DENVILLE - Brian and Jessica Stiles got a taste of swimming on "the big stage" when the brother and sister duo from Morris Knolls competed in the NJSIAA Swimming Meet of Champions this past weekend.
The season-ending high school competition was held on Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7, at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology in Sewell.
Jessica, a freshman, qualified for two individual races and finshed 20th in the 50 free in 25.37 and was 31st in the 100 free with a time of 56.68.
Brian, a sophomore, also qualified for two MofC races and finished 20th in the 500-yard freestyle preliminary on Saturday with a time of 4:55.52 and placed 21st in the 200 free prelim with a time of 1:49.03.
Swimmers finishing in the top eight places of each individual race qualified for Sunday's championship final while swimmers finishing 9th through 16th qualifed for Sunday’s consolation final.
In the relay races, the top eight teams qualified for the championship final, the next eight qualfied for the consolation B-final and teams 17 through 24 qualified for the consolation C-final.
The Morris Knolls girls 200 free relay team of senior Kelly Schoneveld, junior Nicole Harris, sophomore Sara Bias and Stiles, finished 22nd in 1:44.97 in Saturday's prelim to qualify for Sunday's competition, where the team suffered a disqualification for a false start violation.
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Lady Eagles fall to top-seed Montcialr in sectionals
DENVILLE - Morris Knolls High School freshman Jessica Stiles won two races and Sara Bias won one and both swimmers swam legs on the Lady Eagles winning relay team as Knolls ended its season with a 108-62 loss to Montclair in semifinal-round meet in the North 1, Public A state sectionals at Montclair State University on Monday, Feb. 15.
Montclair (9-2-1), the top seed in the eight-team sectional, will face No. 2 seed Ridgewood (10-3) for the section title on Thursday, Feb. 18. Ridgewood beat No. 3 Randolph, 86-84, in the other semifinal on Monday. Morris Knolls was the No. 4 seed.
Stiles won both freestyle sprints, capturing the 50-yard free in 25.83 and touching first in the 100 free with a time of 57.57.
Bias won the 200 free with a time of 2:06.19.
The Lady Eagles other win came in the 200 free relay with Kelly Schoneveld swimming the lead leg followed by Shannon Hughes, Bias and Stiles. The foursome posted a winning time of 1:48.72.
Morris Knolls completed its season with a 7-5 record.
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Bias leads Lady Eagles into sectional semifinals
DENVILLE - Sophomore Sara Bias won two races and swam on two winning relay teams as the Morris Knolls High School girls swim team defeated Livingston, 87-83, in a Public A, North 1 state sectional tournament quarterfinal-round meet held at the County College of Morris in Randolph Township on Friday, Feb. 12.
Bias won both of the long-distance freestyle races, capturing the 200-yard free in 2:10.81 and then coming back to win the 500 free in 5:56.65.
She swam the second leg of the Lady Eagles’ winning 200 free relay with junior Nicole Harris leading off, freshman Jess Stiles swimming the third leg and senior Kelly Schoneveld anchoring for a winning time of 1:48.13.
Bias then anchored the winning 400 free relay with Stiles leading off and Harris and Schoneveld following as the foursome touched first in 3:53.62.
Stiles won the only other race for the Lady Eagles as she captured the 100 free in 56.80.
Morris Knolls, the No. 4 seed in the eight-team section, improved its season record to 7-4; Livingston, the No. 5 seed, is now 4-4.
The Lady Eagles will face top-seed Montclair in a semifinal-round meet that has been scheduled for Monday, Feb. 15, at the Montclair State University pool at 12:45 p.m. Montclair defeated No. 8 Ridge, 100-70, in another quarterfinal.
The other semifinal meet will be between No. 2 Ridgewood, a 100-70 winner over No. 7 Clifton; and No. 3 Randolph, which beat No. 6 Vernon Township, 104-87.
The sectional final has been scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 18.
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MK tops Madison as Lady Eagles win nine events
DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls girls swim team won nine of the 11 events on the card to defeat Madison, 113-56, in a high school meet held at the County College of Morris in Randolph Township on Monday, Feb. 8.
The Lady Eagles swept the relays with Carly Francisco, Jen Perry, Anna Baccaglini and Kelly Schoneveld winning the 200-yard medley relay in 2:08.49; Shannon Hughes, Nicole Harris, Chelsea Williams and Jessica Stiles taking the 200 free relay; and Williams, Harris, Schoneveld and Shannon Hughes touching first in the 400 free with a time of 4:10.42.
Six different Lady Eagles had first-place finishes in the individual races with Williams winning the 200 free in 2:18.44; Stiles taking the 50 free in 26.32; Schoneveld winning the 500 free in 6:36.26; Francisco winning the 100 back in 1:12.65; and Perry taking the 100 breaststroke in 1:19.44.
