Soprano leads fast start for Jackson girls team
BY MIKE WHITE
Staff Writer

JACKSON — Jackson High School girls swim coach Janet Carvin knows how hard junior Marissa Soprano works.

A dedicated work ethic and the willingness to make changes and improvements in her strokes makes her one of the most coachable athletes Carvin has ever worked with.

Soprano put forth a big early-season effort last week as the Lady Jaguars rolled to a convincing 104-56 victory over Howell in a nondivisional meet.

Soprano was the team’s only double winner. But what was more important was that Soprano set two new personal best times in winning both the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle.

Soprano won the 100 breast in a time of 1:17.15. That was nearly two seconds faster than her previous best time set last year during the Shore Conference meet. And Carvin feels that Soprano may have a shot at setting a new school record in the event before the season is out.

The school record of 1:16.50 was set two years ago by Danielle Skurka.

“She had some night for us for this early in the season,” Carvin admitted. “I never expected her to come out this early and swim this fast. Of course, I know she is a talented kid but she exploded out of the blocks. I think that she has a good chance of setting a new record in this event.”

Soprano’s winning time of 1:02.64 in the 100 free was a personal best, too.

“She is just a great kid to coach,” Carvin said. “She does everything a coach could ask for. She works very hard and takes all the suggestions we offer. She isn’t afraid to challenger herself.”

Jackson had two other individual winners. Ali Wojtaszek captured the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:12.38, while teammate freshman Kaitlin Deboer won the 100 butterfly in 1:20.46.

The Lady Jags also won both the medley and 200 free relay events. The team of Wojtaszek, Soprano, Cathy Williamson and Meg Maloney won the medley relay in a time of 2:09.24.

In the 200 free, Amanda Smith, Williamson, Soprano and Maloney posted a winning time of 1:59.19.

Carvin has been impressed with the efforts of her freshman swimmers. Frosh Erin Maloney shaved two seconds off her personal best time in the 200 free with a 2:29.38. In addition, she cut off nearly three seconds in her 500 free time (6:46.98).

“We’re getting contributions from everybody,” Carvin said. “That’s how we are going to be successful this season. We need to rely on getting good times from both the upper- and underclassmen. I think that we have a strong group of freshman swimmers who are going to give us a boost.”