Boys’ Swim Team Falls in Opening Round of Playoffs

The boys’ swim team lost to Morris County power Morristown-Beard 108-59 in the opening round of the Non-Public B tournament on February 8. It was the first time that the boys’ squad qualified for the playoffs in school history.

 

“Morristown-Beard finished third at the Morris County championships and were one of the top teams at Preps so we knew we were facing a quality opponent,” said head coach Nolan Silbernagel. “It was a tough draw for us, but we made it a competitive meet and had a lot of close races so I was very happy with how the boys fought until the end.”

 

Leading the way for the boys was Rob Brandl ’20 winning the only event for Gill in the 200 freestyle (2:17.21). He also took second in the 100 freestyle. Also earning top-three finishes for Gill were Christian Ernst ‘19 (50, 100 freestyles), Preston Reep ’19 (50 freestyle, 100 butterfly), Gabe Myler ’19 (100 backstroke), Jonathan Osma ‘20 (100 backstroke) and Adrian Massuet ’20 (100 breaststroke).

 

The Knights also had strong showings in the relays as the medley relay team of Osma, Massuet, Reep and Ernst finished behind the Crimson by only a second and the two 200 freestyle relay teams earned second and third places.

 

“These boys gave 100 percent effort in every single meet this year,” said Silbernagel. “We only had eight students on the roster, so a lot of them had to do back-to-back or even back-to-back-to-back events, but they still posted great times. A few coaches and even officials told me they could not believe we made the state tournament with only eight members so the kids should be very proud of their season.”