HHS boys swim big at Pirate Invitational

Ippolito, Kuehne star

By: John E. Powers
   
   The Hillsborough High School boys’ swimming team may have had its biggest regular-season outing ever this past Sunday at the 26th Annual Pirate Invitational at The Bubble in Princeton Junction.
   The Raiders finished third in the 13-school field behind New Jersey giants St. Joseph of Metuchen and runner-up Christian Brothers Academy. The Raiders had 137 points behind CBA’s 246 and St. Joseph’s 249. Bridgewater-Raritan, which handed the Raiders their only dual meet loss of the season, was fourth with 113 points.
   CBA is ranked No. 2 in the state in some statewide polls, while St. Joseph is third. Bridgewater-Raritan was seventh. And the Raiders ranked ninth in one poll.
   "It was a very tough field, there was a lot of great competition," said senior Frank Ippolito, who placed fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke. "Most of the top ten teams in the state were there. I think it shows that our team is the strongest it’s been in the four years I’ve been here and that Central Jersey has a lot of good teams."
   Ippolito swam a 1:03.61 for fourth, while teammate and sophomore Pat Kuehne was fifth in 1:04.43.
   "I was very pleased with my time and it was great to place right next to Pat," Ippolito said. "That was pretty special."
   Kuehne was also fifth in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:08.28. He swam a leg on the fourth-place 200-yard medley relay and the third-place 200-yard freestyle team. The 200 freestyle team of Kuehne, Scott Prow, Tim Rauch and Sean Downey went 1:32.33. The medley team of Kuehne, James Vanbiervliet, Peter Cole and Downey went 1:46.67. Rauch, Prow, Eric Horowitz and Rob Webb were fifth in 3:31.82.
   "It was a pretty crazy meet," Kuehne said. "To beat Bridgewater and to come ahead of all the public schools – we were really psyched."
   So was Rauch, who was fourth in the grueling 500-yard freestyle with a 5:03.72 in the final heat. He qualified with a 5:03.62.
   "It was my best time since I was shaved last year," Rauch said. "I don’t know where it came from. I missed qualifying for the states by .2 or .3, but I can still do it. I was really proud of what we accomplished as a team."
   The team was very proud of Vanbiervliet, a cancer survivor, who was in New York City Thursday for a regular checkup. He returned to contribute a leg on the medley relay team and finish fifth in the 100-yard backstroke at 59.74. He went 57.43 in the preliminary heat.
   "It was incredible what James did," Ippolito said.
   The Raiders, who improved to 7-1 last week with a 95-61 win over Watchung Hills, don’t have a dual meet this week. The Raiders will play host to Scotch Plains-Fanwood next Tuesday at the Hillsborough YMCA. The Somerset County meet is scheduled for a week from Saturday at the Bridgewater YMCA. The Skyland Conference meet will be held at the same location Friday, Feb. 4.
   "We always seem to end up with a stronger second half of the season," Ippolito said.
   The Raider girls finished seventh at the Pirate Invitational with 89 points. Missy McCormick was fourth in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:02.35 and Amanda Kautz took fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:12.98.
   "I was satisfied with it," McCormick said of her individual race. "I went into the finals in second and I wanted to maintain it, but I had to swim the medley relay before it and that might have affected me. But I was fifth last year, so it’s one place better."
   Kelsey Hurley, who had been out with a injured shoulder, returned to swim the second leg in the medley after Jess Stever and before Kautz and McCormick. The 200-yard freestyle relay was sixth.
   "We did very well as a team," McCormick said.