
With the end of the season approaching, the St. Joseph's Varsity Girls and Boys Swim Teams are right where they want to be--undefeated in their SCISA (South Carolina Independent School Association) division. The teams have competed against large public schools as well as SCISA division schools, with each meet providing great competition and moving them closer to another state title.
"Heading into the home stretch, we are in a great position," stated Head Coach and SJCS graduate Jill Holliday. "Our team is undefeated against SCISA schools at this point in the season, so another state title looks very promising. Our swimmers are upholding the high standards that have been set before them and I am very proud of each and every swimmer."
On September 8th, the teams headed to Columbia to compete in a tri-meet with Cardinal Newman and Hammond Hall schools. Both teams walked away with first place finishes and many top three finishers, including Victoria DeMaria (first in 200 Freestyle), Michael D'Onofrio (first in 50 Freestyle and second in 100 Freestyle), Justin Mehl (first in 200 Freestyle and second in 100 Butterfly), Jeremy Mehl (first in 200 Individual Medley and third in 100 Butterfly), Aya Nance (first in 200 Individual Medley and 100 Breaststroke), Josh Schammel (first in 100 Freestyle), Noah Schammel (first in 100 Backstroke), Cameron Beach (second in 100 Freestyle), Carrie Weber (second in 100 Butterfly), Kate Kelly (third in 200 Individual Medley and 100 Freestyle), Katrina Konopka (third in 200 Freestyle and 50 Freestyle), Ian Okinaga (third in 50 and 100 Freestyle), Cory Satterfield (third in 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle), and Hannah Wickert (third in 100 Breaststroke). Relay teams placing first in this meet included the Girls 200 Medley Relay (Devon Bugner, Victoria DeMaria, Kate Kelly, Carrie Weber), Girls 200 Freestyle Relay (Devon Bugner, Kate Kelly, Katrina Konopka, Cory Satterfield), and Girls 400 Freestyle Relay (Victoria DeMaria, Aya Nance, Cory Satterfield, Carrie Weber). The Boys 200 Medley Relay (Jeremy Mehl, Ian Okinaga, Josh Schammel, Sam Wickert), and Boys 400 Freestyle Relay (Michael D'Onofrio, Michael Gibson, John Kelly, Justin Mehl) also placed first.
The teams continued their success at the Daniel High Invitational on September 12th. The boys placed second, tying with Mauldin High School and the girls placed third behind JL Mann and Mauldin. Other public schools competing in this meet included Daniel, Easley, TL Hanna, Wade Hampton, Westside, and Woodmont High Schools. Top three finishers for SJCS included swimmers Jared Kauffman (first in 200 Individual Medley and 100 Freestyle), Josh Schammel (first in 100 Backstroke), Kate Kelly (second in 50 Freestyle), Michael D'Onofrio (third in 50 Freestyle), Katrina Konopka (third in 50 Free), Aya Nance (third in 100 Breaststroke), and Noah Schammel (third in 500 Freestyle). The Boys 200 Medley Relay Team (Michael D'Onofrio, Jared Kauffman, Jeremy Mehl, Josh Schammel) and the Boys 400 Freestyle Relay Team (Jared Kauffman, Justin Mehl, Ian Okinaga, Josh Schammel) both took first place honors.
On September 14th the Knights hosted Oakbrook Prep and Newberry Academy at Westside Aquatic Center. Both the Girls and Boys Teams captured first place and had a great showing. Top three finishers included Devon Bugner (first in 100 Freestyle), Michael D'Onofrio (first in 100 Backstroke and second in 50 Freestyle), ), Jared Kauffman (first in 100 Breaststroke and 50 Freestyle), Kate Kelly (first in 100 Butterfly and 50 Freestyle), Olivia Leftwich (first in 200 Freestyle), Aya Nance (first in 100 Breaststroke and 200 Individual Medley), Ian Okinaga (first in 100 Freestyle and third in 50 Freestyle), Cory Satterfield (first in 100 Backstroke), Josh Schammel (first in 200 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly), Cameron Beach (second in 50 Freestyle and third in 100 Breaststroke), Allison Espada (second in 100 Backstroke), Caroline Kelly (second in 100 Breaststroke), Yanni Koutsioukis (second in 200 Individual Medley), Jeremy Mehl (second in 100 Breaststroke and 200 Freestyle), Justin Mehl (second in 100 Freestyle and third in 100 Butterfly), Cassandra Reinholtz (second in 100 Freestyle), Carrie Weber (second in 100 Butterfly and 200 Individual Medley), Michael Gibson (third in 100 Freestyle), Caitlan Lovett (third in 100 Freestyle), Noah Schammel (third in 100 Breaststroke), and Margaret Stanton (third in 200 Freestyle). First place relay teams consisted of: Girls 200 Medley Relay (Kate Kelly, Olivia Leftwich, Aya Nance, Carrie Weber), Girls 200 Freestyle Relay (Cameron Beach, Devon Bugner, Caroline Kelly, Cory Satterfield), Girls 400 Freestyle Relay (Kate Kelly, Aya Nance, Cory Satterfield, Carrie Weber), Boys 200 Medley Relay (Michael D'Onofrio, Jared Kauffman, Jeremy Mehl, Josh Schammel), Boys 200 Freestyle Relay (John Kelly, Jeremy Mehl, Ian Okinaga, Josh Schammel), and Boys 400 Freestyle Relay (Michael D'Onofrio, Jared Kauffman, Justin Mehl, Ian Okinaga).
On September 19th, St. Joseph's traveled to Mount Pleasant to compete in the Pinewood Prep Meet. The teams once again took first place finishes with a total of 113 points for the girls and 92 points for the boys, placing ahead of second place team Porter Gaud with 49 and 62 points respectively. Top three finishes went to Jared Kauffman (first in both 200 Individual Medley and 100 Freestyle), Kelly McNulty (first in 100 Backstroke and second in 100 Breaststroke), Aya Nance (first in 100 Breast and second in 200 Freestyle), Josh Schammel (first in 100 Backstroke and second in 100 Butterfly), Amanda McNulty (second in 200 Individual Medley and 100 Butterfly), Ian Okinaga (second in 50 Freestyle), Devon Bugner (third in 50 Freestyle), Cory Satterfield (third in 200 Freestyle), and Carrie Weber (third in 100 Butterfly). The Knights captured the gold in five relays and silver in one relay. The Girls 200 Medley Relay (Devon Bugner, Amanda McNulty, Kelly McNulty, Cory Satterfield) and 200 Freestyle Relay (Devon Bugner, Amanda McNulty, Aya Nance, Cory Satterfield) both captured first place, while the Girls 400 Freestyle Relay (Amanda McNulty, Kelly McNulty, Aya Nance, Carrie Weber) took second. The Boys 200 Medley Relay (Michael D'Onofrio, Jared Kauffman, Jeremy Mehl, Josh Schammel), Boys 200 Freestyle Relay (Michael D'Onofrio, Jeremy Mehl, Justin Mehl, Ian Okinaga), and Boys 400 Freestyle Relay (Jared Kauffman, Justin Mehl, Ian Okinaga, Josh Schammel) all captured first place finishes.
"It's been great to see everyone come together as a team and compete at such a high level of success," stated team captain Jared Kauffman. "Everyone is getting excited as we look towards the state meet." Captain Devon Bugner added, "Based on how our team has performed in the last few meets, I'm excited to see how we perform at state, hopefully bringing back another state title."
The Knights will compete in one final regular season meet on Thursday, September 24th in Anderson against TL Hanna and Westside High Schools. The state championships will be held on Saturday, October 3rd in Augusta, GA.