Brutal slate slows down swim team

Hopewell Valley swimming

By: Jim Green
   Two quality swimming teams squared off Tuesday night, as Hopewell Valley Central High School went up against Lawrence at Pennington. Lawrence simply is at another level right now.
   The Cardinals swept the meet, winning the girls side 112-58 and the boys meet 117-52. The Hopewell girls, who opened the season with a stunning win over Pennington, dropped to 1-2, while the boys are now 0-3. The Lawrence boys moved to 2-0, while the girls are 1-0.
   "They (the Cardinals) have an incredible team," Hopewell girls coach Bill DeHaven said. "I was definitely hoping it was going to be closer. But we didn’t slow down our practices for this meet. We swam right through it, so we weren’t expecting any stellar times. It’s still early. We want to build."
   In the girls meet, Hopewell had wins from Kristin Cuprzinski in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly (1:03.80) and Anjana Sinha in the 100 backstroke (1:02.20), while Sinha and Cuprzinski were joined by Mary Pat DeHaven and Emily Alexander in the Lady Bulldogs’ winning 200 freestyle relay team (1:49.40).
   Lawrence had first-place finishes from Kim Greenfield in the 200-yard freestyle (2:06.20) and 500 freestyle (5:36.70), Julia Wrobel in the 50 freestyle (26.7) and 100 freestyle (57.4) and Julia Senerth in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.90). Lawrence won the 200 medley relay with Stephanie Greenfield, Senerth, Maddie Emde and Wrobel, and the 400 freestyle relay with Franc, Stephanie Greenfield, Kim Greenfield and Senerth.
   In the boys meet, Hopewell’s lone wins came from star Billy Dunne in the 200 freestyle (1:55.40) and 100 backstroke (1:00.42). Lawrence received wins from Chris Thiel in the 200 individual medley (2:16.38), Jordan McGrew in the 50 freestyle (23.55) and 100 freestyle (53.35), Brendan O’Brien in the 100 butterfly (1:01.68) and Owen Henn in the 500 freestyle (5:33.63), while Lawrence swept the relays.
   The Lawrence meet was the third straight tough meet to open the season for Hopewell. The Bulldogs split their season opener with Pennington — with the girls team winning — before being swept Dec. 7 by Notre Dame at Pennington.
   "It was a tough loss," DeHaven said. "It’s hard, losing to Notre Dame and Lawrence this early. Notre Dame was a big meet. It would have been nice to build some momentum."
   The boys team lost to the Fighting Irish 114-56. Dunne won the 100 freestyle (53.37) and 100 backstroke (59.08), while Greg Stolowski captured the 500 freestyle (5:39.61).
   The girls, meanwhile, dropped a hard-fought 92-78 decision. Cuprzinksi won the 200 individual medley (2:20.49) and 100 butterfly (1:02.32), Alexander took the 50 freestyle (26.92), and Sinha captured the 100 freestyle (58.85) and the 100 backstroke (1:08.78). Sinha, Alexander, Cuprzinski and Emma Cantor teamed to win the 200 freestyle relay (1:49.38). After Sinha and Mary Pat DeHaven went 1-3 in the backstroke, the Lady Bulldogs trailed by just two points. But Notre Dame dominated the breaststroke and the 400 freestyle relay to pull away.
   Three days later, Hopewell had a solid showing at West Windsor-Plainsboro North’s Knights Relays, with Dunne, Stolowski, Cuprzinski and Sinha combining for victory in the mixed 200 medley relay (2:08.35).
   The brutal schedule continues at 3:45 p.m. today (Thursday), as Hopewell visits Colonial Valley Conference powerhouse West Windsor-Plainsboro South. DeHaven and HoVal boys coach Laura Gordon will look at the meet as an opportunity to learn something about their squads as they take on one of the best teams in the state.
   "We’re looking forward to Thursday," DeHaven said. "We can break the monotony of where people have been swimming and try some new events.
   "I know the girls are looking forward to it. Hopefully they’ll have some fun with that meet."