Eige, Wolf medal at girls GMC swim meet

By: Carolyn M. Hartko
   NORTH BRUNSWICK — A lack of depth may have hurt the South Brunswick High School girls’ swim team in the team standings at this year’s Greater Middlesex Conference Swimming Championships, but there were plenty of individual achievements to celebrate. The Lady Vikings had two double medallists, several more girls scoring team points, and a slew of personal best times recorded.
   On the team scene, North Brunswick finally broke Bishop Ahr’s eight-year winning streak, claiming the team title with 308 points. Metuchen was a surprise second with 253, and the defending champions finished third (235). East Brunswick (196) came in fourth, followed by Piscataway (118), South Brunswick (110), Sayreville (62) and Old Bridge (20).
   "I just knew this year our depth was going to hurt us when it came to team points," Viking head coach John Harding said. "Obviously, I would have liked to have done better. We were only eight points away from Piscataway. We were hoping we could hold them off, but in the last relay, they got the points they needed to go past us."
   Senior Danielle Eige ended her high school career in style, earning medals and setting personal records in two individual events. She took the bronze in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:14.11, and placed sixth in the 100 freestyle in 58.18 seconds.
   Sophomore Amy Wolf also doubled, earning a silver medal in the breaststroke (1:10.55). Wolf’s big competition in the seeded heat was Kelly Morris of Metuchen, who set a new meet and pool record with her winning time of 1:07.87. A friend from Wolf’s club team introduced the two breaststrokers at an earlier high school meet.
   "We’re pretty good friends now," Wolf said. "I was kind of close to (Morris) after the first 50, so that made me think I was doing pretty well. I was pretty close to her the whole time, so I knew I was doing okay."
   Wolf took home a fifth place medal in the 200 IM, clocking a 2:19.41 in that race.
   "I was seeded third, and I got fifth, so I was a little disappointed there," Wolf said. "But it was a close race, so I was happy."
   In the GMC meet, only the top six finishers earn medals, but swimmers who come in top-12 score points towards the team total. Relay squads also earned points down to a 12th-place finish, but medals were only awarded to the top three. If a competitor entered as an independent, from a school that does not have a swim team, that person was allowed to earn medals, but the points were shifted down to the next finisher from a team. This year, the conference listed point totals for individuals, ranking the swimmers. Wolf finished up ninth overall with 24 points, and Eige tied for 12th (22).
   The Vikings who contributed to the team goal of breaking 100 points included Jenn Kamm (9th, backstroke; 13th, 500 free), Stephanie Haddad (13th, breaststroke), Caroline Tiffany (13th, 50 free), and Chrissie Tupe (14th, 100 butterfly).
   The Vikings’ best showing in the relays came in the 200 freestyle. Swimming in the second of three heats, South Brunswick’s A squad went back and forth with North Brunswick A for the lead. Tiffany beat the Raider anchor on the touch to win the race in 1:53.22. The good competition between the rival towns pushed both schools to pass teams that swam in the seeded heat. South finished up sixth in that relay (Eige, Wolf, Tupe and Tiffany), and North was seventh. The Viking B squad came in 11th overall (Jackie Miller, Kamm, Haddad and Jess Mandel).
   South A came in fifth in the opening event, the 200 medley relay, with Kamm, Wolf, Eige and Tiffany. The Vikings also got points for 11th and 12th place finishes in the 400 free relay. The A team was Stephanie Lau, Jessica Stern, Stefanie Sframeli and Mandel. Allison Rossi, Cindy Amaya, Samantha Seigel and Gabby Kachman were the B team.
   "I think our girls swam real well," Harding said. "Overall, we had a lot of good performances, and individually, a lot of them did well. Some of the girls didn’t do their best times, but when you have a team of close to 20 girls, you can’t expect them all to do their best times on the same day."
   Mandel won her heat in the 200 IM, setting a new personal record of 2:28.28, and she also had her best time in the breaststroke (1:25.09). Other personal bests clocked this weekend included: Kachman (3:04.13, IM), Stefanie Cheuk (32.18, 50 free), Rossi (31.49, 50 free; 1:12.33, 100 free). In the backstroke, Lindsey Rodriguez (1:19.55), Lau (1:22.5) and Miller (1:17.21) all notched PB’s.
   SPLASHES: Wolf is the only Viking who qualified for the NJSIAA Swimming Championships this year. She’ll compete in the breaststroke.