The Lady Eagles are now 6-4 for the season.
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Stiles wins three medals as MK places 10th in NJAC meet
DENVILLE - Freshman Jessica Stiles brought home three medals as the Morris Knolls High School girls swim team placed 10th in the first Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Girls Swim Championships that were held Friday, Feb. 5, at the Morristown High School pool.
Stiles finished fourth in both the freestyle sprints and anchored the Lady Eagles’ fourth-place 200-meter freestyle relay team.
Morris Knolls scored 62 team points as Chatham won the conference’s first girls swim team championship with 229 points.
Following in order, were: 3. Mendham (147 points), 4. Morristown (106), 5. St. Elizabeth (104), 6. Kinnelon (80), 7. Pope John (78), 8. Randolph (76), 9. West Morris (71), 10. Morris Knolls (62), 11. Morris Hills (42), 12. Madison (36), 13. Montville and Sparta (29, tie), 15. Villa Walsh (19), 16. Pequannock (14), 17. Roxbury and Vernon (8, tie); 19. High Point and Wall-Tech (4, tie), and 21. Park (2).
Stiles finished fourth in the 50 free with a time of 28.03 and won another fourth-place medal with her 1:01.98 time in the 100 free.
In the 200 free relay, senior Kelly Schoneveld swam the lead leg followed by junior Nicole Harris, sophomore Sara Bias, and Stiles. The Lady Eagles turned in a time of 1:56.86 for their medal.
The boys conference meet was rescheduled to Sunday, Feb. 7, at Sussex Vo-Tech staring at 9:30 a.m.
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Lady Eagles fall to St. Elizabeth
DENVILLE - Jessica Stiles won a freestyle sprint and the Morris Knolls 200 free relay team touched first in the only two races the Lady Eagles won in a 106-65 loss to unbeaten (8-0) St. Elizabeth in a high school girls swim meet held at the County College of Morris in Randolph Township on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
Stiles won the 50-yard freestyle in 25.58 in the only individual race won by Knolls.
Stiles then went on to anchor the winning 200 free relay team that included Kelly Schoneveld, Nicole Harris and Sara Bias. The foursome turned in a winning time of 1:46.99.
The loss left Knolls with a 5-4 record for the season.
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Knolls 9th in county meet; Stiles wins three medals
DENVILLE - Freshman Jessica Stiles won three medals to lead the Morris Knolls High School girls swim team to a ninth-place finish at the Morris County Swim Championships held at Morristown High School on Saturday, Jan. 30.
Stiles placed third in the 50-meter freestyle; finished eighth in the 100 free; and anchored two sixth-place relay teams for the Lady Eagles as she had a hand in all 53 points her team scored in the meet.
With Jessica’s brother Brian, a sophomore, winning two individual medals and two relay medals on the boys side, the medal count at the Stiles household stands at seven for the 2010 county meet.
Chatham edged Mountain Lakes, 215-196.5 for the team title with Mendham third with 130 points, St. Elizabeth was fourth with 118 points and Morristown rounded out the top five with 106 points.
The remainder of the field, in order of finish: 6. West Morris (97 points); 7. Randolph (77), 8. Kinnelon (66), 9. Morris Knolls (53), 10. Madison (50), 11. Morris Hills (44), 12. Villa Walsh (32), 13. Jefferson (31), 14. Pequannock (29), 15. Montville (28), 16. Roxbury (20.5), 17. Park Regional (6) and 18. Parsippany Hills (2).
Medals went to the top six finishers in each race and team points were scored by the 12 fastest swimmers or teams in each event.
Stiles' time for her third-place finish in the 50 free was 27.96, a little more than half-second off the winning time of race-winner Meghan Kiely of Mountain Lakes, who touched first in 27.38.
Stiles' posted a time of 1:03.26 in the 100 free.
She came back later to swim the fourth leg in both the 200 free and 400 free relay teams.
In the 200 free, Nicole Harris swam the lead leg, Kelly Schoneveld swam second and Sara Bias swam the third leg before Stiles closed with a 28.21 for a 1:58.47 time for the team.
The same foursome swam in the same order to post a 4:27.46 for another sixth-place finish for the Lady Eagles.
In other races: Schoneveld was 15th in the 50 free; the quartet of Carly Francisco, Nicole Halm, Anna Baccaglini and Shannon Hughes finished 15th in the 200 medley relay; Bias was 13th, Harris 20th and Chelsea Williams 28th in the 200 free; Bias was 14th in the 400 free; Francisco was 20th and Baccaglini finished 34th in the 100 fly; Hughes was 31st in the 200 IM; Schoneveld was 18th, Williams 30th and Hughes 32nd in the 100 free; Francisco was 18th and Harris 22nd in the 100 back; and Halm was 24th and Jen Perry 25th in the 100 breaststroke.
