Finish second behind B-R, Sudol’s former team
By: John E. Powers
Before the Somerset County Swimming Championships, Hillsborough High School head coach Todd Sudol said several times that his boys’ team had an "opportunity."
Though Sudol never said his team was a favorite, it was clear he felt the Raiders were capable and talented enough of winning their first boys’ title. Bridgewater-Raritan, however, a team that Hillsborough had beaten in a dual meet and at the Pirate Invitational, won enough closes races Saturday night to win its eighth straight title, taking a 292-249½ decision over the Raiders. Pingry was third with 246 points.
"I had a lot of people coming up to me and asking me ‘what happened to you guys’ – well, I’ll tell you what, I think we did fine," said Sudol, a former Bridgewater-Raritan star. "All three teams were of the same caliber. Somebody needed a little luck and Bridgewater-Raritan had it. I think this will just be more fuel for our kids’ motivation," he added, referring to this week’s Skyland Conference Championships in which the Hillsborough boys will get another crack at their rivals.
Last year, Bridgewater-Raritan won with 306 points, Pingry was second at 231 and Hillsborough was a distant third at 185. Two years ago, Bridgewater-Raritan won with 288 points, Pingry was second at 271 and Hillsborough was third with 234. The same three teams finished in the same order in 2000 with the Raiders finishing 180 points behind the Panthers, who finished with 355.
"If you’re talking about a dual meet, you’re talking about a six-point difference, so this wasn’t a comfortable win for them this year," Sudol said. "This year, they can’t say it was easy. Forty points in a meet like this isn’t a lot. Bridgewater won a lot of close races. I was happy with our kids. I thought we matched the level of competition."
The boys were led by junior Mark Green, who won the 100-meter freestyle, and senior Nick Giacopelli, who was a winner in the 200-meter freestyle. Green was also third in the 100 backstroke, fifth in the 500 freestyle and swam strong legs on the team’s second-place finish in the 400 free relay and third in the 200 relay.
Giacopelli, a runner-up in the 200 free and third in the 100 free last year, earned his first gold medal by winning the 200 freestyle by three seconds in 2:02.56. Green swam 57.23 for the win in the 100.
"I was pretty close to swimming my personal-best, but in a race like the counties, you usually need to go beyond that," Green said.
Sudol referred to Bridgewater-Raritan’s 1-2 finish with junior Liam Gallagher and John Benigno in the 100 back as an example of how things went for the Panthers.
"One place in a meet like this was huge, you’re talking 16 points and eight points, that kind of thing," Sudol said. "It would have been nice to split those two."
The Raiders did split Bridgewater-Raritan in the 100 breaststroke where sophomore Frank Ippolito was second in between champion Geoff Horvath and third-place finisher Tim Lamb of Bridgewater-Raritan. Ippolito finished fourth in the 200-meter individual medley, an event in which Gallagher and teammate Peter Levin went 1-2.
"All of our guys placed in the top 12 – we did what we had to do, we just didn’t get all the touches we needed," Sudol said. "In a meet like this it doesn’t take much to grab a lead, hold a lead, lose a lead and grab a lead again."
Freshman Scott Prow finished fourth in the 50 free and freshman Sean Downey was sixth. Prow was also was fifth in the 100 free and sophomore Devin Gunesakara took sixth in the 100-meter butterfly. Freshman Peter Cole was sixth in the breaststroke.
The Hillsborough girls competed without four of their main point scorers, but finished fourth with 137½ points, well behind first-place Mount St. Mary’s 292. Alyssa Barberio, Ashley Padvelskis, Madison Goldberg and Kristi Patane, who swim for Scarlet Aquatic, were excused from the county meet because they were competing in a club meet. All four are expected to compete in this week’s Skyland Conference Championships.
"You never want to inhibit kids from competing, sometimes a big club meet might conflict with a dual meet, this year it just happened to be the counties. I understand it and I’m happy that we have an athletic director that understands that," Sudol said.
Missy McCormick had a second in the 200-meter freestyle, while senior Devon Trabilsy was third in the 500 and fourth in the 200-meter individual medley. Kris Mendez was fifth in the 100 butterfly. Hillsborough was third in the 200-meter free relay and in the 200 medley relay.

