Christian Brothers Academy (New Jersey) - Athletics

Athletics

The Christian Brothers Academy Colts compete in the Shore Conference, an athletic conference made up of private and public high schools centered at the Northern Jersey Shore. All schools in this conference are located within Monmouth County and Ocean County, operating under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).

Christian Brothers Academy was recognized in 2011 by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association as the Group A winner of the Eighth Annual ShopRite Cup with first place finishes in Cross Country, Swimming, Indoor Track & Field Relays, Indoor Group Track & Field and Golf, second place in both Ice Hockey and Outdoor Track & field, third place finishes in Wrestling (tied) and Tennis (tied), plus an additional six points awarded for having no disqualifications in the fall and spring seasons.

Baseball

Under the direction of Head Coach Martin Kenny, the Colts have been a dominant force in New Jersey high school baseball since 1975. In 2007, Coach Kenny earned his 600th career win with a victory over Wall High School. Dozens of former Colts are currently playing NCAA Division I, II, & III Baseball.

Varsity baseball championships:

• State: '77, '09 (with 8-5 win vs. Delbarton School)
• Parochial "A" South: '77, '01, '02, 09
• Shore Conference Tournament: '93, '00, '01, '02
• Shore Conference "A" North Division: '92, '93, '94, '97, '00, '01, '02, 09
• Monmouth County Tournament: '94, '97, '00

Basketball

The team has reached the Final Four of the Shore Conference Tournament in all but five years since their inclusion, and had not lost a home game to a division opponent in almost ten years until the Colts Neck Cougars ended that streak in December 2006 with a 33-point victory over the Colts. They team earned a national ranking of #11 in USA Today's final 1999-2000 rankings. The team has sent numerous players to Division I programs. Forward Dan Werner won New Jersey Player of the Year on NJ.com for 2006. Coach Ed Wicelinski retired after 27 years and a 625-116 record. Geoff Billet, CBA '95 was named the head basketball coach on August 1, 2007. The team has won the NJSIAA Non-Public, South A state sectional champions in 2005 (with a 49-43 win vs. St. Augustine College Preparatory School), 2006 (with a 51-47 over Monsignor Donovan High School) 2007 (42-37 over Camden Catholic High School), and in 2009 over Holy Spirit High School by a score of 64-36 for the program's 17th sectional title. In 2010 the Colts won their 16th Shore Conference Tournament title with a 60-44 win against Middletown High School South.

Crew

The team was founded in 2004 by Volodar Lojko, Rutgers University and CBA alumnus and former teacher of English at Christian Brothers Academy. In the founding year of the program, it won its first New Jersey State Scholastic Rowing Championships in the Novice 4+ event. In the 2006 season, the team gained national recognition when its newly formed Lightweight 4+ placed 2nd at the Scholastic Rowing Nationals in Saratoga, New York. The Junior 4+ won the New Jersey State Scholastic Championships in 2008. The varsity double took 2nd place at the 2008 Stotesbury Cup, the largest high school regatta in the nation. In 2009, CBA won the senior 1x event at the New Jersey Scholastic Championships.In the 2011 Spring Season, the Lightweight 4+ placed second at the Stotesbury Cup and placed 1st in Nationals in Camden, NJ. Currently, the team is recognized as a varsity sport under the coaching of Scott Belford (also a Rutgers University alumnus).

Cross Country

The Cross Country team, coached by Thomas Heath assisted by Christopher Bennett, holds the national high school record for consecutive dual meet wins, which had reached 315 as of October 2011. The streak dates back to September 19, 1974. Currently, the team is 1st in New Jersey, and 1st in the United States. The team won its 311th consecutive meet as of September 16, 2011. On December 3, 2011, the CBA Colts won the 2011 Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) Cross Country National Championship meet.

Track

Coached by Karl Torchia, the track team is known for its dominance in New Jersey. The track program has more titles at the county, state, and national level than any other sports in the school combined.

Golf

The golf team is coached by Timothy Sewnig. The golf team won the state championship in 2005.

