4 Pope John swimmers win events
SPARTA. The girls finish third and the boys fifth in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Swimming Championships.
Sparta /
| 28 Jan 2025 | 05:57
Pope John's Natalija Novkovic (15) attempts to pass the ball while covered by a West Morris Mendham defender in their game Friday, Jan. 24. Pope John won, 44-27. Novkovic scored four points, grabbed five rebounds and made two assists. (Photos by George Leroy Hunter)
Pope John's Cailey Fitzmorris (30) takes a shot under tight coverage. She scored three points and grabbed five rebounds.
Pope John's Mia Washington (3) and West Morris Mendham's Halle Ferrara (2) reach for the ball during the tip-off to start the game.
Pope John's Katie O'Keefe scored 11 points, grabbed three rebounds and made two assists.
Pope John's Cailey Fitzmorris scored three points and grabbed five rebounds.
The Pope John cheerleaders perform during the halftime break.
Kai Batchelor won the 50 freestyle event in 21:41 and Hunter Gallo won the 100 breast event in 59.94 to lead the Pope John XXIII Regional High Schools boys in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Swimming Championships on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 25.
Rosemilee Smith won the 500 freestyle in 5:23.71 and Madelyn Ball won the 100 back event in 1:02.62 to pace the Pope John girls at the same competition at Phillipsburg Elementary School.
The girls finished third of 11 competing schools with 173 points. Phillipsburg won the event with 224 points.
The boys were fifth of 12 teams with 109.5 points. North Hunterdon won the team title with 246 points.
Other top three place-winners for the boys included the 200 medley relay team (third in 1:45.72), Batchelor (second in 100 free in 46.76) and the 200 free relay team (second in 1:32.28).
Other girls place-winners included Maria Schnabel (second in 100 breast in 1:12.52 and third in 200 free in 2:03.62), Ball (second in 200 IM in 2:21.55), 200 freestyle relay (second in 1:48.15) and 100 fly (second in 1:57.35).
Here’s how other Pope John teams have fared recently:
Wrestling
Led by four individual champions, Pope John placed second in the annual H/W/S Tournament on Jan. 11 in Phillipsburg.
Phillipsburg won the event with 223 points and the Lions were second in the 17-team field with 177 points.
Winning titles for Pope John were Dalton Weber (132 pounds), Carson Walsh (138), Cole Dunham (165) and David Thomson (190).
Other place-winner for the Lions included Jake Holly (third at 113 pounds), Daniel Arroyo (sixth at 144), Lukas Katsigiannis (fifth at 150), Braydan Lombreglia (fourth at 157) and Matthew Sutton (sixth at 175).
Pope John (8-5) will wrestle at Gov. Livingston in Berkeley Heights at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Boys basketball
Quinn Klebez totaled 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals; Justin Lilley added 16 points, five rebounds and four assists; Joshua Prince had five points, six steals, four rebounds and three assists; Anthony Schnabel collected nine points, eight rebounds and two assists; and Trent Houser had six points, four rebounds and three assists to lift the Lions to a 54-39 victory over Parsippany Hills on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at home.
After a 1-10 start, Pope John is 2-2 in its past four games, including a 66-53 win over Kittatinny on Jan. 18 at home.
Klebez had 20 points and five assists; Schnabel added 15 points, 13 rebounds and six assists; and Lilley added eight points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists in that decision.
Girls basketball
Mia Washington deposited a game-high 22 points along with six rebounds, two assists and two steals; Natalija Novkovic had six points, five rebounds, two steals and two assists; and Marisa Captoni added six points to lift Pope John to a 46-30 victory over Sparta at home Jan. 25.
The Lions have won four straight and six of their past seven games to improve to 12-3 this winter.
Pope John will play at Morristown-Beard at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30.
Ice hockey
Hunter Parrillo scored three goals; Magnuss Bars added a goal and an assist; Alex Mizak also scored; and Luke Jarosiewicz and Nicholas Colatrella each tallied three assists to pace Pope John to a 5-1 victory over Hun on Monday, Jan. 20 at Skylands Ice World in Stockholm.
Parrillo now leads the team with 18 goals and five assists, with Luke Jarosiewicz (four goals, 16 assists), Nicholas Colatrella (nine goals, nine assists), Bars (six goals, nine assists), Liam Amabile (four goals, seven assists), Aidan Perry (four goals, eight assists) and Jack Jarosiewicz (three goals, eight assists) also reaching double digits in points.
The Lions (13-3-1) have won four straight and 10 of their past 11 games.
They will play St. Joseph (Montvale) at 9:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31 at the Sport-o-Rama Ice Rink in Monsey, N.Y.