Lady Bulldogs step up, open with clutch win

Hopewell Valley swimming

By: Jim Green
   Leading up to the Hopewell Valley Central High School girls swimming team’s season-opening meet against Pennington, Lady Bulldog coach Bill DeHaven constantly was shuffling his lineup.
   The reason was simple. In order to defeat the defending Prep B state champion Red Raiders — who went 13-0 last season — DeHaven would need his best effort from each of his swimmers every time they entered the pool. And while he has a great wealth of top-flight swimmers, he was finding it difficult to set the lineup so that each one had a decent amount of rest between events.
   Taking the pressure off their coach, the Lady Bulldogs stepped up and told DeHaven not to worry about it — they knew what it would take to win, and they were confident they could get the job done. They were right, as Hopewell pulled out a dramatic 88-82 win, handing the Red Raiders their first loss in two seasons Dec. 1 at the Michael T. Martin Aquatic Center in Pennington.
   "It was so unexpected," DeHaven said. "It was a real struggle making the lineup. The girls were really great with their organization. They were in the spirit to win."
   The Lady Bulldogs received several outstanding performances, led by Kristin Cuprzinski, who won the 200-yard individual medley (2:23.17) and the 100 butterfly (28.87) and was a member of Hopewell’s second-place team in the 200 medley relay. Anjana Sinha was first in the 50 freestyle (27.21) and second in the 100 breaststroke (1:17.69), Catherine Brookes was first in the breaststroke (1:16.33) and third in the 100 fly, Mary Pat DeHaven was second in the 200 freestyle and third in the 100 backstroke, and Emily Alexander was third in the 200 freestyle and second in the 100 freestyle.
   Sinha, Brookes, Mary Pat DeHaven and Alexander, like Cuprzinski, all supplemented their individual performances by playing a key role in the Lady Bulldogs’ relay success. Hopewell was second in the medley and the 400 freestyle relay, and won the 200 freestyle relay.
   "It’s definitely valuable to have some experienced swimmers on the team that know, if they swim an event right before an important relay, they can pull it out and take one for the team," Bill DeHaven said.
   The key event of the night was the 100 breaststroke. With Pennington coming off a 10-6 win in the backstroke that tied the meet at 70-70, the Lady Bulldogs knew they needed to take back momentum in the breaststroke and get a nice cushion going into the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. They did just that, as Brookes, Sinha and Meg Angelastro went 1-2-4 to win the event 12-4 and open up an 82-74 lead.
   "It was definitely something that was planned," Bill DeHaven said. "We knew they have an excellent backstroker. We knew we have an excellent breaststroke lineup. Anjana was just spectacular."
   The eight-point cushion was plenty, as Hopewell’s "A" relay team, consisting of Eva Marie Genova, Tiffany Olszuk, Maddie Jacobs and Mary Pat DeHaven pulled out a second-place finish in the 400 relay. Pennington could have won the meet by going 1-2 in the relay.
   The Hopewell boys were not as fortunate, as they fell to an equally powerful Pennington boys team 95-74. The Bulldogs’ only wins came from Billy Dunne in the 100 backstroke (58.48) and their "B" team in the 200 freestyle relay.
   Still, both the Hopewell boys and girls teams showed enough promise to make their coaches confident this should be a fine season.
   "I think that this is huge," Bill DeHaven said. "This is better than coach (Laura) Gordon or I could have ever expected."
   Cuprzinski expects the Lady Bulldogs’ win to be a big confidence-builder as the season moves forward.
   "I think this team is going to win a lot," she said. "We have a lot of potential. We haven’t beaten Pennington in a while. It was really nice."
   While the Lady Bulldogs were excited to beat Pennington, the rivalry between the two teams always has been friendly — which was evident in the way the two teams congratulated each other following the hard-fought meet.
   "We’re really close with them," Cuprzinski said. "It’s nice to be here with friends and have a fun meet."
   The Hopewell girls hope to give the same effort in their home meet against Colonial Valley Conference power Notre Dame at 6:45 p.m. tonight (Thursday night).
   "Our first two meets are the toughest of the season," Bill DeHaven said. "Hopefully, we can carry the momentum into Notre Dame."
• NOTES: The Pennington girls received wins from Corina Kwami in the 200 freestyle (2:06.38) and 500 freestyle (5:39.60) and Lauren Smart in the 100 freestyle (54.24) and 100 backstroke (59.95). Smart’s time in the backstroke set a school record. The Red Raiders also won the 200 medley relay with Kwami, Kim deLeon, Whitney Schieren and Smart, and the 400 freestyle relay with Schieren, Kwami, Asya Roberts and Smart.
   The Pennington boys got wins from Brandon Hullings in the 200 freestyle (1:52.01) and 100 freestyle (51.71), Jesse Lieberman in the 200 individual medley (2:14.33) and the 100 butterfly (58.61), John Tarchis in the 50 freestyle (24.96) and Andrew Butler in the 500 freestyle (5:00.89) and the 100 breaststroke (1:05.89).