Lawrence salvages split with Hopewell

Swimming

By: Jim Green
   Sometimes winning one-quarter of your meets isn’t so bad.
   That is the feeling of the Lawrence High School swimming team, which emerged from a five-day stretch that included meets against West Windsor-Plainsboro South and Hopewell Valley with one win.
   That win came against the previously undefeated Hopewell Valley girls Tuesday. Despite recording only three first-place finishes, the Cardinal girls squeaked out an 88-82 decision, improving to 6-2 overall and 5-2 in the Colonial Valley Conference.
   "We took three first-places and won the meet," Lawrence coach Dean Mason said. "That’s an unbelievable win."
   The Cardinals’ two individual victories came from senior Jenny Steiner, who won the 200-meter individual medley (2:26.20) and the 100 backstroke (1:07.38). The Cardinals’ only other win came in the 400 freestyle relay, as a squad of Jenny Steiner, senior Kerry Genese and juniors Kelli Hawthorne and Jaime Petrone clinched the meet in 4:16.01.
   "We knew they (the two meets against Hopewell Valley) were both going to be very close," Mason said. "Our girls needed to be at 80 points going into that last relay."
   The Cardinal boys (4-4 overall, 3-4 in the CVC) kept their meet close despite finishing first in only two events. Senior Chris Faubell took the 50 freestyle (25.81) and the 100 backstroke (1:00.26).
   "We have a good supporting cast," Mason said. "We knew they (the Bulldogs) were going to take many first places.
   "Our boys swam outstanding today. We just didn’t have enough to beat their weapons." The meet against West Windsor-Plainsboro South went mostly as Mason expected. The Cardinal girls put up a solid fight before falling 93-77 to the Colonial Division power.
   The 16-point loss to the Pirates is made more impressive by the fact the Cardinals garnered only two first-place finishes in the meet. Jenny Steiner took both the 200 individual medley (2:12.16) and the 100 breaststroke (1:07.58) for Lawrence, which failed to take a relay event.
   "It was a good meet," Mason said. "They just had too many weapons for us. Our girls swam really well."
   Mason felt the Cardinals would have pushed the Pirates harder if the results of two races, the 50-yard freestyle and the 200 medley relay, had been slightly different.
   The Cardinals seemed to build momentum when Jenny Steiner and sophomore Emily Steiner placed first and third, respectively, in the 200 individual medley. But the Pirates responded by taking two of the top three places in the 50 freestyle, led by winner Kate Guthrie (25.89).
   "The 50 free was really tight," Mason said. "We just got touched-out there."
   The Cardinals later took second and third in the 200 freestyle relay.
   "It (the 200 freestyle) relay was real close," Mason said. "We just didn’t get it done."
   Mason, though, was realistic about the Cardinals’ chances of defeating the Pirates.
   "Even if we had gotten them (the 50 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay), we only would have made it a little more interesting," he said. "We knew it would be very difficult to knock them (the Pirates) off."
   Unlike the Cardinal girls, the boys team never had an opportunity to make its meet with West Windsor-Plainsboro South tight. The Pirates took first in each of the first five events on the way to a 105-66 victory.
   "We have a lot of kids that are doing really well as second or third swimmers," Mason said. "But we don’t have the superstars to knock off a team with superstars."
   Faubell finally broke through for the Cardinals by winning the 100 freestyle (52.13), and sophomore J.P. Kelly followed with a victory in the 500 freestyle (5:30.55). Sophomore Ben Lookner finished second to Kelly in the 500, allowing Lawrence to win the event 9-7.
   "He (Kelly) has really been coming on," Mason said. "They (Kelly and Lookner) are both sophomores. They keep pushing each other, and they’ve improved dramatically from last year."