Summit Swimmer Shines at Junior Olympic Championships

Ryan Sebastian of the Elie Swim Club places 1st at the NJ USA JO Championships

Fourteen year old Ryan Sebastian, swimming for the Elite Swim Club of Summit placed first overall in the High Point Award Race (13-14 age group) at the 2011 NJ Short Course Junior Olympic Championships held March 18 though March 20  at Rutgers.

Sebastian took home the gold in the 200 & 400 Individual Medley, 100 Backstroke and 200 Butterfly. He placed second in the 200 Backstroke & Breaststroke. And placed third in the 100 Butterfly, 100 Breaststroke and 500 Freestyle.

Five of his swims were "Sectional Qualifying Times" and make him eligible to compete in the Open Division at the USA Swimming Speedo Championship Meet (Region I - Northeast Section) that are being held in Buffalo, N.Y. this weekend.

Sebastian trains year round and is coached by Elite Head Coach Bill Deatly.

On My Honor...

Second and third Graders from Jefferson Elementary School's Brownie Troop 251 in Summit enjoyed the sunshine on recently while selling cookies to passersby on Union Place. The Troop will use funds raised from cookie sales to fund activities for their troop and to plant flowers at their school. Pictured in the photo are Meghan Tarashuk, Katelin Hannigan, Bridget Cornog, Harper Girr, and Catherine Singow. A big thank you to all who stopped at our table. The big seller? Thin Mints by a mile!

John Liberato selected for Good Scout Award

The Patriots Path Council of the Boy Scouts of America has named Summit High School physical education teacher and head football coach John Liberato as one of its 2011 Summit Good Scout Award recipients. Liberato will be honored, along with the other award recipients, at a dinner being held at the Grand Summit Hotel on April 12. According to the Patriots Path Council, the award is a way of honoring outstanding citizens who serve as exemplary role models for the youth of Summit.  They are chosen for their outstanding community services as evidenced by their generosity and the leadership they have demonstrated within the community.

Liberato joined the faculty at Summit High School in 2007 as a teacher of physical education and health and football coach with more than 20 years of coaching and teaching experience. Throughout his career, Liberato has received a number of awards and honors: He was named both the NFHS and NJSIAA, and the Howard Anderson Football Coach of the Year in 2010.  In 2009, he was named the Union County, Big Time Magazine, Independent Press, and NY Giants Football Coach of the Year. In that same year, his team won the Section II Group II State Championships, were ranked #1 in Union County, were Mid State Mountain Conference champions, and named the Big Time Magazine Football Team of the Year.  Being Coach of the Year was not a new experience for Liberato. In 1999, he was named the Morris County and the Daily Record Football Coach of the Year. 

Liberato has also won a number of awards for coaching track, including the 2005 and 2006Mountain Valley Conference Spirit Track Coach of the Year. (He also earned this honor for coaching winter track in 2006). Liberato has also received the Rutgers University Douglas College Award for Outstanding Dedication to Young Women in 1998 and received the 1993 Governor’s Teacher of the Year Award.
 
Liberato received a B.S. degree in health and physical education from Long IslandUniversity, C.W. Post College, and a master’s degree in Special Education fromNew Jersey City University.
 
Liberato resides in Summit with his wife, Virginia, and two sons, Sal and Nick.  Both boys attend Summit High School andparticipate in the football program.

B-I-N-G-O!

Pleasant Garland and Jojo Schluter, both of Summit, play bingo together during a recent visit that the Summit Junior Fortnightly Club made to SAGE Eldercare. Members of the service club brought their children to SAGE to spend time with the senior citizens who are a part of SAGE’s Spend-A-Day program. The program, which often has young visitors from all over the area, provides a day of social and stimulating activities for aging and impaired adults in a medically supervised, home-away-from-home setting and welcomes participants from Union, Essex, Morris and Somerset Counties. For more information, call 908-273-5550 or visit www.sageeldercare.org.