Slover makes sure MHS is heard from at Greater Middlesex Conference meet

Falcon junior earns two medals swimming as an individual

By: Carolyn M. Hartko
   NORTH BRUNSWICK — Monroe Township High School may not have a swimming team, but it does have a talented high school swimmer.
   Junior Lisa Slover won two medals at last weekend’s Greater Middlesex Conference’s Girls Swimming Championships. Slover started with a bronze in the 200 yard Individual Medley (IM), then went on to earn a silver in the 500 yard freestyle race.
   Swimming in the seeded heat of the 200 IM, Slover clocked a 2:19.16.
   "It was pretty good competition for me," the 11th-grader said. "It was my best time by three seconds."
   Slover took almost 10 seconds off her personal best in the 500, finishing the 20-lap race in 5:19.88. Metuchen senior Carolyn Gusick won that race with a time of 5:16.21. Slover and Gusick are teammates on the Scarlet Aquatic Club based at Rutgers’ University, and Slover credits her improved time to a little friendly rivalry, and the fact that she tried to keep up with her Scarlet teammate. Both girls swim the long distance races for their club team, from the 500 (the longest event at a high school meet) up to a mile.
   "(Carolyn’s) usually in a faster heat than I am," Slover said. "So, we usually don’t swim against each other. I felt pretty strong in the middle today, but then at the end I felt like I was kind of dying."
   Even so, Slover finished well ahead of third place, Piscataway’s Lovette Leonhard (5:31.63).
   For members of SAC, swimming is a serious, year-round commitment. Practices are two hours a day, six days a week. Competition is "big meet" format, as opposed the head-to-head dual meets on the regular high school schedule, and road trips often require an overnight stay. For example, the weekend before the GMC meet, Slover and her Scarlet teammates competed at Long Island Aquatics against teams from around New York State. They stayed at a hotel for two nights. Slover swam the 500, the 1,000 and the mile.
   "I did pretty decent," Slover said. "I bettered my times, but it was a really fast meet, so I didn’t place."
   Slover has been swimming competitively since she was about eight years old. She started with the Metuchen/Edison Y, because she and her family lived in Edison at the time. She switched to SAC two years later, and the Slovers moved to Monroe the summer before Lisa entered eighth grade.
   There are eight schools in the GMC that have girls’ swim teams, and five schools that were represented by independent swimmers. It could get lonely for the independents, but the club system in Central Jersey crosses school and town lines.
   "It’s not that bad, because I know a lot of swimmers," Slover said. "So, I knew a lot of people that were at the meet."
   This was Slover’s third trip to the GMC Championships. Last year, she came in fourth in the 500, and just missed a medal in the 200 IM. This year, it was second and third place medals. She’s already got plans for her senior year.
   "Hopefully, I’ll win the 500," Slover said. "But I’m not sure about the 200 IM."
   She’ll just have to find another SAC teammate to push her along.
   SPLASHES: In addition to friends from her club team, Slover had a few other people cheering her on. Both parents were there, and her "coach" from Monroe. Monroe phys ed teacher Eileen Kelly, who swam for Trenton State as an undergraduate, volunteered to be Slover’s coach-for-a-day…Slover’s medals weren’t the only family prize last Saturday. Her dad won the 50-50.