Hopewell Valley swimming
By: John E. Powers
The Hopewell Valley Central High School girls and boys swimming teams are making progress that’s why Monday’s tight losses to Notre Dame might have hurt a bit more.
The boys fell 94-76, while the girls lost 89-81 at The College of New Jersey. The boys dropped to 4-2, while the girls now are 3-2.
"It’s so disappointing," Hopewell coach Laura Gordon said. "The girls meet came down to the very last event. If they had gone 1-2 or 1-3, we would have won. They are really a good match with us, but their depth got us."
The boys got wins from the 200 medley relay team of Will McNees, Greg Stolowski, Ned Foster and Billy Dunne, who went 1:52.25. McNees won the 200 freestyle in 1:53.95 and the butterfly in 59.75, and Foster took the 50 free in 25.03. Dunne won the 500 freestyle in 5:24.11 and 100 backstroke in 58.78, while the 400 freestyle relay team of Dunne, Stolowski, Foster and McNees also won in 3:38.37.
"Will’s time in the butterfly came out of nowhere," Gordon said. "I told him before the event that we really needed this. The boys are doing very well, and the younger boys are coming on very quickly. They have been steadying our lineup."
The girls meet came down the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, but Notre Dame won by going 1-3.
"It was really tough to lose it like that," Gordon said.
The girls got a win from the 200 medley relay team of Anjana Sinha, Emily Alexander, Karen Upperco and Darby Driscoll, the 200 individual medley by Kristin Cuprzinski (2:20.75) and Driscoll in the 50 freestyle 26.12 and the 100 freestyle in 56.38. The 200 freestyle relay team of Amy Palin, Upperco, Alexander and Driscoll went 1:53.52 to win that event. Sinha won the 100 backstroke in 1:06.81.
"The girls are doing great," Gordon said. "We lost a few girls to graduation, but the kids have really done well in some tough meets and are doing it with good times. They’re working hard."
The teams were scheduled to swim at very good Lawrence team Thursday, then are scheduled to swim against West Windsor-Plainsboro North on Tuesday at Pennington. The Lawrence boys are 8-0, while the Cardinal girls are 6-2.
"The Lawrence boys really beat Princeton, and Princeton rocked us," Gordon said. "I’ll be really power pointing in the Lawrence meet. It’ll be all about times for us. The girls aren’t as strong. The Lawrence girls lost to Princeton, so we should be pretty competitive with Lawrence."

