Cardinals stay focused, cruise to win

Lawrence swimming

By: Jim Green
   The Lawrence High School swimming team’s season opener seemed almost like another day of practice, except for the five Robbinsville swimmers in the LHS pool.
   Robbinsville, competing in its first varsity swim meet, only had five eligible swimmers Tuesday, leaving most lanes empty throughout the meet. But the Cardinals, led by a committed group of seniors, did not let that affect their effort. With most swimmers competing only once, Lawrence took care of business easily, beating Robbinsville 132-25 in a co-ed meet that counts as a win for the LHS boys.
   "Everybody might think there is a big difference between the teams, but we have to stay concentrating and make sure everybody improves," said boys team co-captain Tomasz Modzelewski, who won the 100-meter freestyle in 1:00.05.
   Other winners for Lawrence included Ryan Shields in the 200 freestyle (2:19.38), Brendan O’Brien in the 200 individual medley (2:38.08), Nick Carey in the 500 freestyle (6:20.22), Pat Thiel in the 100 backstroke (1:18.74) and Pat Crane in the 100 breaststroke (1:28.46).
   The Cardinals also swept the relays, with Carey, Bryan Lee, Chris Thiel and Ryan Schmid taking the 200 medley relay, Maddie Emde, Carey, Julia Wrobel and Shields winning the 200 freestyle relay, and Jillian Franc, Jordan McGrew, Chris Thiel and Laura Brehm placing first in the 400 freestyle relay.
   "We got a lot of our younger, less experienced kids in," said veteran Lawrence coach Dean Mason, who picked up his 295th career victory. "It would have been nice if they could have filled some more lanes, but we learned about some of our kids. That’s the way you have to look at it."
   Even though the meet was just one step up from a practice, Modzelewski felt it provided a good barometer for the team before the Cardinals hit the meat of their schedule.
   "We’re trying to get all our swimmers to swim and to see where everybody’s at," he said. "It went really well. Everybody tried their best."
   This win was just step one in what the Cardinals hope will be another in a long line of outstanding seasons for the LHS swimming team.
   "As always, we want lots of wins and to improves as a whole team," Modzelewski said. "Personally, I want to beat my old times, of course, and to encourage the entire team to get better as a whole."
   Modzelewski quickly is settling into his role as co-captain of the boys team, along with Jordan Hawthorne and Owen Henn.
   "You have to encourage the younger swimmers, and it’s a lot more responsibility," he said. "You have to keep the whole team on track and try to help everybody."
   The Cardinals hope to be properly prepared as they head into a tough stretch of early meets. They will compete in the Knight Relays at West Windsor-Plainsboro North at 10 a.m. Saturday, then they will visit an improved Hopewell Valley squad at 6 p.m. Tuesday and the always tough Montgomery at 4 p.m. Dec. 15.
   "We saw some good things from our younger swimmers (against Robbinsville)," Mason said. "It’s a starting point. We’ll take it from there."
• NOTE: If the Cardinal boys and girls go a combined 4-0 or 3-1 in the meets against Montgomery and Hopewell Valley, Mason will have an opportunity for his 300th win in Lawrence’s Dec. 20 home meet against Hunterdon Central.
   "It just means I’ve been around a long time," a humble Mason said of the milestone.