HAMMONTON—The Hammonton Stingrays capped a fun summer of swimming on August 1, holding a mini-meet/celebration at the Hammonton Swim Club.
This summer, the Stingrays were not able to compete in the Suburban Swim Association of South Jersey due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Instead, the swimmers participated in the Stingrays’ Summer Fun 2020, where they gathered three times a week to practice and improve their skills. Last weekend, swimmers competed against their teammates before the organization recognized each athlete and presented its annual awards.
“Because of all that’s going on in the world, we weren’t able to have a swim season, but at least we’ve been able to give the kids something. It worked out really well. We had 51 swimmers come out and Coach Molly [DeNucci] did a great job,” Shawn McCloud, the Stingrays SSASJ team representative, said.
DeNucci agreed.
“It was great. All the kids came out and worked so hard and they all had so much fun. I’m so glad we were able to give them something this summer,” DeNucci said.
Last weekend, swimmers competed in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and several relay races.
“It was a little smaller than our usual meets, but it gave them a chance to compete and have some fun,” DeNucci said.
A crowd of about 50 attended the event, mostly parents, and were spaced around the pool, wearing masks.
“We tried to take all the precautions and everyone followed the rules,” McCloud said.
Following the competition in the pool, the Stingrays presented awards in a brief ceremony before enjoying some refreshments.
The winner of the Coach John Bohanna Memorial Award was Nathaniel Montecillo. Dominic Mazza won the Annamae Jacobs Memorial Award.
Montecillo and fellow senior Zachary Wines were recognized, as were Hammonton High School students Glyza Canovas, Mary Elton, David Gonzalez, Victoria Marandino, Adriel Montecillo and Joseph Zawrotny, who earned varsity letters for their participation with the Stingrays.
Participating in the Stingrays Summer Fun 2020 were: Analiese Bova, Anthony Bova, Glyza Canovas, Mary Elton, David Gonzalez, James Haney, Victoria Marandino, Dominic Mazza, Isabelle McCloud, Adriel Montecillo, Nathaniel Montecillo, Kyle Muller, Lauren Wines, Zachary Wines and Joseph Zawrotny.
Christian Carrulo, Amanda Childs, Noah Engle, Grace Gribbin, Jessie Herbert, Shayne Herbert, Everly Husta, Kendall Husta, Brennen Kiss, Evan Kiss, Harrison Kiss, Saydee Maturano, Maggie McCloud, Tara McGahee, Andrew Pyfrin, Casey Shulz, Jade Thompson and Jasper Thompson also swam.
Amelia Birnbaum, Vera Birnbaum, Landon Black, Dominic Cushinotto, Kayla Cushinotto, Julianne DeKlerk, Brynn Gribbin, Branden Lizza, Joseph Lizza, Alex Nees, Billy Nees, Lizzy Nees, Nina Rizzotte, Kylie Short, Ella Wilson, Ethan Wilson, Joey Zingrone and Gracie Zingrone also participated this summer.