Team pumped for 2004-05 season
By: John E. Powers
Like their male program mates, the Hillsborough High School girls’ swimming team is expecting to have a strong season and so is their coach.
The Raider girls finished 11-6 last year in a season that included a berth in the Central Jersey Public A Tournament, a second-place finish in the Skyland Conference meet and a fourth place in the Somerset County Championships. The girls overcame an 0-3 start with dual meet losses to county champ Mount St. Mary, Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Bridgewater-Raritan.
"Just like the boys, we’re looking for an outstanding team with the girls," HHS head coach Todd Sudol said. "We have a lot of kids back who scored a lot of points for us last year."
Senior Missy McCormick, who won the 200-meter freestyle in the Skyland Conference meet last year, is back and will compete in the breast and in the individual medley. Senior sprinter and freestyler Jessica Stever, a state qualifier last year, returns along with junior breaststroker and IMer Amada Kautz.
The HHS girls, who have added perennial strong and defending Parochial A state champ Immaculate Heart to their schedule, were fourth for the second straight year at the Somerset County meet. Several of the girls who scored high in that meet swimmers like McCormick, Stever, Kautz and Ariel Newman return.
The Raiders have also got a big boost because of the return of senior Kristy Patane, who chose to swim with her club team last winter. Senior Madison Goldberg will be back in the backstroke, IM and freestyle. Patane is a talented 100 and 200 freestyler and may also compete in the 500. Sophomore Sarah Miller will compete in the sprints.
Hillsborough will open the season at Hightstown Thursday and begins its Skyland Conference season Tuesday with Bridgewater-Raritan at 3 p.m. at the Hillsborough YMCA. Outside of their divisional rivals, the team will swim vs. Hightstown, Hopewell Valley (Dec. 9), Jonathan Dayton (Dec. 16) and Immaculate Heart Dec. 21.
The Immaculate Heart meet will be held at the Hillsborough YMCA. Immaculate Heart finished last season 11-0, extending its state-record dual-meet winning streak to 131. Its average margin of victory in the 11 meets was 89 points. Immaculate Heart also went undefeated for the 14th straight year in the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League and won its fifth straight Bergen County title and an unprecedented 11th consecutive NJSIAA Parochial A championship.
"It’ll be good to use the meet as a measuring stick to see where we’re at," Sudol said.
Hillsborough also swims Raritan Division foe Warren Hills Jan. 6 and will host Scotch Plains-Fanwood Jan. 25. The Raiders were eliminated in the Central Jersey A tournament by Hunterdon Central in the sectional quarterfinals. The HHS girls would like to get to where the boys were last year a sectional title.
"It’s an exciting group that we have back and it’s going to be fun working them," Sudol said.