Vineland High School Boys Swimming

VINELAND - Just two days after racking up 3,122 power points in a win over Absegami, a tired-but-determined Vineland High School boys swim team cracked the 3,000 point barrier again, scoring 3,148 in a win 132-53 win over Oakcrest Friday night at the Vineland Natatorium.

The sprinters were a big culprit of the bump in power points. Junior Mike Oliva lowered his own South Jersey Top 5 time in the 50 freestyle, clocking in a time of 24.60 in the event, .09 seconds faster than his previous best of 24.69 swum against Atlantic City on December 11. With that swim, Oliva now owns the two fastest meters times in the Cape Atlantic League this season, and his converted yards time of 21.99 is second in the league, behind only St. Augustine's Brendan McHugh (21.87). Jerry Capriotti also achieved a milestone of his own when he touched the wall in 25.85 seconds, breaking 26 in the event for the first time in his career. Freshman Troy Cervini also recorded his second-fastest time of the year in the event (28.30), nearly a full second faster than his performance in the event two days earlier.

The Fighting Clan (3-2) also picked up a solid chunk of power points in the 100 freestyle. Oliva won the event in 56.80, Andrew Radcliffe finished second in 58.76 and Justin Reimels took third from the outside lane with a time of 1:01.67.

After the Clan's sweep in the 100 free, Bryan Masilotti, Mike Smith and Ricky Cheli swept the 400 freestyle. Masilotti swam a time of 4:48.20 and Mike Smith broke five minutes in the event for the first time this season (4:55.78). Ricky Cheli also swam a time of 5:01.87, nearly three seconds faster than he swam against Absegami in his first meet of the season.

The next event was one of the most exciting, as Vineland's 200 free relay team of Radcliffe, Reimels, Capriotti and Oliva pulled out by far the best performance in the foursome's history together. At the Larry Blumenthal Relays in early December, the group qualified for the Meet of Champions with a time of 1:44.03, but hadn't been faster than 1:45.98 the rest of the season.

That all changed last night. Radcliffe led the race off in 26.45, Reimels posted by far his best split of the season (26.25), Capriotti continued his fast swimming with a 25.60-second split and Oliva brought the race home in 24.70 to help the team post a time of 1:43.00. The Fighting Clan's 'B' relay of Troy Cervini, Harry Longini, Alex Farrell and Ryan Humphries also swam a time of 1:54.73, about three seconds faster than they went on Wednesday, too.

The 400 free relay of Radcliffe, Smith, Masilotti and Oliva also closed out the meet by breaking four minutes in the event (3:59.73) for the first time since the Blumenthal Relays.