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Knolls turns back Montville, 112-58
DENVILLE - Jessica Stiles won one race and anchored two winning relay races as Morris Knolls defeated Montville, 112-58, in a high school girls swim meet on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the Lakeland Hills YMCA in Mountain Lakes.
Stiles won the 50-yard freestyle event in 25.33 and then teamed with Kelly Schoneveld, Nicole Harris and Sara Bias to win the 200 free relay in 1:47.59 and 400 free relay in 4:09.27 as the Lady Eagles improved to 5-3 on the season.
In other races won by Morris Knolls, Carly Fransisco touched first in the 100 fly with a time of 1:12.20; Brittany Campo won the 500 free in 6:32.00; and Anna Baccaglini won the 100 back in 1:13.62.
Montville is now winless in five meets.
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Lady Eagle beat Mount Olive, 127-43
DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School girls swim won 10 of 11 events to defeat Mount Olive, 127-43, in a meet held at the County College of Morris in Randolph Township on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
Morris Knolls improved to 4-3 on the season; Mount Olive is winless in four meets.
Six different swimmers clinched the individual races for the Eagles as Nicole Harris won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:16.95; Carly Francisco won the 200 IM in 2:39.95; Kelly Schoneveld won the 50 free in 27.25; Sara Bias touched first in the 100 fly with a time of 1:01.25; Jessica Styles won the 100 back in 1:10.29; and Nicole Halm won the 100 breaststroke in 1:20.75.
The Lady Eagles swept the relay races with Stiles anchoring both the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.
Francisco, Halm, Bias and Stiles won the 200 medley relay in 2:06.63; Francisco, Catherine Steves, Chelsea Williams and Schoneveld won the 200 free relay in 1:55.05; and Nicole Harris, Schoneveld, Bias and Stiles touched first in the 400 free relay in 4:20.61.
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Stiles, Bias lead way as Knolls defeas Hills
DENVILLE - Jessica Stiles and Sara Bias each won two individual events and swam on two winning relay teams as Morris Knolls defeated sister-school Morris Hills, 108-62, in a high school girls swimming meet at County College of Morris in Randolph Township on Thursday, Jan. 14.
The victory squared the Lady Eagles record at 3-3 while Morris Hills slipped to 4-2 with the defeat.
Stiles won both freestyle sprints, capturing the 50-yard race in 25.30 and taking the 100 free with a time of 58.61. Teammate Kelly Schoneveld was second in both races, clocking a 27.1 in the 50 free and a 1:01.25 in the 100 free.
Bias won both of the longer freestyle races for her double, taking the 200 free in 2:09.85 and winning the 500 free with a time of 5:34.62. Chelsea Williams was second in the 200 free, touching in 2:19.00.
Knolls finshed 1-2 in two of the three relays and placed second in the third.
Schoneveld, Nicole Harris, Bias and Stiles combined for a 1:48.57 to win the 200 free relay in 1:48.57 with the Knolls foursome of Shannon Hughes, Nicole Halm, Chelsea Williams and Catherine Stevens second in 1:53.72.
The quartet of Schoneveld, Harris, Bias and Stiles also won the 400-yard free with a time of 4:05.01. The Lady Eagles second-place team of Danielle Shapiro, Chelsea Williams, Megan Williams and Hughes finished in 4:12.79.
Knolls also finished second in the 200-yard medley relay when M. Beckman, Lindsay Albanese, Carly Francisco and Anna Baccaglina turned in a 2:24.33 clocking.
Other runnerup finishes by Lady Eagle swimmers were turned in by Halm, second in the 200-yard IM in 2:31.89 and second in the 100 breaststroke; and Francisco, second in the 100 fly in 1:07.88 and second in the 100 back in 1:00.74.
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Lady Eagles lose close decision to Randolph, 86-84
DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School girls swim team saw its record slip below the .500 mark at 2-3 after suffering an 86-84 loss to Randolph at the County College of Morris pool in Randolph Township on Thursday, Jan. 7.
Jessica Stiles continued to swim well, winning two events and anchoring two winning relay teams for the Lady Eagles.
Stiles won both freestyle sprints, taking the 50-yard race in 25.72 and winning the 100-yard race in 59.17.
Sara Bias won the only other individual race for Knolls when she touched first in the 500 free with a time of 5:44.28.
The Lady Eagles won two relay races using the same four swimmers with Stiles anchoring both races.
Nicole Harris, Kelly Schoneveld, Bias and Stiles combined to win the 200 free realy in 1:48.00 and then the same foursome came back in the 400 free relay and won that race in 4:09.73.
The victory was the second for Randolph in four meets.
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Eagles lose 93-77 verdict to West Morris
DENVILLE - Freshman Jessica Stiles won two individual races and anchored two winning relay teams for Morris Knolls High School's girls swim team on Wednesday, Dec. 23, but it wasn't enough for the Lady Eagles as they lost a 93-77 decision to West Morris.