Lacrosse

Coached by Dave Santos. Won the Shore Conference four times ('05,'06,'08 and '09). In '07 they made a run in the state playoffs and lost in the championship to Delbarton.

Sailing

After a period of inactivity, the CBA Sailing Team was revitalized in 2007. Since then, the team has been an active member of the East League, a division of the Mid-Atlantic Scholastic Sailing Association (MASSA). The team, which consisted of twelve members and Coach Jody Lutz last year, competes in both the fall and the spring against fifteen to seventeen other NJ schools. The majority of the events are held at the Toms River Yacht Club, which is also the team's practice venue on Mondays and Thursdays. In addition to practicing two days a week, the team will race on Wednesdays against NJ teams in either fleet racing or team racing. The team will usually compete in larger qualifier regattas a few times each season against schools from the mid-Atlantic region. The team is a first year varsity sport as of fall 2012.

Soccer

The soccer team has won five state championships, in 1992, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2011. Coach Daniel Keane has over 400 victories in his career, a Shore Conference record. The 2011 Team recorded a straight winning season 21-0-0 and won all titles - Shore Conference Champs, Sectional Champs and Non-Public State Cup. The 1998 recorded an undefeated season over the course of twenty-three games, and with a record of 21-0-2, the Colts were champions of four titles: A-North Champions, Shore Conference Champions, Parochial A South Champions, and Parochial A State Champions. The 2007 team won the South A state sectional championship with a 3-1 win over Gloucester Catholic High School in the tournament final.

Swimming

The CBA Swim Team has been the Monmouth County and Shore Conference Champions for 22 years in a row coached by Michael Sullivan. Additionally, they also won a state championship in 1998. Notable CBA swimmers are 2000 Summer Olympics bronze medalist Tom Wilkens, and professional baseball player Vito Chiaravalloti, who is the new varsity swim coach as of October 2008. The CBA swim team is a consistent contender in the state championship race, having gotten to the Non-public A championship for the past several years. The 2009-2010 swim team went 12-0 and captured their second ever State Championship topping St. Augustine Prep School 86-84. Also the team was the fastest in CBA school history and also the first team to finish top ranked in New Jersey. In 2011 the team took their 21st Shore Conference and Monmouth County Champions victories and also became the first team in CBA history to win back to back State Championships, defeating St. Joseph (Metuchen) 92-78.

Wrestling

In 2005-06, the team went 17-4 and made it to the division Finals; the Colts finished ranked 15th in New Jersey and had one state placewinner. The Colts had four district champions and advanced eight to the region 6 tournament. David Santamaria (class of 1998) placed 2nd in the New Jersey high school state wrestling tournament three years in a row; Kevin Mount (class of 1999) placed 4th in the New Jersey high school state wrestling tournament his senior year. Coach Michael Baldi recently retired after years of service. Head coach is Michael Tomaino who received his first career victory as the head coach in the opening match of the 2006-07 season. The team ended with a 14-10 record with three 20-match winners and James Beshada set a school record of 41 single season victories.

In the 2007-08 season, the Colt wrestlers finished second in District 22, beating state-ranked Raritan High School, and coming within one place of beating Ocean Township High School for the championship. CBA sent nine wrestlers to the Region tournament, and had 12 of 14 notch wins in districts. They finished their dual meet season with a record of 14-12, and beat traditional rival St. John Vianney High School 35-22 to send them to the Sectional Semi-finals of the Non-Public A South NJSIAA Tournament where they lost to Camden Catholic High School, 35-19. Their season was capped by a 5th in the State finish by Senior Captain Joe Favia. This is the third consecutive season the Colts placed a wrestler in the state tournament.

Volleyball

Coached by Monica Slattery (Varsity). Volleyball is a relatively new sport at CBA, and participated in the Shore Conference Tournament in 2009.

Hockey

Coached by Ryan Bogan.

Fencing

CBA is adding a varsity fencing team for the 2012-2013 season, after being formed as a club two years prior.