."

In the Senior category,Riptidewas led by Sayreville Junior Alex Ratajczyk, who won individual titles in the 50-yard and the 100- yard freestyle with team record times of 20.99 and 46.24. Greg Bellizzi of BishopAhr completed the 1-2 finish for Riptide in the 50 freestyle, with a time of 21.58. In the Junior (13 and under) category, Omer Hillel of Highland Park took the individual title in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:02.86. The senior relays broke six team records, and had top-3 finishes in the boys 200 medley relay, and the girls 400 freestyle and 200 freestyle relays.

The success of the East Brunswickbased team, however, doesn't come easily. According to assistant coach Joe Zanetti, "It's an eight-month process to prepare the swimmers for this meet. They practice up to 15 hours a week, but when they look up to the scoreboard and see their best time, and their teammates in the stands cheering for them, it's all worthwhile."

The coaches are also quick to point out that preparation for the meet is more than just about doing well in the pool. Coach Heidelberg said, "We try to stress that so many of the skills that will help you win in the pool will also serve you well in life. Hard work, setting goals, consistently doing the little things right, believing in yourself and encouraging others are things that can help these kids long after they've hung up their goggles."

The swim team, which practices at Middlesex County College, brought 51 team members to the competition, ages 10 to 18. Top-8 finishers include Highland Park's Kayleigh Shangle (100 breast, 50 free, 100 free), South Brunswick's Gessica Charniga (100 and 200 breast), South Brunswick's Abby Weingarten (100 breast), North Brunswick's Tanya Witlen (100 and 200 breast), North Brunswick's Andy Rose (100 breast, 100 fly, 200 breast and 200 fly), Highland Park's James Shangle (100 breast, 50 free, 200 IM, 100 IM, and 100 free), East Brunswick's Jenny Zavoda (200 free, 500 free, 100 free), Sayreville's Peter Dufrat (200 back, 200 free, 50 free, 100 back), and North Brunswick's Gabrielle Alicino (100 and 200 butterfly).

The East BrunswickWrestling Club completed the season for the JuniorDivision with a successful showing in theMid-Jersey MidgetWrestling League Tournaments. The program entered a team in the A Division and the kidswrestled great,with the following results:Mitchell Polito fought hisway to a seventh-place showing at 50 pounds after starting the season on the B level; Ryan Fahy took first place at 62 pounds without giving up a point in the entire tournament; Jason Minikel also stepped up from the B team and took sixth place at 66 pounds; Tyler Underwood battled his way to eighth place at 70 pounds against mostly older wrestlers; Patrick Rafferty scuffled his way to a 12th-place finish in probably the toughest weight class in the league at 78 pounds; Brian Mills also fought his way against many older kids to a 10th-place showing at 90 pounds; Max Pavlis showed tremendous improvement throughout the season and ended his season with a second-placemedal at 95 pounds; Jon Shleyfer had themost impressive victory with a 12-second pin in the finals to take first place at 110 pounds; and newcomer Billy Archer stepped right into the starting lineup and took fifth place at heavyweight. The team was missing teammatesNickMoss, Tyler Gallegos and Justin Flax at the tournament due to injuries, illnesses and vacations, but theywrestled hard throughout the season. The A team is coached by Mike Duhigg, Bob Mills and Keith Yarnall, with team parents Steve and PeggyMinikel, and wrestles in theMid-Jersey League against the more experienced kids from the other programs.

The U11 Girls Jersey United Thunder of Old Bridge defeated the Roxbury Extreme 4-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2008 U.S. Club New Jersey State Cup. Goalkeeper Vanessa Mantione and defenders Nicole Velez, Tanvi Lodhia, Kristina Hourican and Sierra Acri are credited with a clean sheet while only giving up three shots on goal. Alexis Suarez and Samantha Potts chipped in two goals each, along with tremendous passing from Gianna Taranto, Courtney Morton, Alexandria D'Acunto, Alyssa Kramer and Katherine Conway.