Patriots win A North, conference meet next

Freehold Township High School's gymnasts will look to add the 2009 Shore Conference team championship to their list of accomplishments on Oct. 31.

Having won their first Shore Conference A North Division title since 1993, the Patriots will seek the Shore Conference title at Brick Memorial High School in Brick Township.

During the season the Patriots record the highest team score of any squad in the Shore Conference this fall, a school record 108.675 points.

The team competition for the conference championships was expanded to eight schools this year. The deadline for teams to have their final scores in was Oct. 26 (after the deadline for this edition). The total of a team's top three scores will determine the eight squads that will compete for the conference championship.

Freehold Township and Jackson Liberty were first and second heading into the week and are safely in the field.

Freehold and Colts Neck were in the fifth and sixth slots and Howell was on the bubble in eighth.

Freehold Township put the finishing touches on a perfect Shore Conference A North Division dual meet season by defeating Colts Neck 103.90 to 100.775 on Oct. 15.

Nicole Frietas won three events for the Patriots. She scored 9.30 on floor exercise, 8.55 on the uneven bars and 8.925 on balance beam.

Elise Janczewski won the vault with a score of 9.15, edging out Frietas, whose score was 9.05.

Lindsay Gordon, Meagan Knauf and Justine Janczewski score important secondand third-place points for the champions.

Jill Forrester was Freehold Township's head coach the last time the Patriots won a division title (1993) and the last time they won the Shore Conference crown (1990 and 1991). Sarah Berkowitz (an all-around champion), Kim Jordan, Tracey Tacopino and Bonnie Rosenthal were the stars of those teams.

Forrester is an assistant on Coach James St. Angelo's staff this year and she marvels at the talent of the current Patriots.

"What they are doing now didn't exist 20 years ago," said Forrester. "The tricks are more difficult and the skill level is higher."

There is incredible depth as well, Forrester added. She noted that a score of 8.8 on balance beam was a good score 20 years ago. Now the Patriots have five girls who can score 8.8 or better on that event.

All-around and individual event titles will be on the line at Brick Memorial, as well as the conference team champion. Frietas is one of the favorites in the all-around competition.

Freehold Township defeated Freehold High School, 106.45 to 105.575, on Oct. 20 in a non-division meet that was a good warm-up for the Oct. 31 Shore Conference championships.

Frietas and Freehold freshman Jennifer King excelled in what may have been a preview of the conference's all-around competition.