Trinity Hall Swimmer Sets New NJ State Record

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PISCATAWAY – Trinity Hall sophomore Caroline Gmelich broke her own New Jersey state swimming record recently at the 2014 Long Course Junior Olympics Championships, held at Rutgers University.
Her performance qualified her for the 2014 Winter Senior National Championships in December where she will be one of the youngest competitors.
Gmelich, who swims for the Central Jersey Aquatics Club (CJAC) as well as Trinity Hall, won the 100-meter backstroke in the 13-14 age group with a time of 1:04.69, besting her own record of 1:04.98 in last year’s Junior Olympics. She crushed the fastest time in the 15-and-over age group by almost 3 seconds.
Gmelich and Malia Wolf, fellow Trinity Hall classmate and CJAC teammate, excelled at the Junior Olympics, qualifying for the final heats in every event they entered.
Highlights from the weekend included:

  • BULLETGmelich: 1st place in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, and the 400 IM; 3rd place in the 200 freestyle; 5th in the 50 freestyle.
  • BULLETWolf: 2nd place in the 200 IM; 2nd place in the 200 butterfly; 5th place in the 100 butterfly; 7th in the 400 IM.

With the strength and experience of these student-athletes on their small Trinity Hall swim team, Head of School Mary Sciarrillo sees the start of a swimming tradition.
“We are incredibly proud of Caroline and Malia for their success this weekend – but we’re not surprised,” Sciarrillo said. “These students are part of our exceptional inaugural swim team that showed great promise in their first season. Trinity Hall students are leaders, and Caroline and Malia are the cornerstones of what will be the best high school swimming program in the area.”
Alyssa Morreale, Trinity Hall’s head swim coach, said “Caroline and Malia certainly deserve the success they enjoyed at the Junior Olympics. Their intense training throughout the club swimming season will undoubtedly pay off during the high school season when they lead Trinity Hall to be one of the top teams not only in Monmouth County but in the state.”
Trinity Hall, which opened its doors in 2013 to a class of 30 ninth-grade students, is the only all-girls high school in Monmouth and Ocean counties. The fall 2014 athletic season begins Aug. 18, with ninth- and 10th-grade students participating in cross-country, soccer, volleyball and tennis.