The loss saw Morris Knolls' record dip to 2-2; the meet was the season-opener for West Morris.
Stiles won both freestyle sprints, touching first in the 50-yard free in 25.14 and winning the 100 free in 59.13 at the County College of Morris pool in Randolph Township.
The Lady Eagles won the 400 free relay with Sara Bias, Nicole Harris, Kelly Schoneveld and Stiles turning in a time of 4:05.68. Knolls also won the 200 free relay as Schoneveld, Shannon Hughes, Bias and Stiles touched first in 1:48.71.
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Knolls sweep freestyle races to beat Roxbury, 97-73
DENVILLE - Sara Bias and Jessica Stiles led a sweep of the freestyle races as the Morris Knolls High School girls swim team defeated Roxbury, 97-73, at the County College of Morris pool in Randolph Township on Thursday, Dec. 17.
Stiles won the freestyle sprints, taking the 50-yard race in 25.37 and the 100-yard event in 57.68. Bias won the longer freestyle races, touching first in the 200 in 2:06.68 and then coming back to win the 500 with a time of 5:45.09.
Knolls, which improved to 2-1 with the win, also won the two freestyle relay races as the Lady Eagles won six of the 11 events on the card for the victory.
Bias and Stiles swam a leg on each of the two events as Kelly Schoneveld and Shannon Hughes combined with the pair to win the 200 free relay in 1:50.42 and Nicole Harris joined Schoneveld, Bias and Stiles in the 400 free relay and the foursome touched first in 4:03.59.
The loss was Roxbury's second in as many meets for the 2009-2010 season.
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Lady Eagles sweep card in winning first meet of the season
DENVILLE - Jessica Stiles, Carly Francisco and Sara Bias each won two individual events as the Morris Knolls High School girls swim team swept the 11-event card to defeat Parsippany, 132-38, on Thursday, Dec. 10, at the County College of Morris pool in Randolph Township.
The win was the first of the 2009-2010 season for the Lady Eagles, who opened with a loss to county-power Morristown on Monday, Dec. 7.
Stiles won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:12.35 and the 100 free in 1:01.18; Francisco won the 100 fly in 1:09.62 and the 100 back in 1:11.01; and Bias touched first in the 200 IM in 2:28.83 and 500 free in 5:46.74.
Kelly Schoneveld won the 50 free in 27.61 and Nicole Halm won the 100 breaststroke in 1:19.39. Schoneveld also swam on all three Lady Eagle relay teams.
Francisco, Jen Perry, Anna Baccaglini and Schoneveld won the 200 medley relay in 2:02.95; Stiles, Shannon Hughes, Bias and Schoneveld won the 200 free relay in 1:52.75; and Bias, Hughes, Schoneveld and Stiles combined to win the 400 freestyle relay in 4:13.07.
Parsippany is now 0-2.
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Knolls opens season with a loss to county-power Morristown
It was as much a Family Day as it was a swim meet when Morris Knolls and Morristown squared off in their annual boys and girls competition on Tuesday, Dec. 8, at Morristown High School.
By the end of the day, Morristown had handed Knolls season-opening defeats in both meets, the Eagles losing a 108-62 decision in the boys meet and bowing, 105-65, in the girls meet.
For Morris Knolls coach Kathy Hall, the day meant much more than having her teams open her ninth season with 0-1 records.
Hall's twin daughters - Kelly and Kim - are seniors at Morristown High School and both contributed to the Morristown (2-0) win by winning their specialties and also swimming on two winning relay teams.
Kelly won the 200 IM in 2:38.52; Kim won the 100 back in 1:16.23; and they both swam on the 200 medley relay team that won in 2:14.58 as well as the 200 free relay that touched first in 1:59.49.
For Coach Hall, a special education teacher at Morristown and left Morristown and drove to Morris Knolls in order to take the bus ride back to Morristown with her swimmers, it was the fourth time in the last four years that Kim and Kelly had helped beat her Knolls team.
Still, Coach Hall is going to miss watching her daughters swim since they plan to compete at Providence (R.I.) College next season.
"I don't get to see them swim a lot," Coach Hall was quoted as saying after the meet. "It's great to watch them, though ... even when I am the opponent."
Morristown is one of the strongest opponents the Lady Eagles will face this season. The Lady Colonials were 13-4 last year and have most of their key swimmers back for the 2009-2010 season.
For Morris Knolls, Jessica Stiles and Sara Bias nailed the team's only two individual victories with Stiles winning the 100 free in 1:04.51 and Bias touching first in the 400 back in 4:59.
Stiles and Bias were also on the Lady Eagles' winning 400 free relay team. Shannon Hughes swam the lead leg followed by Carly Francisco, Bias and Stiles as the Lady Eagles won the event with a time of 4:32.34.